Climate Technology

ADM is doing for soil what Exxon has done to air

Amid all the hoopla over President Bush's State of the Union address, Archer Daniels Midland's quarterly report (PDF), released Tuesday, got little attention outside of Wall Street -- where it drew cheers, sending ADM's share price to an all-time high.

At the company's conference call with analysts, the Wall Street Journal reports, John M. McMillin of Prudential Securities "likened [Archer Daniels Midland] to Exxon Mobil Corp., which just announced its own record-breaking profit and jokingly suggested the company might be called upon to explain its profits."

Actually, McMillin's comparison isn't all that comical. Just as ExxonMobil clawed its way to the top of the corporate heap by peddling an environmentally ruinous commodity whose real costs don't burden its balance sheet, ADM's "blowout" profits can be traced directly to government largesse. Oh yeah, and both companies owe much of their surging profitability to making fuel for cars.

Taking the wrinkles out of paper recycling

Recycling paper at your company? How’s it going? If you answered “yes” to the first question and “not so good” to the second, you’re in fine company. After years of trying, an astonishing number of outfits both large and small are having trouble accomplishing this seemingly simple task. At least, that’s my conclusion after talking […]

Big profits, little ethics

Exxon Mobil Corp., you may have heard, just ended the most profitable year ever, for any American corporation. Ever. To the tune of $34 billion.

That means Exxon pulled down about $1,110 a second last year.

Nonetheless, as Carl Pope extensively documents, the company remains one of the biggest deadbeats in the world, still digging in its heels about paying victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill (2,000 of which are dead -- and their surviving family members have no standing in the case, and will never receive anything). Then there's the matter of oil and gas royalties, which -- despite the skyrocketing cost of oil and gas, and subsequent industry profits -- have remained level over the past few years. All that profit is going directly into corporate coffers.

"Without a shadow of a doubt, Exxon has the best management in the oil industry,"' said Doug Leggate, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in New York.

Yeah, I guess you could say that. If you were a soulless fuckwit.

Anyhoo, the point of all this is that ExxposeExxon has a new video up lampooning Exxon, and it's kinda funny.

(Also, here's my tribute to departing Exxon CEO Lee Raymond, from August '05.)

Wal-Mart boss gets some tips from the Prince of Wales

Here is a story about Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott seeking greenie advice from the Prince of Wales. Any attempt on my part to summarize the tale wouldn't be nearly as good as the article itself, so I offer you the best tidbits of blunt British reporting. I love me some British.

The Times on Wal-Mart:

Mr Scott is desperate to transform the image of the monolithic retail organisation, which has a history of building huge superstores on the edge of towns on greenfield sites and squashing competition with an aggressive pricing policy.

The Times on the Prince of Wales:

[A] champion of green causes whose own lavish lifestyle often comes in for criticism.

The Times on Charles' twitterpation with Scott:

The Prince, who is acutely aware of the bad public relations profile of Wal-Mart, decided to go ahead with the meeting because it was a rare chance to meet the head of such a large company.

The Times on why the Prince shouldn't have been so twitterpated:

When Wal-Mart took over Asda [the second-biggest retailer in Britain] in 1999 it withdrew from Business in the Community, which is headed by the Prince and which seeks to introduce good corporate practice in all sizes of companies.

Apparently Scott and the Prince just talked and made out and stuff. No word on what tidbits of wisdom the Prince actually provided -- if you know what I mean. Incidentally, Wal-Mart, while making steps in the environment department, still sucks at taking care of its workers.

Two Prongs Make a Right

New coalition lobbies Big Auto to build plug-in hybrid cars Plug-In Partners is not, as the name might indicate, a swingers’ club. Rather, it’s a diverse national campaign — encompassing cities, electric utilities, national-security hawks, and others — pushing for plug-in hybrids: gas-electric vehicles with batteries that can be recharged via a regular wall socket. […]

New column offers advice to eco-job-seekers

As director of program development at The Environmental Careers Organization, Kevin Doyle knows a thing or two about job searching. In a new column for Grist, he'll explore the green job market and offer advice to eco-job seekers looking to jump-start their careers.

Remake a Living: Green job prospects for 2006

Here we are in the first month of a whole new year. If you're like me, you've already broken most of the champagne-fueled resolutions you made on New Year's Eve. At least, you think you made some resolutions, and you're pretty sure you broke them. The whole night was a little foggy, and anyway that was way back in 2005. But if one of your promises was to get a job this year in an environmental field, you may be in luck.

I recently reviewed the 2006 environmental-activist job market with senior leaders from major nonprofits like the Natural Resources Defense Council, professional associations like the Land Trust Alliance, and activist-training programs like Green Corps. I asked about hiring trends in comparison with 2005, and about specific job titles and skills that are in special demand. Here's what those in the know had to say.

Nice Work

A look at green job prospects for 2006 Can’t face another year chained to the same old desk or stuck in the same old cube? Itching to start a new career in an environmental field? Fortunately for you, Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization knows a thing or two about job searching. He assesses […]

The Royalty Wee

Taxpayers have been getting screwed on oil and gas royalties A three-month New York Times investigation has uncovered a complex tale of oil and gas royalties, price discrepancies, accounting chicanery, and lax enforcement. But at its heart, it’s the same old story: The Bush administration is essentially helping energy companies screw taxpayers. The American people […]

A Greening Tide Lifts All Boats

Reports say cutting greenhouse gases will enhance California’s economy Curbing greenhouse-gas emissions will massively boost California’s economy, according to two independent analyses of the state’s ambitious plans for fighting global warming. The Center for Clean Air Policy, a D.C.-based environmental think tank, found that California could meet its proposed 2010 emissions goals — mandated last […]

How the Olympics are becoming a sustainable business

This month, as the Olympic flame makes its torch-uous journey to Turin, Italy, most people’s eyes are fixed on the upcoming games. But our eyes are focused a little farther down the track. In our role as sustainability consultants, we’ve joined the field of those helping the London 2012 Olympics committee work out how to […]