Business – particularly Big Business – has been responsible for horrific acts over the years, from the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India, to hideous chronic pollution and wanton destruction of natural resources, to simply you name it. But their relentless pursuit of the dollar also forces them to pay extremely close attention to reality – and this is a good thing. Sami Grover @ TreeHugger.com writes about a new climate change initiative:
Today appears to mark another step change in magnitude, as reported over at Business Green, 13 US companies will pledge to invest $140 billion in the fight against climate change, while slashing their own emissions and water use too.
In many ways, it appears our business leaders are out in front of our political representatives, taking bolder action than government is able (or willing) to do. That said, the White House is a central coordinating partner in the American Business Act on Climate Pledge, which is expected to see more businesses sign up over the coming months. So perhaps it’s more true to say that our political leaders (at least some of them) are beginning to understand that they’ll need to make the economic case for climate action, and business leaders can help them do that.
Sami reports this is in addition to prior commitments by IKEA, Apple and Amazon. In an item nearly a year old, Sami also reports on Google’s withdrawal from ALEC, an organization earlier mentioned here:
Because, as revealed in a Diane Rehm interview with Eric Schmidt, Google just quit ALEC. And Schmidt came right out and accused the lobbying group of lying about climate change in the process. …
Eric Schmidt’s announcement that Google was breaking ties with ALEC will be welcome news indeed for anyone who cares about a livable climate. Schmidt left no room for doubt in his interview about why this break up is happening. Here’s a transcript of Schmidt’s comments, as reported by the National Journal:
“Well, the company has a very strong view that we should make decisions in politics based on facts—what a shock,” Schmidt said. “And the facts of climate change are not in question anymore. Everyone understands climate change is occurring, and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place. And so we should not be aligned with such people—they’re just, they’re just literally lying.”
Few businesses do well in chaos, especially when their customers are stricken and suddenly lacking money for purchases because they’re bailing water out of their basements – or fleeing for their lives. Businesses adore predictability. Climate change is all about chaos, the signals are there – and the big boats are beginning to turn. The list of signees comes from WhiteHouse.gov:
Alcoa, Apple, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Cargill, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Google, Microsoft, PepsiCo, UPS, and Walmart.
The next step is for the signees to use this to generate good will for their products – and ding their competitors. Also worthy of note is the emergence of companies practicing conscious capitalism – such as Chipotle Mexican Grill, well-known for proclaiming its green credentials.
From a wider viewpoint, one must wonder if the last couple of years are starting to signal a rift between a GOP increasingly controlled by a deeply religious conservative faction, and businesses who find the assumptions of this new GOP are no longer compatible with good business practices. We saw signs of a rift earlier this year when Indiana passed a law widely interpreted as giving small businesses the right to discriminate against virtually anyone they wished on religious grounds, resulting in various businesses and other organizations vowing to leave, or avoid, the state. Indiana eventually replaced the law; other states with similar laws in the pipeline then did not pass their versions.
Will the business trend continue? Will it influence the upcoming Presidential race? Will the Democrats seek closer Big Business ties in order to influence holdouts towards greener practices? And what will those companies expressly involved in generating hideous pollution do? The last question is one of the most important, for if they’re not given a way out, they’ll fight with all they have to preserve their right to pollute.
[Updated 8/14/2015 for missing link to conscious capitalism]
