Monthly Archives: August 2011
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Climate Change Messaging: FOX News Still Destroying Civil Conversation
I know I may be feeding the trolls with this post, but that’s part of the fun. Right now, the issue of “climate change” has become so politically charged it’s almost impossible to discuss without a tsunami of vitriol and conspiratorial accusations overcoming the conversation (at least as far as “mainstream” media is concerned) to [...]
Another Baby Boom Won’t Cure U.S. Economy
The following is part of a series by our friends at CSRHub (a 3p sponsor) – offering free sustainability and corporate social responsibility ratings on over 5,000 of the world’s largest publicly traded companies. 3p readers get 40% off CSRHub’s professional subscriptions with promo code “TP_2010_Intro“. Originally published on the CSRHub blog By Carol Pierson [...]
Is Gibson Guitars Unfairly Bullied or Have They Really Screwed Up… Again?
Last week, for the second time in two years, federal agents raided the facilities of Gibson Guitars, probably the most well-known guitar maker around the world. Although the two raids are the result of different cases, the accusations then and now are similar – violations of the Lacey Act, a law requiring that all wood [...]
Hey Chiquita, Dole: Isn’t the Use of Tar Sands Oil Bananas?
Have the producers of Canadian tar sands oil gone bananas? Or is it the other way around? Let me explain. Last week, banana distributors Chiquita and Dole were confronted by full-page ads in USA Today challenging their use of energy from Canadian tar sands. Forest Ethics placed the ads to expose and criticize the banana [...]
NASA Scientist James Hansen and Darryl Hannah Arrested at Keystone Pipeline Protest
Things are heating up when it comes to the protests outside of the Whitehouse over the Keystone XL pipeline, a $7 billion, 1,700 mile project. James Hansen, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, was arrested on August 29 while protesting. Hansen, who was one of the first scientists to warn about global warming, [...]
World Leaders Launch ‘OceanElders’ to Preserve Marine Biodiversity
So what happens when you put together Sylvia Earle, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Richard Branson, Neil Young and Ted Turner? Apart from a really great dinner party conversation, these are the founding members of OceanElders. OceanElders is basically a group of global leaders organized to promote ocean conservation. Joining them are Jackson Browne, Rita Colwell, Graeme Kelleher, Sven [...]
Principles and Practices of Enterprise IT Efficiency
Taking into account all of the opportunities for increasing IT energy efficiency, how can an organization best approach the challenge of making its IT operations more sustainable? Here are the key principles for a successful transition to operating IT as a utility:
Sweet Beginnings: Creating a Buzz with Honey and Green Jobs
You don’t often think of airports and honeybees together in the same context. And you never think of airports, honeybees and ex-convicts together, but that is exactly what Sweet Beginnings is doing. Sweet Beginnings LLC makes raw honey and honey infused personal care products. They have an all natural urban apiary in the North Lawndale [...]
FoodCorps Sprouts to Tackle Childhood Obesity
An exciting new national service program called FoodCorps launched this month with the goal of addressing healthy food access for children in low-income communities by recruiting young inspired leaders to commit to a year of public service. These service members have been given marching orders to create and maintain school gardens, provide hands-on nutrition education and offer [...]
Ground Breaks for Large Carbon Capture and Storage Facility in Midwest
Last week a groundbreaking ceremony was held for what the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) describes as the nation’s first large scale CCS facility plant.
New USGS Report Clouds the Future of Gas Drilling in the Marcellus Shale Formation
The U.S. Geological Survey has just issued a new report on the amount of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation, and the findings add to the growing uncertainty over just how profitable new gas wells in the region will be over the long run. Drilling in the Marcellus, a rich deposit of natural gas [...]
Benefit Corporation Passes California Assembly, Sent to Governor
This post has been edited since it was first published Benefit Corporation, a new way form of corporate entity that purports to use business to address environmental and social problems, has passed the California State Assembly, and is heading to Governor Brown’s desk for his signature. California joins states like Maryland, Vermont, New Jersey, Virgina, and Hawaii [...]
IBM and University of Texas at Austin Develop a Flood Prediction System
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, which caused flooding on the East Coast, it is good to know that IBM and researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are developing better flood prediction technology. The technology could predict flooding several days in advance, which would allow more time to evacuate and prepare. Since floods [...]
Green Scissors Report Suggests $380 Billion in Savings by Killing Subsidies and Spending
Sometimes, changing current methods of doing things has an economic gain. In a groundbreaking report released by Green Scissors, a coalition between four organizations confirms that cutting wasteful and environmentally harmful spending would do just that. The Green Scissors 2011 report has been released by four organizations: progressive environmental group Friends of the Earth, deficit [...]
Putting the Power to Conserve Energy in Consumers’ Hands – Through Technology
Neil McPhail, board member, Alliance to Save Energy and senior vice president, new business customer solutions group at Best Buy discusses how power companies and consumer technology retailers are coming together to establish working relationships and best practices that will work toward creating better, more efficient and most importantly, greener products from store shelf to in-home outlet. Best Buy, a consistent leader in sustainability, is hosting its 3rd Annual Energy Summit and Neil shares with readers some of his key insights and takeaways from the discussions leading up to summit.
