CLF staff writing on this blog, smart commentators and allied climate advocates have taken issue with Verizon Wireless appearing on the sponsor list for a Labor Day rally and concert that includes gathering of signatures for petitions against, and statements opposing, climate legislation.

A telephone conversation with Verizon Wireless Vice President Corporate Communications Jim Gerace led to him sending the following email giving his side of the story:

I appreciate you taking the time to reach out to me.  You can use any of this email for your site if you’d like.

As we discussed, our involvement in the Labor Day event was initiated by some local sales people to do what we pay them to do — sell wireless phones.  When they were presented with the opportunity to spend $1,000 to have access to 50,000 (the estimate at the time) members of the community they sell in, they jumped at the chance.  The underlying purpose of the event was not made obvious to them.  They saw it as a Labor Day concert.  Our involvement is not a statement of our policy on these issues.  Many media and interested people have chosen to not believe that, but they need only look at our record to see how serious we are about protecting the environment we live and work in.  We didn’t wake up one day last week and change our minds.  The following link will bring you to some of our key initiatives in this area: http://aboutus.vzw.com/Green_Initiative/overview.html .  The first one called Hopeline is a program I created way back in 1995 and continue to direct today.  Our commitment to the environment is unwavering, that some want to believe otherwise is disappointing.

What do folks think?  They are saying this is an innocent mistake by a company that is generally trying to do the right thing. Do you buy it?  Comment below . . .

Personally, I am waiting to see Verizon and/or Verizon Wireless step forward and take affirmative steps to show leadership as some of the true leaders in all sectors of American business have already done. Perhaps they will.

It’s no surprise that Fox News’ dunderhead commentator and global warming denier Sean Hannity is attending a Labor Day rally supporting the destructive coal mining practice of mountaintop removal.  It’s no surprise that gun-toting, washed-up 80′s rocker Ted Nugent will be there too, spewing his crass, foul-mouthed brand of conservative hatred (warning–adult language on linked content).  What is surprising is that if you are a Verizon Wireless customer, you may be helping to pay for this celebration of environmental degradation!

That’s right, if you visit the home page for the “Friends of America” rally–after you watch the video of the coal company CEO decrying how “environmental extremists and corporate America are both trying to destroy your job” (last time I checked, the coal companies were part of “corporate america”)–you can visit the “sponsors” page to find out who is putting up the $$ for this “rally.”  After you scroll through the long list of big coal companies who are destroying Appalachia and fighting tooth and nail against any meaningful efforts to reduce global warming pollution, you will see Verizon Wireless listed as one of the corporate America benefactors of this gathering of malefactors.

I’m guessing that there are a lot of Verizon Wireless customers like me who believe that GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL AND IT IS A REAL PROBLEM!  So what can we do to change Verizon’s position on this issue?

Our friends and occasional coalition partners at the Center for Biological Diversity are the ones who brought this to my attention.  They have a great action alert that you can use to call out Verizon Wireless for their environmentally unfriendly use of the money you send them for cell service. 

If you want to go one step further, then I suggest picking up the phone.  If you’ve ever worked for a company with a call center, you know that clogged lines cost them money.  So let’s clog Verizon’s phone lines like their friends at the coal companies clog the once-pristine mountain streams with mining waste. Pick up your Verizon phone, call customer service by dialing *611 from your cell or (800) 922-0204 from your home, and register your complaint about Verizon’s support for an event designed to block meaningful progress on climate change.  This is one time when you can feel good about waiting on hold to talk to the phone company’s customer service rep.