Googling "Carbon Neutral"

You'll find Google right at the top of the list.

Google is one of many companies taking it upon themselves to exhibit corporate responsibility in the face of increasing concerns about global warming, declaring their goal of being carbon neutral by the end of this year.

Especially here in the United States, these enlightened corporations are acting without the guidance of any significant leadership from government, particularly at the federal level.

For its part, Google plans on investing in renewable energy for their operation; utilizing carbon offsets for emissions that can’t be directly reduced.

Regarding the offsets, Google stated on their website:
"On their own, carbon offsets are not capable of creating the kinds of fundamental changes to our energy infrastructure that will be necessary to stabilize global greenhouse gas emissions to safe levels. But we believe that offsets can offer real, measurable, and additional emissions reductions that allow us to take full responsibility for our footprint today."

Hooray for Google. The concept of carbon offsets is an increasingly controversial one; one that denialists are more often putting in their crosshairs as “bogus”.

With a realistic approach like Google’s, carbon offsets present a step in the process of effectively dealing with global warming for the long term. See my post “Global Warming, Karl Rove, and Toilet Paper” at GlobalWarmingisReal.com for some thoughts on the issue.

In other news on corporate greenness, a report released Tuesday listed the top “climate friendly” companies with Canon Electronics topping the list, along with Nike and Unilever.

Scoring a whooping (and shameful) zero out of a possible one hundred points were, among others, Burger King and Amazon.com

Perhaps we should put down that burger and go for a walk to the local bookseller next time we're looking to buy our next meal or book.

The burgers and the books aside, it is good to see that many corporations are beginning to take seriously the environmental challenges we all face in the 21st century.

Perhaps the current occupant of the White House will do the whole world a favor and take note.

( Add your comments )

Recent Entries:
· Planet 100: Oil Minefield in the Gulf of Mexico
· Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics
· Fake plastic cups make a great conversation starter

[ READER COMMENTS ]

Googling "Carbon Neutral"

Add your comments...

We kindly ask that you keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Abusive or inappropriate comments or comments that are specifically promotional in nature may be removed.