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"Money Talks ... Ours Is Speaking for Justice"

    

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The Coalition Courier

Volume 10, Issue 2 (November, 2011)

 

In this issue ...
Wyndham Worldwide Signs Code

Oil or Tar Sands ... For or Against

 

One of the largest U.S. Hotel Chains

 Wyndham Worldwide Signs Code
During the second week of  October  Wyndham Worldwide Corporation became the latest major hotel chain to take a stand against the commercial sexual exploitation of children by signing the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct (The Code).

 

The Code, an industry driving responsible tourism initiative in collaboration with ECPAT (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) International, funded by UNICEF and supported by The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), specifically focuses on the protection of children from sexual exploitation in the travel and tourism industries.  While The Code has been signed by more than 1,000 travel industry members worldwide, Wyndham, one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, is only the fifth U.S. company to sign.

 

As a subscriber to The Code, Wyndham will implement policies that condemn child trafficking and provide training to help their employees identify and report trafficking activities.  Wyndham will also raise awareness among its business partners and customers by including information about the issue and The Code through its website and meetings, and by annually reporting on its progress.

 

According to Carol Smolenski, Executive Directors of ECPAT-USA, a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies to protect sexually exploited children, the purpose of The Code is to prevent and mitigate child trafficking, as well as encourage a socially responsible, child-wise tourism industry.  “We are so happy to welcome Wyndham to the growing community of companies that are helping in the fight against the sex trafficking of children.   All travel properties could unwittingly be used as venues for this purpose.  If they do nothing to raise awareness of to prevent child trafficking, they risk becoming an indirect and unintentional conduit for the abuse that takes place.”

 

Other U.S. organizations that have signed The Code include Global Exchange’s Reality Tours, Hilton Worldwide (with pilot projects in two cities), Delta Air Lines, and Carlson Companies, whose brands include Radisson Hotels.

Suppliers of tourism services adopting  The Code commit themselves to implement the following six criteria:

 

1. To establish an ethical policy regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children.

2. To train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations.

3. To introduce a clause in contracts with supplies, stating a common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children.

4. To provide information to travelers by means of catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc.

5. To provide information to local “key persons’ at the destinations.

6. To report annually.

 

Brand names associated with Wyndham are:  Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Baymont, Microtel, Howard Johnson, Travelodge, and Knight’s Inn.

 

Members of our Coalition  purchased shares in Wyndham and have been involved with other faith-based investors in the progress of the five-year dialogue.  We will continue to follow the implementation of The Code by the company in the months to come.

 

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Oil or Tar Sands … For or Against

 Those who favor this new form of energy tend to refer to it as “oil” - those against “tar.”  Earlier this month, President Obama stopped the construction of a pipeline that would transport oil or tar sands from Canada to the U.S.  Some basic information regarding this natural source of energy is contained in the article below from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Canada Bituminous sands, colloquially known as oil sands or tar sands, are a type of unconventional petroleum deposit. The sands contain naturally occurring mixtures of sand, clay, water, and a dense and extremely viscous form of petroleum technically referred to as bitumen (or colloquially "tar" due to its similar appearance, odour, and colour). Oil sands are found in large amounts in many countries throughout the world, but are found in extremely large quantities in Canada and Venezuela.[1]

The crude bitumen contained in the Canadian oil sands is described by Canadian authorities as "petroleum that exists in the semi-solid or solid phase in natural deposits. Bitumen is a thick, sticky form of crude oil, so heavy and viscous (thick) that it will not flow unless heated or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons. At room temperature, it is much like cold molasses".[2] Venezuelan authorities often refer to similar types of crude oil as extra-heavy oil, because Venezuelan reservoirs are warmer and the oil is somewhat less viscous, allowing it to flow more easily.

Oil sands reserves have only recently been considered to be part of the world's oil reserves, as higher oil prices and new technology enable them to be profitably extracted and upgraded to usable products. They are often referred to as unconventional oil or crude bitumen, in order to distinguish the bitumen extracted from oil sands from the free-flowing hydrocarbon mixtures known as crude oil traditionally produced from oil wells.

