Climate Technology
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Wal-Mart will open more-efficient stores
Wal-Mart — ah, always Wal-Mart — has plans to open four stores that “will operate at a level that’s 25 percent more efficient than a traditional Wal-Mart supercenter,” according to a representative. The chain, which has a goal of someday having all of its 2,400 U.S. stores reach that level of efficiency, is using tricks […]
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Companies’ green record not important to MBAs, says study
Young professionals are our hope for the future, a generation that will value sustainability and push big employers to take environmental factors into consideration … right, guys? Right? Oh, uh, this just in: MBAs rank a company’s environmental record at the bottom of factors they use to select employers, says a new study. In a […]
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Gingrich’s further explications of green conservatism do not inspire confidence
The more I see of Newt Gingrich’s "conservative environmentalism," the less impressive it seems. The guy’s offering run of the mill, crony capitalist conservatism with a shabby green paint job. The two top-tier public policy approaches to fighting climate change are: supporting green industries, practices, technologies, and infrastructure via subsidies, tax breaks, or mandates, and […]
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Chinese workers pay for our cadmium-battery habit
In the last 20 years, the United States has essentially dismantled its industrial base, moving production of consumer goods south to Mexico and east to Asia. This has not only dramatically lowered the cost of goods, fueling a consumer boom; it has also helped make our economy less energy-intensive, and lowered our exposure to industrial […]
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Starbucks will no longer offer organic milk
Photo: gisarah Starbucks will cease offering organic milk to its coffee-quaffing customers at the end of February. The company has offered organic cow juice since 2001 at an extra charge, but “orders of drinks made with organic milk have consistently been a small percentage of total orders,” according to a spokesperson. The chain has stopped […]
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Business-y news I should write more about, but probably won’t
GE is going to double its investment in renewable energy from $3b to $6b; Toyota plans to offer plug-in hybrids by 2010; meanwhile, GM, which also promises a plug-in by 2010, just struck a deal with Coskata, a start-up which will be making cellulosic ethanol from waste products. [Token acknowledgement that cars are not the […]
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New MacBook Air has some green qualities
Photo: apple.com Apple Inc. head honcho Steve Jobs has introduced the new MacBook Air. Your nerdy cousin’s new object of lust is LED backlit, comes with a recycle-friendly aluminum case, and gives purchasers the option of an efficient 64-gigabyte solid-state hard drive. It also boasts a mercury- and arsenic-free display, a circuit board without brominated […]
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The latest green partnership
Dave posted earlier about the new green cleaning line from Clorox and his combined reaction of happy feelings and “how will greens spin this into suckage.” But wait, it gets better: Wal-Mart is investing big time in the Clorox product line. Check this quote from a Wal-Mart press release: “Wal-Mart’s support of Green Works has […]
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Bleach company discovers its green gene
Joel Makower has a characteristically thorough and thoughtful look at Clorox’s launch of their new "Green Works" line of cleaning products, in which he was peripherally involved (does the guy sleep?). I’ll admit, when I read these things, I feel positive and hopeful, and then I think, hm, how will some enviro manage to spin […]
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Tech companies offer free rights to eco-friendly patents
Four tech companies have partnered with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development to introduce the Eco-Patent Commons, which will offer the rights to eco-friendly technologies for free. IBM, Sony, Nokia, and Pitney Bowes have together donated 31 patents into the public domain, including one for a shock-absorbing cardboard tray that would replace the need […]
