22 November 2001

But April Fool's Day is in April...

Green co-leader Rod Donald said his first reaction was to laugh when he saw the likes of BP, Mobil, Shell, and British American Tobacco in a list of New Zealand's 20 greenest companies.

"I first saw this list and immediately thought it was an April Fool's Day joke. But this is November," said Mr Donald.

"In fact the list of New Zealand's '20 most environmentally responsible companies' is serious. I can only think that Caltex must be really disappointed that, as the only major oil company not on the list, they didn't make it," he said.

"These awards are an insult to all the companies genuinely trying to improve the environment through their involvement in green industries such as organics, energy conservation, renewable energy generation and public transport."

Mr Donald said the fact that this list is compiled on companies' self assesments made the list even funnier.

"I would love to see the surveys filled in by the likes of the oil companies. The spin that must go into oil companies justifying environmental awards for themselves must be world class humour.

"These 'awards' are a joke, and a very poor one at that," he said.

ENDS

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