Global warming is the issue of our time. I realize that our grandfathers fought in the Great War. I realize they ran onto Nazi machine gun nests, liberated Europe, stormed Siribachi. They are called the Greatest Generation. But I’m telling you right now, if we beat global warming, we will be the Greatest Generation (or if we do nothing, the Most Vilified Generation). I have friends who laugh at this notion, but we’ll see who’s laughing in 100 years. After all, which is more important, stopping a tyrant? Or reversing 150 years of industrial pollution, saving hundreds of millions of people from famine/flooding, and saving hundreds of thousands of species from going extinct?
With that being said, Green Marketing is just at its infancy, and where every company needs to be. Some big companies already “get it”. The absolutely breath-taking Planet Earth series by Discovery Channel has been fully sponsored by Bank of America, who are going even further by incorporating green solutions into their practices. Mega-oil company BP has also been making large strides toward environmental responsibility, consistently scoring high on green rankings. And then there’s GE’s Ecomagination campaign - they have committed billions of dollars and an entire branch of their company to mastering sustainable energy.
The planet’s atmosphere is going to be saved by individuals - individuals deciding they give enough of a damn to take personal action, cut down their carbon footprint and lobby their governments. But a few companies are taking up the fight. This is only the beginning - increasingly, consumers are going to be checking the Green Creds of the companies they’re doing business with. I now buy gas exclusively at BP, and am switching my Commerce bank account (that I’ve had since I was 8 years old) to Bank of America. I guarantee you I’m not the only one! Getting out front with green ad campaigns is a sure-fire way to get business and be seen as one of “the good guys”.
Some links of interest:
Ceres.org - great site reporting on how business is tackling climate change.
Power of Green - good NY Times article by Thomas Friedman regarding the present and future of the Green movement.
FightGlobalWarming.com - what you can do personally.
Get off your ass. Write your Congressional representatives! {stepping off soapbox}
