The Magazine of Corporate Responsibility

Tag Archive for ‘Energy’

The Energy Waste of TV Set-Top Boxes

A recent analysis conducted on behalf of the Natural Resources Defense Council found that “the average new cable high-definition digital video recorder (HD-DVR) consumes more than half the energy of an average new refrigerator and more than an average new flat-panel television.”

Reducing energy use – globally

Scaling back our energy consumption significantly, whether voluntarily or as a result of laws and regulations, would go a long way toward achieving our pollution reduction and air and water quality goals. But Americans—and to a lesser extent those in many other developed nations—have never been very good at using less of anything, let alone the energy that makes everything in our whiz-bang modern world possible. That said, conservation is going to play an increasingly important role in all of our lives as we struggle to reduce our collective carbon footprints in a quickly warming world.

Tax Credits for Energy Efficiency in 2011

Some federal tax credits for energy efficiency upgrades expired at the end of 2010, but there is legislative effort afoot to extend some of those credits—and there are plenty of other ways to defray the costs of turning over a new green leaf or two this year and beyond.

Obama Highlights Anti-Corruption Measure for Mining and Energy

A new measure designed to combat corruption in resource-rich countries by requiring mining and energy companies to disclose payments to foreign governments was highlighted this week by U.S. President Barack Obama in a speech at the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York. The requirement is a provision of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill signed into law by Mr. Obama in July.

Hydroelectric Dams – The Good and Bad

Hydroelectric dams are among the greenest and most affordable electricity sources in the world—and by far the most widely used renewable energy sources—but they also take a heavy environmental toll in the form of compromised landscapes, ecosystems and fisheries.

Verbatim: How Businesses View Sustainability & CSR Reporting

Investment firm Walden Asset Management recently researched and compiled quotes from sustainability and corporate responsibility reports by several dozen companies in a wide range of industries. The exercise showed, says a Walden executive, that attention to such issues has become vitally important for a company’s business, and that transparent reporting is, as one CEO said, one of “the prices of doing business today.”

Procter & Gamble Introduces Supplier Environmental Scorecard

P&G said that in the future it will use the scorecard to determine each supplier’s sustainability rating as part of the company’s annual supplier performance measurement process. P&G currently spends $43.8 billion annually with about 75,000 suppliers around the globe.

Sustainability: 20 Expectations for Companies by 2020

A major new paper from Ceres, the investor and environmental group, “is a guide to companies on their journey to comprehensive sustainability – from the boardroom to the copy room – and throughout the supply chain,” says the organization’s president.