Climate Technology

Doin’ What Comes Unnaturally

GM joins climate pact, Citigroup pledges $50 billion to fight warming This week saw big businesses make big strides toward climate action — or at least talking about climate action. The U.S. Climate Action Partnership doubled its ranks, adding 14 businesses and green groups including GM, Dow Chemical, PepsiCo, and Shell. Since forming in January, […]

Rupert Murdoch launches effort to green News Corp.’s operations and programming

Today, the fast-growing cadre of corporate leaders pressing for climate action welcomes a new member: Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation, the media empire that encompasses Fox News, 20th Century Fox, HarperCollins, MySpace.com, and dozens of newspapers in Australia, the U.K., the U.S., and beyond. Rupert Murdoch. Photo: Kelly Kline/WireImage.com At an event held this […]

Clean-up on aisle … earth

Maybe not on price, but on solar.

Wal-Mart just announced about 10 MW of solar on 22 stores.

Nice.

Kohl's, a grocery chain department store, is doing 30 MW.

Nicer.

These are significant contracts, and the companies signing them deserve kudos for putting their money where their mouths are.

Oh what a relief it biz

The United States Climate Action Partnership, the group of corporations calling "on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions," just doubled in size (PDF):

With its new members, USCAP companies now have total revenues of $1.7 trillion, a collective workforce of more than 2 million and operations in all 50 states; they also have a combine market capitalization of more than $1.9 trillion.

The big news is that General Motors has joined the list:

Traded In His Chevy for a Cad Attack

Speaking in Detroit, Obama tells Big Auto where to go Presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) took his rhetoric to Detroit yesterday, challenging the U.S. auto industry to get with the times. “The need to drastically change our energy policy is no longer a debatable proposition,” he said in a speech to the city’s Economic […]

Superfund broke thanks to bankrupt polluters

The Center for Public Integrity continues with their massive report on the state of Superfund with a new story today on the $700 million tab that bankrupt polluters have skipped out on.

Information technology accounts for 2 percent of world’s CO2 emmissions

Just as Steve Jobs was polishing the final draft of his defense of Apple's environmental programs, computer industry analyst firm Gartner announced to the world its findings about Global IT's carbon footprint. It's not good.

Hi, I’m a Defensive Mac

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says company is green, getting greener Thrilling headline writers everywhere, computer-maker Apple has pledged to go greener. Green Apple! Ha ha hee hee ho ho! In an open letter on the company website, CEO Steve Jobs responded to criticism that the manufacturer has lagged in removing toxics from its products and […]

His Soul Goes Marching On

BP CEO John Browne and U.S. Interior Department official resign In one of the oddest corporate tumbles in recent memory, BP CEO John Browne has resigned over allegations that he lied in court about the origins of his four-year relationship with a male escort. Huh wha? Browne, who spent 41 years rising through the oil […]

All abruptly

John Browne, who’s been head of oil giant BP for 41 years, abruptly resigned yesterday. Browne grew the lackluster company into the second largest oil company in the world; he also was among the first oil executives to proactively acknowledge the danger of climate change and encourage action. The resignation came after Browne lied to […]