11.30.2010

Not even a gem

This is not a gem. This is one of the worst pieces of news I've seen in a long, long time. Worldchanging, that venerable institution which consistently is one of my only go-to sources for bright, literally world-changing sustainability solutions, is closing its doors. No more blogs. No more brilliant insightful articles. No more awesome annual books. No more clear, practical thinking on how we can make the world a better place.

Why? Because they've never been able to get enough freakin' money.

And that's bad news.

Gem of the day

This is not the kind of headline I want to be reading on a Tuesday morning:

"UN Considers Putting Mirrors in Space"

11.29.2010

Gem of the day

So airlines are still running trigger-happy with their small-time commitments to biofuels. Ah, aviation--where transformative sustainability innovation goes to die a soggy death.

11.26.2010

Another non-environmental wonder

AdAge is a dangerous site to be cruising on any given day. But I never tire of discovering gems like this one:

"Are Women the New Men?"

As much as I'd enjoy crediting such an ingenius headline to AdAge, it's actually the title of a survey the article discusses by our friends at Euro RSCG, one of those huge global ad agency networks that apparently has the sweet time to sit around and ponder such game-changing questions. Here's the headlines of the top trends from the report, which should be enough to make you really, really, really want a drink before 6pm on a Friday (warning: if you don't currently have access to booze, you probably shouldn't continue reading):

  • "Greta Garbo, they're not"
  • "Looking beyond the job for sense of success"
  • "Move over, boys"
  • "Women seeking a return to chivalry"
  • "Partners, Inc."
Right.

Gem of the day

The Chevy Volt is no excuse for the rest of GM's heavily fuel inefficient portfolio of cars and trucks. But it's a damn electric car, nonetheless, ready for public consumption in the US with the support of a government subsidy.

Which is why I love that Rush Limbaugh is hating on it. Here's a real gem:


"This is the most expensive Chevrolet outside a Corvette.  All the while Obama wants to get rid of coal.  Where does he think we're going to get the electricity to fire these things up?"

11.25.2010

Another non-environmental wonder

Courtesy of the Guardian's sustainable business hub:

"According to Annie Longsworth, Managing Director at the global PR company Cohn & Wolfe, consumers are more willing to trust brands than government. 'Republicans and Democrats meet at the checkout,' she argues."

Gem of the day

I had my say about the Gigaton Awards yesterday. But there's another gem here to note:

"Winners get a trophy designed by Yves Behar founder of the San Francisco design studio fuseproject—that contains a chunk of carbon inside a transparent case."


Wow.

11.24.2010

Something that's actually good

Sometimes you come across something that's both funny and insightful and it really makes your day. Well, aside from the reality that I can't remember the last time that happened before today, read this now.

The good stuff starts with the wonder of acknowledging how obssessed everyone in the sustainability vortex is with home weatherization--hey, it's that elusive 'low-hanging fruit', a boundless source of that poorly defined term, 'green jobs', and a 'win-win-win' for the triple bottom line, right? or is it 'win-win'? whatever--Hiskes gives us precious nuggets of insight into how home energy audits actually work, and why homeowners ask for them.

Then there's the gems. Here's an especially good one:

"I failed spectacularly in my goal to hear from an Ordinary Homeowner. I had hoped to see how a non-enviro-wonk experiences an energy review. By sheer coincidence, Paul's morning assignment sent him to the home of Langdon Marsh, former environmental commissioner for the states of New York and Oregon. Nice guy."

Gems aside, this article hones in on two things: firstly, it's becoming increasingly obvious that when it comes to short term emissions reductions, a lot of the critical solutions we need aren't just national, regional or local--they're profoundly individual. Secondly, and this one is more personal to me, it sends chills up my spine thinking about how radically these individual actions need to scaled up. How are we going to get an energy audit to every single household in the developed world? And what about the changes that need to be installed and activated after these audits? And who can afford all of this anyway? And why do I always leave the lights on in the bathroom when I leave the house? So many questions, so little time.

