Climate Counts Releases 2nd Annual Scorecard: Help Make Your Everyday Decisions Count!

Climate Counts releases their 2nd annual report card Back in March I posted here on Hugg about ClimateCounts.org. The non-profit project released their first industry climate scorecard rating businesses in nine consumer industry sectors based on 22 criteria (pdf) to determine a company’s commitment to progressive action and stewardship of the climate.

Rated on a scale of 0 (bad) to 100 (fantastic), the scorecard is designed to determine if businesses have

Measured their climate footprint
Reduced their climate impact
Supported (or not) progressive climate legislation
Publicly stated their philosophy and actions on climate clearly and comprehensively

I’m happy to report that the folks from ClimateCounts just released their 2nd annual scorecard yesterday and results show an overall improvement as most companies begin to take seriously the challenge of global warming. The average overall score climbed 22% from a year ago to a score of 39 (out of 100).

While that’s still significant progress, when I was in school, getting a 39 out of 100 meant that I’d flunked the test. There’s still a lot of work to do, which is where you and I come in. ClimateCounts makes it possible for individuals to influence the way companies do business. The power of an informed and motivated consumer is a power that business ignores at their own peril – and better theirs than the climate.

We should let the companies that are doing well and/or improving know we’ll do business with them because of it, and we should encourage less visionary and courageous companies – those “stuck” in “business as usual” (or even worse, engaging in “greeenwashing”) – to do better, and make it clear that we won’t do business with them until they do.

There is hard work ahead for all of us in order to create a stable climate and sustainable future. But it’s a labor of love; for the future, for our children, and for the earth. And we all have our part to play.

Projects like ClimateCounts is a vital tool in pursuit of that goal.