Their name is synonymous with oil, but the descendants of John D. Rockefeller are divesting from fossil fuels—joining a few other heirs who turned their backs on the family business.
After 151 years in the oil industry, the Rockefellers have gone from monopolists to moralists. The heirs of John D. Rockefeller, who put his family on the path to one of the greatest fortunes in history when he entered the oil refinery business in 1863, are divesting all their holdings in the industry, [ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/us/heirs-to-an-oil-fortune-join-the-divestment-drive.html?_r=1 ] not because it is unprofitable but because they believe it to be immoral. In so doing, the Rockefellers are joining a small number of heirs who have turned their backs on the family business because it did not align with their conscience.
Patrick Reynolds, grandson of legendary tobacco baron R.J. Reynolds, divested himself of some $2.5 million in tobacco stocks in 1979, the only fortune he had. His reasoning was twofold, he said: He saw the effects of tobacco both on his father and on the developing world.
“My only memories of my father are of a man dying from smoking…[and] I wasn’t comfortable making money off a product that was killing people,” Reynolds told The Daily Beast. “They were preying on uneducated people in Third World countries. I could see that was wrong.”
His family members originally objected to his activism, arguing that it would force the company’s stock down. When Reynolds spoke out against the tobacco industry before a congressional hearing in 1986, it was the first time a figure with ties to the industry had spoken out publicly against it.
John Robbins, the heir apparent to the Baskin-Robbins fortune, went a step further and walked away from the family business entirely. Some of his family members also complained that his actions could affect the company’s stock price, and the bitterness lingers in the dessert dynasty today.
“I didn’t divest, I just walked away from all the money, period,” Robbins said. “I am just so convinced that junk food and high sugar food are undermining the health of people…It caused a lot of strain.”
“You’ve got to do what your conscience dictates. You’ve got to make choices for your own integrity and in alignment with your own soul.”
The common thread among these heirs is the use of their family name to make a broader social critique—and the power that comes with turning against what your family is best known for. Robbins said the news of the Rockefeller philanthropic group’s divestment from fossil fuels was powerful mostly because of the name attached to it.
“The [Rockefeller] name carries a certain cachet because of Standard Oil,” he said. “Their name is almost synonymous with oil…that gets people’s attention, and for a good purpose.”
Reynolds acknowledged that much of his appeal comes from being the grandson of R.J. Reynolds. Like Robbins and the Rockefellers, speaking out against the source of family wealth becomes a source of authority.
“I’ve got a great platform as a Reynolds to make a difference on this issue,” he said. “That’s why I do this work.”
The Rockefellers aren’t divesting merely out of altruism. They believe that companies trafficking in fossil fuels will eventually face financial problems. But for Reynolds and Robbins, obeying their consciences came with a price tag.
Reynolds spent $1.5 million on an anti-smoking campaign, a large chunk of his wealth. He activism necessitated setting aside what he calls “a glamorous life before [he] spoke out against tobacco.” He is now “financially challenged,” he said, and focused mostly with anti-tobacco activism and speaking at schools and universities.
For Robbins, the price tag was even higher. He walked away from a fortune to campaign against the dairy industry, a move he says wins him respect even among fierce detractors.
“You’ve got to do what your conscience dictates. You’ve got to make choices for your own integrity and in alignment with your own soul,” he said.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has taken a political gamble by calling a surprise early election at the height of the summer holidays.
Transcript
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The summer holidays came to an abrupt end for Queensland politicians today with the Premier Campbell Newman announcing a snap poll for January 31st.
Complacency rules as Queensland makes risky edict on sea-level rise - December 11 2014, 2.33pm EST .. bit ..
Yet as certainty over future sea-level rise increases, planning protections are being wound back right across Australia. Since winning the 2012 Queensland election, Campbell Newman’s government has joined New South Wales and Victoria in removing sea-level rise from state government policy, and is evidently now pressing local governments to do the same. http://theconversation.com/complacency-rules-as-queensland-makes-risky-edict-on-sea-level-rise-35363
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Queensland’s early election hinges on a test of Newman’s strength
January 5 2015, 10.09pm EST
The biggest battle Campbell Newman faces in the Queensland election on January 31 is the one against himself. The election, called on Tuesday morning, will be a referendum on the achievements of the Premier…
Author Todd Winther PhD Candidate in Political Science at Griffith University
IMAGE: Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has surprised voters by calling an early election for January 31. AAP/Dave Hunt
The election, called on Tuesday morning, will be a referendum on the achievements of the Premier: his strengths, weaknesses and ability to set the agenda for his government’s second term. This will be a presidential-style election.
The Liberal National government has been working hard to establish its record as “strong”, in contrast to what it calls its “weak” and “soft”.. http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2015/1/6/palaszczuk-goes-soft-on-criminal-motorcycle-gangs .. opponents. While Newman will inevitably target the ALP, and its leader Annastacia Palaszczuk, the opposition’s response to this criticism is likely to have little effect on the outcome.
The front page of Tuesday’s Courier-Mail newspaper. The Courier-Mail
It’s no coincidence that strength has been a dominant theme throughout Newman’s three-year term. The government’s central policy program is called Strong Choices .. http://www.strongchoices.qld.gov.au/ , and “strong” has been the defining word used by this government ever since it was launched last year.
Newman has marketed himself to the electorate as the man that will make the tough decisions in order to fix the economy; the leader of “a strong team with a strong plan” .. http://www.thepremier.qld.gov.au/ .. for Queensland. It’s designed to remind voters of the previous Bligh Labor government, which the LNP has repeatedly characterised as weak and reckless.
There is no doubt that the LNP will remain in government, simply because of its enormous majority .. https://theconversation.com/nsw-and-queensland-newspolls-35839 . However, the size of this majority will ultimately be decided by Newman’s performance, and what voters think of the “strong” sales pitch.
[ Newman's election announcement tweet ]
Howard’s lessons for Queensland
The LNP will attempt to borrow from the success of the Howard government in both the 2001 and 2004 federal elections. In both these elections, the former prime minister built his campaigns on the theme of economic management in order to project strength .. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/29/1093717817944.html .
The ALP will use these issues to contrast Newman’s theme of strength and label the LNP an autocratic party, subject to the whims and objectives of one man, the Queensland Premier. Once again, it’s a strategy is built around a single theme: does the Queensland electorate agree with the choices that Newman has made?
A federal election forerunner
In a number of ways, the Queensland election may well prove to be a forerunner to the next federal election.
IMAGE: Annastacia Palaszczuk (left) with Labor candidate Kate Jones, who hopes to regain her old seat of Ashgrove and topple Campbell Newman. AAP/Marty Silk
Like Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Newman has become a polarising leadership figure in Queensland. The LNP’s strength strategy has a potential to backfire, because the outcome is so dependent upon the leader’s performance during the campaign.
The key to a successful campaign for Newman is not only to promote strong leadership, but to complement this strength with personality traits that make him palatable to voters.
If this strategy succeeds, the federal Coalition may well use this style of campaign as a template when Abbott calls an election some time in the next year.
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