MB Civic

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http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/11/hype_vs_hope.html

You gotta start somewhere …

When John Browne, the head of British Petroleum, gave a speech in 1997 admitting that global warming exists, and announcing that business must respond “to the reality and the concerns of the world in which you operate,” people began calling him the “Sun King.” The head of California’s Environmental Protection Agency ventured that “this bold move will set the world stage for other companies to emulate.” BP commissioned green roofs for its filling stations, along with a whole slew of ads touting its vision for a world “beyond petroleum.” And there is every reason to think Lord Browne was sincere—he’d studied the problem, knew it was big, and was willing to buck the rest of the industry in saying so.

Browne was not the only executive thinking aloud about how corporations relate to the rest of the world. His comments came as the debate over “corporate social responsibility,” long a preoccupation for people in fuzzy sweaters, was about to explode into mainstream business culture. The movement has now spawned a booming industry in consultants and conferences; just this summer the World Business Council on Sustainable Development issued a manifesto titled “From Challenge to Opportunity,” filled with pictures of baking deserts and disease-stricken peasants, but also with promises to “seek greater synergy between our goals and those of the society we serve.” BP signed on, and so did everyone from Adidas to Procter & Gamble.

Though anyone on Wall St will tell you that businesses who try to go green get no bonus points from stock analysts. The whole widget needs to be rethunk.
-MAB