The UK government has dived head-first into this 'dilemma' with its ambitious Green New Deal, which I spent a recent Green Mondays event arguing fruitlessly over with a bunch of people who brought incredibly unfounded arguments and ideologies to the table. I wish someone had at least brought me a sandwich. Or maybe a beer.

Gem of the day

Anyone who rotates around green business circles these days finds themselves amidst a chaotic frenzy of commitments, marketing campaigns, greenwashing, strategies, evidence-based-evidence and the like. But if one thing's for sure, it's this: there's simply not enough awards programmes out there.

Wait what? Well, I'm assuming that's the perspective taken by the Carbon War Room, the strange hybrid business-policy initiative based out of D.C. and run in part by Richard Branson, as the organisation prepares to launch...drumroll please...the Gigaton Awards.

Unintentionally humorous name aside--and yes, they are indeed part of a larger programme called the 'Gigaton Throwdown Initiative'--the awards seek to "honor businesses for outstanding performances as defined by measurable carbon reductions and quantifiable steps toward sustainability."

So who made the exclusive nominee list? There's some of the usual suspects in there, like 3M--right--and Vodafone, Nike and Toyota. But like literally all other sustainability awards programmes out there, there's some inexplicable choices that could be called, at best, 'random', and more critically, 'greenwash': Coca Cola, anyone? Right. General Mills? I don't think so. How about--Boeing? Really? I mean, really?

Gigaton's creators say they are supposed to be like the Oscars. Here's why: you make it into the top five based on verifiable emissions reductions--oh wait, not really though, since as they rightfully acknowledge in conveniently small print "Carbon War Room fully recognizes that the data available to date regarding emissions reductions is in large part unverified."

Anyway, moving on, the decision on who actually wins is "made by an independent Academy and based on demonstrated leadership, not solely on quantitative measures." Because if there's one thing we need, it's more anointed sustainability leaders based on subjective ideas of what makes...a leader.

My favorite gem here, though, is the initiative's temporarily opaque advisory board. We'll put a TBD on that one, then.

11.23.2010

Gem of the day

BP has chosen not to renew its membership with USCAP, one of the major umbrella organisations stateside bringing together businesses to publicly push for [despite at times obviously being privately against] climate policy. Well, it's no big loss for USCAP. Plus, this is because of causing the biggest oil spill in history right?

Nope, not in the weird and distorted vortex that is BP world. Witness:

"BP shares similar concerns about the lack of a role for natural gas in cap and trade legislation in Congress. 'We don’t think the allowance structure in the bills will create a deep and liquid carbon market,' BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell told the New York Times. 'The markets will be volatile, and so will the price of carbon.'"

Right. So do you have an alternative to suggest, then? Increased domestic oil exploration, perhaps? Ah, carbon markets. If only they were as stable as...financial markets?

11.22.2010

Bonus gem

Social media--an uncontrollable universe of random commentary. So what happens when one of Britain's biggest energy providers dives head in and solicits feedback on energy efficiency? You get gem after gem. Here's one of my favorites from E.ON's talking energy site:

"You are being ripped off by a load of euro con men and your grandparents would turn in their graves if they knew what was going on in the country they fought and died for."

Right.

Gem of the day

BP's head of group media is moving on 'under amicable terms'. And so the FT hands us this gem:



"Bob Dudley, BP’s new chief executive, is shaking up the company’s communications team as he moves to restore its reputation in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico spill."

11.18.2010

11.16.2010

Bonus gem

The report of another anonymous company in the extractive industry: doubtless it will be gem-filled. That's right, today we have Teck, which bills itself as a "diversified resource company committed to responsible mining and mineral development with major business units focused on copper, metallurgical coal, zinc and energy."

Isn't it great that, in addition to this unproven commitment, Teck also now has placement on the DJSI to back it up? And a 19.9MB glossy CSR report too, featuring generic and unrelated nature imagery and the unintentionally ironic theme 'Unearthing our Potential'?

