A Tale of Two Corporations

Lately, General Electric’s been letting its ecomagination run wild. And Chevron…well, not so much.

A new report from GE showcases the conglomerate’s continued focus on clean energy investments:

General Electric’s revenue for its portfolio of environmentally sensitive products and services grew 21 percent last year and rose to $17 billion, according to the firm’s annual ecomagination report. …

Ecomagination offerings, which range from refrigerators and smart meters for the home to turbines and engines for industries, now include 80 products and services. The number represents a 30 percent increase compared to the portfolio in 2007, the report said.

In addition, the company’s 2008 investments in cleantech research and development increased by 27 percent, rising to $1.4 billion, according to the report. By comparison, the GE’s cleantech R&D investment was $750 million in 2005.

Chevron–who last year unleashed a torrent of greenwashed advertising–is showing little, if any, commitment to clean energy. Via Climate Progress:

The company invests a measly 5 percent compared to total annual profits in low-carbon energy programs.

What’s more, Chevron does not plan to reduce its greenhouse gases emissions.

On a side note, I noticed this interesting tidbit in the full GE ecomagination report:

NBC Universal’s Focus Features became one of the first studios to implement comprehensive sustainable practices on a major motion picture production. The 2009 film Away We Go redirected nearly 50% of its waste away from landfills toward recycling and composting.

I was already planning to see Away We Go (Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida wrote the script and John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are the film’s costars), but now I almost feel morally obligated to catch it on its opening weekend.

A Tale of Two Efficiency Programs

A great article in today’s Wall Street Journal reports that two distinct strategies exist when it comes to weatherization: the government way and the non-profit way.

First, the government way, as demonstrated by a program in Houston:

The program picks a low-income neighborhood of old houses and tries to sign up as many homeowners as possible.

Workers then move from house to house, doing a quick evaluation and using measures that can be completed in hours. Issa Dadoush, director of the city’s general-services department, said the typical homeowner’s energy use drops by as much as 20% in the steamy summer months, helping to save, on average, $335 over six months; with the stimulus money, the city says it can weatherize 10,000 homes a year.

“The assembly-line approach gives us more bang for the buck,” Mr. Dadoush said.

The non-profit approach differs in that they allocate more time and funding for each home:

Sheltering Arms typically performs an “energy audit” that figures out which improvements are the most cost-effective ways to cut energy use. But like other traditional weatherizing groups, it often combines such efforts with major home repairs, using money from a variety of sources such as United Way donations.

So it might repair a damaged roof or foundation in addition to caulking windows and replacing a refrigerator, in a process that can take days and require repeated visits.

I don’t see why both approaches can’t work together, since the additional home repairs clearly serve a purpose beyond increased energy savings.

However the stimulus funds are allocated, it seems like there are programs out there capable of doing the job right.

Obama: Ruthlessly Efficient

President Obama announced new rules that will raise fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks. The announcement was met with approval by both enviros and industry:

David McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said that the agreement reached late Sunday night would provide the industry with “clarity and predictability.”

Federal CAFE standards should have been raised long ago–but better late than never.

Kohl’s: My New Favorite Chain

That is, it would be my favorite, if a single store were actually located close to my house. Via GreenerBuildings:

Kohl’s tally of Energy Star-labeled stores now stands at 219, the retailer’s design prototype for stores has been awarded initial LEED Silver certification and three other stores in the chain have attained LEED ratings.

The recognition of Kohl’s green building efforts followed news last week that the company is among the top three purchasers of renewable energy in the U.S., according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership program.

Before the week closed, the company was pointing to further acknowledgment from the EPA, this time from the agency’s Energy Star program, which singles out commercial buildings and industrial plants in the U.S. with energy efficiency ratings that reach the top 25 percent.