A sign made by William Rixon, who has been protesting L.L. Bean’s partnership with Citibank to offer the Bean Bucks credit card. Courtesy photo

Thanks to Bill McKibben for bringing this to our attention. And kudos to L.L. Bean’s CEO for having the decency to respond to this activist’s efforts to raise awareness of the company’s climate-unfriendly banking choice. Iconic companies messaging their environmental responsibilities need to be held to the same standard as the lousiest companies.

Climate demonstrator outside L.L. Bean gets surprise visit from CEO

Bill Rixon outside the L.L. Bean retail store earlier this month. He was joined by Molly Schen, a member of Third Act Maine. Luna Soley / The Times Record

Freeport resident and retired schoolteacher William Rixon has been demonstrating outside L.L. Bean since the beginning of September. This week, he got a response.

“PROTECT MOTHER EARTH,” William Rixon’s homemade climate banner reads. Assembled with drop cloth and PVC piping, it stands at 10 feet, dwarfing Rixon.

Since September, Rixon and a group of fellow retirees have been standing with signs outside L.L. Bean’s sprawling downtown Freeport campus as well as its corporate headquarters just down the road. They have been calling for the retailer to reconsider its relationship with Citibank due to its investments in fossil fuel companies. At minimum, they would like to see L.L. Bean issue a public statement to Citibank, whom they partner with to offer the L.L. Bean Mastercard, asking that the bank refrain from investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure.

Rixon got a surprise response Tuesday morning a little before 8 a.m. when L.L. Bean CEO Stephen Smith made a detour on his way into the office to stop and talk with the man behind the sign.

The conversation, Rixon said, was “amiable.”

Rixon said Smith explained how L.L. Bean had accomplished a long list of environmental initiatives and listened to Rixon’s point of view.

“I hope that Stephen Smith took away from our conversation the fact that this is a great marketing opportunity for L.L. Bean,” Rixon said. “They have the opportunity to burnish and bolster their reputation as good stewards of the environment by leading others to a better climate future.”…

Read the whole story here.