And finally, it simply doesn't get any better than publishing this press release at just about the same time as this CSR joy:

"New Senior VP Appointed to Lead Teck's Coal Business"

"I am delighted to announce the selection of Ian Kilgour,” said Don Lindsay, president and CEO.  “Ian joins Teck at an important time for the company. With continued strong demand for steelmaking coal, Ian will be instrumental in helping us to achieve our growth objectives.”

Oh wait! Yes it does. The HTML address of the Teck website actually contains the word 'generic'. Zing.

Gem of the day

The release of Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan, which my agency helped to name and structure, has generated plenty of buzz in the relentless CSR circuit.  A lot of that buzz has focused on trying to communicate the scale and potential impact of the company's commitments and those of industry peer P&G. Here's two examples, both from the same article:

"P&G calculates that if it could convince everyone in the US to wash in cold water it would reduce domestic energy consumption by 3% and allow the country to meet 6% of its Kyoto commitment."

This works. We get a logical percentage and a contextual understanding of how the commitment fits within larger political targets.

Then we get an example that doesn't work:

"Unilever says that if all its laundry users across the world switched to concentrated detergents, it would save four million tonnes of CO2 a year, equivalent to taking one million cars off the road."

How much is four million tonnes? It sounds like a lot, but in the context of a company with 1,600 products and a global supply chain I can't be sure. Then there's the ol' equivalency metric--wowing us with a hypothetical scenario which actually never happened. It's not exactly greenwash, but it's not good communications by any means. Equivalency metrics are exactly the kind of corporate tendency in the CSR vortex which confuse people about what is actually being achieved.

11.15.2010

Bonus gem

For those of you who have ever wasted five minutes--or more--wondering what the parking garage at the DOE looks like, here's the ultimate gem courtesy of our enterprising friends at the Washington Post interviewing Steve Chu:

"Chu winds his way through traffic along the Mall - where one angry motorist leans on the horn - before entering the Energy Department parking garage, right behind his general counsel's red Maserati with the license plate 'ENERGY.'"

Classy.

Gem of the day

What do you do after being responsible for the biggest oil spill in history? Why, set up your own independent energy advisory service, of course. Yes, this is Tony Hayward's next move. As the Telegraph reports, Hayward's new firm--which so far has only one employee, him--is going to have one of those delightfully ambiguous consulting industry titles, '3E', and appears to have been set up "in anticipation of his future life as a freelancer."

Incredible.

Another non-environmental wonder

Surely we didn't expect anything less from a book written by George W., but it's still amazing to see this gem (especially as reported with carefully calibrated verbiage by the Guardian):

"Bush's account is littered with anecdotes seemingly ripped off from other books and articles, even borrowing without attribution – some might say plagiarising – from critical accounts the White House had previously denounced as inaccurate."

But wait, it gets better:

"Even where Bush is present and is quoting himself, he appears to have had his memory jogged by the accounts of others without finding much to add."

Zing!

11.14.2010

Gem of the day

The USGS, being a subset of the US Department of the Interior, has never been a go-to for climate solutions for obvious reasons. But relatively impartial analysis, usually I'd say sure. Which is exactly why the following gem just makes me want to say--seriously?

Courtesy of the experts at The Oil Drum, relying on USGS estimates is but one of the reasons this year's IEA World Energy Outlook is flawed [yet] again:

"USGS published its last major set of reserve estimates in 2000, but it is not clear that these estimates are very useful in determining how much is actually extractable at prices economies can afford to pay. There are also questions as to whether there have been major mistakes in estimates. Just last week, the USGS announced that most of the oil resources it was expecting in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska were in fact, natural gas resources. (Natural gas reserves in this location are of little economic value, because the natural gas is too far away from markets--yet another low "net energy" issue.) How do we know that other resources (for example, the supposed resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), are not as badly mis-estimated?"

