Ethical Oil mum on donors, revenue, spending in first year

[tuvor]

Alberta oilsands support group not required to publicly reveal finances

EDMONTON - The Ethical Oil Institute, a not-for-profit organization that aims to promote Canada’s oilsands industry, has filed its first annual return in Alberta without revealing anything about the money it raised or spent in the past year.

As a private, non-profit corporation, the organization is not required to make public its donors, revenue or spending. But since its launch last year, Ethical Oil has made a campaign of questioning the fundraising practices of critical environmental organizations, many of which do publicly report donors.

...

“Ethical Oil has attacked a lot of different organizations around their funding sources and the nature of their funding,” Alberta Greenpeace organizer Mike Hudema said. “I think it’s only fair that if you’re going to make accusations about funding sources, that you’re also willing to fully disclose where your funding sources come from.”

...

Ellerton would not discuss the Ethical Oil Institute’s net worth. Much of the organization’s public outreach is based on social or online media, including web commercials featured on sites like ethicaloil.org or ourdecision.ca. Last fall, the organization purchased airtime on Oprah Winfrey’s television channel. The institute protects the identities of donors with an eye to keeping them from potential lawsuits or other attempts to suppress their free speech. The median donation, or how much money most people who donate to Ethical Oil would give, is $40, Ellerton said.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Ethical+donors+revenue+spending+first+year/6913472/story.html

[Wilms]

1. Wow. Ethical Oil?

Is that like "Moral Nuclear", "Honorable Coal". How about "Righteous Gas"?