Thursday, June 3, 2010

Is BP committing environmental fraud on NYC streets?

Earlier today, I was walking into the local food co-op here in Brooklyn to buy some organic produce, and I was stopped by a college-aged guy holding a clipboard.  He told me that he represented a group (he didn't use the word "corporation") that offered a cleaner alternative source of electricity to that provided by Con Ed.  He gave me the hard-sell to sign up for the service, saying that I could only sign up via him, not on the internet.  I asked him for a brochure so I could think it over, but he told me that they didn't have any because they're not environmentally sound.  He held up some literature with a drawing of a windmill on it, which, of course, I didn't have time to read.  He assured me that his "group" would provide my family with electricity from clean sources, and that I could pay via my usual Con Ed bill.  He stressed that the only way I could sign up was with him, right there on the sidewalk.  What he neglected to tell me was that the "group" he works for, Green Mountain Energy, is 1/3 owned by BP.  (Read here.)

I wonder how many New York City environmentalists are being duped into signing up to have their electricity provided by BP as we speak.  They might be a bit upset if they knew, don't you think?  

UPDATE (June 4, 2010):

According to SiteMeter and Google Analytics, this blog post has gotten a large number of hits from ISPs in Austin and Plano, Texas.  Some of these ISPs are registered to Green Mountain Energy.   This group of readers all enter at this post, then look around at the rest of the blog to see what it's about.

Looks like I stepped on somebody's toes.  My guess is that the management of Green Mountain Energy would rather not have their connection to BP revealed.  Also, it's kind of interesting that Green Mountain Energy seems to have their corporate offices in Texas.  With a name like "Green Mountain", I thought they'd be in Vermont.  I guess that's what they wanted me to think.

1 comment:

anteaters said...

THANKS! THE PEN IS MIGHTIER...

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