NEW ENERGY GOES CORPORATE

It is not just about LOOKING right anymore, it is about BEING right.

Pictured in conjunction with this article: Architectural Wind from Aerovironment, as described here September 16 & 20 of last year.

Corporate ecology gets seriously green; An environmental ethic is growing on business
Marc Lifsher, Abigail Goldman and Janet Wilson, March 4, 2007 (LA Times)

- Since the first Earth Day almost 37 years ago, U.S. companies have been eager to trumpet their environmental good deeds, even when they were more about public relations than clean air or water.
- But increasingly, corporate America is going green in new, serious and costly ways…
- And it's not happening just in California, the Northwest and other ecologically minded areas. In Texas, a group of private investors last week agreed to pay about $32 billion for the largest utility in the state. The private equity firms pledged to back U.S. legislation on global warming and to build no more than three of 11 planned coal-fired power plants.
- Environmental concerns are spreading quickly…Although some activists and business executives are skeptical that a change in attitudes is at hand, business is increasingly paying closer attention to the environment — including the environment's effect on the financial bottom line.

- Amy Domini, manager for Domini Social Investments, which manages $1.6 billion in investments intended to be socially responsible, calls corporate environmentalism "the big hot topic on Wall Street these days."
- …The [TXU] agreement [which included commitments to scrap most of the coal-fired power plants planned and where environmentalists won a promise from investors to double investments in wind power and other sources of alternative energy] is the latest sign that corporations and environmentalists can do business together, said Denis Hayes, the coordinator of the first Earth Day in 1970…
- The emerging environmental ethic is starting to influence corporate decision-making across the country.
- Chevron Corp., BP and other oil companies are spending billions of dollars to develop alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. Farmers are turning fields of corn into ethanol used to run cars and trucks.
- Auto companies, led by Toyota Motor Corp., are selling tens of thousands of almost emission-free hybrid vehicles and are moving toward developing so-called plug-in hybrids that can take commuters to and from work on a single charge.
- Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation's largest retailer, has embarked on a $500-million-a-year campaign to save energy in all of its U.S. stores and distribution centers.
- And even Hollywood is adding a touch of green to its color palette. The organizers of last week's Oscar ceremony boasted that they hosted a "carbon neutral" event…The entertainment industry has been instrumental in raising public consciousness…
- Environmental investments by venture capitalists in alternative energy and eco-friendly technology reached a record $3.6 billion last year, up 45% from 2005…

- …Silicon Valley…California and, increasingly, its neighbors are continuing… environmental leadership…The governors of Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington said they were taking action because of a lack of leadership from President Bush and Congress…
The TXU deal and the governors' agreement are two signs that environmental concerns are forcing business to move beyond the public relations campaigns that critics denounce as so-called green-washing…
- Chevron [is] making major investments…in researching the use of biodiesel and next-generation ethanol fuels. It has reduced its own energy use and runs a subsidiary that sells energy-saving projects to governments and companies…
- Companies like TXU that have followed a traditional investment model in which the environment isn't a high priority are seeing their plans dashed…