Climate Technology

Don’t let Wal-Mart’s greenish diversions distract you

The following is a guest essay by Alex Goldschmidt, online editor at Wal-Mart Watch.

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Photo: Lone Primate

Wal-Mart has been trying its hardest to distract its environmental critics. In a carefully orchestrated act of diversion, the company shows off its skylights and light bulb sales. In doing so, Wal-Mart has managed to draw attention away from the other, deeper environmental problems lying at the heart of the company's business model.

Wal-Mart's public relations efforts help hide the fact that despite all its talk, the company isn't any greener than it was in 2005 when it laid out a series of company-wide environmental initiatives. The fact remains that Wal-Mart's energy use is still rising. Until the company significantly reduces the amount of energy used to earn a dollar, its sustainability initiatives remain fundamentally flawed. Several aspects of the company's basic business model hinder this kind of comprehensive change:

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Eric Janszen

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See how easy it is being Green(TM)! Just use Greenwash!

Luckily, some folks at the U. of Oregon are tracking it.

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