Perspectives on Social Issues
(October 2005)
ExxonMobil Shareholders Successfully Support Climate Change Resolutions
"In May [2005], shareholders of ExxonMobil Corp., the world's largest energy company, gave record support to a resolution seeking greater corporate analysis and transparency about the financial risks posed by climate change. 
The first-year resolution, asking the company to disclose plans for how it will contribute to meeting greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets in countries participating in the Kyoto Protocol, received 28.3 percent of shareholder votes, representing 1.5 billion in shares with a market value of about $83.3 billion. The resolution was filed by members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and backed by several U.S. and European institutional investors....
With few first-year resolutions making it into double digits, or even past the quartile mark, the vote was a success for shareholder activism. 'Today’s vote sends a loud and clear message that shareholders want and deserve more action from ExxonMobil on the climate change issue,' said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups that helped file the resolution. ExxonMobil has vigorously denied the broad scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels contributes to global climate change.
A second resolution, filed by socially responsible investment firm Christian Brothers Investment Services and calling on the company to make available the scientific evidence supporting its controversial position, received 10.3 percent support, up from 8.8 percent in 2004. Investors worry that the company's head-in-the-sand response on climate issues puts long-term shareholder value at risk."
"ExxonMobil Investors Show Record Support for Climate Change Resolution" by Lisa Mastny, Environmental Intelligence, WorldWatch, Sept/Oct 2005.
Non-Married Women More Vulnerable to Poverty
"A study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that older, non-married women are particularly vulnerable to poverty. About 28 percent of older single women were either poor or near poor in 2000. There are several reasons for this, wrote Alicia H. Munnell, the study's author.
First, the retirement income system in the United States is based on earnings, and women typically have low earnings because they had lower wages, are more likely to work part-time and spend fewer years in the labor force. They also live longer than men, and the retirement income of married women drops significantly when the husband dies. A Social Security benefit is cut between one-third and one-half when a husband dies, and a private pension either disappears or is reduced. Inflation also hurts women. Munnell found that with an inflation rate of 3 percent, the value of $100 drops to S76 after 10 years and $56 after 20 years. Women now have an average life expectancy at 65 of 19.6 years, compared with 16.6 for men. What little money they have loses power the longer they live."
"Seniors Can Face Tough Times: Women Hit Hard by Poverty" by Kate Schott, La Crosse Tribune, Aug 21, 2005.
McCain's Bill Addresses Disparities in Health Care for Native Americans
"Senator John McCain (R-AZ), chair, Senate Indian Affairs Committee, recently introduced legislation (Senate Bill 1057) reauthorizing the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (lHCIA). This legislation makes significant steps toward modernizing the system through which most American Indians and Alaska Natives receive their health care. The disparities tribal communities continue to face must be addressed immediately before another generation of American Indian and Alaska Native people lose their quality of life to debilitating health problems.
Life expectancy of Native Americans is nearly six years less than any other race or ethnic group in the United States. Native Americans are 630 percent more likely to die from alcoholism, 650 percent more likely to die from tuberculosis, 318 percent more likely to die from diabetes, and 204 percent more likely to suffer accidental death compared with other groups."
"U.S. Government: Live Up to Your Responsibilities!," HONOR, May/June/July 2005.
"I Will Not Kill" Campaign
"On Capitol Hill in May [2005], faith-based organizations announced the "I Will Not Kill" campaign to educate youth targeted by military recruiters. The campaign's goal is to make youth more aware of their rights regarding military service, educate them about the impact of war, promote a culture of life in targeted communities, and promote conscientious objection to military service as a positive alternative to violence.
‘A new generation of youth from all sorts of backgrounds -- including persons from disadvantaged communities -- want to serve their country and global family without killing others,’ said David Whettstone, a legislative analyst for Mennonite Central Committee. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, schools that receive federal funds must make 11th- and 12th-grade students' contact information available to recruiters unless students fill out a form to opt out of the practice. U.S. high school students report getting multiple calls a day from recruiters. According to the Associated Press, Army Officials have investigated 480 allegations of impropriety by recruiters since Oct. 1, 2004."
"Counter Recruiters," Between the Lines compiled by Rose Marie Berger and Mark Betz, Sojourners Aug 2005.
Chinese Students Studying U.S. Congress, Economy, Religion, and Society
"[W]hat struck me most about Shanghai today was the self-confidence of the people. They are eager to know more about the world. At Fudan University in Shanghai, one of China's finest, set in a leafy campus of low concrete buildings, professor Wu Xinbo tells me how the school's Center for American Studies has developed. When it started in 1985, it was permitted to focus only on U.S.-China political relations. Gradually, the program expanded to study the U.S. economy. But in recent years, Wu says, ‘as we got more sophisticated, we developed the study of U.S. society and religion, and then added the study of the U.S. Congress.’ Now, he says, the center has many exchanges with the U.S.
In order to manage their relationship with that new power, Americans will need to know more about what is going on in Shanghai and beyond."
"Shanghai a Showcase for China" by Trudy Rubin, La Crosse Tribune, Sept 28, 2005.
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Gratitude to the Institute for Peace and Justice
for use of their Pope Paul VIth graphic. |
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