GM ends donations to climate-change-denying Heartland Institute
Posted Apr 1st 2012 2:02PM
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10,000 General Motors owners can make an impact.
After being confronted with a petition against the money that the GM Foundation gave to the Heartland Institute – known as one of the biggest funders of climate-change denial – following an exposé on DeSmogBlog, CEO Dan Akerson said earlier this month that he would review the situation. Based on a press release put out by the group that organized the petition, Forecast the Facts, it appears that GM will no longer give the Heartland Institute any money. In 2011, the GM Foundation donated US$15,000.
Forecast the Facts' petition was signed by over 20,000 people, including 10,000 who own or owned a GM vehicle. Following the announcement, Forecast the Facts campaign director, Daniel Souweine, said in a statement, that, "We applaud GM's decision and the message it sends: that it is no longer acceptable for corporations to promote the denial of climate change, and that support for an organization like Heartland is not in line with GM's values." Hit the jump for full press release details.
GM Officially Pulls Its Support From Heartland Institute
ForecastTheFacts.org Applauds GM on Behalf of the 20,000 People who Have Been Demanding Action
Sample photos of campaign participants are available here: http://forecastthefacts.org/gm_victory/
San Francisco, CA – General Motors has announced that they will discontinue funding from the climate change-denying Heartland Institute. The decision came in response to a national campaign coordinated by Forecast the Facts, through which more than 20,000 people, including 10,000 GM owners, called on GM to pull their support. GM's funding of Heartland came to light in February via leaked documents that also revealed Heartland's plan to insert climate change denial into public education.
GM announced their decision to Greg Dalton, the director of Climate One, a discussion series at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club, who posted the information on his blog: http://climate-one.org/node/947 Three weeks earlier, GM CEO Dan Akerson spoke at a Climate One event, and in response to a question from Mr. Dalton announced that he would personally review the Heartland funding.
Forecast the Facts Campaign Director Daniel Souweine issued the following statement in response:
"We applaud GM's decision and the message it sends: that it is no longer acceptable for corporations to promote the denial of climate change, and that support for an organization like Heartland is not in line with GM's values. This victory belongs to the 20,000 Americans, including 10,000 GM owners, who demanded that GM put its money where its mouth is on climate change and sustainability."
ForecastTheFacts.org Applauds GM on Behalf of the 20,000 People who Have Been Demanding Action
Sample photos of campaign participants are available here: http://forecastthefacts.org/gm_victory/
San Francisco, CA – General Motors has announced that they will discontinue funding from the climate change-denying Heartland Institute. The decision came in response to a national campaign coordinated by Forecast the Facts, through which more than 20,000 people, including 10,000 GM owners, called on GM to pull their support. GM's funding of Heartland came to light in February via leaked documents that also revealed Heartland's plan to insert climate change denial into public education.
GM announced their decision to Greg Dalton, the director of Climate One, a discussion series at San Francisco's Commonwealth Club, who posted the information on his blog: http://climate-one.org/node/947 Three weeks earlier, GM CEO Dan Akerson spoke at a Climate One event, and in response to a question from Mr. Dalton announced that he would personally review the Heartland funding.
Forecast the Facts Campaign Director Daniel Souweine issued the following statement in response:
"We applaud GM's decision and the message it sends: that it is no longer acceptable for corporations to promote the denial of climate change, and that support for an organization like Heartland is not in line with GM's values. This victory belongs to the 20,000 Americans, including 10,000 GM owners, who demanded that GM put its money where its mouth is on climate change and sustainability."
