Over the last couple of days, I’ve heard business titans from Disney’s CEO Robert Iger to legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens to coal and mining magnate Tom Albanese of Rio Tinto espousing a similar thought – that they’re going full steam ahead with their sustainability strategies and investments in clean energy technology because it makes good business sense. In other words, it doesn’t matter what you believe about climate science; if you’re interested in business (and national) competitiveness, prudent resource and fiscal management and brand and reputational value, you should do exactly the same things as you would if you were driven solely by climate worries.
This extraordinary conversation took place at the third annual Wall Street Journal ECO:nomics conference in Santa Barbara. I went there hoping to hear what business was thinking in the wake of a disappointing Copenhagen convention and stalled action in on climate and energy in Congress.
Were they backing away from their environmental initiatives? Waiting it out?
Overwhelmingly, the answer was no.
Mike Morris, CEO of American Electric Power may have put it best when he said that if the science is wrong and we act now, we’ll still have made the world a better place and have strengthened our business position. If the science is right, and we don’t act now, there could be devastating results.
Boone Pickens hit hard on the competitiveness angle, noting China’s aggressive investments in clean energy manufacturing. This view was shared by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, who said, “America still has an opportunity to lead, but time is running out.”
These business leaders are moving ahead to get in front of the clean energy economy and to hedge against resource constraints and volatile oil prices. They know it’s a great bet, no matter what your ideology. If only our political leaders could do the same.