Friends of the Earth U.S. statement in support of Occupy Wall Street

Friends of the Earth U.S. aligns itself with the Occupy Wall Street movement, asserting that corporate influence and neoliberal ideology have captured political systems and driven environmental destruction. The organization argues that the environmental movement must move beyond parochial interests to support progressive tax and financial reforms, such as a Wall Street transactions tax and the end of polluter tax giveaways, to ensure economic and environmental justice.

• The document attributes massive inequality and the capture of civil and political systems by corporate lobbyists and campaign donations to decades of neoliberal ideology that prioritized unrestrained markets and corporate influence over the public interest.
• The financial sector's growth, which at its peak represented approximately 40 percent of U.S. GDP, is described as creating a speculative economy that generates jobless growth and benefits an elite rather than society at large.
• Friends of the Earth U.S. argues that the environmental movement must recognize that economic and environmental justice are the same struggle, warning that failing to act in solidarity with broader justice movements risks harming the public interest.
• The organization advocates for specific progressive financial and tax policies as essential for the environment and social equity, including a Wall Street transactions tax, the end of the Bush tax cuts, the end of polluter tax giveaways, and a stop to offshore tax avoidance.
• The document identifies poorly formed policies regarding big banks, trade rules, financial markets, regulation, corporate power, tax, budget, and democratic governance as drivers of environmental destruction.

APA

Fox, A. (2011). Friends of the Earth U.S. statement in support of Occupy Wall Street. Friends of the Earth. https://foe.org/news/2011-11-friends-of-the-earth-us-statement-in-support-of-occu/

Chicago

Fox, Audrey. Friends of the Earth U.S. statement in support of Occupy Wall Street. Friends of the Earth, 2011. https://foe.org/news/2011-11-friends-of-the-earth-us-statement-in-support-of-occu/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Fox |first1=Audrey |title=Friends of the Earth U.S. statement in support of Occupy Wall Street |publisher=Friends of the Earth |date=8 November 2011 |url=https://foe.org/news/2011-11-friends-of-the-earth-us-statement-in-support-of-occu/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{fox2011friends, author = {Fox, Audrey}, title = {{Friends of the Earth U.S. statement in support of Occupy Wall Street}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {https://foe.org/news/2011-11-friends-of-the-earth-us-statement-in-support-of-occu/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }