The NYT reports that eco-themed advertising is growing ever-more-ubiquitous from big companies. I know we're supposed to bitch and moan about greenwashing, but the way I see it, even if 50% of this is hype, a) 50% non-hype is better than nothing, and b) it speaks well to current cultural trends that companies feel the need to brag about their environmental consciousness. Environmentalism is once again coming out in the open as a mainstream value, after years of demonization and caricature.

Most of us know what torture it is to be a wallflower, so it's hard not to feel at least a slight frisson of sympathy for the nuclear industry. Once considered "most likely to succeed," this promising power source found itself stumbling in the 1970s. It was bad enough after Three Mile Island in 1979 -- particularly when Jane Fonda got to work in The China Syndrome. But this wallflower status was taken to an altogether different level in 1986, in the wake of an event whose ongoing repercussions will provide some of next year's great news hooks. She'll be …

Sustainability. Sexy. Two words you don't often see together. Sustainability is a serious word. It's about saving the world from ecological disaster. Getting humanity on track for survival. Heady stuff best left to academics, unions of concerned scientists, and earnest tree-huggers. Would you buy this? Photo: iStockphoto/Tyler Stalman. Sexy ... now that's a fun word. A word that implies pleasure. Tied to advertising, it's a hook that's been used to raise sales curves on everything from cars to cognac. A very big opportunity awaits if we -- marketers, producers, and media -- manage to somehow join these two words at …

Surely you've attended the Conference from Eco-Hell. Eco-hell, or just plain hell? Photo: iStockphoto/Elerium Studios. You know the one. It begins with an endless paper trail of direct-mail advertisements. It's held in some remote suburban locale, accessible only by car. At registration, you are issued a conference bag filled with promotional papers and doodads you'll never look at or use (most of which you'll conveniently "forget" in your hotel room). Meals appear unappetizingly on disposable plastic dishes, and single-serve bottles of water and soda are everywhere you look. Then there's that inch-thick pile of wasted paper known as the conference …

Terry Kellogg. What work do you do? I'm the executive director of 1% for the Planet. What does your organization do? What, in a perfect world, would constitute "mission accomplished"? 1% is a rapidly growing network of companies (more than 200 with a few more every week) that commit to giving at least 1 percent of sales to environmental causes. In a perfect world, we'd motivate every company out there to give back 1 percent. And with 1 percent of global corporate revenue flowing to environmental organizations, there'd never be another bake sale on behalf of an environmental cause. What …

Experts say true eco-transformation of big business is under way Big business is going green ... hey, where you going? No, we mean it this time! Old-guard financial-services firm Goldman Sachs Group just announced new policies to promote forest and climate protection, and intends to invest $1 billion in alternative-energy projects. Procter & Gamble, seeking to trim oil costs, is subbing vegetable oil for petroleum products in Tide detergent and Head & Shoulders shampoos. General Electric's "ecomagination" products reaped $10 billion in sales in 2004. Many major corporations now have sizable green divisions. Meanwhile, some smaller green-leaning businesses say they're …

The mother ship. Photo: Wal-Mart. It was easy for Wal-Mart's critics to laugh this past spring when CEO Lee Scott proudly announced that he drove a Lexus hybrid. For Scott to expect praise for his consumer choices given the abysmal record of his massive company -- which has repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act while contributing to sprawl, air pollution, and a host of other serious problems -- seemed to insult public intelligence. It also seemed a strange maneuver for a man heading a company known for shunning environmental concerns. Indeed, in Robert Greenwald's new film, Wal-Mart: The High Cost …

We remember a certain look businesspeople used to struggle to hide when confronted with their first real-life environmentalist. It was as if they had been presented with an alien life-form -- a creature from some green lagoon. Some felt threatened, no doubt, but others were genuinely perplexed, curious, sympathetic even: "What made you one of those?" they would probe. In reply, they might hear about an experience or revelatory moment that suddenly made the world look very different, spurring action. Watch out now. Decades later, we are seeing accounts of similar experiences from the business side -- even from the …

Coturri Winery in Sonoma County, Calif., could be a poster child for socially responsible business: The family-owned company farms organically, produces critically praised wines on a small scale, supports a local moratorium on genetically modified plants, and donates to nonprofit causes. But according to the Natural Capital Institute's responsible-investing database, Coturri wouldn't pass muster with at least 45 socially responsible funds, because these plans screen out companies that produce alcohol. Big chairs to fill. Many of the same funds hold shares in energy companies like BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Occidental Petroleum, whose business centers on feeding the world's fossil-fuel habit. …

Oil execs defend profits, drink all the beer, leave the place trashed The nation was treated to an exquisite piece of Kabuki theater yesterday, as Big Oil executives trudged to Congress to justify their record profits at a time when pricey gasoline and the looming threat of sky-high home-heating costs have Americans up in arms. The Republican leadership decided to give the oil chieftains a stern talking-to. But not too stern, mind you: Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who chaired the hearing, refused to have them testify under oath. Despite the deference, the execs didn't do much to provide anxious senators …