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

Friends of the Earth U.S. issued a statement expressing support for the Occupy Wall Street movement, arguing that economic and environmental justice are inextricably linked. The organization calls for a systemic overhaul of financial and economic systems to prioritize people and the planet over corporate profit and market fundamentalism.

• Friends of the Earth U.S. asserts that the Occupy Wall Street movement is a moral response to growing inequality in the United States and globally, characterized by disparities in wealth, opportunity, and political power. The organization claims that corporate lobbyists and campaign donations have largely captured civil and political systems over the last decade.
• The document attributes current economic and political imbalances to 'neoliberalism,' an ideology that prioritizes unrestrained markets and corporate influence over the public sector. This shift has resulted in corporations taking over public functions, including the provision of services, protection of the commons, and the writing of laws.
• The financial sector is criticized for achieving an outsized role in the economy, at one point accounting for approximately 40 percent of U.S. GDP. Friends of the Earth argues that the speculative economy creates 'jobless “growth”' that benefits an elite few without improving the lives of most people in the real economy.
• The organization argues that the environmental movement must recognize that the struggle for economic and environmental justice is the same. It advocates for progressive tax policies as part of the environmental agenda, specifically calling for the end of the Bush tax cuts, the end of polluter tax giveaways, the implementation of a Wall Street transactions tax, and a stop to offshore tax avoidance.
• Friends of the Earth U.S. concludes that progressive change is driven by mass movements rather than by the government in Washington itself, stating that change will 'come to Washington' rather than 'come from Washington.'

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} }