Large Investor Coalition Urges Chevron to Explore Settlement in Rainforest Pollution Lawsuit; Related Shareholder Proposal Gets 25% of Vote
“The entire case is looming like a hammer over shareholders’ heads. Chevron should start fresh with a new approach that embraces environmental responsibility and risk management as part of its corporate culture. More legal proceedings will only delay the inevitable.” ~ New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli …
Trillium Asks Securities and Exchange Commission to Investigate Chevron Corporation’s Disclosures Re Historic Ecuadorian Judgment
Contact: Shelley Alpern, Trillium (617) 292-8026, x 248 Jonas Kron, Esq., Trillium (503) 592-0864 Sanford Lewis, Esq. (413) 549-7333 Boston, MA, May 23, 2011 – Trillium Asset Management (“Trillium”) has requested that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) undertake a staff review to examine whether Chevron Corp. has appropriately disclosed to its shareholders the scope and magnitude of financial and operational risk from a recent adverse legal judgment in Ecuador. In its letter, Trillium states its belief that the issues raised may have “the potential to rise to the level of materiality under the securities laws.” After nearly two decades …
SEC Passes Proxy Access Rule
August 25, 2010 — This just in from the Social Investment Forum: Dear members, In a widely anticipated three-two vote along party lines, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today enacted a new rule 14a-11 granting shareholder access to the proxy, following more than three decades of debate. The new rule, however, includes some significant changes from the draft rule the SEC posted on June 10, 2009, which received more than 600 comments. The biggest change is on ownership thresholds and holding requirements. The ownership thresholds, originally 1 percent for large-cap, 3 percent for mid-cap, and 5 percent for the …
Heading into Corporate Annual Meeting Season, Trillium Announces Four Shareholder Proposals Withdrawn
Trillium Asset Management Corporation (“Trillium”) is pleased to announce the withdrawal of four shareholder 2010 resolutions as we head into the annual meeting season. Resolutions filed with Plum Creek Timber, Lincoln Electric, State Street Bank and Whole Foods Market have resulted in changes to corporate policies that will have a positive impact on transparency, corporate governance and workplace diversity. Plum Creek Timber Company (PCL): Say on Pay Our “say on pay” proposal called upon management to submit an advisory resolution on executive compensation for shareholder approval at annual meetings. After evaluating the resolution, for which Trillium was the lead filer, …
Tar Sands Shareholder Proposals Pick Up Steam in 2010
In a show of how seriously investors, environmentalists and advocates are looking at the environmental costs and financial uncertainties associated with tar sands, support has grown dramatically for shareholder resolutions filed at major oil companies. This movement parallels increased activity on the part of more than 50 nongovernmental organizations working to slow down the expansion of tar sands projects. Extracting oil from tar sands, also known as oil sands, is an energy-intensive and damaging process, whereby oil that is mixed with sand, clay, other mineral sediments and water is separated often using hot or warm water. The oil is either …
Investors Call on Equipment Manufacturers to Cease Sourcing from Democratic Republic of the Congo
February 2, 2010 – Trillium Asset Management Corporation has joined a coalition of investors in calling on major electronics, medical device and automobile component manufactures, to ensure that the companies are not aiding conflict and human rights abuses by purchasing supplies from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The investors, who represent almost $200 billion in assets, have issued a statement calling on companies to condemn the use of minerals whose trade promotes the conflict in the DRC and take immediate steps to ensure that these minerals are not used in their products. The Investor Statement calls on companies …
SEC Issues Ground-Breaking Guidance on Climate Change Risk Disclosure
[We’re pleased to excerpt this press release from Ceres, the Investor Network on Climate Risk and the Environmental Defense Fund. Trillium Asset Management Corporation participated heavily in the lobbying efforts that lead to this breakthrough.] Contact: Peyton Fleming, Ceres, 617-733-6660 or fleming@ceres.org Steve Tripoli, Ceres, 617-247-0700 x155 or tripoli@ceres.org Sharyn Stein, EDF, 202-572-3396 or sstein@edf.org Download the Ceres/EDF Fact Sheet – SEC: Companies Must Disclose Climate Risks & Opportunities Leading Investors Hail Today’s Landmark Decision WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 27, 2010) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today issued new interpretive guidance that clarifies what publicly-traded companies need to disclose …
SEC: Companies Can No Longer Bury the Lede on Shareholder Votes
December 2009 – The Securities and Exchange Commission moved to finalize a new rule that requires companies to disclose annual meeting voting results within four business days after the annual meeting. Trillium argued vigorously in support of this rule change because we believe the value of vote totals is greatest immediately after the annual meeting. This is when media interest is usually highest and delays only put the issue farther from shareholders’ minds. In fact we have witnessed occasions when it appears that companies are dragging their feet in an effort to minimize or marginalize strong expressions of support for …
The Smart Grid Brings Smart Tips for Energy Use
Knowledge is power? Not according to Google and Microsoft. These firms and many others have recently rolled out energy efficiency tools designed for consumers to use on the emerging smart grid. The hope is that knowledge will bring less power, fewer blackouts and reduced carbon emissions. Investors are beginning to sit up and take notice of smart grid technologies, especially since the Obama Administration’s stimulus plan directed over $4 billion to the young industry. There’s been much talk about how a smart grid can reshape the utility industry, but smart grid technology also will bring about changes for you and …
Why Holocaust Stories Still Have Meaning and Relevance
It’s been 64 years since the end of World War II but Holocaust stories in popular culture continue to cascade. Kate Winslet won an Oscar this year for her portrayal of a concentration camp guard in The Reader. John Demjanjuk, who served as a guard at three different death camps, was deported from the United States to Germany in May; now 89, he was implicated in the execution of 29,000 Jews. Two plays currently running in London deal with the collaboration of two German composers, Wilhelm Furtwangler and Richard Strauss, with the Nazis. And this year has seen the publication …
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