Right.

11.11.2010

Bonus bonus gem

So, not to be outdone by their peers Lockheed Martin, the kind folks at BAE Systems submitted a request for employee engagement to 'raise awareness' to my agency today. That's right, BAE, the world's largest defense contractor.

The only true gems here come as the revelations of reading their CSR report. And yes, they do have a Head of Sustainable Development. And yes, this is the opening line of the message from their CEO:

“Total Performance – not just what we do, but how we do it.”

And I hope the graph below brings as much joy and confusion as it brought me (source here if you'd like to explore further)--ah yes, it is indeed:

TYPES OF ENQUIRY TO ETHICS HELPLINE




You're welcome.

Bonus gem

Experience the wonder that continues to be BP's twitter feed.

It's kind of like watching an episode of Saturday Night Live--oh wait except it's not. This is our global energy future.

Another non-environmental wonder

We all love a good taste of pure democracy and freedom on a Thursday. So please find below some choice statements from resident patriot Joyce Kaufman, incoming Chief of Staff to a lovely Republican from Florida, Rep. Alan West:
  • On immigrants in Florida: "If you commit a crime while you're here, we should hang you and send your body back to where you came from, and your family should pay for it." (2007)
  • On anticipating her trip to Washington: "Over these months I have been blessed to form very wonderful relationships with the West family. I looked at this family and [told] myself, 'How do you not fight and put them up on the pedestal when we've got this garbage up on the pedestal now, people like Nancy Pelosi?'"
Garbage, Joyce, really? Isn't that something your Mexican housekeeper takes out for you?

Gem of the day

Really admiring the White House's crafty use of language to defend itself regarding the 'peer-reviewed' offshore drilling ban recommendation:

"All DOI officials interviewed stated that it was never their intention to imply the moratorium was peer-reviewe by experts, but rather rushed editing of the executive summary by DOI and the White House resulted in this implication."

They must have some team of communications professionals there, I'll say that much.

11.10.2010

Gem of the day

Few would criticise Interface, easily one of the closest companies in the world to achieving a sustainable business model. But can anyone tell me what's wrong with the announcement below from Ray Anderson, an excerpt from an otherwise insightful article published today about the long-term implications of his company's sustainability strategy:

"We are now 10 years from 2020, our target year for achieving zero footprint. And we are marking the occasion with an event in Washington, where we will be joined by Boeing -- one of our customers and partners -- and the Environmental Protection Agency."

11.09.2010

Gem of the day

This should hardly come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the coal industry, but the Guardian reports Coal India's recent IPO did not mention climate change even once in its entire 510 pages.

For a deal which is the largest ever on India's stock exchange, sending major signals to investors around the world, I'd say that's a problem.

11.08.2010

Bonus bonus gem


Few things could be more entertaining on a Monday than the editor of Digg and a blogger for The Atlantic sparring about whose posts are funded by BP vs. whose posts are funded by ExxonMobil. Digg's editor wins when he points out the Atlantic is presented by ExxonMobil--but at the end of the day, kids, it's not really about delivering 'an eye for an eye'. Bottom line: your publications are funded by big oil. Enjoy.

Bonus gem

Ken Cohen, master of ExxonMobil Perspectives blog, made a great point a few days ago about energy policy, on the occasion of US mid-term elections:

"Don’t burden taxpayers with unnecessary energy business risks" 

His description of what this means, though, is where the gem obviously comes in. Here it is:

"Continuing long-term subsidies for alternative energy supplies that are not sustainable in the marketplace is a misuse of valuable taxpayer funds. We’ve seen this happen with the continued government support of corn ethanol, in addition to other renewable energy sources. By intervening in the nation’s energy markets and picking “winners and losers,” I think we’re overlooking more immediate solutions to our economic and environmental challenges."

