The reluctant greening of America – a continuing series
Since the average temp on the East Coast shot up to 97 all summer and gas prices make SUVs uncomfortably pricey, there has been some hullaballoo about the “greening of America.” Yup, environmentalism is hot again, and we’re going to party like it’s Earth Day, 1979. America’s putting on sweaters, carpooling and getting psyched about solar energy.
I love sustainability – great concept. Doing profitable business without wrecking our kids’ ability to live on Earth: sounds simple and attractive as an idea. As I have said before, to make this attempt at sustainability better than past attempts, there are two people you need to reach:
Yup, Pat Robertson and Wall Street types are the two parties that really need to come on board to make it different this time. Otherwise, the evolution of global industry is going to get caught in the ridiculous “culture war” or “anti-growth” debate. This time, there must be an accord that growth can be good.
As I have mentioned in recent postings, miracle of miracles, Pat Robertson is onboard. Even he thinks that this global warming thing is real. Whoa. OK, great.
Next, I say that Wall Street guys must be into sustainability – and not for public relations. They’ve got to be excited about sustainability just out of the sheer capitalist greed of it. No bleeding hearts, no tree hugging, just pure Return On Investment, baby.
It looks like it’s happening already. Today’s International Herald Tribune has a perfect article about how “cleantech” is producing lots of interest in the financial community. It seems that many companies are looking at the future and believe, quite sagely, that causing environmental havoc is not good for profits.
Nicholas Parker, chairman of the trade group Cleantech Venture Network, is even adamant that this movement is not about being a do-gooder — it’s about cold hard cash. And the cash is showing up. In the first half of this year, venture capitalists invested $379 million in 30 companies that categorize themselves as cleantech, according to the National Venture Capital Association. That is up from $230.8 million in 27 companies in all of 2005. There’s even the issue of many companies trying to look green to attract investment, even when they aren’t especially sustainable.
Now, there’s the sign of change — companies trying to look green for financial reasons, not just to get environmentalists to shut up or to avoid bad press.
When it pays money to reduce pollution and make profitable industry sustainable — now you’ve got the makings of a revolution.
-Garland
Labels: sustainability