This site is fairly new, I guess, but what a great idea: they’re rating corporations based on political activity. At the moment, the only criterion they’re applying is 2003-04 political contributions, but it looks like they’re (somewhat ambitiously, since it’s an all-volunteer, contributor-supported site) hoping to apply a number of other criteria including business ethics, environmental impact, workers’ rights, and so on. Their database is pretty small so far, but still useful, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on their progress—and making a donation at some point too.
Of course, since I work for a company that gets a 14% rating from them, I can’t be too sanctimonious about my buying choices. And sometimes the choices aren’t so clear-cut; Petsmart gets a 0% rating because of relatively large campaign contributions to the Repugs, but Petco (which they don’t rate) has a terrible track record on animal welfare, and I think it’s easier for me to live with buying from a Republican-leaning company than from a company that does business with known animal abusers. But still, I’m glad to know what my choices are (and if there were any decent mom-and-pop pet food stores around, I’d gladly buy from them, but the ones in this town tend to be filthy and overpriced, and at least one of them that I’ve visited sells puppy-mill puppies). There aren’t a lot of big surprises on the list either, except maybe for some pleasant ones (Netflix gets a high rating, which I wouldn’t necessarily have guessed, and some unexpected companies like FootLocker and Crate and Barrel get very high ratings, e.g.). But I’m glad to have this information gathered in one place, and I look forward to seeing the site grow.