Climate Technology
All Stories
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Investors petition SEC to require companies to disclose climate risk
Activists, investors, and activist investors have teamed up to try to compel the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to require publicly traded companies to disclose their climate-change risks. Under current law, the SEC requires companies to detail potential risks to investors in their annual and quarterly reports to the agency. The activists, armed with a […]
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Discover Brilliant: The business of climate change
The final session of the day (hooray) is about "the business of climate change." On the panel: Climate Change Journal, Grant Ferrier, Editor (Moderator) Climate Solutions, K.C. Golden, Policy Director Sterling Planet, Alden Hathaway II, Senior VP, Business Development Environmental Resources Trust, Gordon Smith, EcoLands Director We start with Smith, who begins by, of all […]
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Discover Brilliant: Business something something
Next up, a full panel of folks discussing sustainable business opportunities. On the stage: Mossadiq Umeday, chair of Xantrex Technology Inc., Andrew Mangan, executive director of the US Business Council for Sustainable Development, and John Kaestle, president and CEO of Halosource. … Oh screw it. This one was so boring I could barely focus.
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Industry to Bush administration: “Please regulate me”
Long-standing shared love for voluntary standards aside, businesses and manufacturers have begun asking the Bush administration to begin regulating industry’s health- and planet-ruining ways. A variety of factors have contributed to the turnaround, including tougher regulations enacted by states, a Congress unafraid to crack down, publicly apparent failures of voluntary standards, and a flood of […]
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Discover Brilliant: Intro
I’m here at the introductory talk at the Discover Brilliant conference. The focus of the three-day event is on those areas where entrepreneurial energy and profit overlap with lower environmental impact. Everyone is here to figure out who’s making money, who’s investing where, and what the next big tech will be. The vibe is refreshingly […]
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As long as GE funds coal, its net impact is far from green
Let me pull a few excerpts from a recent WSJ story on the progress of GE’s much-touted "ecomagination" campaign: “I don’t want to change the economic flow of the company,” [CEO Jeffrey] Immelt says. So GE continues to sell coal-fired steam turbines and is delving deeper into oil-and-gas production. Meanwhile, its finance unit seeks out […]
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New York attorney general subpoenas energy companies over disclosure of coal-plant risks
A new weapon has been brought to bear in the war on coal, and it’s aimed right at the corpulent industry’s soft underbelly: risk. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo just sent out a round of subpoenas to energy companies. He wants to see internal documents demonstrating that the companies — AES Corporation, Dominion, Dynegy, […]
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Greenwashing is getting more subtle
This article in Slate got me thinking. I'm usually inclined to believe that any greening of business is good, but it seems like "greenwashing" is getting more subtle, with the media playing right into it with their lavish features on new "green" initiatives, regardless of their content and effectiveness. Take-home point: better government policy is much more significant than any voluntary greening by business. Something we've always known, but always worth a reminder.
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Why small may be more beautiful than ever
I spent the afternoon doing something I almost never get to do anymore: read the papers, namely The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Here are some of the things I learned: Oil prices are testing new highs. The dollar continues its slide against the Euro, hitting an all-time low. A weak dollar means […]
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Peter Barnes looks at carbon-capping methods
Peter Barnes has a guest post on the Step It Up blog giving a good brief description of how a Sky Trust would work:
