“It’s the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can…” That’s what the poster for this 1989 Spike Lee joint says. “Do the right thing.” It’s what sustainability is all about.
The “FT” answers the question Why sustainability is still going strong. Many are saying the worldwide recession will force companies to jettison their sustainability initiatives. The authors here say, on the contrary, “The downturn will produce more integrated, strategic and value-creating sustainability efforts in many companies. While traditional corporate responsibility and philanthropic initiatives may suffer, core elements of the sustainability agenda will survive or even thrive in a re-ordered economy.”
The article references the wildly successful “Pollution Prevention Pays” program that 3M pioneered over 30 years ago. (See also under National Association of Manufacturers here.) They talk about supply chains too. (See What’s the Color of Your Supply Chain?) All in all, this FT article is brilliant, articulating what is not only the necessary path for companies, but the right thing to do.
Meanwhile, they had a big conference down in Texas last week. CERAWeek 2009 took a long and high-powered look at “Energy Strategies for a Turbulent Economy.” Daniel Yergin, the head honcho at Cambridge Energy Research Associates, gathered folks from all over the world in a sort of Davos for energy.
Yergin is a super-genius, author of the definitive book on the history of the oil industry and a magisterial treatment of globalization. He also has identified the renewables business as an industry destined for astronomical growth. (See Trillions for Renewables! here.)
Oil Industry Ready to Work on Global Warming is one of the reports coming out of this conference. The “NY Times” says that the top execs at the oil companies who spoke down in Houston differed on Cap-and-Trade vs. Carbon Tax but that they saw the handwriting on the wall for a price on carbon, however it’s going to be configured. “Almost all of them seemed reconciled to the United States’ adopting some kind of climate policy, and said they were eager to work with the new administration to devise an effective energy strategy.”
Yergin is quoted to the effect that the oil majors know what time it is. “They are not arguing about basic philosophy anymore, but about practical steps. We’re moving into a new era of policy making that will have very important and far-reaching implications for energy markets.”
