Earth and Industry » global warming

WWF Launches CEO2 Climate Game for Business

Zachary Shahan — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 16:20:43 +0000

Try your green skills on running a major international company with the CEO2 Climate Game by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Allianz.

A friend of mine on Twitter recently sent me a link to a computer game where you get to be the CEO of a major corporation (you choose the industry -- automotive, chemical, insurance, or utility) and are challenged to green your company in the most effective (long-term) way. In the game, after making a series of executive decisions on how best to spend your resources greening your company, you leap forward in time 2 years, 4 years, and then 10 years and the game tells you the results of your decisions and the reasons for those results at each point in time. After that, you have an option to go back to the drawing board and turn your company around or keep your success going.

I found playing the game quite interesting and it opened my mind a bit to future possibilities in this complex world. I'm not sure if all of the game's assumptions about the future are correct. As I just said, it is a complex world, and not many people can predict the future so well. Nonetheless, there is a lot of food for thought in there and I think it could help make anyone interested in this matter realize that there are a lot of things to consider when choosing the best green practices for your company.

If you're looking for both a fun and informative break to your day, or if you're just extremely interested in this topic, head on over to the CEO2 Climate Game and test out your green business skills.

Right Wing Concedes Climate Change is Real, Man-Made

David Wescott — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:29:26 +0000

Border fence at Border Field State Park, California. (photo: Jlantzy/flickr)

A California group latches onto climate change as latest vehicle to push anti-immigration agenda.

BC Upham at Triplepundit found a television commercial produced by a group called Californians for Population Stabilization that finally, FINALLY, acknowledges what scientists have been saying for some time now - climate change is real, and human behavior has had a significant impact on it.

Of course, they don't come out and say this directly, but they've apparently figured out which humans are responsible for climate change.

Immigrants.

[youtube width="480" height="385"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM0Gc-twtMU[/youtube]

Of course, the arguments made in the television ad are patently ridiculous. Even the vice president of the organization concedes that consumption is the true culprit here. However - and seriously, this is directly from the guy who wrote the position paper for the organization - " because high consumption is an integral part of our culture, diminishing it significantly will be a slow and difficult process." That's right - we "native born" Americans don't really want to consume less, so rather than give up the SUV's and the McMansions, it's better to keep poor people in poor countries where they can't consume like we "real" Americans do.

Of course, this effort should serve as the latest signal to environmentalists that we are winning the communications fight on this issue. The politicians who would most likely align themselves with this group also tend to be aligned with those who reject the science on climate change - putting those politicians in the awkward position of choosing between allies. This is at least one conservative group that has decided to at least look like they're serious about climate change. They won't be the last. Ultimately they'll have the effect of convincing even more people that the question isn't whether climate change is real or man-made, but how it's addressed most effectively.

Will Ford Be Next Firm to Leave Chamber of Commerce over Climate?

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:36:08 +0000

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid (Photo: Tim Hurst)

Union of Concerned Scientists calls on Ford to ditch Chamber of Commerce

The well-publicized exodus of several major firms from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the business association's opposition to climate legislation has sparked calls for similar action to be taken by other prominent companies.

Companies, such as Apple, Microsoft, have publicly distanced themselves from the Chamber’s regressive actions on climate change; Nike has come under pressure from stockholder groups; and while Toyota said they are as supportive as ever of the Chamber, company officials also indicated they may hold some policy views different from the umbrella organization.

The latest firm to come under criticism for its involvement with the Chamber is Ford Motor Company. The Union of Concerned Scientists Clean Vehicles Program coordinators Thursday launched a campaign to urge the American auto maker to withdraw. UCS penned a letter to Ford chairmain, William Ford Jr., and sent it out to UCS membership.

While the letter praised Ford for its work developing more fuel-efficient vehicles, such as the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, it was also critical of Ford and the company's involvement with the U.S. Chamber, an organization that is fighting tooth and nail to oppose substantive climate legislation in the Congress. The letter from the UCS reads:

Dear Mr. Ford,

I was delighted to see that your company has joined the chorus of support for the new national clean car standards. Unfortunately, this forward-thinking position is marred by your continued affiliation with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its aggressive, anti-science stance on the pressing issue of climate change.

Earlier this year, you yourself said, "We now have an opportunity to preserve our environment and our manufacturing base by applying breakthrough technologies to create energy-efficient processes and products. We can gain a clear competitive advantage by becoming leaders in this green technology." Indeed, the Ford Motor Company is already benefitting from that opportunity, as Ford's hybrid vehicles have experienced a 73 percent increase in sales so far in 2009.

Yet Ford remains a part of a Chamber that has sued the Environmental Protection Agency to prevent action toward cleaner cars and other global warming solutions, going directly against scientific consensus and pressing need.

I therefore ask that you lead the board of directors to make a public break between Ford and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to show that your company's recent action on clean cars is a long-term commitment and not just temporary political expediency.

Ford profits have surged this late summer and early fall, thanks in part to the Cash for Clunkers program, but also thanks to the popularity of the 2010 Fusion hybrid.

Grading Obama’s Address to UN on Energy and Climate

David Wescott — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:09:22 +0000

President Obama addresses UN Climate Change Summit. UN Photo/Marco Castro

Tim Hurst, Maria Surma Manka, Jeff McIntire-Strasburg and I - we've taken to calling ourselves the "Gang of Four" - checked out President Obama's speech to the United Nations Climate Change Summit and gave our immediate reactions in another podcast. We talked about the noteworthy items in the speech, as well as some of the things we noticed were not in the speech. Since Jeff is a college professor, we thought it would be fun to give the President a grade on the speech. We're planning to compare this speech with the results of the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh later this week.

Here is the full text of President Obama's speech to the UN on climate and the video of the address is below.

This podcast is 14:11 and Tim's audio quality is a little better this time.