Businesses would be more interested in saving trees if money grew on them.Cross-posted from TriplePundit.
In 2009, I cofounded a company called CO2 IMPACT to develop high quality carbon offset projects in the Americas. While I have a Ph.D. in business, I have frequently been too focused on my values to justify the business case for a lower carbon footprint. I guess I care too much about what we are doing to the planet and what we are leaving behind for my son, Mateo.
Along the way, I have learned a painful lesson that hopefully can help other aspiring climate capitalists: Most people and most industries don’t really care about the planet or climate change. They care about things that matter to their pocketbook or to their bottom line. I am of course exaggerating a bit as, for example, most of the Triple Pundit readers care about the environmental and social impacts of their activities, not just the financial.
Most of us noticed that Obama’s recent rhetoric about energy efficiency and renewables avoided the topic of climate change altogether. This is not because Obama suddenly doesn’t care about climate change. It is that he has le... Read more
