For the last several years, Waste Management, Inc.--the nation's largest polluter and least law abiding waste hauler--has been funding the environmental movement. Last year, Waste Management gave $800,000 in grants to environmental groups like Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Conservation Foundation, Nature Conservancy, Inform, Inc., National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Law Institute, Sierra Club of California, World Resources Institute, Izaak Walton League, National Audubon Society, the Keystone Center, and others.

THE CHRONICLE OF PHILANTHROPY reported April 17, 1990, pg. 6, that the Environmental Grantmakers Association, a group of funders who support environmental work, has voted to disqualify Waste Management from membership, citing corporate practices "contrary to the Association's fundamental goals and aspirations." "It is readily apparent that Waste Management, Inc., has engaged in a pattern of abusive corporate conduct involving repeated violations of both criminal and civil laws, with the effect of endangering and degrading the environment," the Association said.
--Peter Montague, Ph.D.

Descriptor terms: wmi; ega; funders; funding;