Friday, July 30, 2010
Women of the Storm denies HuffPo charge, seeks meeting with Bullock
Posted by Matt Davis on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 6:58 PM
The coastal restoration petition launched on July 20 by the local advocacy group Women of the Storm ran into controversy this week with the withdrawal of Sandra Bullock, whose publicist said Bullock was not informed of the group’s ties to “big oil.”
Sandra Bullock in the Women of The Storm's "Be The One" video — is now wagging her finger and saying 'Not so fast..."
- Bullock’s withdrawal followed a report on the Huffington Post entitled, “Wetlands front group funded by big oil wants taxpayers to foot the bill for BP’s Gulf destruction.” The petition’s restorethegulf.com website listed the America’s Wetland Foundation as a sponsor. The foundation receives money from oil companies and was established in 2002 as a public relations effort to improve their image.
- The foundation also created a separate campaign recently called America’s Energy Coast, drawing attention to the money spent on coastal restoration by oil companies. The AWF is chaired by retired Whitney Bank chief executive R. King Milling, whose wife, Anne Milling, founded Women of the Storm in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
- Anne Milling says she has asked for a meeting with Bullock to showcase her group’s work since 2006, describing the celebrity’s withdrawal as a “huge disappointment.” Women of the Storm has also changed the designation of AWF from “sponsor” to “partner,” on its website, because “in no way has any oil company given any money to this effort,” Milling says, referring to the website and the petition. “This is the most independent group of people imaginable. Our whole effort was to get money for coastal restoration, and we have not tied the petition to any particular piece of legislation.” The website has drawn 121,000 signatures so far this morning, and the image above of Bullock still adorned the front page as of this afternoon at 2 pm, more than 24 hours after Bullock requested to be disassociated with the campaign.
Comments (2)
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Then perchance Milling could open the books on WOS? The do their fund raising through GNO Foundation, which is a 501c3 and subject to open records law. However, that doesn't record any contributions that may or may not come through her husband King Milling and/or America's Wetlands. Neither WOS or AWF are 501c3 (according to the La Sec of State's website) which means neither is subject to Open Records laws. This is also probably why the Millings use Greater New Orleans Foundation 501c3 tax-exempt status for their fund raising. This sort of arrangement makes for cleaner public records imaging but says nothing about financing/sponsorship of this now rebranded "Partnership". Being a Non-Profit Corporation carries a lot of benefits, to wit: they are not subject to FOIRs. They are not subject to Louisiana's Sunshine Law. They do not have to explain their grants funding to anyone without a subpoena. America's Wetlands wastes not a moment to scream: "Yeah so what? We want to make the dirty oil companies pay!" Well, you won't be able to have AW open their books either to show just how and where these preternational corporations pay.
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The backbone of the Louisiana economy is based for better or worse on the exploration and production of oil. Mr. and Mrs. Milling as part of the oldest surviving Louisiana National Bank are undeniably tied to oil interests. They unequivocally do not conceal this fact and personally I would not want anyone fishing around in my personal records for any reason. People should use some degree of judgement when contributing to a cause. They should not expect that their contribution allows unlimited access to every record and individual relationship associated with that entity.
