Coalition for Rightful Environmental Exploitation
Founded in TN 1911 by three corporations, Deschamps Mining Affairs, Lloyd's Nuclear Consortium and the Tetsuhama Trans-National, CREE now has 14 members from all over the AST. The coalition's goal is very simple - to make all of its members exempt from the various environmental treaties that restrain their right to profitably exploit the land. The casual observer will note, however, that all 14 members boast annual profits of at least 25 million dinars. Despite its rather dubious motives, CREE has quite an impressive influence in the business circles of the Southern Republic.
CREE'S founding can be traced to TN 1905, when Deschamps Mining Affairs opened a diamond mine in Harrisville in the Southern Alps. Deschamps, in a hurry to reap profits from its Harrisville operations, moved over half of its miners to the small town and purchased all the land in a 30 kilometer radius. This rapid move forced Deschamps to abandon three of its open air quarries. The locals living near the quarries perceived the pits as gaping wounds in an otherwise serene landscape, and lodged a complaint to the Environmental Directorate. They wanted Deschamps to refill the quarries and clean up their mess. It took three cycles of constant harassment for the government to respond, but it did, fining Deschamps two million dinars for environmental damage and ordering the company to restore the three sites.
Jan Mach, president of Deschamps, not wanting to appear weak, retaliated by forming the Coalition for Rightful Environmental Exploitation. Using his charisma, he persuaded two other companies, also recently fined, to join him in making life difficult for the Economics Directorate. For five cycles, Mach bribed and threatened countless officials, gaining influence in the dark corridors of the business world. Since TN 1920, there have been two failed assassination attempts on Mach. Some believe that at least one of those attempts was staged by Mach to fuel hatred against Charles Raspin, head of the Economics Directorate. Currently, CREE is accepting submissions for new membership, the prospective member must be a corporation grossing at least 100 million dinars per cycle, have an office in Port Oasis, be in the stock exchange's top 500, and have records showing at least one cycle of support for CREE. At present, there are only four new applicants, the most important being Espoir Hydrofoil which recently had a falling out with Charles Raspin and the Banque Républicaine.
Structure
The Coalition functions very much like a senate, where business policies are discussed then voted upon in a civilized manner. Each corporation is given one vote, except for Lloyd's and Tetsuhama which each have 2, and Deschamps which has three. For any action to be approved, it must get at least a two thirds majority (12 votes).
All CREE members consider Charles Raspin of the Banque Républicaine and Economics Directorate to be a brilliant economist whose head has gotten far too big for his shoulders, and believe that his personal goals no longer coincide with the ones his position should entail. CREE has also begun to peddle influence on a massive scale, supporting Georges Hebert Xavier in his rise to prominence, assisting struggling businesses (thereby eliminating the government's need to do so) and specifically undercutting the power of Charles Raspin's Economics Directorate. They have also sunk funds into the establishment of links with corporate interests in the Mekong Dominion and the Humanist Alliance by arranging for the importation of goods. They also plan to expand their influence in Republican upper circles by opening a dialogue with the Dark Fox. Jan Mach realizes that he is entering territory where he is no longer a master, and is proceeding with caution.
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