Bonus gem

In a rare moment of environmental insight, the New York Times actually notices the newly anointed (and newly cast out) members of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. As I wrote earlier this month, BP has been removed--but its replacement, fantastically enough, is none other than Halliburton.

But here's the real gem:

"Also joining Halliburton on the sustainability index was Nalco, the manufacturer of the oil dispersant Corexit. Nearly two million gallons of the chemical were sprayed on or under the surface of the gulf by BP in a bid to break up the oil gushing from its well."

That's right, the makers of Corexit--which the EPA ordered BP to stop using, due to 'unknown effects' of the chemical being used in such large quantities.

“It is gratifying to be selected among the top sustainability companies in the world for a third time,” J. Erik Fyrwald, Nalco's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

This is case in point why rankings are causing way more problems than they are helping to solve--enabling companies such as Nalco to deliver self-congratulatory statements without any kind of actual progress.