Business Not As Usual: Astroturfing Follows Congressional Lead, And More

1. US corporate-funded astroturfing continues, like a game of whack-a-mole.  Expose one of these vampire moles to the light and another one pops up in a different sector. A uniquely American enterprise, the common thread which seems to tie all astroturfing together is Congress.  Threaten Federal legislation and up comes a bloody gopher.  Have a look at Americans Against Food Taxes?: Who’s Really Fighting Preventative Medicine? for a recent example. Business significance: U5/C3
2. How will industry cope with peak oil?  Likely areas of high cost impact are product distribution; corporate fleet operations; lubricants; petroleum solvents and diluent; and feedstock for polymer production.  Are there any industrial ecology analogies to the transition town movement, as exemplified by this post? Community Planning for Peak Oil: This Doesn’t Look So Dark (video) So far it looks like industry is in denial and going it alone. Business significance: U2/C5
3. After at least of decade of neglect, USEPA is enforcing and properly administering TSCA. Although this example, EPA Bans Pesticide Insecticide Carbofuran by 2010, is narrow, focused only on a single high-risk pesticide, many more game-changing actions should be expected.  Don’t overlook the opportunties that will come about for cleaner less dangerous products and services. Business significance: U5/C5
4. The meat consuming public is catching on to the fact that many industrial animal husbandry practices are despicable and dangerous. Here’s the latest of many such examples coming to light: From The “Who Knew?” File: Cattle Commonly Fed Chicken Poop. Industry continues to be blindsided and outraged by public outrage. Reports like this are only going to hurt markets and tarnish brand reputations.  Business significance: U2/C3

Following the example of our first, and introductory, weekly roundup from TreeHugger, Business Not As Usual: Chinese Environmental Activists Riot, And More, business “criticality” (C) and “urgency” (U) are each ranked above, subjectively, on a scale of 1 through 5, with 5 being the highest, and 1 the lowest. See that intro post for instructions on how to put the rankings to use.