Talking About Green

[As many long suffering reader of this list well know, I have long argued that moving to a zero carbon economy is one of the great fundamental opportunities of a generation for innovation and economic growth. Reducing our carbon footprint is not all about sacrifice and lowering our standard of living, but much more about new business opportunities, wealth creation and an entire new economic models. That is why I am not a big fan of carbon taxes. Taxes of any kind are an inefficient way of implementing public policy. They will hurt our consumers and reduce our competitiveness against nations who do not implement similar policies. We need to move a zero carbon economy as quickly as possible. That is where the real opportunities lie. Here is some relevant pointers on the topic. Thanks to Kevin Moss and Frank Coluccio on Gordon Cooks list for these pointers --BSA]

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/08/08/howard-climate-group-face-markets-cx_je_0808autofacescan01.html

….historians call “basic innovation”: fundamental changes in technology and organization that create new industries, transform existing ones, and, over time, reshape societies. Basic innovations — including electrification, the automobile, commercial air travel, digital computing, and, most recently, the Internet — involve not just a single new technology but a collection of new inventions, practices, distribution networks, businesses and business models, and shifts in personal and organizational thinking that combine to transform the way business is conducted, technology is deployed, and people are engaged.
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Over the past few years, as the implications of global climate change have become clearer, a new wave of basic innovation has begun. Much of it is occurring in household-name companies.
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Learning to live outside the industrial age bubble — will require basic innovations of a scale and speed never seen before.
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As in the original Industrial Revolution, business must play a critical role: Businesspeople can apply their skills in management, entrepreneurship, and economic acumen to galvanize a collective shift.

ICTs, Innovation and the Challenge of Climate Change
http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?id=973

Kevin Moss’s excellent blog
http://mosske.blogspot.com/

Building a winner in a low carbon economy
http://www.wwf.se/source.php/1183710/identifying_the_1st_billion_tonnes_ict.pdf

SMART 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age
http://www.theclimategroup.org/index.php/news_and_events/news_and_comment/smart2020pressrelease/

Dell Claims Carbon Neutrality 5 months ahead of schedule
http://greenmonk.net/dell-claims-carbon-neutrality-5-months-ahead-of-schedule/

Big business shows politicians how the planet can be saved
http://www.connectedurbandevelopment.org/blog/?p=13