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Recent Posts by Joel Makower
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There's a classic, geeky science joke that "Chemists have all the solutions." That's starting to appear true from an environmental perspective, though it remains to be seen whether those solutions will actually come to market. Green chemistry, a common-sense discipline that's less than twenty years old, has been emerging in recent years from the lab and into the marketplace, making inroads in conventional chemical companies and creating opportunities for upstarts. As I've noted in the past, this has been taking place at a slow, almost imperceptible pace, with relatively little fanfare, considering the implications. And there's a long way to go before green chemistry fulfills its catalytic potential to transform the way we make things, doing so in a way that reduces risks to
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In recent weeks, former vice president Al Gore challenged Americans to commit to producing 100 percent of electricity from "renewable energy and clean carbon-free sources" within 10 years. And former senator John Edwards launched a Half in Ten campaign "to reduce poverty in the United States by 50 percent within 10 years." Two bold, audacious goals. Same starting dates. Same decade-long trajectory. So, is there any chance that Messrs. Gore and Edwards might possibly join forces? Not likely, based on what I've seen and heard to date. That their respective laudable and ambitious goals could possibly be synergistic seems beyond the grasp of these two leaders and their acolytes. I've covered this topic — the job-creation potential of clean technology and renewable
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This week's announcement by General Motors that it has joined with more than 30 utility companies across the U.S. to work on issues related to electric vehicles got a great deal of media play. But the coverage only began to scratch the surface of the complexity of bringing plug-in electric vehicles to market in mass quantities. In reality, the GM-utility conversation isn't entirely new. It began in January, at a Vehicle Electrification Workshop held at GM's research center in Warren, Michigan. I had the privilege of attending the meeting, which was facilitated by my colleagues at the sustainability strategy firm GreenOrder. The meeting included more than two dozen utility executives, including a team from the Electric Power Research Institute, the industry-funded consortium that served
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Jeffrey Hollender, the founder, CEO at Seventh Generation, published a counterpoint to my recent post, How Bad Is Greenwashing, Really? I encourage you to read it here. I just responded on his site, and thought I'd share the conversation here. To wit: Jeffrey, Thanks for your comment. I've long admired your outspokenness on the topic of the green marketplace, and your willingness to be, as you describe yourself, an inspired protagonist. I don't disagree with some of your points, but I think you missed mine. It wasn't about companies that can't handle criticism. And it wasn't about condoning companies that are being misleading or dishonest. As you well know, I have been an outspoken critic of greenwashing myself over the past twenty years. But there is a tremendous amount of
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Is greenwashing really as bad a problem as some are making it out to be? I've been thinking about this question a lot recently, as the G-word crops up more and more frequently in articles, blogs, reports, and conversations. Of course, the answer depends a lot on one's view of the potential for big companies to improve their environmental performance — and talk truthfully about it — and whether the pace of corporate change is sufficient to address the magnitude of the problems we face. Like "beauty" (and "green"), "greenwash" is in the eye of the beholder. The definition of greenwashing has changed in recent years. In the early 1990s, the term was used to describe deliberate and cynical attempts by companies to mislead the public about their
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Going Down Under, Down Under
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My life often takes me to amazing places, no more amazing than the Great Barrier Reef, where I've just taken two dives. I'm not an experienced diver, though my two dives off the coast of Cairns, Australia, nonetheless rank high in life experiences. Hovering over almost any spot of the reef yielded an abundance of life, the level of action growing the longer one stays and looks.
My too-brief Australian adventure took place en route to Wellington, New Zealand, from where this is being written. I'm here for World Environment Day, which, for the initiated, is a United Nations-sponsored event, celebrated since the mid 1980s each June 5, hosted by a different city. Wellington is this year's host and the theme — "Kicking the Carbon Habit" — seems as fanciful as it is formidable. In typical U.N. fashion, it is relatively uncontroversial, meaning no swipes at Big Oil or Big Coal, no carping at Big Auto or Big Finance, no finger-pointing at Big Mining or Big Timber, no blaming of countries, political leaders, or pretty much anyone else. We're all here to be part of the solution.
Everything else down here should be so uncomplicated. Unfortunately, Australia and, so a lesser extent, New Zealand, seem to be going through the same throes of change as their brethren in Japan, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. High energy prices are roiling national politics, leading legislators to propose short-term gas tax rollbacks to ease prices at the pump. Administration officials, scientists, and activists are debating the extent to which the country should cut its carbon emissions — and who should pay for it. Critics charge the national government is giving short shrift to clean energy, while solar, geothermal, and wind energy companies are vying with one another over who will get the spoils of the country's growing appetite for clean energy. Meanwhile, the local media are having a field day finding hypocrites amid the ranks: legislators touting fuel efficiency but driving gas-guzzlers; corporations touting their green credentials but leaving their office lights burning brightly all night; the frivolity of government ethanol mandates amid rising food prices.
In other words, it feels just like home.
It's not entirely, of course. New Zealand, for example, is in many ways a shining beacon of sustainability, relatively speaking. Last year, Prime Minister Helen Clark announced her intention that New Zealand become the first carbon-neutral country, proclaiming: "I believe New Zealand can aim to be the first nation to be truly sustainable across the four pillars of the economy, society, the environment and nationhood. I believe we can aspire to be carbon neutral in our economy and way of life." New Zealand will have to do (friendly) battle with Costa Rica, Iceland, and Norway — all of which have made similar declarations.
Suddenly, it's no longer feeling that much like home.
Much like my dive, it seems that the longer you stay in one place, the more you can see.
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