8.31.2012

Gem of the day

In a nutshell: why the totally broken, circular energy debate in America mirrors the global energy debate.

Mayor Bloomberg of New York positions natural gas as America's future (via Washington Post):

"The production of shale gas through fracking is the most significant development in the U.S. energy sector in generations...the hydraulic fracturing of shale rock that, together with horizontal drilling, unleashes abundant natural gas."

The global climate change legislation under debate in 2009 positions clean energy as America's future (via C-Span):

"This bill moves us towards a clean energy future...American innovation can unleash abundant clean energy resources and protect our national security."

8.30.2012

Something that's actually good

Finally, a growing recognition that nearly every country deserves 'developing' status in the face of unprecedented global challenges (or even basic neglected infrastructure). Why hasn't anyone written this so bluntly before? (via GSB)

"Social entrepreneurship often focuses on finding solutions to problems in the developing world. But, as the European Union battles with the ongoing recession and the US experiences rising levels of poverty, social enterprise solutions are increasingly appropriate in advanced industrial countries as well."

8.22.2012

Gem of the day

You don't always get agribusiness giants to admit in the global media that they care about profit more than anything else. But sometimes you do. Witness Chris Maloney, head of Glencore's food trading business (via The Guardian):

"In terms of the outlook for the balance of the year, the environment is a good one. High prices, lots of volatility, a lot of dislocation, tightness, a lot of arbitrage opportunities [the purchase and sale of an asset in order to profit from price differences in different markets]"

8.21.2012

Gem of the day

New report from Deloitte on the extent of America's debt crisis notes that current conversations "lack the depth and nuance that such a complex topic deserves."

Too true. So it's all too tragic to see investment in real sustainability and green technologies completely MIA from the cute infographic Deloitte has assembled of six areas that could 'boost America's competitiveness'. And the selection of carbon offset markets as one of those six areas only adds insult to injury, considering most people outside the Big 4 are recognising that they, er, don't really work.

Then again, none of this can really be a surprise coming from a firm that spends its time not paying attention to things that don't work.

8.20.2012

Another non-environmental wonder

Thank God the 'African consumer market' is finally catching up to the saturated, senseless, soulless standard set by the USA. And who better to report on this renaissance than the Economist?

"'Brands matter less than price in most of Africa,' says Simon Crutchley, the boss of AVI, a big South African consumer-goods firm with businesses across Africa. Many Africans are too poor to be brand aware, he says. They have not grown up bombarded with advertising and barely recognise even famous brands. But this is changing quickly, thanks to television and mobile phones."

At this rate, it won't be long before the wealthiest of these new consumers can start questing after essentials like Jimmy Choo shoes and Lacoste polo shirts, just two of the brands hawked by AVI.

8.15.2012

Bonus gem

AccountAbility's 'Stakeholder Engagement Manual Volume 1: Practitioners' Perspectives', published ages ago circa 2005, is unsurprisingly chock full o' gems.

This helpful quote from Dermont Kirk of BP has to take the cake:

"BP’s Dermont Kirk notes that, 'Engagement is more about listening than anything
else.' Expect to spend time learning each other’s vocabulary. 'You may be using the
same words,' he observes, 'but they may have different meanings.'”

That's right Kirk, and when it comes to draining terms like 'clean energy' of all sustainability meaning, BP would know that nuance better than anyone else.

Gem of the day

New op-ed in the NY Times by Alan Riley gets the picture on energy and climate change awesomely wrong:

"The battle against runaway climate change is being lost. The green movement and the energy industry — while engaged in a furious debate on issues from nuclear power to oil sands — are missing the bigger picture...Broad development of shale gas resources — with proper ecological safeguards — could be the best way to achieve the quick cuts in carbon dioxide emissions that we need to maintain a habitable environment on Earth."

His proof points:
  •  "Current" renewable energy supply can't deliver adequate carbon savings
  •  Using shale gas in the interim will give us time to "develop" renewable energy globally
Aside from the obvious chicken-and-egg issue there - renewables will scale up to meet demand but we need investment now to seriously kick-start that - the biggest fault in this article is Riley's failure to understand shale gas is about propping up the fossil fuels narrative.

But that might be too much to expect from a piece written by an energy law professor.

8.09.2012

Gem of the day

Ryan Schuchard of BSR manages to place Greenpeace activism and Walmart 'activism' in the same paragraph (via ClimateProgress):

"Low-carbon development can no longer wait for a price on carbon...This is evident in calls for business to be more engaged than ever before, from stepped-up campaigns by traditional activists like Greenpeace, to new initiatives targeting key sectors, to activism by companies such as Walmart, which is encouraging its suppliers to do more. What was once considered the leading edge—advancing initiatives around procurement, policy engagement, and creative partnerships—is now commonplace."

The day that Walmart's board risk their lives to demand a better world, that label just might be earned.

8.08.2012

Gem of the day

In another episode brought to you by the media asleep at the wheel, The Telegraph documents an 'astonishing' turnaround time from government energy announcement to corporate reciprocation:

"The Treasury announced that new gas fields found at depths of less than 90 feet will be exempt from a 32 percent tax on the first £500 million of income. The pledge appeared to pay off almost immediately with British Gas owner Centrica saying that it had helped to unlock new investments worth over £1 billion."

Fantastic and unpredictable news!


8.07.2012

Gem of the day

Fascinating-proof-of-American-cognitive-dissonance fact of the day (via NY Times):



Wind turbines are more common in Republican legislative districts than Democratic ones.

8.06.2012

Gem of the day

There's a first time for everything in the vortex of corporate sustainability. But PPG Industries, a major manufacturer of paint products, really takes the cake by being the first non-oil company I've ever seen to include a photo of an offshore oil rig in its CSR report to bolster its performance credentials. Confusing.


8.05.2012

Gem of the day

Time for a reality check on the Indian power cut last week (via the New Yorker):

"Though the headlines announced that seven hundred million people across twenty-one states had lost power, only about three hundred and twenty million of those had any electricity to begin with: in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state and one of its poorest, sixty-three per cent of households, or about a hundred and twenty-five million people, lack access to electricity."

...and at a higher level, context around what needs to be read into from this fleeting but meaningful crisis:

"For many commentators, it was a minor inconvenience but a major international embarrassment—another brutal blow to the [Indian] growth story, on a scale so stupendously grand that the whole world took notice."

8.01.2012

Bonus gem

England's environmental movement gets headlines for tackling the big issues at the root of the sustainability crisis - oh wait (via Guardian):

"Call for levy on single-use plastic bags in England: Environmental groups demand plastic bags should be charged after data shows rise in annual usage for second year in a row."

And we wonder day after day why the 'average consumer' isn't engaged in the agenda.

Gem of the day

More proof - as if we needed any - that the dirty, inefficient tools of the old system (energy and finance, for starters) are driven by elitism and inequality (via Jeremy Leggett):

"George Osborne was facing fresh questions yesterday over his controversial push to make Britain a worldwide hub for fossil fuels, after it emerged that his father-in-law is the head of a lobbying organisation for big oil and gas companies. Lord Howell of Guildford, who is an energy minister at the Foreign Office, is also the president of the British Institute of Energy Economics (BIEE), which is sponsored by Shell and BP – prompting suggestions of a conflict of interest."