12 Fortune 500 Companies Called Out for Dirty Tar Sands Oil Habits

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In July, ForestEthics sent letters to over 100 Fortune 500 companies, warning that use of transportation fuels from Canada's Tar Sands puts their brands at risk, and offering the group's expertise in avoiding such fuels.

Today, ForestEthics released a list of 12 companies-a 'Dirty Dozen'-that have so far refused to engage in discussions about their transportation fuels, carbon footprints, and the brand risk posed by the controversial Canadian Tar Sands. As stated in the July letter, a public campaign could be launched against any company that does not act to eliminate from their operations high carbon fuels such as those from the Tar Sands.

The Fortune 500 'Dirty Dozen': 7-Eleven, Coca-Cola, HJ Heinz, Hershey's, Kraft Foods, Kroger, Levi Strauss, The Pantry, Sara Lee, Supervalu, SYSCO, and Whole Foods.

"These companies represent US market sectors with high demand for transportation fuels, which increasingly come from toxic and carbon-intensive sources like the Tar Sands," said Aaron Sanger, Senior US Energy Campaigner with ForestEthics. "The companies on this list have the power to change the way America uses transportation fuel, but despite efforts to present themselves as 'green', they appear uninterested in reducing carbon pollution in their large and growing transportation footprints."

A number of Fortune 500 companies have already engaged ForestEthics in preliminary discussions about transportation fuels and their supply chains' dependence on fuel derived from the Tar Sands. In an Op-Ed published on September 17 in the Boston Globe, Sanger and noted climate scientist Dr. James Hansen outlined how the market can be used to address both the Tar Sands and climate change: "There are rumblings in corporate America that companies must find a way to divest themselves of the Tar Sands problem. Don't be surprised if they outhustle our elected officials[.]"

Tar Sands oil production generates 3-5 times the greenhouse gas emissions of conventional oil; production of Tar Sands oil destroys fresh drinking water, pollutes the air, and destroys Alberta's boreal forests. Communities downstream of Tar Sands projects are facing elevated levels of cancer. Tar Sands sludge, extracted primarily in the province of Alberta, cannot be made clean by technological solutions.

In addition to requesting that companies exclude Tar Sands-derived fuels from their supply chains, they have also been asked to invest in cleaner sources of fuel, oppose government policies that encourage 'dirty fuels' like those from the Tar Sands, and support government policies which help shift the transportation sector toward cleaner energy.

"There are important efforts afoot to reshape and reduce the carbon footprints of America's electrical grid, buildings, and air travel," said Merran Smith, climate program director with ForestEthics. "But so far, no one has focused on the area where corporate carbon footprints are growing rapidly due to Tar Sands oil: commercial ground transportation."

Last week, the International Air Transport Association announced plans to halve its emissions by 2050, and a group of the world's largest global investors, who collectively manage more than $13 trillion in assets, urged global policy makers to take strong action in the fight against climate change.