Making liquid fuels from oil sands requires energy for steam injection and refining. This process generates two to four times the amount of greenhouse gases per barrel of final product as the "production" of conventional oil.[3] If combustion of the final products is included, the so-called "Well to Wheels" approach, oil sands extraction, upgrade and use emits 10 to 45% more greenhouse gases than conventional crude.[4]

 

For more information, refer to:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_sands

1 a b c (PDF) Alberta's Oil Sands: Opportunity, Balance. Government of Alberta. March 2008. ISBN 978-07785-7348-7. http://www.environment.alberta.ca/documents/Oil_Sands_Opportunity_Balance.pdf. Retrieved 2008-05-13 

2. Glossary. Canada's Oil Sands. 2010. http://www.canadasoilsands.ca/en/glossary.aspx. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 

3. Joseph J. Romm (2008). Hell and High Water: The Global Warming Solution. New York: Harper Perrenial. pp. 181–82. ISBN 9780061172137 

4. Bob Weber (10 December 2009). "Alberta's oilsands: well-managed necessity or ecological disaster?". Moose Jaw Herald Times. Canadian Press. http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/Canada---World/Business/2009-12-10/article-243834/Albertas-oilsands:-well-managed-necessity-or-ecological-disaster%3F/1. Retrieved 29 March 2010.

 

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Volume 10, Issue 1 (August 2011)

 

In this issue ...
Understanding Conflict Minerals
Wyndham Signs the Code

Mountaintop Removal and Cancer

 

Are all electronic gadgets a ‘no-no’?...

Understanding Conflict Minerals 

In our country the possession and use of electronics sometimes borders on obsession. We have them in our cars, our homes, our schools and our offices. We use electronics to communicate, to work and to have fun.  

 

The electronic components of these devices rely on a variety of minerals, but the most popular are gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten. Engineers use thin strands of gold to bond to wires -- these strands are highly conductive and resist corrosion. Tin is a soldering agent. Tantalum is a component in capacitors (also known as a condenser), which is found in many electronics. Tungsten is a strong metal with a very high melting point.

 

These minerals are mined and then processed in refining and smelting operations before they can be used in producing electronic devices. The ore comes from various mines around the world but one country has been in the news more than any other—the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). And here's where the dark side of our electronics obsession comes into play.

 

Over the last several years, the DRC has experienced massive political turmoil. Some of that comes from political issues within the country's government. But the DRC's neighbors, particularly Uganda and Rwanda on the DRC's eastern border, have also contributed to the instability in the DRC.  The ethnic and political divisions are too numerous and complicated to detail in this short article.  What needs to be recognized is the fact that the Congolese, Rwandan and Ugandan forces play a large role in the lives of DRC's citizens.  

 

Most of the money from the mining operations goes to the armed groups in control of the region. Very little makes its way back to the actual people mining the ore. In effect, these groups are employing slave labor.  The militias use the money from selling ore to purchase weapons and other supplies. The more politically motivated groups may use the money to influence DRC officials. Corruption in the DRC is rampant -- visitors to the country often must pay arbitrary fees and bribes to avoid harassment.

 

Meanwhile, the smelting com-panies refine the ore into the metals used in electronics. The smelting companies sell the metals to component manufacturers. These companies then sell components to big companies like microchip processors and electronics companies. Ultimately, these products end up in the hands of consumers around the world, who are unaware of the conflict behind the source of the minerals needed to produce them.

 

As the mines produce ore, the militias, rebels and other armed forces in the area must smuggle it out of the country. Some pass through Rwanda or Uganda en route to Africa's eastern coast. The groups sell ore to refineries. The refineries then sell refined metals to smelting corporations, most of which are in Asia. Out of all the metals mined in the DRC, gold is the most valuable.

 

In the United States, one section of an addendum to the bill called the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is Section 1502 which deals with conflict minerals.

 

This section holds companies responsible for keeping track of the supply chains for the metals they use in their products. Should the company's products use any conflict minerals from the DRC or its neighboring countries, the company must disclose that fact. If a company can demonstrate its supplies don't directly or indirectly fund armed groups in the DRC, it may label its products as "DRC conflict free."

 

You might want to check your port-folio regarding conflict mineral holdings—and contact any company you may hold where changes need to be made.

 

Company rankings regarding use of conflict minerals can be found at:

http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/content/conflict-minerals-company-rankings

 

Information for this article appears on the web site: 

http://money.howstuffworks.com/conflict-minerals.htm

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Wyndham Signs the Code

 

From 2006 to 2011 members of the Crips gang in San Diego ran a child sex trafficking ring of at least 16 girls out of various area hotels. Two of the properties on which many instances of child sex trafficking took place were a Howard Johnson in Escondido, California, and a Travelodge in San Diego, California, both of which are owned by the Wyndham group.

