3p Contributor: Nick Aster
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Interview: Lee Broughton, Enterprise Holdings
At this week’s Fortune Brainstorm Green conference, I also had a few minutes to talk with Enterprise Holdings’ Head of Sustainability, Lee Broughton.
Lee and I talked specifically about the Electrification Coalition, a membership organization whose goal is promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale. Given that Enterprise is possibly the world’s largest single owner of cars (over one million!) they’ve got tremendous leverage to influence automakers and bring scale to the transition away from traditional gasoline vehicles.
Interview: Scott Wicker, Chief Sustainability Officer, UPS
At this week’s Fortune Brainstorm Green conference, I had a chance to talk briefly with UPS’ Chief Sustainability Officer, Scott Wicker.
Readers of TriplePundit know there’s a lot to say about sustainability at UPS. From innovative fleet decisions to their new LEED gold campus in Atlanta. Scott and I chatted about what the role of a high level sustainability officer is at a company like UPS, as well as some of the specific ways UPS is working on radically improving efficiency throughout the company’s operations.
Solyndra is Back: Romney, Santorum Agree
Just kidding! Happy April Fools 2012 :-)
Romney and Santorum Announce New Solyndra Deal
While the race to the Republican presidential nomination continues to bristle with confrontation and finger pointing, there is one thing both front-runners suddenly agree on: the new economy will be powered by the sun, and it will happen sooner that we think. Both former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum are committed to re-opening the shuttered Solyndra solar panel manufacturing facility with new personal & government loans effective immediately.
Putting aside their differences, the pair made an enthusiastic joint announcement today in Fremont, CA, that sets the stage for re-opening the plant by July 4th, creating more than 5,000 jobs in the process and setting the stage for a new era in clean energy manufacturing for Americans.
The reopening will be spearheaded by personal loans of $15 million dollars from each of the candidates to Solyndra – enough to begin ramping up production of the company’s first new product in over a year: solar panels made from discarded “etch-a-sketch” tablets.
Is San Francisco Trying to Kill AirBnb With a 15% Tax?
The question: Should Airbnb users be forced to pay the same 15% room tax that standard hotels pay?
Background: Those of you who have been following the evolution of the access economy are likely big fans of Airbnb – the popular website that allows people to rent out their apartments when they’re out of town. One thing about access economy companies is that they are generally disruptive towards an entrenched establishment and the government and tax structure that is built around it. Generally, this is a wonderful thing – erasing inefficiencies and opening up widespread earning and saving opportunities for the general public.
For example, AirBnb is potentially disruptive to the traditional hotel industry. AirBnb offers substantially discounted places to stay via a simple and flexible interface – with none of the added fees, taxes, or impersonal hassel which often accompanies a hotel. As an added bonus, residents can offset some of their monthly rent or mortgage by helping someone out. On the other hand, a hotel can offer myriad services and a level of comfort that the spare bedroom at some guy’s pad can seldom achieve. This is one reason why the hotel industry is in no danger whatsoever of being driven out of business by AirBnb – it may only be forced to evolve a bit.
Nonetheless – a proposed 15% tax on “transient occupancy” is being considered tomorrow (March 28th) at San Francisco city hall. The rule would force Airbnb to collect an additional 15% on rentals – a move that some say may severely hinder its ability to function.
What’s driving this?
SXSW Interview: Matthew Homyak of Stag Dining Group
In case you missed South by South West last week, we’re working to bring the best sustainability thinking from the conference to you this week via some thought-leader video interviews conducted on the ground in Austin. View them all here.
Matthew Homyak is founder of Stag Dining Group, a catering and dining events startup with a deep focus on sustainability. As a fellow alum of Presidio Graduate School, it was a special treat to sit down with Matthew and learn more about his new venture:
SXSW Interview: Jason Aramburu of Re:Char
In case you missed South by Southwest last week, we’re working to bring the best sustainability thinking from the conference to you this week via some thought-leader video interviews conducted on the ground in Austin. View them all here.
Jason Aramburu is the founder of Re:Char, a company that empowers subsistence farmers in the developing world to enhance their crop yields and supplement their income while trapping atmospheric carbon and enriching depleted soils. Additionally, the company is launching a bio-char product in the United States that will help their efforts overseas. It’s called “black revolution” and I had the change to ask Jason a little bit about it:
SXSW Interview: Colin Mutchler of LoudSauce.com
In case you missed South by Southwest last week, we’re working to bring the best sustainability thinking from the conference to you this week via some thought-leader video interviews conducted on the ground in Austin. View them all here.
Colin Mutchler is the founder of LoudSauce.com, a startup that helps people crowdfund media campaigns for causes. The idea: to transform media from a driver of consumption to a driver of civic participation. Brian Back sat down with Colin for a few minutes to talk:
SXSW Interview: Jessica Scorpio of Getaround.com
In case you missed South by Southwest last week, we’re working to bring the best sustainability thinking from the conference to you this week via some thought-leader video interviews conducted on the ground in Austin. View them all here.
In keeping with our quest to find “Access Economy” startups at SXSW, I was thrilled to have a few minutes to sit down with Jessica Scorpio, the founder of Getaround.com, a company which makes it possible for car owners to make extra money renting out their cars to their neighbors.
SXSW Interview: Chris Miller of Seventh Generation
In case you missed South by Southwest last week, we’re working to bring the best sustainability thinking from the conference to you this week via some thought-leader video interviews conducted on the ground in Austin. View them all here.
Chris Miller is Director of Corporate Consciousness for Seventh Generation. His responsibilities include mission-related stakeholder engagement, development of a robust companywide climate and energy plan and developing strategic values-led partnerships with NGOs. He works across the company to develop and implement strategies for sustainability. Chris was a member of the panel I moderated on using technology to “communicate corporate good.” Brian Back sat down with Chris for a few minutes after our panel to chat:
SXSW Interview: Mitch Baranowski of BBMG
In case you missed South by Southwest last week, we’re working to bring the best sustainability thinking from the conference to you this week via some thought-leader video interviews conducted on the ground in Austin. View them all here.
Mitch Baranowski and BBMG have been long time friends of TriplePundit and Sustainable Industries. So it was a treat for us to sit down with Mitch following our panel on “Communicating Corporate Good.”
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