Pepsi

PepsiCo’s Lobbying for Cap and Trade Hit at Annual Meeting

Nooyi photoNLPC is the sponsor of a shareholder proposal that asks PepsiCo to report on its lobbying priorities. Here are my remarks today at the PepsiCo annual meeting in Plano, Texas:

I regret that PepsiCo opposes this resolution asking for a report on the company’s lobbying priorities. I would think that management would welcome the opportunity to explain its priorities.

PepsiCo is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership a coalition of corporations and environmental groups. USCAP’s mission is to “quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.” The House of Representatives has obliged in the form of the Waxman-Markey bill. According to the Heritage Foundation, this bill would destroy over 1.1 million jobs, hike electricity rates 90 percent, and reduce the U.S. gross domestic product by nearly $10 trillion over the next 25 years.

SEC: Pepsi Must Allow NLPC Proposal on Lobbying Priorities Like Cap and Trade

Pepsi logoThe Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ruled that PepsiCo may not exclude a shareholder proposal filed by NLPC that asks the company for a report on its lobbying priorities. PepsiCo is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of corporations and environmental groups that lobbies for the disastrous cap and trade legislation.

Our resolution will appear in PepsiCo’s proxy materials, and I will speak in its support at the company’s annual meeting this spring.

By trying to preclude a shareholder discussion of this and other issues, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi seems unwilling to publicly defend the company's controversial public policy positions, which is exactly the point of our resolution. Maybe the company should change its positions on cap and trade, and other issues where it sides with anti-business activists.

BP, ConocoPhillips and Caterpillar Quit Cap-and-Trade Lobby Group; PepsiCo Should Do The Same

Nooyi photoAlthough they never should have been a part of it in the first place, three major companies have exited the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of corporations and environmental groups. USCAP’s mission is to “quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.” The House has obliged and the result, the Waxman-Markey bill, is too strong for both the Senate and the American people.

Instead of taking a principled stand against massive government intervention in the energy economy, corporate executives argued that global warming legislation was coming anyway, so it was better to be inside the room when it was negotiated. This was the same argument made by pharmaceutical companies when they threw their support behind Barack Obama’s health care plan.

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