At the Howard Johnson hotel staff neglected to take any action to protect the long parade of children who were being ushered in to be raped, but the Travelodge staff actually assisted the pimps. Two members of the Travelodge staff allowed the gang members to use the hotel computer to post online ads advertising sex with minors. They also knowingly rented rooms for use in prostitution, charged higher room rates for rooms to be used for child sex trafficking and pocketed the difference, and warned the pimps if police were nearby.

That Wyndham hotel employees are actively participating in a child sex trafficking ring shows a desperate and immediate need for better child protection policies at Wyndham Hotels.

Wyndham does have a child protection policy which specifically takes a stand against commercial sexual exploitation and requires staff training, which obviously failed at these two properties. That's likely because such a policy is unenforceable when no outside organization is involved. Wyndham needs a real child protection policy in place, and they need it now.

After receiving over 14,000 letters Wyndham is working with ECPAT-USA to implement ECPAT’s Code of Conduct at their properties. Wyndham will become the third major U.S. hotel chain to sign, joining Carlson Companies and Hilton Worldwide. 
                                                                                                 
                           (Information taken from Change.org web) site)

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Mountaintop Removal and Cancer

A study released this week in the Journal of Community Health provides yet more evidence linking mountaintop removal mining to severe health impacts.  The West Virginia University study, "Self-Reported Cancer Rates in Two Rural Areas of West Virginia with and without Mountaintop Coal Mining," <http://www.springerlink.com/content/3h175p782691j628/>  found that people in the Coal River Valley are twice as likely to have had cancer as people surveyed in Pocahontas County, WV (where there is no mountaintop removal mining).  This was after controlling for age, sex, smoking, occupation, and family cancer history.  The study was based on door-to-door interviews conducted in the Coal River Valley and in Pocahontas County earlier this year.  The authors note that many of the chemicals found in coal and used in coal processing are carcinogenic; in addition, diesel fuel and exhaust from mining sites, blasting, coal processing, and coal trucking also contribute to cancer risk. 

This study contributes to a growing body of public health research showing connections between living in an area impacted by coal mining - particularly mountaintop removal mining - and higher risks of various health impacts, including birth defects, lung disease and kidney disease. For community activists, these results come as no surprise.  They have long been concerned about the effects of poisoned water, air pollution, and coal dust on local peoples' health for years.

 

Coal River Mountain Watch (8-2-2011)

 

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Volume 9, Issue 4 (May 2011)

I
n this issue
Questioning P&G's New Market Strategy

Child Labor = Human Trafficking

Massey Merger
 

Map showing depth of Marcellus shale from geology.comState governments are closely watching the results of the EPA studies.  The tax revenue that could result from natural gas drilling would certainly be a healthy addition to their state budgets.

 

As shareholders who have an interest in environmental safety and health
concerns, fracking is an issue that needs to be studied and followed. 
Holding oil and hydraulic fracturing companies accountable through
frequent dialogue is extremely important.  The final verdict has not
been reached.

 

Information for this article came from several web sites—responses to a search for ‘hydraulic fracturing.’ 
Map is from
Geology.com

 

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 Community Investing

In the Spring of 2010 your Coalition office asked for your input regarding our work for you, our members.  One of the areas sited in the evaluation was community development.  Several of you felt this was a topic that you would like to receive more information about.

 

In our last issue of the Coalition Courier we presented an overview of ‘community investing’.  Community investing is both a sound investment option and an effective model for community development. It is an investment strategy that remedies the economic disparity in domestic and international communities by providing lower-income people access to capital, credit, and training.

In this issue we would like to introduce you to a web site that provides you with all you might want to know about community investing and more.

 

Community Investing Center is a joint project of the Social Investment Forum Foundation and Green America.  The web site contains what you need to add community investments to your portfolio, and helps you choose from many high quality options in this expanding asset class.

 

Please set aside sometime to check out www.communityinvest.org.  The site is well organized and contains a database that will allow you to find information about opportunities in geographic areas that match your mission and vision.

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EPA Vetoes Proposed Mine

 

On January 13, 2011 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a veto of permits for a new West Virginian mountaintop removal coal mine - the Spruce Number One mine.
After years of litigation and debate, the EPA said “no.”

