Investigative Story Pitch: How Giants of Animal Agriculture are Greenwashing their Fuel Production

By Ana Lucia Ralda, July 20 2021

Introduction

In 2009, Tyson Foods — one of the world’s largest processors of chicken, beef and pork — and the fuel company Syntroleum announced the launch of the first “renewable” diesel plant in the US, the Geismar Biorefinery in southern Louisiana. They claim that the plant produces approximately 75 million gallons of high-quality renewable diesel, renewable naphtha and renewable autogas annually.

But the truth is that this “renewable” fuel is produced partly with Tyson animal farms byproducts, including animal fat and poultry litter (a mix of feces and other “left-overs”), scraps which experts say conceals an unsustainable cycle that incentivizes intensive livestock production and processing methods that have an unmistakable damaging impact on the environment, the people and the animals.

Reporting Hypothesis

I hypothesize that:

1. The Geismar Biorefinery does far more harm to the environment than good because of its reliance on Tyson’s animal byproducts and its wasteful use of energy.
2. Tyson is one of many large corporations who are “greenwashing” their destructive practices.

Evidence

Tyson claims the facility produces eco-friendly, cleaner-burning fuels from scraps that would otherwise be wasted.

There are countless known environmental costs from the production of livestock including the waste from animal agriculture sites that contaminate the water supplies around the area, release tons of methane into the environment, along with ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and other harmful aggregates.

Additionally, Geismar Biorefinery uses enormous amounts of energy on site: from the cooling mechanisms that maintain stable temperatures in the facilities, to the heating needed to keep a constant supply of water throughout the plant, to the ventilation systems in place to regulate circulation of air.

Jessica Robinson, the former Director of Communications at the National Biodiesel Board explained that, “because it is a high-temperature, high-pressure process, we expect it would take much more energy to make that conversion from biomass to liquid fuel.”

Tyson is just one of the many food companies capitalizing on conveying false and misleading impressions about their “green” practices. But this capitalization is not limited to their marketing; their status as producers of “renewable” fuel allows them to exploit tax breaks and subsidies.

In her book Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It, Anna Lappé reveals that in June of 2008 the Louisiana State Bond Commission authorized $100 million in tax-free bonds to aid the construction of the Louisiana fuel plant, projected to cost $138 million.

Lappé says: “In addition to these low-cost bonds, Tyson secured $400,000 from the Louisiana Economic Development Corporation. And the parish where the facility is located pledged $600,000 in sales tax rebates to support rail-spur construction to help the plant. The parish’s only concern was whether poultry would be slaughtered at the plant. When Tyson promised to import the poultry grease from other facilities, the deal was sealed.”

Despite attempts to disclose the malpractices of the plant, last October, the Renewable Energy Group announced the expansion of Geismar Renewable Diesel Plant from 250 to 340 million gallons per year. The construction is currently beginning to take place and is estimated to be completed by late 2023. The expected cost of the expansion is approximately $825 million in capital investment.

It’s important to note that The Renewable Energy Group Inc. is incorporated in the state of Delaware, which does not require disclosure of officer or director names on formation documents. This makes it easy to move money around.

How I got the evidence

• Read 12 articles on the environmental impacts of animal waste
• Review Anne Lappé’s book Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It
• Analyzed press releases from Tyson and Syntroleum
• Analyzed an interview with Jessica Robinson, the former Director of Communications at the National Biodiesel Board

Why this story is different

First and foremost, There hasn’t been much reporting on this story. A number of publications including the Independent and the Washington Post, have published stories about how the meat and dairy industry are using similar tactics as fuel and tobacco companies to downplay the role they play in contributing to the climate crisis. But, only a handful have published stories about how the two working together to keep their respective business afloat as the effects of climate change grow ever fiercer.

If my pitch is selected for publication, I plan to visit the Geismar Biorefinery in southern Louisiana in person to talk to employees about what their job entails and what they’ve witnessed there. I would talk to residents who live near the plant to find out what they think about its expansion.

I would also dive deeply into the backgrounds of all senior management and the board of directors, which would include looking at company finances, as well as the finances of high-level individuals, associated court records and company records. I would examine campaign finance and lobbying records to determine whether executives have any connections to the Louisiana state government officials and if those connections explicitly led to tax breaks. Finally, I would try to speak to the executives at Tyson and The Renewable Energy Group for comment.

Expert sources would be imperative to my story. These experts would mainly be scientists, engineers and researchers. Lindsay Anderson is an associate professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University, an institution best known for its hard sciences departments, and is at the top of my list.

I’d also like to talk to Jennifer Jacquet, a professor of environmental studies at New York University with a PH.D. in resource management and environmental studies. She’s studied and written a lot about how the food industry has contributed to climate change.

My story is a timely one. Similarly, Forbes recently published an article titled Is Hydrogen Just Oil and Gas Greenwashed. And The New York Times has been covering Toyota’s decision to ditch their commitment to clean cars.

Conclusion

As researchers further study renewable energy replacements for oil and gas, many are beginning to find that some preferred alternatives may not be as green as they’d hoped.

As more and more people around the globe become conscious of humanity’s environmental footprint, and seek to mitigate it, businesses have begun making last-ditch attempts to attract customers by promising that their practices are “sustainable.”

The practices of Tyson and Renewable Energy Group exemplify the rise of greenwashing.