Tomorrow, GE chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt will announce that his company -- the fifth largest in the U.S. -- is devoting itself to what it calls "ecomagination": the growth of clean energy, clean water, and related technologies.
This is a very big deal, about which Grist will have more to say. For now, go read Joel Makower, who -- as with most big moves in the sustainable business sphere -- has been working on this behind the scenes.
Ecomagination, says Immelt, aims to "focus our unique energy, technology, manufacturing, and infrastructure capabilities to develop tomorrow's solutions such as solar energy, hybrid locomotives, fuel cells, lower-emission aircraft engines, lighter and stronger materials, efficient lighting, and water purification technology."By almost any measure, it's a bold move. For GE, the fifth-largest U.S. company, it represents a strategic shift that could catalyze competition among some of the world's largest companies to accelerate the emerging clean-tech economy.
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Ana Unruh Cohen Posted 11:58 pm
08 May 2005
"The book of nature is always open." - Louis Agassiz
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Brian Hosey Posted 5:00 am
09 May 2005
I'm all for coaxing corporations along the path towards greenness, but in this case I'm going to have to hold my applause.
You see, GE is the same company that is responsible for dumping over a million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson river, creating propaganda to weasel out of it while simultaneously attempting to discredit the science explaining it and yet even now has not committed to accepting it's responsibility to a proper cleanup. Poisoning a watershed and then turning around and claiming to be "green" by touting your water purification technology? The only green I see here is GE's gall.
If GE wants my love, they can get it but they're going to have to earn it. All I've seen from them so far is a lot of what they've been notorious for being good at: PR blitzes. First let's see them do something radical like setting up a $1.5 billion dollar trust fund for the cleanup of their mess on the Hudson, and then we can consider whether they really mean to be green.
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jdhlax Posted 2:17 pm
09 May 2005
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David Roberts Posted 3:08 am
10 May 2005
www.grist.org
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Brian Hosey Posted 6:10 am
10 May 2005
Hating indiscriminately is no way to get power. How much power does that crazy person down on the street corner yelling at everyone have? Don't forget the flipside is true. Giving away your friendship unearned is also no way to get power. How much power do yes-men have to accomplish their own goals? Little. They are tools--easily used and even more easily replaced.
For those who think you've gained power by doling out praise so cheaply, take a listen to GE CEO Jeff Immelt on Morning Edition. Do pay close attention to the part where he says why his company is going the eco-industry route. According to Immelt it wasn't the praise of the eco-groups nor even the "morality" argument that factored into it. Then why? Get ready for this surprise: it was the profit.
GE sees the writing on the wall just as BP did: we have a finite amount of oil and infinite demand for energy. Therefore investing in alternative sources of renewable (not finite) sources of energy is going to be profitable. They also see a market for air and water purifiaction technologies. They should, as they are part of the reason we'll be needing those technologies. For this "bold" "visionary" "thinking" Immelt pulls down a $12.6 million salary.
Forgive me if I'm unable to get in touch with my inner Sister Prejean on this one but I'm not going fall all over myself praising GE nor am I going to forgive their past until I see some real concrete steps towards systemic reform and personal responsibility.
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