Protesting against long-term subsidies that can distort the energy market is funny enough coming from the oil industry which receives billions of dollars in US subsidies annually. But for the sake of logic--and my sanity--in general, let's contrast his statement with an earlier point he makes in the same blog post:

"We also must support the development of alternative energy sources when and where they hold economic potential."

The economic potential of renewables obviously hinges on their ability to scale and become competitive with...fossil fuels. Precisely with the help of long-term subsidies. I'd be interested to hear how Ken Cohen thinks we're going to ever scale up renewables without some kind of reliable, consistent government support.

Another non-environmental wonder

George W. on Cheney, from his new memoir mysteriously titled 'Decision Points':

"He was seen as dark and heartless – the Darth Vader of the administration."

Gem of the day

The Wall Street Journal confidently explains to us the difference between Chevron's 'We Agree' campaign and BP's 'Beyond Petroleum'-fest:

"Beyond Petroleum" created unrealistic expectations about the demise of fossil fuels. In 2007, 10% of world energy came from renewables, mostly hydropower, according to the Energy Department. By 2035, they are forecast to represent all of 14%. Oil and natural gas are expected to still account for 52%; coal, 28%.
Chevron's adverts spell out that, when it comes to oil and gas "no other form of energy is as economical, as plentiful or as reliable."

Right.

11.05.2010

Bonus gem

Highlights from Hugh Grant's speech at this year's BSR conference:

"Agriculture finds itself in the middle of a very interesting debate."

"Africa needs to feed itself."

Gem of the day

I never get tired of skimming articles like this one from today's Environmental Leader:

"Businesses Stay the Course on Sustainability"

Firstly, any article that co-ops language from George W. Bush for a headline gets my instant praise. But it's the gem after gem that line the actual content that really delivers joy. In this case, we're given the results of BSR's latest poll of that ambiguous crowd, "people that work at big companies that are BSR members", or, in their words, "survey respondents...drawn from a majority of BSR’s global network of more than 250 member companies".

Their key finding? A sound majority of 84% are "somewhat or very optimistic that global businesses will embrace corporate social responsibility (CSR)/sustainability as part of their core strategies and operations over the next five years, despite an uncertain global economy". Sounds great, I especially love how they combined respondents who answered 'somewhat' with those who were 'very optimistic'.

Here's a few other bonus gems:
  • "Social issues advanced in the rankings this year, with workers’ rights taking the most notable jump, moving to the top of the list of 'very significant' priorities."
  • Second on respondents' list of priorities, "human rights"
Right.

11.04.2010

Gem of the day

More ambiguous thought leadership from the oil industry. Now we have this lovely campaign, 'Let's invent the future', from national Spanish oil and gas company Repsol. "How is creative energy building a better future?" asks the pop-up ad, showing a cartoon of three different initiatives (NB: they all sound interesting, but in a nutshell, whatever).

This is ironic coming on a day when the IEA has announced that, as the central message of the annual World Energy Outlook, it will call on governments to implement pledges to mitigate climate change and cut fossil fuel subsidies.

“The message from this analysis is clear: the weaker and slower the response to the climate challenge, the greater the risk of oil scarcity and the economic cost for consuming countries,” says the IEA as reported by the FT.

11.03.2010

Bonus bonus gem

How is this even deserving of a blog post? I'll give you the gem since you doubtless don't have the time or the inclination to encounter the full chaos of this kind of trash.

"If you watch Chevron’s advertisements they tend to be very caring and sharing, and this line from the UK chief would seem to fit with this approach.

Whether it amounts to anything more than spin over substance is another matter."

Jim Preen
Media consultant
Crisis Solutions

Bonus gem

I'm not sure how I feel about this proposal from Ken Salazar to establish an Ocean Energy Safety Institute as a response to Deepwater Horizon. The institute is described as a 'collaborative effort' that would conduct R&D in areas like drilling safety, blowout containment and a broad oil spill response.

