Small Biz and the Green Economic Revolution

2. The United States annually emits 6 billion metric tons of CO2, which is the principal green house gas believed to be causing climate change. That is equal to 120 pounds of CO2 emissions per day per person for every man, woman and child who live in the United States.

A year-end 2007 study on climate change summarizing the work of over 2,000 scientists estimates the need to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 50%. If we stopped using all of our coal-fired electricity generating plants, it would only get us to an approximately 33% reduction. The cost to do so is at least a trillion dollars as we adopt renewable generation like roof-top solar, bio-fuels and wind plus investments in energy efficiency technologies like in-ground geothermal heating and cooling systems for our homes and offices.

This isn't just an "energy thing." Changes of this magnitude impact every industry in our economy. For example, the entire agricultural industry will benefit as "things that can be grown" substitute for carbon-based chemicals in our plastics, clothes and other products. And because carbon is in everything -- our paint, cell phones, plastic bags -- you should be seeing opportunities to sell something or save money by reducing or replacing carbon-centric products and services.

This is a social revolution. It's changing how your stakeholders think about your business and how they make purchases. Because this revolution is just gaining momentum, the "revolutionary results" are still modest compared to their potential. For example, hybrid car sales represent only 1% of total new car purchases. But that's because operating procedures at major corporations are just beginning to be shaped by sustainability performance metrics that recently hired sustainability officers are establishing. The growing list of major companies hiring such officers includes Wal-MartWMT, DupontDFT and GoogleGOOG.