ADM is having its ethanol lobbying efforts questioned by Public Citizen (Ralph Nader) as reported in "Ethanol Lobbying Disclosures Questioned". The article caught my attention as I just learned how much Ethanol Fuel can help the U.S. and the world. I admit to a certain amount of ignorance and apathy about the subject until I wrote "Greenmagination vs. Oil Addiction". This photo is of corn (maize), but "It (ethanol) is readily obtained from the sugar or starch in crops such as maize, miscanthus and sugarcane."
So, ADM may or may not be guilty of lack of complete disclosure in its lobbying efforts, but that article on ConsumerAffairs.com raises the question of business ethics and loopholes in the law. Does the end justify the means when ADM can help with the U.S. addiction to oil, but may be setting a bad example when it comes to "risk vs. reward"? That article says: "If this is the case, such third-party lobbying exposes serious flaws in the Lobbying Disclosure Act, as it easily allows companies to mask entirely their expenditures to influence the legislative and regulatory process."
Let's look at what the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics has to say.
In their "Where are honest business leaders when this country needs them?" it says: "Tougher laws and longer prison sentences may have less of a deterrent effect than the economy itself. If crooked business practices don't pay off, a lot fewer people will take the risk of using them." The problem here may be the fact that if companies and the individuals that run them don't follow the spirit of the laws written, then loopholes will be sought out because they believe the the risk is less than the reward. This is something that many more companies are doing than possibly ADM.
Individual responsibility and accountability, along with true Corporate social responsibility (CSR) (that has no myths about it) needs to happen in our new globalized, Internet Revolution Age we all live in. Transparency must replace deception! I'm convinced the Internet will help.
ADM has "RESOURCEFUL BY NATURE" as its advertising theme. Let's hope they, and all companies, use their resourcefulness ethically for ecological greenmagination. The U.S. needs companies like the one portrayed in the first "Biodiesel" video on ADM's advertising page. I'm glad Public Citizen is keeping a close watch so that no company can get away with "the end justifies the means", especially when the nature of that company's business can do a lot of good.
Photo courtesy of www.pmachinehowto.com.
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