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 Times-Picayune April 11, 2004
PVC protest serves up lesson or two
By Greg Thomas
From saving the whales to calling for an end to the multibillion-dollar annual polyvinyl chloride production industry, Greenpeace USA knows how to leave its mark. In New Orleans, the environmental action group has raised the practice of public relations spin to a fine art. It has painted producers of PVC as evil makers of cancer-causing agents, marring the self-portrait in which chemical companies have depicted themselves as good corporate neighbors who contribute money, labor and vinyl materials to Habitat for Humanity International. The often radical and always showy activist group is already deeply despised by cruise-ship operators, nuclear-energy producers and a host of other industries. Now manufacturers of everything from plastic rubber ducks to vinyl siding can be added to the list. While liberals and conservatives alike often blast Greenpeace's tactics, research often shows that its agenda is normally backed by sound science. Greenpeace's recent sponsorship of a PVC-free home through the New Orleans Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity drew the ire of Solutions Through Science and the Vinyl Institute, two trade associations advocating the use of PVC products and assuring users that production plants and vinyl end products are safe. PVC makers in Louisiana have committed $1 million in cash and materials plus free labor to build dozens of Habitat for Humanity homes across the nation, including 16 in Louisiana, all near PVC plants. They do their charitable work as Vinyl Partners for Humanity. Has a nice ring, but the components of PVC -- chlorine and ethylene -- are poisonous, and chemicals associated with their production cause cancer. Even the PVC industry admits that chemicals in the PVC production process caused a rare form of kidney cancer in the 1970s. But heavy regulation since then and plant changes have rendered production facilities safe, according to the industry associations. Representatives of the PVC industry point to the fact that they are responsible for less than 1 percent of the dioxins released in the atmosphere and that overall plant emissions have been reduced by 90 percent from what they were in the 1970s. PVC production involves the use of dangerous substances, but it's hard to imagine modern life without PVC products, including home appliances, autos, carpeting, wallpaper, and dozens of other products found in every home. Greenpeace's role in its local Habitat project was to find replacement products that were deemed environmentally safe but did not exceed the home's $55,000 budget. Greenpeace used its solar-powered truck, complete with solar-panels, on the job site to generate electricity to run power tools. Several readers have responded to reports on Greenpeace's Habitat for Humanity flap. One reader wrote that Greenpeace is no more than a "terrorist organization" and that the newspaper had been "duped" into its coverage. Another reader, an executive with a PVC producer in Louisiana, wrote that the coverage "shed light on a story that, as of yet, has not received balance." Regardless which side of the fence you're on in this controversy -- and regardless of whether the fence is made of wood or the newer PVC fencing so popular now -- a New Orleans mother received a decent place to live in a home she can afford. The other lesson here is that Greenpeace turned the tables on a million-dollar charitable effort mounted by a consortium of Louisiana PVC producers. Chalk up one for Greenpeace. . . . . . . . Greg Thomas can be reached at (504) 826-3399 or at gthomas@timespicayune.com |
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