Climate Technology
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Making sustainability sexy, from an ad man’s point of view
Sustainability. Sexy. Two words you don’t often see together. Sustainability is a serious word. It’s about saving the world from ecological disaster. Getting humanity on track for survival. Heady stuff best left to academics, unions of concerned scientists, and earnest tree-huggers. Would you buy this? Photo: iStockphoto/Tyler Stalman. Sexy … now that’s a fun word. […]
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Tips for greening conferences and events
Surely you’ve attended the Conference from Eco-Hell. Eco-hell, or just plain hell? Photo: iStockphoto/Elerium Studios. You know the one. It begins with an endless paper trail of direct-mail advertisements. It’s held in some remote suburban locale, accessible only by car. At registration, you are issued a conference bag filled with promotional papers and doodads you’ll […]
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Terry Kellogg, director of 1% for the Planet, answers questions
Terry Kellogg. What work do you do? I’m the executive director of 1% for the Planet. What does your organization do? What, in a perfect world, would constitute “mission accomplished”? 1% is a rapidly growing network of companies (more than 200 with a few more every week) that commit to giving at least 1 percent […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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. […]
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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 […]
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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 […]