Carbon footyprint: E.ON's carbon greenwash

If you’re a football fan, you might have noticed that E.ON - the corporation behind the plans to build the new coal power station in Kingsnorth - has been spending a lot of time and cash advertising their 'Carbon Footyprint' campaign. The message is a simple one: football fans can reduce the carbon impact of the FA cup, sponsored by E.ON,

"By pledging ways to save energy, you'll help reduce the carbon footyprint of The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON."
E.ON

Sounds like a good idea in principle, but there is something really wrong with this type of campaign because E.ON are shifting the blame of climate change onto football fans, rather than looking at reducing their own massive carbon footyprint. And E.ON is responsible for proposing a coal-fired power station which will destroy all the efforts made by football fans and millions of individuals who are all doing their bit to reduce their climate impact.

Individual action can help to reduce climate change, but corporations and governments must keep to their part of the deal and follow up their green rhetoric with positive action. You can find out more about individual v government action on the World Development Movement's website.

You can find out how E.ON's carbon footyprint compares with the FA cup by visiting our spoof site: www.carbonfootyprint.org

Ironically E.ON's banner advertising has even been appearing next to news stories about the new Kingsnorth power station. Could it be a mistake by their advertisers, or perhaps they think some greenwash ads will make building the most polluting form of power station possible more palatable?

Either way, if E.ON think they can offset the carbon disaster that is Kingsnorth with a bit of desperate greenwash, they’re mistaken. Maybe it’s time they sacked their PR agency, or even better cleaned up their act.