Corporations find business case for going green

Some environmental groups say they are taking a pragmatic approach to working with such companies, under the theory that it is better to help companies solve some environmental problems than to not do anything at all.

Ruta, whose organization Environmental Defense was one of the early groups to partner with big corporations, said her company’s motto is “finding the ways that work.”

“If you work with somebody who’s a strange bedfellow but it gets you where you want to be, then that’s what it takes,” she said.

Still, other environmentalists insist they still have a healthy dose of skepticism about whether corporations will really help make a tangible environmental difference. For example, Dorner said the Sierra Club doesn’t expect to see eye-to-eye with corporate America on issues such as how drastically greenhouse gas emissions need to be curbed to offset global warming.

“Of course, anything that they would find acceptable would be very different from something that we would find acceptable,” he said.

Dorner said his group also is quick to call foul when a company appears to be taking too much credit for an insubstantial environmentally friendly move.

“Small commitments to the environment do not a green company make,” he said.

PR power of going green
Indeed, many of the companies touting environmental improvements have plenty to gain from a little good publicity.

As the main producer of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, DuPont was once considered one of corporate America’s worst environmental bad guys. The company admits that one motivation to improve things was a concern about its reputation.

“Nobody wants to be the No. 1 polluter,” said DuPont’s Rittenhouse.

Despite major changes, Rittenhouse concedes that the company still has work to do.

“There’s no question we’ve still got issues,” Rittenhouse said. “We’re trying to learn from our past mistakes and make sure we are doing better.”

A push toward more renewable fuel sources also could help the battered images of oil and gas giants, who have seen record profits as Americans have felt pain at the pump. And Wal-Mart, which is facing an organized and aggressive campaign against its labor and expansion practices, certainly wouldn’t mind a little bit of goodwill.

Environmental groups also worry about whether companies will live up to their own sustainability initiatives, or drop them if cheaper or more amenable alternatives come along.

Some advocates see hope in companies that are making the type of environmentally friendly investments that could take years to pay off, such as major plant revisions or extensive green remodeling.

For example, both FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. have made some investments in vehicles that run at least partly on alternative fuels, as part of efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels over the long term.

Ruta, who worked with FedEx on their project, said those trucks are still more expensive to produce than their traditional counterparts, and zigzagging fuel prices can make it hard to predict a payback. Still, the hope is that the production process will eventually become more streamlined, bringing costs down and prompting more widespread use.

“We’re getting there,” she said.

MORE FROM GOING GREEN

Going Green Section Front

‘Cleantech’ could be economy’s next boom The Big Money: A green victory in the bag? U.S. companies look to BBQ fuel for freezers Newsweek: Companies overhype the 'green' angle Exxon makes first big biofuel investment Green jobs growing at twice national average Summit predicts 2 million green jobs in U.S. Jobless seek training for green-collar jobs Auto suppliers cross over to wind power 10 hot green job industries in 2009 Going Green Section Front   Add Going Green headlines to your news reader: