25 Nov 2009 Black Friday Payback: Vote with your Wallet — Don’t Buy Products from Companies That Support President Obama’s Cap-and-Trade Policy

Washington, DC – Today the Free Enterprise Project of the National Center for Public Policy Research calls on patriotic Americans to vote with their wallets starting on Black Friday and avoid buying products from companies that are working with President Obama and liberals in Congress to impose cap-and-trade policies.

“The only reason why cap-and-trade is on the national scene is because CEOs of major corporations are actively lobbying for the legislation.  Every time we buy products from these companies our money is rewarding CEOs who are the enemies of liberty,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., Director of the Free Enterprise Project.  “Cap-and-trade legislation will cause higher energy prices, lower economic growth and increase unemployment.  The consequence of this legislation will cause a severe reduction in our standard of living.”

Companies such as Starbucks, Levi Strauss and Company and Nike are members of the Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy — a group that supports aggressive federal laws to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and limits on construction of coal-fired power plants.

General Electric, BP, Shell and Johnson & Johnson are members of the United States Climate Action Partnership — a lobbying group comprised of corporations and environmental special interest groups that have been active in supporting cap-and-trade legislation.

Al Gore is on Apple’s board of directors and the company recently canceled its membership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of differences over global warming policies.

“Avoiding that Starbucks cup of coffee and that BP gas station are easy choices we can make every day.  Companies need to know there will be a price to pay for colluding with environmental activists and liberal politicians that seek to loot us of our liberty,” said Borelli. 

“We don’t need to wait for elections to exercise our belief in limited government and individual liberty.  Every day we have an opportunity to vote with our wallet and avoid products from companies that are advancing the left-wing agenda,” said Borelli.

The following is a partial list of companies whose products should be avoided on Black Friday and going forward until they stop lobbying for cap-and-trade: Starbucks, Levi Strauss & Company, Nike, Apple, Timberland, Gap Inc., General Electric, BP, Shell and Johnson & Johnson.

The Free Enterprise Project can be visited online at www.freeenterpriser.com.

The National Center for Public Policy Research is a non-partisan, non-profit educational foundation based in Washington, DC. It receives most of its funding through hundreds of thousands of individual gifts.