Climate Technology

Is There a Procter in the House?

Experts say true eco-transformation of big business is under way Big business is going green … hey, where you going? No, we mean it this time! Old-guard financial-services firm Goldman Sachs Group just announced new policies to promote forest and climate protection, and intends to invest $1 billion in alternative-energy projects. Procter & Gamble, seeking […]

Wal-Mart’s eco-announcements generate a clash among activists

The mother ship. Photo: Wal-Mart. It was easy for Wal-Mart’s critics to laugh this past spring when CEO Lee Scott proudly announced that he drove a Lexus hybrid. For Scott to expect praise for his consumer choices given the abysmal record of his massive company — which has repeatedly violated the Clean Water Act while […]

The ebb and flow of corporate eco-consciousness

We remember a certain look businesspeople used to struggle to hide when confronted with their first real-life environmentalist. It was as if they had been presented with an alien life-form — a creature from some green lagoon. Some felt threatened, no doubt, but others were genuinely perplexed, curious, sympathetic even: “What made you one of […]

Two books explore the perks and perils of corporate social responsibility

Coturri Winery in Sonoma County, Calif., could be a poster child for socially responsible business: The family-owned company farms organically, produces critically praised wines on a small scale, supports a local moratorium on genetically modified plants, and donates to nonprofit causes. But according to the Natural Capital Institute’s responsible-investing database, Coturri wouldn’t pass muster with […]

Leave Us in Our Time of Greed

Oil execs defend profits, drink all the beer, leave the place trashed The nation was treated to an exquisite piece of Kabuki theater yesterday, as Big Oil executives trudged to Congress to justify their record profits at a time when pricey gasoline and the looming threat of sky-high home-heating costs have Americans up in arms. […]

Pros and Econs

An educator argues against green hostility toward economics After reading the umpteenth screed against evil economists and their dastardly attempts to commodify the environment, professor Jason Scorse got fed up. In a two-part essay in Gristmill, he argues that market mechanisms offer some of the most hopeful routes to environmental protection, and that greens should […]

Criminal Negligee-nce

Protests target Victoria’s Secret, call for protection of boreal forest Activists took to the streets in more than 100 North American cities yesterday to protest logging of the continent’s boreal forest, a vast expanse of ancient trees that stretches from Alaska to Canada’s Atlantic coast. Demonstrators charged corporations with sacrificing the world’s third-largest intact forest […]

Could chain stores actually be good for the environment?

To some environmentalists, the shoppers of the world have nothing to lose but their chains. If only people stopped spending at these awful big-box stores, the thinking goes, the earth might be saved — and local businesses would flourish. Shop to it! From an environmental perspective, there is in fact much to dislike about the […]

VW goes lithium

I must admit, I enjoy watching Volkswagen TV commercials. They're hip ("Independence Day"), funny ("Airport"), sometimes innovative ("Squares") and sometimes weird ("Sardines"). But I've often wondered when VW will seriously enter the hybrid market.

According to Wired's Autopia blog, maybe soon:

Volkswagen is exploring using lithium ion batteries in future hybrid vehicles. The German automaker is working with Hybrid Technologies to develop a concept vehicle in North Carolina. Hybrid Technologies is currently working on hybrid Smart Cars for Europe with lithium batteries instead of the nickel-metal hydride batteries used in today's hybrids.

In September VW said it would begin building hybrid Touran cars in China with Shanghai Automotive. Speaking of China, GM recently agreed to work with SAIC Motor Company on producing low-cost hybrids for the world's third largest auto market.

Volkswagen has been late to the game, but I'm still holding out hope for a hybrid Golf TDI that will get around 70 mpg.

Me, I'm simply looking forward to the first VW hybrid commercial.

Get your company to clean up its janitorial act

Three years ago, the National Geographic Society’s director of general services wanted to clean up his cleaning operations. Bob Cline launched an investigation into the impacts of maintaining the society’s facilities, examining everything from the chemical composition of cleaning products to the decibel level of vacuums, from filtration systems to fuels. Mess is more. “Basically, […]