•    No to the destruction of God’s Creation.
•    No to polluted water and choked waterways.
•    And No to adverse health impacts and high rates of poverty in Mountaintop Removal communities.

 

The ruling saved 2,200 acres of hardwood forests and over six miles of head water streams.

Since MTR is a priority issue with our Coalition, please consider writing a thank you note to the EPA for saying “no” to the devastation that Mountaintop Removal mining has on  God’s creation and God’s people.

 

Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20460
Jackson.lisap@epa.gov

 

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Volume 9, Issue 2 (November 2010)   

In this issue:
Ten Reasons to Stay Hopeful
Investing in Communities
Ecological Examen

A Message from Green America ...
Ten Reasons to Stay Hopeful
No matter what your hopes were for this year’s election, one outcome that
we’re all too likely to see is political gridlock.

That makes the work we do together -- advancing social justice and environmental responsibility through economic action -- more important than ever. Here are just a few examples:

1. By working to close the filthiest coal-fired power plants, we can work to meet our climate goals -- without one new piece of legislation.

 2. By creating
Clean Energy Victory Bonds, we can finance the next big wave of solar and wind -- without one penny of taxpayer dollars.

3. By focusing on energy efficiency, we can help every American family save hundreds or thousands of dollars a year -- better than a tax break, since it will happen year after year with no Congressional vote required.

4. By accelerating the transition to clean energy, we ensure the next big wave of good jobs.

5. By going local and organic with our food, and rebuilding local food systems, we can make sure there is healthy, affordable food for all.

6. By choosing Fair Trade, we can help families around the world lift themselves out of poverty.

7. By switching to community banks and credit unions, we can take support away from the mega-banks who were at the center of the global economic crisis – and invest in our local communities.

8. By supporting green businesses, we can rebuild our Main Streets and create new jobs. Recent studies confirm what you and I have known for years: According to the Kaufman Foundation, over the past 25 years, virtually all net new jobs in the US have been created by small, local and independent businesses that are less than five years old. The Pew Charitable Trust reported that green jobs in the U.S. grew more than twice as fast as the overall job market in the past ten years, and suffered fewer setbacks.

9. By choosing green products and services, people can improve their health, live better and save money when they go green.

10. By using our consumer and investing power, we can make real, lasting change. Steps forward include Home Depot shifting to sustainably-harvested wood and Ben & Jerry’s committing to be 100% Fair Trade with their flavors by 2012. Let's keep up the pressure on Hershey's to go Fair Trade!

Americans can and do come together for clean energy and jobs, healthy food, a fair deal for all, and financing systems that rebuild our Main Streets. As we work together on strengthening local businesses and local communities, we're also building alliances across political divides, reknitting the fabric of our country. We have powerful tools at our fingertips for accelerating the shift to a just and sustainable economy.

Thanks for all you do for a better future for all, Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director, Green America

P.S.   Please
forward this message to everyone you know who might need a hopeful message today.

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Investing in Communities 

Your banking and investments can help build the more just and sustainable society we’re all working toward—quickly, painlessly, and in a manner that directly serves low-income areas.   

Community investing is financing that creates resources and opportunities for economically disadvantaged people in the U.S. and overseas who are underserved by traditional financial institutions.  Community investors make it possible for local organizations in urban and rural areas to create jobs; provide financial services to low-income individuals, and supply capital for small business; and supply capital for small businesses, affordable housing, and vital community services.

You can help close the wealth gap between the rich and poor by becoming a community investor.  This powerful movement is responsible for billions of dollars put into rebuilding low-income areas across the US and around the world in the past decade.  

If some of your investments are not held by one or more community development banks or credit  unions in your area, perhaps this would be a good  place for your to start. 

In future editions of this newsletter we will feature other ways in which you could get involved.

Taken from Investing in Communities
Fall 2002

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Ecological Examen
Joseph Carver, SJ 

All creation reflects the beauty and blessing of God’s image?  Where was I most aware of this today? 

Can I identify and pin-point how I made a conscious effort to care for God’s creation during this day? 

What challenges or joys do I experience as I recall my care for creation? 

How can I repair breaks in my relationship with creation, in my unspoken sense of superiority?

As I imagine tomorrow, I ask for the grace to see the Incarnate Christ in the dynamic inter-connections of all Creation.  

Conclude with the prayer of Jesus

 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they many become completely one, so that the world may known that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Catholic Coalition on Climate Change
 www.catholicclimatecovenant.org

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