Ivy League students unite in refusing to work for Coke, GM, BP-Amoco

NEW YORK — Students from Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania pledged yesterday not to accept jobs with several corporations until they meet certain environmental standards.

"Students have always been idealistic, campaigning to save the world. The difference is that today we are organized and educated in the rules of [the corporate] game," Columbia senior Andrea Avolio said.

The purpose of the campaign is to mobilize students to build awareness of the significance of career choice, Frankie Lind, a Cornell junior explained.

Coca-Cola, British Petroleum-Amoco and General Motors are the current targets of the students' campaign. The companies were chosen by Ecopledge.com, a nationwide campaign formerly known as the Dirty Jobs Boycott.

"Coke, GM and BP-Amoco are just three of the many companies out there green-washing the public," Avolio said. "They are telling us that they are environmental and at the same time they are destroying our natural resources and contributing to global climate change."

According to Keir Soderberg '00, Coca-Cola sells more than 25 million bottles of Coke per day and "despite the misleading symbol, Coke bottles contain virtually no recycled plastic. Nine years ago Coke promised to use 25 percent recycled plastic," he said.

The Coca-Cola company, however, disputes the students' allegations.

"There was never any promise made," Coca-Cola manager of communications Trey Paris said in an interview Wednesday. He explained that in the early 1990s Coke made a technological breakthrough by including recycled plastic in its bottles.

"We were pushing the envelope by using a new technology. We ought to be seen as a leader in progressive environmental programs," Paris said. "A boycott like this is uncalled for."

At the time, the company was unable to sustain the recycling technology but continued to invest in research, Paris noted. About two years ago, Coke resumed including recycled plastic in its bottles and has since expanded the amount of recycled content. Paris said, however, he could not release the specific amount of recycled plastic in Coke's bottles.

Another criticism of Coca-Cola deals with its lobbying efforts to end deposit-bill legislation, which in seven states requires consumers to pay five cents more for the soft drink. The nickel is redeemable by recycling the can or bottle.

"The soft drink industry is opposed to forced-deposit legislation. They are an antiquated way to address litter problems and recycling issues," Paris said.

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Ben Gramig, a senior at the University of Kentucky and a campus organizer who recently met with representatives from the company, holds a different opinion. He said he believes Coke opposes deposit bills because it may result in decreasing sales.

General Motors

Students are targeting General Motors in the boycott because of its membership in the Global Climate Coalition, a group that Avolio said works "to weaken environmental laws and to disprove the majority of the scientific community who documents evidence of global climate change."

"The GCC is an industry front group that campaigns against sensible global warming policies," Soderberg said.

GM, however, defends its membership in the GCC. "We joined initially because we felt it was important to gather information and gain a common ground to build constructive public policy approaches to the global climate issue," said Mia Walton, assistant director of communications for GM.

Addressing the campaign's contention that the GCC denies the existence of global warming, Walton said, "[The GCC] feels the science is uncertain regarding whether or not the climate is changing."

The Ecopledge.com campaign is demanding that GM pull out of the GCC in order to be removed from the target list. "The GCC still has value to us. So we're in," Walton said.

BP-Amoco is being boycotted because the group alleges the company has plans to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling in this wilderness area off the coast of Alaska is prohibited by federal law.

According to BP-Amoco Director of External Affairs Tom Koch, BP-Amoco has no distinct plans at present to drill in ANWR. However, Koch admitted that in the past the company has attempted to obtain access to ANWR and does not promise that they will never pursue drilling.

"We believe that there might be quite a bit of oil in that area," Koch said. "If at some time in the future Congress authorizes opening ANWR for exploration and development, we believe that we could explore for and develop oil in the refuge in an environmentally sound manner. But currently there are no plans to do anything."

The Ecopledge.com campaign against the three companies began last fall at Penn's Eco-Conference. According to Rachel Heller, campus organizer for Ecopledge.com, students have gathered more than 10,000 signatures in support of the boycott. On Earth Day this year, the campaign plans to extend its target list to 12 companies.