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| Ecomagine That |
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| Written by Casson Rosenblatt | |
| Thursday, 20 September 2007 | |
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GE has really committed to its 2-year old "ecomagination" program, at least with marketing dollars. It is hard to watch TV these days without seeing a dancing animal and a light bulb. But according to the Wall Street Journal, it is more than just good PR. GE's environmentally-friendly products are selling well and are expected to grow 10% annually through 2010. However, even with a real commitment to the environment within certain parts of the behemoth, GE has not stopped pursing contradictory income streams, such coal-fired steam turbines and investing in oil-and-gas production. While GE Chairman Jeffery Immelt backs carbon-limits and supports R&D for forward-looking products, the company still continues to support all projects, including coal-fired plants, "when the economics makes sense." As Dan Bakal, director of electric-power programs for Ceres, says in the Journal article, "GE is 'looking toward the future but they are not yet giving up all of the past.'" GE, like may other multinationals, are attempting to change their core activities in order to be socially responsible, as well as to remain ahead of the curve on issues they predict will be major market movers in the future. We can only hope the commitment remains and these news products and programs begin to replace the old way of doing business. Otherwise we simply have more of a good thing . . . and more of a bad. Casson Rosenblatt 
GE 
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written by j hudson , September 21, 2007 Tag it:           | |
| Last Updated ( Friday, 21 September 2007 ) | |
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The last paragraphs of the article are intriguing too, as apparently a columnist named Lloyd Alter at Treehugger got a meeting at GE. Which should be an inspiration to eco-bloggers everywhere. The circumstances at end of the WSJ piece excerpted below:
"Mr. Immelt's environmental campaign poses new public-relations quandaries. Especially troublesome are proposals in several countries and California to ban incandescent light bulbs -- the technology that made GE founder Thomas Edison a household name. Backers of a ban favor fluorescent lights, which use far less energy.
GE makes fluorescent bulbs, but scrambled to protect its much-larger incandescent business. Lobbyists sought to shift the debate to efficiency standards for lighting, rather than a bulb's technology. GE also announced -- several years ahead of schedule -- plans for an advanced incandescent bulb that would use half as much energy. But that met with a mixed reaction, as some advocates accused GE of trying to thwart a move to fluorescents.
Lloyd Alter, a columnist at environmental Web site treehugger.com, labeled GE's new technology a "vaporbulb" and accused the company of trying to "knock the wind" out of the movement to ban incandescents. Mr. Alter later tempered his criticism, after meeting with several GE officials.
The jolt helped prompt Ms. Bolsinger to better coordinate GE's business, regulatory and eco-marketing goals. This month, she, Mr. Ramsey and GE's top legislative leaders will begin regular conference calls to discuss hot-button environmental issues. Ms. Bolsinger says the calls are "long overdue."