Rainforest Action Network

The Wall Street Journal has dubbed the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) "the most savvy environmental agitator in the business," and the folks at RAN couldn't be happier. In an increasingly crowded sea of green activists, an accolade from a premier business daily means RAN is making a lot of noise - and corporations are listening.

RAN has earned its kudos by showing big business they can do well by doing good. To spread its message, RAN employs a mix of hard-hitting markets campaigns, occasional civil disobedience, and face-to-face boardroom talks with business execs. The results speak for themselves.

With a staff of 36 and an annual budget of just $3 million, RAN has persuaded dozens of Fortune 500 companies to earn their green credentials by financing sustainable development.  To date, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, among others have agreed to phase out investments in projects that harm primary forests. Home Depot, Kinkos, Lowe's, and Staples have agreed to stop making paper from old growth forests.  Most recently, RAN was part of a successful effort to compel the Texas utility giant TXU Energy to slash the number of coal-fired power plants it planned to build from 11 to three.

The group's recent work on Wall Street is a far cry from its early beginnings. When the group was formed in the mid-80s, it mainly conducted consumer boycott campaigns to protect forests.  Today, RAN is a well-oiled, far-reaching activist machine that is taking on energy and climate change as a primary challenge.  New campaigns include "Freedom from Oil," which focuses on the U.S. automobile industry's role in climate change, and "Global Finance," which targets the world's largest financial institutions.

Executive Director Mike Brune explains the secret to RAN's success: "We're very tenacious. Once we sink our teeth into a company, we don't let go. We're also very creative and we don't work alone."

Fortune magazine has accurately called RAN "the mosquito in the tent."  Though small in comparison to other environmental groups, RAN has managed to facilitate change in multi-billion dollar institutions. At a time when climate change is poised to become one of the most urgent issues of the century, RAN is gearing up to pack an even bigger punch on Wall Street and beyond.