Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit

Is Climate Change Legislation Dead in 2010?

2010-02-08T21:47:02Z

The latest chatter on the Hill is that climate legislation is not likely to pass this year. High jobless numbers, financial reform and the health care debate continue to thwart efforts focused on the environment. It is possible that the Senate will settle for an energy-only bill and call it a day. The likelihood of [...]

Despite Recession, Home Depot Keeps on Giving

2010-02-09T05:38:26Z

Last week’s announcement from the Home Depot Foundation suggests that even with sales slumps and layoffs, the nation’s largest retailer of home improvement products still views charitable giving as good business. The company is expecting lower revenues for 2009 when results are announced in February, and for the third consecutive January is cutting its workforce. Still, [...]

Nominate A Pioneering, Successful, Green Restaurant!

2010-02-06T06:42:44Z

“Does green really sell,” is the question I am most consistently asked. Amanda’s is one of my favorite answers to this question. It is a restaurant that its founder, Amanda West, defines as “Whole Foods meets In–N-Out Burger.” It is also likely that Amanda’s represents the future of the fast food industry. America is a [...]

Groups Sue California Over Low Carbon Fuel Standard

2010-02-09T05:55:52Z

Last week the American Trucking Association (ATA) and the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA) filed a lawsuit against California’s low-carbon fuel mandate, which calls for the state’s petroleum dependence to be reduced by 20 percent by 2020. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted the standard last April. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. [...]

Is Walmart’s Sustainability Consortium A Genuine Effort To Develop Better Products?

2010-02-09T05:59:08Z

Walmart is certainly not a stranger to controversy and criticism, and neither is its attempt to develop sustainability standards for products. Last summer the world’s largest retailer announced plans last summer to develop a Sustainability Index which would serve as a single data source for evaluating a product’s sustainability. The Sustainability Index initiative then launched [...]

Ford Unveils Electric Transit Connect, Focused on Fleet Owners

2010-02-09T00:06:43Z

Ford announced today that an all-electric version of its Transit Connect small cargo van will roll off production lines and into vehicle fleets later this year. The Transit Connect has been, so far, a hit for Ford, selling well in Europe, where it debuted before coming state-side last year in a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder gas-powered engine that [...]

Hydrogen is Not The Miracle Fuel of the Future

2010-02-08T21:11:30Z

BoingBoing.net is reporting today on a tabletop “hydrogen power station” that produces hydrogen from water using a standard power outlet and costs around $200. While this may sound wonderful on the surface, it merely illustrates how the notion of a “hydrogen economy” is really a myth. Let’s get one thing perfectly clear: hydrogen is not a [...]

The E-Waste Market: The Good, Bad and the Ugly

2010-02-08T16:42:02Z

While technology has become more affordable and readily available, discarded electronic waste, commonly referred to as e-waste, has become a great big problem. That shiny new gadget you buy today will probably be obsolete tomorrow. So what happens to all that electronic waste? According to a 60 Minutes segment, an estimated 130,000 computers are thrown out [...]

2010 SuperBowl Ads: Audi Green Police Is As Green as it Gets?

2010-02-08T18:30:54Z

Let’s face it, the Superbowl is watched by more Americans than any other single TV event. Personally, my guess is that at least half of the people who watch it only watch it for the famous Superbowl ads. They’re usually humorous (and this year, somewhat controversial, with the addition of the ad for an anti-abortion [...]

China Now World Leader in Smart Grid Investment

2010-02-08T20:39:15Z

Just imagine if we were only now building our first electric infrastructure. Of course that would mean that we’d be decades behind our other modern counterparts. But it would also mean that we’d be in a position to build it using the very latest and best technology. That is exactly the position China is in [...]

Why Electric Vehicles Worry California Power Regulators

2010-02-05T18:32:36Z

Though historically high gas prices provide a strong market demand for electric vehicles (EVs) in California, it is the state with an electric grid that is the least able to support these cars. With automakers set to launch at least a dozen EV models by 2012, California’s electricity regulators are scrambling to respond to the [...]

The $10 Trillion Awareness Customer

2010-02-08T17:15:00Z

I participated recently in a dialogue with thought-leaders on whether “green” or “renewable” or “sustainability” or “restoration” or “regeneration” is the right word to describe the sea change in technology, business processes and consumer behavior now taking place in the U.S. All the participating thought-leaders were frustrated that these words were either tainted with politics, [...]

What Do C-Level Employees Take Home from a Conference like the State of Green Business Forum?

2010-02-08T17:25:56Z

At last week’s State of Green Business Forum put on by Greener World Media, I reported live on some of the interesting developments in the world of green business presented at the conference. As a small business specialist, this kind of conference is, admittedly, somewhat foreign to me. The conferences I usually attend, such as [...]

Thoughts on Marketing the Climate Change Issue

2010-02-08T17:38:08Z

By Sirid Kellermann After spending a decade in R&D positions in biotech, I recently parlayed my MBA into a marketing role. This is a bit ironic, considering that not that long ago, I considered marketers to be bottom feeders who find out what makes you tick and then use that information to shove something you don’t [...]