It recently came to light that Alberta energy giant, Talisman Energy, was funnelling money into anti-global warming efforts in the form of anonymous donation to the University of Alberta. In 2004 a $175,00 donation was made to a trust account, with the money going towards PR and lobbying efforts against government regulations that targeted greenhouse gas emissions, which would have hurt the oil companies bottom line.
The activity itself is quite common amongst not only oil companies but any industry that feels itself being threatened by external threats such as regulation or public opinion. Corporations hold it within their right to express their opinions on a topic, even if they are bias, shown most recently in the US where the Supreme Court ruled in favour of corporations in the Citizens United case allowing unlimited funding towards independent political statements.
“Corporations are people,” however, where people would act openly in their support of a cause, Talisman Energy acted in secret and the information was not made public until quite recently. Talisman knew that it was not favourable for their image to openly try and influence regulations and public opinion about global warming, however by acting in secret they went against their ethical responsibility towards not only their costumers but the general public.
Source: The Province, Oil giant kick-started climate skeptics project.
Niloufar’s blog post on ethics highlights the abundance of companies who secretly deal with ” external threats such as regulation or public opinion” in unethical ways. A competitive market only works if businesses have transparent actions – Talisman’s actions create inequitable competition for businesses who have adapted to government rules (ex. adapting environmental practices.) Moreover, if “Corporations are people,” they have a responsibility to maintain their reputation (or brand) – as all people in society. A business hiding its true intentions is a large sign of unethical behaviour – such as insider trading and setting pricing, and secretly donating to anti-global warming efforts!
Niloufar’s blog post on ethics highlights the abundance of companies who secretly deal with external threats.
As “Corporations are people,” they have a responsibility to maintain their reputation (brand) – as all people in society. A business hiding its true intentions indicates unethical behaviour – as, for example, insider trading and illegally setting prices.
A competitive market only works if businesses have transparent actions – Talisman’s actions create inequitable competition for businesses who have adapted to government rules. If one company invests in green technology, it has a higher cost structure, and is incapable of price competing against other firms. Being able to match and compete on prices is especially important in the oil industry, where an undifferentiated product makes firms unable to justify higher prices to consumers. On a soccer field, is it ethical for a team to influence the referee to specifically change the rules for their team? Donating to anti-global warming efforts devalues the idea of a economy: a fair platform for “players” to compete with their abilities as the only advantage. A government’s role must be unhindered to maintain our values of environmental stewardship and open competition. Any company – especially Talisman – whose actions discredit society’s values is unethical.