Through their actions and their negligence, some of the world’s most powerful corporations undermine democracy and inflict great harm upon people, other living creatures and the environment.

That is why Corporate Campaign, Inc., renowned for its 21-year record of challenging abuses of corporate power, is interested in opening up a dialogue with funders/social investors, philanthropists, representatives of foundations, trial attorneys and leaders of national and international organizations. We wish to explore dynamic new approaches that could force corporations to pay full restitution and penalties for their misconduct and to alter their irresponsible behavior. (See “Are You a Class-Action Casualty of Corporate Greed?” at www.corporatecampaign.org.)

The world’s second largest corporation, ExxonMobil, exemplifies the problem. It has few, if any, peers in terms of plundering the environment, denying global warming, depleting the public treasury, abusing workers, ignoring human rights and safety concerns and undermining democracy. (These issues were highlighted in our report, “The Arctic Refuge, the Filthy Four and Organized Labor,” at www.corporatecampaign.org.) ExxonMobil policymakers worship at the altar of “free markets” while rewarding themselves lavishly and promoting an elitist, right-wing ideology. Far from showing any remorse for their actions, they scornfully dismiss all those who dare to criticize them.

More than 13 years after the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill and more than eight years after a federal court jury sought to compensate victims, the company hasn’t paid a penny of the $5.3 billion punitive damages award the Anchorage jury imposed. In November, 2001, a federal appeals court in San Francisco agreed that Exxon’s conduct was reckless, but held that precedent compelled a reduction of the proposed award. (A district court had rejected the company’s appeal in 1995, and the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 rejected its request for a new trial.) US News and World Report speculated that the award might be reduced by 80% or more. Even then, ExxonMobil would likely pursue the appeals process ad infinitum. Yet in 2000 and 2001, ExxonMobil reported $33 billion in net profits and CEO Lee Raymond recently “reiterated his company’s goal of investing $10 billion a year through the end of the decade on its business, primarily in (oil and gas) exploration and production” (Wall Street Journal, 3/6/02). (UPDATE: The New York TImes reported that on Dec. 6, 2002, the punitive damages award against ExxonMobil was reduced to $4 billion by a federal district judge. Company spokesperson, Tom Cirigliano, stated the company’s position that “No punitive damages are really warranted in this case” and made it clear that ExxonMobil would continue to appeal.)

Representatives of the Exxon Valdez victims are all too aware that even full payment of the original $5.3 billion damages award wouldn’t cover the plaintiffs’ losses. Meanwhile, the self-serving bullies in the executive suites carry on with business as usual.

I firmly believe that a properly funded Corporate Campaign, developed and directed by my organization, could force ExxonMobil to pay the full punitive damages award plus interest — regardless of what the courts may or may not do. At the same time, the company could be forced to abandon its opposition to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce global warming as well as curtail its activities that threaten democracy and human rights. All over the world, ExxonMobil’s single-minded obsession with reaping greater profits could become its Achilles’ heel.

When I talk about implementing a Corporate Campaign against such irresponsible companies as ExxonMobil, I don’t mean simply a campaign against a particular corporation. I’m talking about a highly technical, strategic and organizational approach on a large scale. (For more details, see the Web site www.corporatecampaign.org.) As the campaign escalates, it would likely set in motion a process that would lead to resignations of directors and/or top executives at ExxonMobil, possibly including CEO Lee Raymond himself.

Achieving these lofty goals within three years would probably require an investment of $15 to $25 million for a relentless, multi-dimensional campaign that would place enormous economic and political pressures on the company. (Such an amount represents less than half of what some candidates in large states and cities spend on a race for the U.S. Senate or the mayoralty, and less than one-half of 1% of the punitive damages award ExxonMobil has so far managed to evade). The company’s top executives, directors, shareholders, creditors and key political allies would recognize that paying up and conducting business in a more socially responsible manner was not only in their best interest, but an unavoidable necessity.

However, ExxonMobil and its global support network will only reach such a conclusion after they realize they have far more to lose than to gain by continuing to ignore the concerns of environmentalists, labor groups and other human rights and public-interest advocates. (ExxonMobil pays only 5.9% interest on the outstanding Exxon Valdez punitive damages award, while it collects about three times the amount due by investing what it refuses to pay.)

Although many of those who could help finance this effort would be delighted just to see companies like ExxonMobil, Massey Energy and Dow Chemical/Union Carbide take a well-deserved beating, let me emphasize that they could also recover their monetary investment and more — and make it possible to finance even more ambitious corporate accountability projects.

If Corporate Campaign, Inc. were to set up a broad coalition of labor, environmental, human rights and other public-interest organizations to pursue this ExxonMobil situation, and if the coalition achieved some or all of its goals, we would take a small percentage of the monies paid out by ExxonMobil or another targeted company to establish a permanent Corporate Campaign Center for research, strategy development and training of organizers and a war chest to fund other corporate accountability projects. Even a 5.9% fee, which is all the annual interest ExxonMobil pays on the original punitive damages award, would total more than $300 million. Given the prospect of such a reward, funders/social investors could participate in powerful, grassroots corporate accountability movements that would enable them to recoup several times their “social venture capital” investment. Meanwhile, the local, national and international organizations that worked hard on winning campaigns would be rewarded with large grants for their ongoing efforts.

There is nothing impractical or utopian about this plan; it’s all very doable. If you find these ideas intriguing and you are — or can point us to — potential funders/investors, please contact me immediately. Corporate Campaign, Inc. is presently under contract to help settle a groundbreaking lawsuit that involves potentially huge compensatory and punitive damages awards. We are seeking to raise $5 million for a national campaign to bring this suit to a successful resolution. Potential funders should not hesitate to call me for more information.

Sincerely,

Ray Rogers, Director
Corporate Campaign, Inc
25 Washington St., Suite 302
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201
(718) 852-2808
corpcamp@aol.com
www.corporatecampaign.org