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The Susan G. Komen Foundation is in the news again and it’s not for a good reason – again. This time the nation’s leading foundation raising money for breast cancer research and awareness, has been shamed by activists for partnering with a company engaged in the controversial practice of fracking or hydraulic fracturing – a form of gas and oil extraction that uses toxic chemicals and contributes to pollution and climate change.

The fracking company, Baker Hughes, showed off its partnership with Komen by proudly displaying drill bits painted bright pink with the tagline, “doing our bit for the cure.” The company is distributing a 1000 such bits to oil fields all over the world.

The trouble with this obvious case of pink-washing is that some of the very same chemicals such as Naphthalene and Lead, that Komen Foundation lists on its website as potentially cancer-causing chemicals, are used by fracking companies to drill for oil and gas.

The group Breast Cancer Action, which has criticized the practice of pink washing, started a petition publicly calling on the Komen Foundation to “stop fracking with our health,” which more than 150,000 people signed. BCA confronted Komen’s founder, Nancy Brinker, at the Pittsburg Steelers NFL game on Sunday where she was planning to accept a $100,000 check from Baker Hughes.

The last time the Komen Foundation came under fire was for cutting off funding to Planned Parenthood in 2012.

GUEST: Karuna Jaggar, Executive Director, Breast Cancer Action

Visit www.bcaction.org for more information.