Sustainability: Not What You Think It Is

MIT Sloan's Peter Senge, founder of the Society for Organizational Learning, shows how companies, right away, can stop adopting sustainability measures that do “less bad” and start doing “more good,” both for the business and the world around it. An MIT Sustainability Interview by Michael S. Hopkins | More »

Climate bill seen as a milestone

Joseph Romm, the indefatigable policy analyst at Climate Progress, makes the point that despite some shortcomings, the passage of the climate bill last week in the House was a milestone in a larger process.

Report predicts Detroit profits rise with fuel economy

A paper from the Transportation Research Institute at U. Mich. projects that US car profits will rise if companies get in gear and ramp up fuel economy. And here’s the kicker - profits will rise faster for Detroit than for the Japanese.

Is “green” marketing going the way of “natural”?

A couple of decades ago, there was a popular food label known as “natural.” Problem was, companies began slapping it on everything and consumers lost faith in it. Which raises a question: Is “green” following in natural’s footsteps?

Tesla expects a profit on electric car

Electric car start-up Tesla Motors, set to begin delivery of its $128,500 roadster next month, expects to turn a profit, according to a blog post by CEO Elon Musk. Toyota also reported record sales for its new Prius.

Waste. Not. Clean tech in San Jose

Talk about novel ways to use waste. San Jose has embarked on a $20 million project to turn the remnants of human waste — what usually ends up as sewage sludge in landfills — into 900,000 gallons of biogas.

Efficiency the big winner in global stimulus spending

Fifty-three percent, or $184 billion, of global stimulus spending is going to projects and to companies that improve the efficiency of buildings, transportation and industry.

Worries arise over food v. fuel in investor ‘land grab’

The rush by investors into agricultural land is becoming a hot issue. This week, for example, Fortune had a long piece about a hedge fund manager buying up farm land for investment in the U.S., but the same trend is underway globally.

Shell settles over Nigerian human rights abuses

Royal Dutch Shell agreed to pay $15.5 million to settle a case accusing it of taking part in human rights abuses in the Niger Delta in the early 1990s, though it admitted to no wrongdoing.

Obama may visit climate talks, notching up action

President Obama may visit the climate talks in Copenhagen this December, bringing even more emphasis to a new regime. He said as much in Europe this week.

GM’s strategic (electric) shift

Environmental business consultant Joel Makower asserts that in the midst of GM’s current crisis, the company is getting it. The “it,” of course, is a strategic shift that will put the company on a greener trajectory

Cutting water use in half, without rocket science

NRDC in a new report finds that industry in California can cut its water use in half, saving as much water as San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego together consume.

GM Volt: asset or liability?

The WSJ blog environmental capital argues that the GM Volt - that new electric car with a $40,000 price tag - may not make any sense once GM is in bankruptcy.

Recycling up in corporations

Aluminum cans, fluorescent lamps, wood waste, scrap metal — all are hot items for corporate recycling and some companies are even making money from it.

Despite recession, wind power moved ahead in ‘08

Worldwatch Institute reports that global wind power installations climbed nearly 29% last year, with the U.S. leading the way. It now ranks first in cumulative capacity and electricity generation from wind, having surpassed Germany.

Will carbon caps work? A couple of greens say no

It’s a virtual belief from mainstream environmental groups to green VCs in Silicon Valley that the price of carbon must rise to change business and consumer behavior. Well, not all greens are buying it.

“Land grabbing” on road to food and fuel

While bankrupt ethanol producers are making headlines in the U.S., a less visible trend trend is underway of rich nations snapping up land in Africa and Eastern Europe for future food and biofuel operations.

Sustainable seafood, the next wave?

We’ve all heard about organic and green products, but at the “Cooking for Solutions” conference at the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Thursday, executive director Julia Packard announced that 37% of all retailers were had removed seafood items from their shelves that were not sustainable.

China pushes ahead in coal technology

China is pushing ahead in coal technology, rolling out plants that are far more efficient in deriving electricity from coal. Whether this constitutes “clean coal” is another matter.

Obama walks line to save ethanol industry

The Obama administration is walking a tightrope to support the ethanol industry, rolling out more government loans for the battered industry but also delicately acknowledging environmental costs of the fuel.

It’s consumption, not population growth, that matters

Journalist Fred Pearce argues that population growth is a red herring in climate change - the bigger issue is per capita consumption, especially in the richest countries.

Can companies stop “modern slavery” in Florida fields?

You might think that “slavery” refers to labor conditions in some backwater of the developing world, but actually it’s the term federal prosecutors use to describe tomato pickers in Florida. Can companies pressure suppliers to prevent it?

Salt solves a solar storage problem

Everyone knows the sun creates energy — the bigger problem is how to keep this energy humming once the sun has gone down. Salt seems to be the answer.

Should everyone move to California to save the planet?

Edward Glaeser argues that localism is bad environmentalism, which is why California should scrap its growth restrictions and let people move to the state.

Fortune’s Brainstorm Green surprising moments

Marc Gunther, the former Fortune magazine writer who is still working their Brainstorm Green conference, has some surprising quotes from the event.

Cause marketing and big green lies on TV

Television has become the newest medium for cause marketing, with the Gates Foundation “helping to shape story lines and insert messages” into “ER,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Private Practice.”

What flattened electricity use in California?

Green Inc. has an interesting post looking into the reasons behind the flat per capita growth of electricity use in California, suggesting it wasn’t simply “efficiency.” Major factors include higher costs and the state’s fair weather.

Costa Rica’s bold moves on the environment

“Costa Rica discovered its own oil five years ago but decided to ban drilling — so as not to pollute its politics or environment! What country bans oil drilling?” So writes Tom Friedman the NY Times.

“Required” reading for sustainability officers

Grist reviews the new book Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution, by sustainability guru Auden Schendler, pronouncing it “required” reading.

Wind energy picks up interest

A couple of intriguing reports appeared this week about the promise of wind energy - one from the macro point of view and the other from the micro, home-based view.

Talk about stimulus: China pushes into electric cars

China has a blueprint to become one of the leading manufacturers of hybrid and electric cars — in 3 years!

More on David de Rothschild and His Voyage Through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

In our recent special report on capturing the green advantage, we included an interview with IWC Schaffhausen CEO Georges Kern, who mentioned his company’s sponsorship of David de Rothschild’s Plastiki Adventure:
He will set sail in May in a one-of-a-kind 60-foot catamaran built of post-consumer plastic bottles and recycled material. The crew will navigate more than [...]

Tesco says please leave packaging at the store

Tesco, the UK supermarket giant, has embarked on a novel program that allows shoppers to leave product packaging at the store to be recycled, but what will that mean for packaging as a selling agent?

Clean-tech VC financing down sharply

The recession has hit clean technology hard, with venture capital financing down 48% in the first quarter to the lowest level since 2006, the Green Inc blog reports.

Dyson, the climate skeptic, gets a stage

The New York Times has a profile of climate skeptic Freeman Dyson, who believes ‘global warming’ is more ideology than fact. But the reasoning behind his skeptical view appears lacking.

Behind the Queen of Trash

We’ve blogged previously about the “Queen of Trash,” that self-made Horatio Alger-like figure who became the richest woman in China by importing trash from the United States to make cardboard boxes.