accountability – Health4earth

Holding Exxon Accountable

“ExxonMobil lied to further its record-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardizing our health” Attorney General Rob Bonta

Plastic is harmful to our earth and to our bodies. The producers of plastic should be held accountable.

“For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible. ExxonMobil lied to further its record-breaking profits at the expense of our planet and possibly jeopardizing our health,” Rob Bonta, Attorney General, California

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/california-sues-exxonmobil-saying-company-deceived-public-about-plastics-recycling

A coalition of environmental groups have joined together to take ExxonMobile to court. Surfrider Foundation, the Sierra Club, Heal the Bay, and San Francisco Baykeeper are taking on the world’s largest producer of single-use plastic polymers for their claims about plastic.

The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco, California and states that ExxonMobile knowingly hid the truth about the harm caused by plastic and misled the public about its recyclability.

Niall McCarthy, partner at the law firm that is representing the coalition, said:

“Some of the greatest progress in American history was caused by civil lawsuits holding the powerful accountable for their actions. This is another such case brought by the most prominent environmental nonprofits in California who are willing, for the public good, to take on a company worth billions. The case will expose the devastation caused by single-use plastics and the deceptive recycling myth pushed by plastic producers such as ExxonMobil. The case, at its core, is about accountability. ExxonMobil’s promises of being a good corporate citizen are divorced from the reality of its conduct. As detailed in the complaint, ExxonMobil’s single use plastics are smothering California’s environment.”

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-09-23/california-ag-files-suit-against-companies

Hold General Mills Accountable

General Mills is not responding to questions about toxic chemicals in their foods. Please sign the petition below asking them to do better.

Consumer Reports is coming to the General Mills headquarters to demand answers on what the company plans to do to get plastic chemicals linked to cancer and other serious diseases out of its food products.

With consumers at our side, we will be delivering our petition to General Mills calling for immediate steps to eliminate these chemicals – known as phthalates – that Consumer Reports’ tests found in Yoplait yogurt, Cheerios, Progresso soup, and Annie’s Organic pasta.

Help us show company leaders that consumers expect food free of risky contaminants by adding your name to the petition. Already, 30,000 people have signed on, and we need a huge showing of support to get their attention!

Sign the Petition

In January, our tests of 85 different foods for phthalates found the highest concentration of these risky chemicals in Annie’s Organic Cheesy Ravioli, owned by General Mills. Since these plastic chemicals are known to interfere with the production of hormones – increasing the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and birth defects – we contacted company officials to take immediate action, since Annie’s organic products are marketed to parents of young kids.

Despite these concerning findings, as well as the chemicals showing up in their other brands, General Mills has refused to respond or engage with us. But you deserve answers and assurances that the company is addressing the problem – so we’re headed to corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, MN, with a group of concerned consumers to get them.

Can you support our group by adding your name to the petition we’ll deliver? Let’s show giant food conglomerates that they can’t ignore us when it comes to safety concerns in their products!

Sign the Petition

Three Simple Things

What Can I Do?

If you breathe air or drink water, you should care about the health of our Earth.

We all know the Earth is suffering. What we fail to recognize is that a sick planet leads to unhealthy sick people and for long-term consequences for our children.

We must hold business accountable for the plastic they produce, and they must be held accountable if they pollute our air and water. Our elected officials need to be held accountable to hold oil companies and plastic producers to rigorous standards. Most important, we also have to hold ourselves accountable for how we pollute our air and water. Holding ourselves personally responsible is what we can control!

Even little things can make a huge difference if we work together. On Earth Day recalibrate your life to do three simple things a week to lighten our Earth’s load:

Choose one day to eat meatless, choose one day to not drive, and choose one day to be plastic-free. On plastic-free day don’t purchase or use anything plastic, and don’t or eat or drink food from plastic containers.

Don’t eat or drink from plastic

Every Day do something kind, and please take three breaths for peace in Ukraine.

Peace For Ukraine!

This reading list is too long, but I hope you can read at least one of these excellent articles:

On Earth Day ‘the world is not on track’ | Opinion – Minnesota Reformer

Opinion | Enough About Climate Change. Air Pollution Is Killing Us Now. – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

3 eye-opening, science-based New Year’s resolutions that could help everyone | PBS NewsHour

U.S. Has Highest Percentage of People Who Aren’t Worried About Climate Change in Survey of 31 Countries – EcoWatch

Report lists Mississippi as one of ‘most endangered’ U.S. rivers | MPR News

‘Breakthrough’ Study Finds Microplastics in Human Blood – EcoWatch

And from my city: Kick single use plastics. In Minneapolis, less than half of plastics are recycled. Most plastics are made from oil and gas. About 4% to 8% of the world’s oil product is for plastics, and most plastics are thrown away after a single use. Plastics collect in our lakes and rivers and break down into micro and nanoplastics. One way to help is to bring your own bag to grocery and convenience stores.

Coca-Cola produces 200,000 new plastic bottles a minute and sells 112 billion plastic beverage bottles worldwide every year for a total of roughly 3 million metric tons of plastic packaging. The majority of Coca-Cola’s plastic bottles are not recycled and only 11.5% are made from recycled material. Many of Coca-Cola’s plastic bottles end up littered in the world’s rivers and ocean.