Two things are making me nervous about this: 1., it's still going to be housed in the Interior Department, and 2., do we really need more R&D about oil? Or just immediate, stronger regulations to take away the most dangerous forms of drilling (read: offshore) and actually focus on driving compliance with those regulations?

After all, the goal of any regulatory response to Deepwater Horizon should definitely not be this, as articulated by the Interior:

"...ensure that the United States remains on the cutting-edge of offshore energy safety."

The US doesn't need to be on the cutting edge of energy safety. It needs to be on the cutting edge of radically scaling up new clean energy infrastructure, phasing out the traditional resources (read: oil and coal) that will continue to pollute and destroy. There's a major glass ceiling to how 'safe' we make them.

Let's read between the lines of what the American Petroleum Institute has to say about Ken's idea--that always yields some insight.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Interior Department to find ways forward to expeditiously develop our oil and natural gas resources, which would create jobs, generate revenues and increase our nation’s energy security,’’API said.

Right. I bet API looks forward to continuing to work with the Interior--that means more ambiguous commitments towards R&D 'in the future' and the business as usual of warm and fuzzy relationships.

I'm going to go ahead and vote no on this one. Especially considering Chevron admitted this week that, in light of the BP spill, its offshore drilling project near the Shetland Islands (which is much deeper than the ruptured BP well) could release "77,000 barrels per day – 25 percent more than gushed into US waters this year."

Gem of the day

No one in their right mind would ever recommend consulting FT's Lex for sustainability insights, especially in the context of the future of energy. But reading gems like this is still a real stunner:

"Of course, the cost to BP may not be counted only in cash. There are also fears that the catastrophe will durably change BP for the worse. Its reputation will take years to repair. It is selling off assets to pay for the clean-up. It will probably become a more cautious company too, with lower gearing and a bigger cash-cushion. The chastening in the gulf may yet turn it into a less profitable entity overall."

And yes, the title of the post is indeed "BP: Room for Optimism".

11.02.2010

Another non-environmental wonder

Shocking memo from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters:

"The 'Little Guy' Is Losing in American Politics"

The gem:

"The fight is about whether the government should protect corporate power to enrich a few billionaires, or restrict corporate power to protect the liberty and property of the average American."

So who's winning?

"I'll tell you who is winning: It isn't the little guy."

11.01.2010

Another non-environmental wonder

We knew Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity would generate countless photo gems. Here's one of the best ones.

Something that's actually good

Alex Steffen, the genius editor of WorldChanging, is almost always a reliable source for Something That's Actually Good. As is the case with this brief post of his from last week. It led me back, once again, to something he wrote nearly a year ago, the key gem of which appears below. It's a call to action to reject incremental change for what it increasingly is these days--a lack of commitment to real change or, worse, greenwash.

"In fact, I'm increasingly suspicious of any proposal to make something less unsustainable, rather than following a measured path to zero impact. Surrounded by a global leadership culture that values above all else civic incrementalism, compromise and moderation (sometimes for very good reasons), many of us tend to assume that progress is gradual and that steps in the right direction are at very least a good start. But that thinking is dysfunctional for the times in which we find ourselves. We need (for really direct and documented reasons) bold, rapid action and the completion of goals on a strict timetable. If any particular action can't make a case for itself as part of a bold and rapid shift, I increasingly suspect it's a sparkly distraction, not a stepping stone."

Ah.

Gem of the day

Can someone tell me what's wrong with the following scenario:

"The coal industry, facing a host of new health and safety regulations, is spending millions of dollars in lobbying and campaign donations this year to influence the makeup of the next Congress in hopes of derailing what one industry official called an Obama administration 'regulatory jihad.'"

I'm going to go ahead and award the current popularity of Islamic terminology in American political circles Most Awkward Energy-related Situation this month. It's especially rich considering that the Chamber of Commerce, that most venerable of business institutions in the US, is funded by a multitude of Middle Eastern interests from the Bahrain Petroleum Company to Gulf Petrochemicals Industries Company.