News From Green Century Capital Management

1/7/09 >> Green Century Pressuring Lowe’s to Respect the Everglades

Green Century Capital Management, Inc. (Green Century), the Boston-based investment adviser to the Green Century Funds, has been engaging Lowe’s Companies, Inc.*, a major home improvement retailer, over the company's efforts to build a big-box store in critical wetlands territory bordering the Florida Everglades.

Over the last seven years, Lowe's has attempted to build a store in Miami-Dade County that falls outside the Urban Development Boundary (UDB). The UDB is a line drawn in the wetlands to protect the unique and species-rich Everglades from swiftly-encroaching sprawl. Development already extends up to the boundary itself in many areas of the County. The proposed Lowe's store would straddle the boundary and include more than 10 acres of wetlands officially designated as off-limits to development.

Lowe's proposed store poses not only environmental risks to the Everglades but financial risks to the company as well. As delineated in recent reports authored by groups such as Bernstein Research, the Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS), and Domini Social Investments LLC, community-opposed big-box development carries inherent financial risks. The Mayor of Miami-Dade County, along with sixteen local municipalities, the state Department of Community Affairs and over 100 local organizations, opposes efforts such as Lowe's to develop outside the boundary. The company has faced numerous legal challenges regarding permitting of the site. Lowe’s has also received significant negative media coverage regarding its efforts to build beyond the UDB, including a business article in nationally-distributed TIME magazine.

Green Century has been working in coalition with CBIS, pressuring Lowe's to rethink its plans in Miami-Dade County. Green Century recently filed a shareholder resolution at the company asking for increased stakeholder engagement in the company’s store siting policies, particularly in relation to the proposed Everglades store, and also pushing the company to take a more sustainable approach as it plans stores in the future.

"Lowe's needs to recognize the substantial risks its proposed store poses not only to the Everglades ecosystem but to the company itself," says Emily Stone, Shareholder Advocate for Green Century Capital Management. "We have investments to protect, as well as our environment."

*As of October 31, 2008, Lowe's Companies, Inc. comprised 0.71% of the Green Century Equity Fund and 0.00% of the Green Century Balanced Fund. Portfolio composition will change due to ongoing management of the Funds. References to specific investments should not be construed as a recommendation of the securities by the Funds, their administrator, or their distributor.
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Green Century Capital Management is an investment advisory firm focused on environmentally responsible investing.  Founded by a partnership of non-profit environmental advocacy organizations in 1991, Green Century's mission is to provide people who care about a clean, healthy planet the opportunity to use the clout of their investment dollars to encourage environmentally responsible corporate behavior. Green Century believes that shareholder advocacy is a critical component of responsible investing and actively advocates for greater corporate environmental accountability.

You should consider the Funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.  For a prospectus that contains this and other information about the Funds, call 1-800-93-GREEN, visit www.greencentury.com or email info@greencentury.com.  Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Distributed by UMB Distribution Services, LLC 1/09

 


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