Wal-Mart CEO: It's Not Easy Being Green

[marmar]

from AlterNet's PEEK:



Wal-Mart CEO: It's Not Easy Being Green

Posted by ZP Heller, AlterNet at 8:46 PM on March 15, 2008.

There's no way Wal-Mart can fix the irreparable harm they've caused to our planet in such a short span of time, if ever.




Surprise, surprise! At this week's ECO:nomics conference in California, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott declared, "We are not green." This after the world's largest (and worst) retailer spent the last three years touting its environmental stewardship. Though Scott was unusually candid about Wal-Mart's inability to "green" themselves up, his admission only validates what many environmentalists already knew : There's no way Wal-Mart can fix the irreparable harm they've caused to our planet in such a short span of time, if ever.

Not too long ago, Scott pledged that Wal-Mart's massive "greenup on aisle five" would include investing $500 million in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing truck-fuel efficiency, reducing packaging, and creating more energy-efficient stores. What's more, Scott vowed to pressure Wal-Mart's global suppliers to follow their new responsible lead. But could they really have zero waste? Or use 100 percent renewable energy?

These goals seemed so lofty that it didn't shock me when I read that Wal-Mart isn't green, or that Scott answered a question about when a complete green overhaul might happen by saying, "I have no idea when that will be." What I found particularly troubling though was when Scott started talking about what waste meant to him and the company. He was talking about bottled water. After pointing out the tragic irony that there was bottled water right there at the conference on environmental capital, Scott explained why Wal-Mart continues to sell bottled water , "We have to stay in business... If the customer wants bottled water, we're going to sell bottled water."

While Wal-Mart may be working to reduce their carbon footprint, it became clear that to Scott, reducing waste means making money, not fulfilling an environmental promise. "It really is about how you take cost out, which is waste," Scott concluded. Let's face it, Wal-Mart has engaged in greenwashing here and we've fallen for it, hoping that the world's largest retailer would miraculously grow a conscience. Instead, Wal-Mart has only distracted environmentalists from the company's woeful record while they pursue their bottom line--cutting costs and making profits. We should've known something was up when the NGOs that Wal-Mart looked to for advice on sustainability made the company guarantee anonymity so that these groups wouldn't jeopardize their enviro-credibility when things went south. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/79832/

[Teaser]

1. A corporation is a machine designed to maximize shareholder value

It simply cannot act altruistically. Not where altruism affects its bottom line.

[cornermouse]

2. However based on looking at the shelves the other day

they do appear to have cut back on their Chinese suppliers. I even found a couple of American made items.

[NNadir]

3. Oh course they're "green." They pay Amory Lovins boat loads of money.

This makes the "green."

[diane in sf]

5. Your envy of Amory Lovin's reputation and success is pretty sad and obvious.

[NickB79]

6. It sounds like disgust to me

I know I don't have a lot of respect for the man. His reputation is a joke, IMO, because he is on the Walmart payroll.

[NNadir]

7. My contempt for Amory Lovin's paid off ignorance is obvious. You have a bizarre interpretation

of the word success.

If you define taking greenwashing payoffs from Walmart to produce this tripe:

http://www.walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=348

don't expect me to be impressed.

Now, I see nothing in your little pat statements - not one of which is analytical in any sense of the word - that shows either a shred of comprehension of science or even a modicum of thought about the nature of this environmental catastrophe, but, even so, let me tell you something lady, hauling plastic shit from China to sell in car culture parking lots to satiate consumer lust ain't it.

I can smell a Tortilla Curtain "environmentalist" across a continent: Not guts, no brains, no sense, no decency, soaked with a very unpleasant whiff of diesel and gasoline.

In general Lovins defenders come in two stripes: They haven't actually read what he says or does and simply worship because they believe everything they hear on TV and read in fluff magazines, or they simply aren't too bright. It doesn't matter which is which.

Tripe.

[diane in sf]

4. It's probably not in the nature of a large corporation to be green, but if Walmart's trucks

use half the petroleum of their competitors and their stores use half the electricity, their competitors will have to follow suit to stay in business. This is an irresistible trend like the invention of the assembly line by Ford--all of his competitors and eventually most industries were forced to imitate to compete against his lower costs.