TREND AGAINST TAR SANDS CONTINUES

New Corporate Actions Fuel Trend Against Tar Sands Despite Federal Government's Crusade to
Cover Up the Dirt

VANCOUVER, Dec. 1 /CNW/ - Canadian companies Concord Transportation and LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, and the US Fortune 500 company Avon, have joined a growing number of large businesses that have publicly expressed concerns about Canada's Tar Sands. LUSH and the Canadian trucking company, Concord, have specifically required fuel vendors to avoid fuel from refineries connected to Canada's Tar Sands, and Avon has asked its transportation providers to avoid high impact fuels such as those from the Tar Sands.

"Avon recognizes its responsibility to the environment and the world's forests," said Tod Arbogast, VP of Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility with Avon. "That's why we've asked our transportation partners to take steps that will avoid high impact, high carbon fuels such as those from the Tar Sands."

"Canada's Tar Sands are an unethical source of fuel for shipping LUSH products," said Shama Alexander, Environmental Officer with LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics. "Our primary transportation partners respect our ethics and are helping us remove the Tar Sands from our footprint."

The actions taken by Avon, LUSH and Concord mirror those taken by other large companies at the request of ForestEthics. To date, ten major companies and one US city have publicly announced actions that either specifically focus on Canada's Tar Sands or create standards that will limit fuels such as those from the Tar Sands.

"Large buyers of fuel and transportation services are strengthening their resolve against Canada's dirty tar sands oil," said Aaron Sanger, Director of US Campaigns at ForestEthics. "The US market for this increasingly controversial product is becoming more uncertain."

The action taken by trucking company Concord, which operates primarily in the US, reflects deepening market concern about the impacts of Tar Sands. At the request of its customer, LUSH, Concord required assurance from its fuel vendors that they were taking steps to avoid fuel from US refineries taking input from Canada's Tar Sands.

"Given the power of oil companies who have turned the Canadian and Albertan governments into international lobbyists, maybe it will be large corporate customers that finally drive changes needed to stop the environmental and social harm of the Tar Sands," said Nikki Skuce, Senior Energy Campaigner at ForestEthics.

ForestEthics, a nonprofit with staff in Canada and the United States, recognizes that individual people can be mobilized to create positive environmental change—and so can corporations. Armed with this unique philosophy, ForestEthics has secured agreements to protect more than twenty-five million hectares of Endangered Forests. Visit forestethics.ca for more information.

For further information:

Claudia Li, Communications Officer, Cell: 604-723-0134