Walmart Takes Another Step Towards Food Sustainability
It appears that retail giant Walmart is ready to take another step on its sustainability journey. Sources within the food industry are reporting that Walmart is planning to begin collecting data from its fruit and vegetable vendors in order to assess the sustainability of their operations. This is a continuation of Wamart’s initiative rolled out [...]
USDA Announces 900 Federal Energy Projects for Farms and Small Businesses
President Obama made a group of announcements related to biofuel policy on his bus tour through the Midwest this summer, with the aim of boosting the nation’s biofuel production while helping rural communities create new jobs and build a sustainable economy. Now another piece of the rural sustainability puzzle is falling into place, with the [...]
Green IT – The Other Clean Tech
This post examines U.S. prospects for leading in green information technology, as a growing component of the broader clean tech market.
Thriving Microfinance Sector Strengthens Colombia’s Economy
Nearly 50% of Colombia’s 46 million citizens live below the poverty line. Microfinance organizations such as Colombians Supporting Colombians (CAC) are giving budding entrepreneurs a leg up by providing micro-loans and other banking services that conventional banks are unwilling to offer. Some $3.5 billion in micro-credit was disbursed in 2010 to more than 2 million borrowers.
Dunkin’ Donuts Runs on CSR, Slowly but Surely
I don’t consider myself a big Dunkin’ Donuts fan. When I lived in Delaware I used to go there only on Hanukkah, looking for donuts to remind me of Hanukkah doughnuts (I dare you to find those in Delaware!). So when I came to read their first CSR report, which was released last week, I [...]
Levi’s Launches Cause Marketing Blitz
The new phase of Levi’s “Go Forth” campaign supports Water.org, a non-profit organization that finds solutions for water and sanitation problems. It is fitting that the company with the most liked denim brand on Facebook announced the campaign via that medium. Its one-minute commercial, titled “Levi’s Legacy, what it calls a “60-second film,” debuted there [...]
Major Retailers Show that Disaster Management is an Integral Part of CSR
Disaster management is rapidly becoming a very important area of CSR. Although some natural disasters strike very suddenly and the only response that can be done is post-tragedy, others require a degree of forethought. Sometimes CSR responses may be as simple as ensuring that services go on as normal, so as not to create further [...]
What is a Conscious Leader?
By Jeff Klein The short answer: A Conscious Leader is someone who leads with Conscious Awareness. As I outlined in the third installment in this “It’s Just Good Business” series, Conscious Awareness is “a process of recognizing what is going on inside and out, the effects of decisions and actions, and the interaction between a [...]
PepsiCo To Launch Sustainable Agricultural Initiative Next Year
PepsiCo told Business Green it will launch a sustainable agricultural initiative next year. Dan Bena, director of sustainable development for PepsiCo, said the global soft drinks company will build on work the auditing firm Validus is currently doing. “The study is designed to help PespiCo measure the social return on investments (ROI) and put a financial [...]
Green Festival Comes to Los Angeles
For the past ten years, the Green Festival has been an annual or bi-annual event in San Francisco. The Green Festival has also taken place elsewhere across the country, with Chicago, Seattle, and Washington D.C. to name a few locations. Now, for the first time in its decade of existence, the Green Festival is coming [...]
Smart Grids Could Reduce Impact of Hurricanes Like Irene
Boyd Cohen, Ph.D., Co-Author, Climate Capitalism Writing this last Saturday afternoon, the nation and the world are warily observing the path and wrath of Hurricane Irene. There have already been documented losses of life as well as reports that more than a million Americans have been left without power so far. Given that the changing [...]
Smucker’s Choice: Make Money or be Eaten for Lunch
“Climate change is like the Internet – It arrives one year, it gets bigger every year, it never goes away and you have to learn to make money of it or you will be eaten for lunch.” – Paul Dickinson, co-founder and executive chairman, The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Although the business world provides growing [...]
Sustainability, the CFO’s Job: Three Key Issues
Ernst & Young released a report earlier this week that explains how sustainability can and will change the role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Is GMO Corn a Threat to Fish?
Have shared in this column some of my concerns over the cultivation and proliferation of genetically modified foods. In response, I have been called anti-scientific, old fashioned and an enemy to progress. I am none of these. In fact, I have an advanced degree in engineering, which requires a fair amount of science to obtain. [...]
Mobile Unlocks the Future of Local
Mobile is unlocking possibilities for local lifestyles that could very well redefine consumption as we know it. Location based micro-economies are emerging with increasing levels of sophistication – micro-economies operated by you and I. Now, anyone with a smartphone and something to offer can be a friendly neighbourhood retailer. Every day, mobile startups are creatively making this easier and more enjoyable in the name of collaborative consumption, the groundswell movement within which true sustainability may finally be achieved.
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