In the first 'global warming' thread, mooman posted the following...

Subject: RE: BS: Global warming, yes/no?
From: mooman
Date: 27-Jun-01 - 04:36 AM

I attended a seminar of the "European-Japanese Experts Group" (a sort of "think tank") a few years ago and heard a very good presentation by the Japanese Environmental Director (or something similar) of one of the big Japanese electronics companies who had totally implemented he international environmental management standard, ISO 14001, at ALL of their numerous manufacturing sites.

He quoted that in Europe legislators often talk of "PPP" (usually an acronym for "public-private partnerships"). In his company they used the same acronym but, this time, standing for "(environmental) "protection provides profits". This struck me as very interesting.

The company had completely rationalised its materials procurement and use policy, its energy use, its discharges to water and air (which is basically throwing money down the drain or up the flue), and redesign of the energy usage and radiation emission of its projects (which enabled it to label many of its products "green" which immediately interested a large group of consumers). The implementation of the environmental management process certainly cost them a lot of money but, in the longer term, enabled them to make greater profits due to energy and material savings, less money spent on "clean up" and greater sales.

Perhaps this is an example of the type of innovative thinking you were referring to Carol?

Great example, mooman. I didn't know about that one.

Here are some more excerpts from the 'News Hour' show that address these issues...

Svend Auken, "Our experience is that you can have enormous gains in energy efficiency. We have prosperity in Denmark the same as the United States, but we only use half the energy, per citizen, as the United States does. We've shifted to renewable energy... we've already achieved twenty percent of our power supply in renewable energy. We are moving towards one third. And it has given thousands of jobs in Denmark. Denmark, alone, has..."

Moderator, "It has created jobs?"

Svend Auken, "It has created jobs. More than fifty percent of the world's wind energy turbines are made on Danish technology, and it's given thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars in export income. It's just one example, as Mr. Romm just said, that by using less energy, by being more efficient, by using renewables, you save money, and you make jobs, not the other way around."

Joe Romm, "Let's take one example of a well known large energy using company... Dupont. Dupont pledged that between 1990 and 2010, it would keep its energy consumption flat while it grew sixty percent, and in 2010, it would get ten percent of its power from renewable energy. And if Dupont can do it, I think the entire country can do it. And my concern is that by failing to take strong action, what's going to happen is by the time we get around to taking action...we're going to be buying wind turbines from Denmark, and from the Europeans and the Japanese, and losing the jobs that we would create otherwise if we were the leader, which we really ought to be."