Is corporate green getting a yellow light?

• Author: Marshall, Jeffrey

Back in March, Phoenix Mayor Philip Gordon unveiled an ambitious plan to make the Arizona capital the "greenest city in America." The 17-point manifesto included building plants to recycle wastewater, massive installation of solar panels, the use of renewable fuels, public transit improvements and other investments with the long-term goal of making Phoenix a "carbon-neutral" city.

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Haven't seen similar splashy pronouncements from the private sector lately?

That's hardly a surprise, given that most companies are mired in the global recession and struggling to keep their heads above water. And while political promises may be just that, Phoenix would be aided by a hefty contribution from the federal stimulus plan; money that corporations may find as elusive as a shimmering desert mirage.

That's not to say corporate green initiatives and other socially responsible programs are moribund. But the recession has clearly pushed them from the headlines and raised questions about where they stack on business priority lists.

"The economic crisis has taken emphasis away from CSR [corporate social responsibility] in the last year," says Geoffrey Heal, Garrett professor of Public Policy and Business Responsibility at Columbia University Business School in New York. "CSR will be a luxury for some companies, but others have remained involved because it is a competitive issue for them."

Paula Austin Ivey, founder of the CSR Group in Austin, Texas, a consultant to companies on sustainability and environmental issues, agrees. "It depends upon where [companies] are on the sustainability journey and why they are embracing it," she says. "If they see it as a 'nice to have' but not a necessity for the sustainability of their business, then it will not be a priority," she says.

Ivey adds that "often, the issue is the time frame within which 'returns' are expected. Most sustainability initiatives are long-term commitments and, therefore, often do not fit within the 'quarterly profits model."

Thomas Lyon, Dow Chemical professor of Sustainable Science, Technology and Commerce at the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan, says there are two kinds of companies: some companies "have really concluded that sustainability is a core part of their strategy and can really affect the bottom line. Companies like Dupont Du Pont de Nemours & Co. and The Dow Chemical Co. have it built into their systems."

These days, however, even recognized environmental leaders are hunkered down...