Wednesday, August 18, 2004

How to Kick the Oil Habit The wild-eyed crazies at Fortune are joining that socialist rag Business Week in rethinking energy policy. Risk, in other words, has become a part of the fundamental equation when it comes to the price of oil[~]not a temporary "premium," as some characterize it. Indeed, even without a major disaster, some analysts now believe we're likely to see $50-a-barrel oil before we see $30 a barrel again. To make matters worse, we're more vulnerable now than we were in 1973. Their four-point program: 1. Improve fuel economy 2. Ramp up spending on alternative fuels 3. Redouble our commitment to efficiency 4. Get serious about solar and wind Not so radical a program to some, until you consider where it's from. There's a tectonic shift underway in the global economy -- with huge impacts on both enterprise-level and national-level economic futures, and risk/reward profiles -- only some people/companies/governments can't see it yet. They proceed at their own peril. You invest in them at yours. 2:55:04 PM    comment []  trackback []

Raising the bar on sustainable business [New Bottom Line]: Sustainable business - a vision statement This latest article in my New Bottom Line series lays out a business vision for 'getting beyond mitigating the problem, making things less bad, slowing the rate of decline of the regenerative capacity of the living systems that sustain human culture and economy,' and actually solving the problem -- in a way that builds business value. The purpose of this vision statement: to challenge already good companies, developers, designers and public authorities to an even higher level of thinking, aspiration and performance.... It's intentionally both spare and provocative. Every phrase in it could be further explained, justified, specified, documented and exampled -- and soon will be, on an interactive web page. But then it wouldn't be a vision statement. The full article is posted here (along with a join our mailing list opportunity. And it's posted in outline form here (with annotations to come). (Watch for it also at greenbiz.com). Your comments and suggestions most welcome. 8:20:55 AM    comment []  trackback []