Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Reuters: Is Corporate America Going Green?

Reuters ran this story yesterday: Is Corporate America Going Green? I was happy to see it run in our very own Boston Globe.

The article cites the efforts of companies like DuPont and GE, which last year unveiled its "Ecomagination" initiative -- "GE’s company-wide commitment to address global environmental challenges such as the need for cleaner, more efficient sources of energy, reduced emissions and abundant sources of clean water," according to the GE website.

Reuters reports that sales of "Ecomagination" products, ranging from washing machines to jet engines, reached $10.1 billion last year and GE aims to double that by 2010. It also aims to double its research spending on such products to $1.5 billion by 2010."

The article calls out DuPont for making good progress as well. According to a March study by Boston-based Ceres, a network of investment funds and environmental organizations, BP and DuPont lead a list of 100 companies for their climate change strategies. The study used a "Climate Governance Checklist" with a 100 point scoring system. BP racked up 90 points with DuPont coming in a 85. ExxonMobil (35 points) and PPG (21 points) landed in the laggards list.

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Lately, it feels like the whole nation has gone green. I'd remarked previously on Vanity Fair's first green issue; now I find (as I'm getting my hair cut) that Elle (yes even Elle!) did an April Green Issue, edited by Laurie David.