As Big Oil Trys To Diss Global Warming - Time For Social Responsibility Amendment

As the film by Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth is set to premier in a few days the big oil companies have begun their campaign of dissinformation and rebuttal. No surprise, since these are the companies that have the most to loose if Americans wake up and reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. They ignore the disappearance of glaciers worldwide and the rising sea temperatures and state that there are reliable scientists who claim that it's not happening.

That lie, and it is a big one, is wrapped in the message that carbon dioxide is our friend. The campaign is one of the most outrageous misrepresentations of science ever. "Carbon dioxide, they call it pollution, we call it life." That may be the most insidious tag line since some of the old cigarette ads that had doctors as spokesmen. In 1943, Philip Morris placed an ad in the National Medical Journal which reads: "'Don't smoke' is advice hard for patients to swallow. May we suggest instead 'Smoking Philip Morris?' Tests showed three out of every four cases of smokers' cough cleared on changing to Philip Morris. Why not observe the results for yourself?"

It's time corporations took responsibility for living on the same planet and in the same country as the rest of us. A novel idea is put forth by the author of "Left Hand of God", Rabbi Michael Lerner. His proposal for a "Social Responsibility Amendment" to the Constitution would treat corporate charters much like the FCC treats broadcast licenses. Corporations would have to renew their charters every 20 years and be reviewed as to their performance regarding the public good.

Every corporation doing business within the US (whether located here or abroad) with annual income of over $20 million must receive a new corporate charter every twenty years, and these new charters will only be granted to corporations who can prove a history of social responsibility as measured by an Ethical Impact Report. which will measure the company's sensitivity to the needs of the environment, the community, and its employees. The Ethical Impact Report will be compiled by 3 different constituencies: the corporation itself, the workers (under conditions of confidentiality), and relevant community organizations around the world who wish to present their case about the social responsibility of the corporation.

There are details to be worked out, but it is an idea well worth considering. Of course if the oil companies and others who pollute our planet could find a way to make a profit from clean air, then that would go a long way toward solving the problem. After all, the current American version of capitalism thrives on unbridled greed, profit = good. Apparently a few companies have found a way to make clean air pay. During a recent trip to West Texas I saw fields dotted with wind turbans, drawing power from the prevailing Texas winds. Not a bad start.

Until more folks can get involved in this renewable resource, I suspect we will be choked with more ads telling us to make as much Carbon Dioxide as we want... after all it's what makes plants grow! Oh yea, and it's also poison if taken in sufficient quantities, and it's helping to melt the ice caps.