In Associate Professor Anil Karnani’s world, Corporate Social Responsibility professionals at the world’s largest companies only do two things: propose projects that the business should already be doing because they make total financial sense, and propose projects which are financial disasters and companies should never seriously consider. And if you lived in his world, you’d [...]
Posts Tagged ‘environment’
BP: Trying to Save the Well?
I got the following note from a friend from my MIT days: There is a drilled well that, at the seabed, enters a structure that is compromised. That structure cannot be fixed in a timely fashion or at all. Thus eliminate the structure (drag it away, underwater demolition, piecewise removal). Once that is removed, you [...]
A Guide to Cap and Trade Legislation
When I first heard of the concept of a Cap and Trade system for reducing pollution, I thought it was one of the most elegant ideas that I’d ever heard. A Cap puts a hard limit on the amount of pollution that will be allowed in a given time period, and permits for that amount [...]
Oil and Gas Engineers, Please Step Up
We are witnessing a tragedy unfold, and a prime example of what happens when engineers don’t deliver on their basic responsibilities to society. Maybe the engineers who designed the BP oil platform in the gulf just plain made a mistake in their design, or maybe they knew the design wasn’t right but were ordered to [...]
Earth Day Thoughts on American Innovation
Today, on the 40th Earth Day, we look back at where we’ve come from, but also look forward to where we’d like to go. And while, as Americans, we’re compelled to look towards Washington and focus on what our politicians have done in past, and may or may not do in the future, on behalf [...]
Getting US Business Behind Climate and Energy Legislation
With the upcoming release of the Kerry/Graham/Lieberman energy bill amidst a contentious environment on Capitol Hill, we’re starting to see the big push to get business support for the legislation. The Politico interview with Sen. Graham makes the case explicitly: “The package represents major victories for the business community, which was virtually shut out of [...]
Sustainability: TNG
The theme of the weekend was the next generation of sustainability leaders. Tom Friedman led off with an excellent op-ed on the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search. Meanwhile, I got a look even farther into the future at the Alcott School Science Fair, here in Concord, MA. With three kids, I’ve been to my share [...]
Green Education: What We Need
Over the holidays USA Today had an article talking about the sudden rise of green-oriented minor and major programs at universities. According to Paul Rowland, Executive Director of Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, two factors are driving the surge: students want the courses, and employers want the trained students. When I [...]
Some Data Released in UK
Steve McIntyre reports that “the UK Met Office has released a large tranche of station data, together with code”. Notes: The Met Office says that this is not a complete set of data, but it is unclear what is missing. This is the processed data – the raw data is claimed to have been deleted. [...]
The Unasked Questions
Tom Fuller at Examiner.com ran a survey on various aspects of climate change and policy for the last few days (sorry, the survey is now closed, but Tom says he’ll be writing up the results soon). At the end he asked for any questions that he might have missed. Usually by that point in a [...]
