Diversity Survey Causes Broadside ( WaPo )

[tobius]

Norris McDonald, head of the African American Environmentalist Association (AAEA), fired a broadside at 21 environmental groups for not filling out a survey he was conducting on diversity in hiring, collaborating and other activities in the environmental community.

Such groups as the Conservation Fund, Defenders of Wildlife, Greenpeace, the National Audubon Society, the Sierra Club, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the Wilderness Society did not complete the survey. Four did: Environmental Defense, the Environmental Law Institute, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute. ...... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2957-2004Mar17.html

"The refusal of the groups to complete the survey conveys the appearance that there are discriminatory practices being shielded from public view," AAEA said in a statement.

McDonald's group particularly went after the League of Conservation Voters, saying that "AAEA is not aware of one minority professional ever working at LCV in its almost 30-year history. Congress should ask them why."

McDonald said in an interview that minority communities have environmental concerns that do not always mesh with those of the national environmental groups. He said that while he is in agreement with the national groups on global climate change, for instance, he is pro-nuclear.