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4.28.2007

ASJE - another cog in the activist wheel

Houston Principles
of the
Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment

Preamble
On May 19, 1999, environmental and labor leaders confronted CEO Charles Hurwitz in Houston to demand that his Maxxam Corporation, which owns Kaiser Aluminum and Pacific Lumber Company, be held accountable for its impact on working people, communities and the environment.

By clear cutting ancient redwoods in Northern California, and by locking out striking steelworkers in five cities, the Maxxam corporation and its subsidiaries, Pacific Lumber Company and Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, have become icons of corporate irresponsibility.

Recognizing that we have a common interest in making corporations more accountable for their behavior world wide, environmental and labor leaders have formed the Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment and circulated the following statement, dubbed the "Houston Principles."

Whereas:

* The spectacular accumulation of wealth by corporations and America's most affluent during the past two decades has come with a huge price tag

* Corporations have become more powerful than the government entities designed to regulate them.

* The goal of a giant, global corporation is to maximize wealth and to wield political power on its own behalf. Too often, corporate leaders regard working people, communities, and the natural world as resources to be used and thrown away.

* Recognizing the tremendous stakes, labor unions and environmental advocates are beginning to recognize our common ground. Together we can challenge illegitimate corporate authority over our country's and communities' governing decisions.

* While we may not agree on everything, we are determined to accelerate our efforts to make alliances as often as possible


We believe that:

* A healthy future for the economy and the environment requires a dynamic alliance between labor, management, and environmental advocates.

* The same forces that threaten economic and biological sustainability undermine the democratic process.

* The drive for short-term profits without regard for long-term sustainability hurts working people, communities, and the earth.

* Labor, environmental and community groups need to take action to organize as a counter-balance to abusive corporate power

The environmental and labor advocates who have signed these principles resolve to work together to:

* Remind the public that the original purpose behind the creation of corporations was to serve the public interest - namely working people, communities, and the earth.

* Seek stricter enforcement of labor laws and advocate for new laws to guarantee working people their right to form unions and their right to bargain collectively.

* Make workplaces, communities and the planet safer by reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

* Demand that global trade agreements include enforceable labor and environmental standards.

* Promote forward-thinking business models that allow for sustainability over the long term while protecting working people, communities, and the environment.

This ground-breaking alliance of labor and environmentalists invites all people to join with us in a spirit of creative cooperation. Together, we can forge a partnership that protects people and the planet.

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Signed

ENVIRONMENT
Bruce Hamilton
Conservation Director
Sierra Club

Paul Hawken
Author


David Brower
Brower Fund


John A. Knox
Executive Director
Earth Island Institute

John Cavanagh
Director
Institute for Policy Studies

Michael Renner
Senior Researcher
Worldwatch Institute

Richard Drury
Acting Executive Director
Commentates for a Better Environment

Juliette Majot
Executive Director
International Rivers Network

Brent Blackwelder
President
Friends of the Earth

Carl Anthony
Executive Director
Urban Habitat Program

Jonathan Parfrey, MDA
Executive Director
Physicians for Social Responsibility

Suzanne Murphy
Managing Director
Redefining Progress

Paul Schwartz
National Campaign Director
Clean Water Action

Mark Ritchie
President
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Carol L. Wright
Executive Director
Klamath Forest Alliance

Kelly Quirke
Executive Director
Rainforest Action Network

Jim Jontz
Executive Director
American Lands Alliance

John Passacantando
Executive Director
Ozone Action

Lois Gibbs
Executive Director
Center for Health and Environmental Justice

Tom Turner
Director of Publications
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund

Peter Rosset
Executive Director
Food First/ Institute for Food and Development Policy

Paul Mason
Executive Director
Environment Protection Information Center (EPIC)

Hal Kane
Executive Director
Pacific Environment and Resource Center


Marguerite Young
California Director
Clean Water Action


Huey D. Johnson
President
Resource Renewal Institute

Diane Takvorian
Executive Director
Environmental Health Coalition

Paul Spitler
Executive Director
California Wilderness Coalition

Patricia M. Clary
Executive Director
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics

Samuel La Buddy
Executive Director
Endangered Species Project

Christine Stevens
President
Animal Welfare Institute

Paul Hughes
Executive Director
Forests Forever

Dr. Henry Clark
Executive Director
West County Toxics Coalition

Gary Cohen
Director
Environmental Health Fund

Greg Small
Executive Director
Pesticide Watch

David Korten
President
People Centered Development Forum

Ted Smith
Director
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition

Franses F. Korten
Executive Director
The Positive Futures Network

Dave Henson
Executive Director
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center

