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The company Phil built releases groundbreaking corporate responsibility report

After three years of silence following a 2002 lawsuit over its claims on labor practices, Nike has returned to social reporting in a big way, releasing a corporate responsibility report that is, from all indications, a genuine leap forward in corporate transparency.

As well as providing detail on its supply chain practices, the report covers areas such as workforce diversity, the environment, community programs and socially responsible investment. An independent review committee of individuals from trade unions, non-governmental organizations, academia and the business community was brought together to strengthen the credibility of the information in the report.

Among the more surprising details is the fact that Nike is now publishing a full list of its suppliers on its website. The list shows that problems remain, but the move toward transparency by such a massive industry player is sure to have positive ripple effects.

"We felt the risks of any future lawsuit were far outweighed by benefits of transparency," says Hannah Jones, Nike's vice-president of corporate responsibility. "Because if we've learned anything as a company, it's that closing down and not talking about the challenges and opportunities doesn't get you far."

Coming on the heels of Nike's welcomed-but-mocked (by, ahem, us) Considered line of eco-friendly shoes, it certainly looks like the company has made a commitment to getting things right. Big props.

(Via TriplePundit)

Powerful House committee chair shoots down fuel economy standards

The House Energy and Commerce Committee shot down an effort to raise CAFE standards yesterday. Mike Millikin has the grimy details.

Speaking of that committee, do read today's WA Post profile of its new chair, Joe Barton, a man deeply and unapologetically in the pocket of big industry lobbyists.

Canada’s Kyoto “plan”

Ottawa officially unveiled its plan for complying with the Kyoto Protocol yesterday. The Globe and Mail and Vancouver Sun (subscription required) have good coverage. Unfortunately, the news was mostly drowned out by a continuing scandal that may trigger a new federal election.

The upstaging of the announcement is disappointing, because the Kyoto "plan" deserves an intense public debate--something it's unlikely to get during the hockey brawl of a Canadian federal election.

I put the word plan in quotes because Ottawa's proposal is terribly short on specifics. It largely consists of more than $1 billion a year in federal funding to invest in greenhouse gas reduction projects. That's enough money to get something done--an excellent start and a miraculous achievement when compared with US intransigence. But it's also almost surely doomed to be inadequate, because it doesn't do much to make prices tell the truth. And it's lame compared with what's going on in Europe.

I've argued that feebates--point-of-purchase incentives that are an elegant combination of fees and rebates--could be the turbocharger that can deliver on Canada's Kyoto promise. And Ottawa has promised to consider them. Read more about that here.

Hollywood infuses green movement with star power

All signs on Capitol Hill point to a royally depressing Earth Day 2005 (that would be next Friday): inertia on global warming, revival of the industry-friendly energy bill, a widely reviled plan to address mercury pollution, the looming prospect of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And though it’s the 35th anniversary of the […]

Beer giant shies away from GM crops

Does anyone like beer? I do. Does anyone like beer with human proteins in it? Uh...

A proposal in Missouri to plant 200 acres of rice enhanced with synthetic human genes -- a crop intended for medicinal uses -- has Anheuser-Busch up in arms. The company is threatening to boycott all rice produced and processed in Missouri if the state OKs this latest "biopharming" venture.

If the project is approved, it would be the largest such in the country. Ventria, the company behind it, is relocating from California, due in part to opposition there. Missouri's governor and Farm Bureau stand by the plan, despite a petition signed by 175 local farmers.

"Anheuser-Busch is a company that certainly uses technology for their product," a spokeswoman for the Biotechnology Industry Organization told the Sacramento Bee (which painted Ventria as "tiny" and "hounded"). "It's very disappointing to see them turning away from another technology."

The logic of that argument aside ("hey! technology is technology!"), it raises an interesting point. God knows what they do to that beer -- yet they draw the line here. That's saying something.

Efficiency: the profit center

The School District in Olympia, Washington, provides an encapsulating anecdote of the continuing, Brobdignagian, untapped potential to save energy at a profit, as the Olympian reports. Newly hired resource conservation manager Brittin Witzenburg has implemented changes in her first four months on the job that will save the school district $21,000 a year, every year, for many years to come. And she's barely even begun.

Don’t throw me in that tar pit!

Says John McCain:

For argument's sake, let's say ... that the science that we are relying on is wrong -- yet we enact legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What harm will that action cause? Clean air and a more competitive industrial base.

Says it all.

(Via Daily Scoop)

Studies funded by chemical companies find chemicals aren’t harmful. Whew!

Magpie draws our attention to the relevant passage in this story by Marla Cone on the mounting evidence that Bisphenol A -- a chemical ubiquitous in plastics and food packaging -- may be harmful to humans at very low doses, which, wouldn't you know, virtually every human gets.

In their study, vom Saal and Hughes suggest an explanation for conflicting results of studies: 100 percent of the 11 funded by chemical companies found no risk, while 90 percent of the 104 government-funded, nonindustry studies reported harmful effects.

Shocking.

(Via Kevin Drum)

Get rid of your clutter and feel virtuous, all at the same time

'Tis the season to jettison the clutter that's clogging your closets, basements, and garages and gumming up your feng shui.

First stop: Freecycle, with city-specific listservs on which folks can post things they want to give away and plead for things they seek. I'm a huge fan. I've unloaded speakers, stereo components, a cooler, a box spring, foam pads, light bulbs, and a beige shower-curtain rod to grateful Seattleites, and I've scored a good-quality queen-sized bed, an old-school TV, and a boom box. Freecycle makes people feel happy and munificent. (Read more joyful Freecycling stories!)

And now I've heard tell of a site and system called Throwplace. It looks to be a more complicated version of Freecycle, but with the added benefit that you can specifically direct your still-usable cast-offs to nonprofits and even get a receipt and corresponding tax deduction. If you end up trying it out, please report back on your adventures.

Bush gives name to beetle

According to an AP report, two Cornell University scientists -- who, it must be pointed out, were apparently not snickering at the time -- paid tribute to Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld by naming three new species of slime-mold beetle after them.

Slime-mold beetles.

We can't make this stuff up.