Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 03/09/2010 9:12:48 AM PST by jazusamo
Our resolution will appear in PepsiCo’s proxy materials, and I will speak in its support at the company’s annual meeting this spring.
By trying to preclude a shareholder discussion of this and other issues, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi seems unwilling to publicly defend the company's controversial public policy positions, which is exactly the point of our resolution. Maybe the company should change its positions on cap and trade, and other issues where it sides with anti-business activists.
PepsiCo distributes Aquafina, reportedly the largest-selling brand of bottled water in the United States. Bottled water has come under attack by the same people who push global warming alarmism. They argue that Aquafina is just tap water anyway, so it needlessly adds to carbon emissions to bottle it and truck it around.
Instead of defending the rights of its own customers to buy its product, PepsiCo seeks to appease these critics by jumping on the global warming bandwagon. It has even come up with something called the Eco-Fina bottle that uses 50% less plastic, saving an estimated 75 million pounds of plastic annually. Of course, the activists aren’t fooled, accusing PepsiCo of “greenwashing.”
So for PepsiCo, its a slippery slope. Once you accept the dubious premise that your plastic bottles made from petroleum are destroying the earth, you end up having to support grandiose plans to save it, which of course necessitates massive government intervention in the economy.
A 2009 Heritage Foundation study estimated that the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill would destroy over 1.1 million jobs, hike electricity rates 90 percent, and reduce the U.S. gross domestic product by nearly $10 trillion over the next 25 years. But the effects on personal freedom would be much worse. PepsiCo spends billions attempting to predict the choices consumers will make. Too bad it can’t figure out that what human beings want the most is the freedom to choose.
As we point out, in our supporting statement:
The Company’s public policy positions and related advocacy activities should be developed and prioritized based on sound, fact-based analyses and not on “political correctness,” pressure from anti-business activists, and/or the ideological preferences of Company executives.
Related:
BP, ConocoPhillips and Caterpillar Quit Cap-and-Trade Lobby Group; PepsiCo Should Do The Same
Goldman Sachs Challenged on Global Warming in Wake of ‘Climategate’
Witness Intimidation on Cap-and-Trade
Corporate America Sells Out Public By Jumping On Cap-and-Trade Bandwagon
Ping!
I drink coke.
Yep, have for years and feel better about it now.
The first step in the Liberal response to the SCOTUS ruling on corporate free speech. (sure, you can spend your money to lobby for for political speech...but first you will have to get shareholder approval. This will force you to run the gautlet of every aggrieved liberal group that is holding more than ten shares)
Right now, because of the way the bylaws are written and apathy on the part of many stockholders like mutual funds, we concerned stockholders have virtually no say in how the company does business, how much the executives get paid, etc. If a company I own is doing unethical practices or supporting immoral activities, I sure want to know about it. That includes what legislation they're lobbying for or against. We stockholders may not be able to stop the corporate officials, but we can show our displeasure by withdrawing our funds.
I'm having the exact same problem with my government.
Absolutely it is your right to withdraw your money from any corporation that you feel is not responsive to you as a stockholder.
The fact remains the Liberals have clearly stated this is going to be their primary response to the SCOTUS ruling. Get a bunch of liberal activist groups to buy small blocks of shares, then change securities law to require boards to get unanimous consent in order to spend money for political speech.
The next step will be giving “stakeholders” with no financial interest in the corporation a say weighted equal to yours (unions, enviro-activists, aggrieved victim groups, etc.)
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