Jay Letto
President
Central Cascades Alliance

David Cobb
Secretary
Green Party of Texas

Jill Ratner
President
Rose Foundation

Craig Thomas
Director
The Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation

Gina Giazzoni
State College Coordinator
Allegheny Defense Project

Adam Roberts
Research Associate
Society for Animal Protective Legislation

Sanford Lewis
Attorney
Strategic Counsel on Corporate Accountability

Karen Pickett
Coordinator
Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters

Luke Cole
Director
Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment

David E Ortman
President
Wise Use Movement

Thomas R. Lent
President
Association of Flight Attendants--Alaska Airlines

Wenonah Hauter
Director
Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project

Paula Palmer
Executive Director
Global Response

Cal Broomhead
Bureau of Energy Conservation
San Francisco, CA

Prof. Lee Altenberg
Information and Computer Sciences,
University of Hawaii at Manoa

Jim Puckett
Director
Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange (APEX)

David Wood
Senior Associate
Center on Wisconsin Strategy

Lisa Mastny
Staff Researcher
Worldwatch Institute

William A Shutkin
President
New Ecology Inc.

Chris Ford
Steering Committee Member
Southern Arizona Alliance for Economic Justice.

Charles M Miller, esq.
Attorney
Law Office of Charles M. Miller

Celia F. Alario
Communications Team
USWA and Amazon Watch

Thomas Ryan
Community Services Director
San Francisco Labor Council

Scott Tundermann
Sustainable Energy Choice Project
Institute for Science and Interdisciplinary Studies

EMT O'Nan
Director
Protect All Children's Environment

Bill Welsch
President
Safe Alternative for our Forest Environment (SAFE)

Beth Burrows
President/Director
The Edmonds Institute

Harlin Savage
Director
Colorado Forest Program

Fredy Champagne
President
Veterans for Peace, Inc.

Julia Butterfly Hill



Alan Rose
Professor Emeritus
University of Idaho

Nancy Kubasek
Author
"Environmental Law"

Hugh M. Carola
Coordinator
Hackensack Meadowlands Preservation Alliance

Mary Bull
SF Coordinator
Boycott the Gap Campaign

John Grech
Public Officer
Earth Worker Inc., Canada

Steve Brooks
Coordinator
Virginia Forest Watch

Larry Weiss
Coordinator
Labor, Globalization and Human Rights Project
Resource Center of the Americas

Stephen Bezruchka, MD, MPH
Affiliate Assistant Professor
Department of Health Services
University of Washington

David Muhly
Chair
Virginia Forest Watch

Bill Devall
Chairman
Deep Ecology Resource Center

Shirley J Shelburn
Humbolt Watershed Council
Rt 1 Trinidad ,Ca 95570

Ken Miller
Salmon Forever
Mckinleyville, Ca 95519

Marianne DE Sobrino
Redwoods Chapter Sierra Club
Eureka, Ca 95503

Kyle Haines
Forest Protection Coordinator
Klamath Forest Alliance

John Sellers
Director
Rukus Society

Karen Litfin, Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Washington - Seattle

Bob Martel
Executive Director
Humboldt Watershed Council

Chad Hanson
Executive Director
John Muir Project

Christine Cooper, Ph.D
Faculty of Business
University of New Brunswick Saint John

Jacek Purat
School of Information Management and Systems
University of California at Berkeley

Steve Thompson
Natural Resource Consultant
Whitefish, MI

Cam Walker
Friends of the Earth Australia


Darryl Cherney, Executive Director
Environmentally Sound Promotions
Redway, CA

Stephen Graves
Land Use Consultant
Soquel, CA

Bryony Schwan, Exec. Director
Women's Voices for the Earth
Missoula, MT

Nancy Fesco
Boreal Forest Campaign Coordinator
Northern Alaska Environmental Center

Julian Powers
Co-Chair for Legislative Affiars
Spokane Transportation Choice Coalition

Kimberly Burkland
Director
Central Cascades Alliance

Robert Cramer
Co-founder
Taxpayers for Headwaters

Martha Bergotten
Campaign Coordinator
Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project

Lois Barber
International Coordinator
EarthAction

Tim Bristol
Organizer
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council

Larry Campbell
Executive Director
Friends of the Bitterroot

Bill Metzger
Publisher
Great Lakes Brewing News

Kurt Newick
Global Warming activist


Juliette Beck
Campaign Director, Global Exchange

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