Even Greenest Not Enough

• Author: William Blackburn
• Position: President of William Blackburn Consulting, Ltd., a global consulting firm and social enterprise focusing on sustainability and EHS management and emergency and crisis response
• Pages: 27-27

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 ❧ Page 27

Copyright © 2010, Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, D.C. www.eli.org.

Reprinted by permission from The Environmental Forum®, Jan./Feb. 2010

anoTher view

may possibly have a long-term, sub-

tle inf‌luence on human or animal

physiology. Finally, the jury is out on

whether biotechnology will be a sav-

ior or a bane, and the risk of nano-

technology is as yet as unknown as its

putative environmental benef‌its.

As Irving Selikof‌f, the foremost

authority on asbestos, states, the “hid-

den blessing” of thalidomide was that

it produced obvious birth defects and

its use could be quickly terminated. In

contrast, the concern today is that the

ever-growing mix of new synthetic

substances that power the modern

material economy may have no imme-

diate, obvious impact. In the case of

thalidomide, the issue was not discov-

ered before its introduction in Europe

because it was tested only in rats and

not rabbits. Why were the implica-

tions regarding ethanol fuels not thor-

oughly evaluated prior to introduc-

tion? e methods to evaluate these

products existed at the time. What

about the dangers of leaded gasoline

and a host of other substances where

the warning signs f‌lashed for decades?

How could these breakdowns in feed-

back and control exist?

While stories of carnage and

murder get compressed into sound

bites that lead at the top of the news

hour, complex stories of long-term

environmental degradation just do

not command attention. ey are

not entertaining; they’re depress-

ing. Today’s 24/7 news cycle is as

much about entertainment as it is

information. One only needs to

look at the 2005 United Nations

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

Synthesis Report, which discovered

that 15 of 24 ecosystems are being

degraded or used unsustainably. It

is only natural to assume that this

major f‌inding by a prestigious body

of scientists would be well-known,

but a relatively small percentage of

environmental professionals have

heard of this report.

In developed countries, the na-

ture of environmental concerns has

now changed. Lifestyle issues such

as consumption patterns are a driv-

pact of Al Gore and his f‌ilm on

the U.S. climate change debate.

Teachers and professors, scientists

and think tanks, NGOs and busi-

ness groups must all do a better job

helping us understand sustainable

development and the impact and

interconnectivity of the issues it

embraces.

But creating the political impe-

tus to act must be followed with

smart policymaking. Given that

“light brings heat, heat brings

change,” transparent f‌inancial re-

porting must be expanded to the

TBL. Incentives must be created to

change consumer and business be-

havior. As the OPEC oil embargo

of the 1970s and recent $4 gas has

shown, economic incentives can

drive energy ef‌f‌iciency

much more ef‌fectively

than any mandated fuel

economy standard. And

why not adjust capital

gains taxes more to bet-

ter stimulate long term

investment and corpo-

rate thinking. Where’s

the increased support

for the education of women in de-

veloping nations — an ef‌fort that

studies have shown can clearly re-

duce the population growth?

e answer isn’t to deemphasize

sustainable development, but rath-

er to increase society’s awareness

about it, and about the solutions

that can encourage behaviors by all

of us that will save us and future

generations from ourselves.

William Blackbur n is presiden t of Wil-

liam Blackburn C onsulting, Ltd., a global

consulting rm and social enterprise fo-

cusing on sustainability and EHS ma nage-

ment and emergency and crisis response.

He is author of the ELI best-sellin g book,

“The Sustainabil ity Handbook: The Com-

plete Manage ment G uide t o Achie ving

Soci al, Economi c, an d En vironm ental

Responsibility.”

It cannot be denied that some

corporations have over-sold

their green credentials, toss-

ing around their superf‌icial

support for “sustainable de-

velopment” loosely to impress

stakeholders. Yet growing numbers

of f‌irms are f‌inding it valuable to

make real improvements in their

social, environmental, and eco-

nomic performance. Still others are

going deeper, transparently work-

ing with stakeholder groups to as-

sess such performance and extend

triple-bottom-line considerations

to their products, services, and val-

ue chains. Still others like Aveda,

Natura, and Seventh Generation

have made the TBL the core of

their business models. But even the

greenest of companies

aren’t doing enough.

e problem is not

that we have over-em-

phasized sustainable de-

velopment, but rather

we haven’t emphasized it

enough and in the right

ways. Many sustainabil-

ity problems are growing

worse and threaten to undermine

our society in ways the public does

not perceive. How many are tuned

into the serious threat climate

change will pose to worldwide

food supplies? How many appre-

ciate the fact that we’ll need f‌ive

worlds’ worth of resources to satis-

fy the citizens of China, India, and

other developing nations if they all

achieve America’s levels of prosper-

ity and consumption.

Many blame our politicians for

lacking the courage to make the

tough decisions to set us on the

right course. But politicians take

their cues from voters — voters of-

ten wed to the status quo. A few

enlightened leaders and media,

working together, can make a big

dif‌ference in voter awareness and

attitudes, though; witness the im-

Even Greenest Not Enough

William Blackburn