Techdiplomacy

Before he cast his vote on the Waxman-Markety bill in June 2009, Charlottesville, Virginia Representative, Tom Perriello, tried to determine what his constituents actually wanted his vote to be. He had coorespondance from thousands of voters. One letter he noticed was written by Creciendo Juntos, which is a nonprofit that works with the Hispanic community in Charlotteville VIrginia. He also had several notes from the Albemarle- Charlotteville Virginia branch of the NAACP. The gist of the letters was that these groups wanted the congressman to vote against the bill that was climate change legislation. None of the letters were authentic, they were all forgeries. Tim Freilich, who is an executive committee member of Creciedo Juntos said “they stole our name. They stole our logo. They created a position title and made up the name of someone to fill it. They forged a letter and sent it to our congressman without our authorization.” He stated, “it’s this type of activity that undermines Americans’ faith in democracy.” The person who sent the letter has not been identified, but he or she was employed by a Washington lobbying firm called Bonner Associates. It is unclear who hired Bonner & Associates. Nonetheless, it has cast suspicion over the lobby, as well as the lobbying industry at large. A report Wednesday by the Center for Responsive Politics revealed that oil and gas companies greatly increased their spending on lobbying between April and June, which analysts say were efforts to combat the legislation. During the second quarter of 2009, these companies spent $37.7 million on lobbying congress, representing a 30 percent increase over 2008. Perriello did vote in favor of the bill, which narrowly passed the House on June 26 in a 219 to 212 vote.

Obviously the coal industry is anxious to defeat any efforts to pass clean air legislation. This is sad on many levels. They are willing to sacrifice our children’s future in order to maintain the status quo, which means increased global warming. Many groups are calling for crimInal prosecution of all involved. How do you feel about all this? Leave a comment, see you around the galaxy.

Fluor forms renewable energy business line 15 May 2009. This was the headline from a trade publication. Engineering and construction firm Fluor said it is forming a business line to focus on global renewable energy for clients in the solar, wind and biomass power markets. Fluor said the line will complement its nuclear, gas and solid fueled, and air quality control offerings. It will be led by Brad Friesen, a Fluor executive and former head of the company’s gas fueled line. “Fluor has designed and built renewable energy projects for more than 20 years and we will leverage that expertise for the benefit of our clients,” Friesen said in a statement.

I don’t know much, but I once worked as a consultant for Fluor and I can’t remember them being all that environmentally concerned. I suppose we must give these companies the benefit of doubt, but we must be careful as well. Read on, you’ll see what I mean.

The following comments were written by Jean Jerome Baudry, there is more information concerning Mr. Baudry at the end of his comments.

More than ever before the population wants GREEN! Practices, products, organic food, recyclable packaging, the list is never ending and more than ever, businesses are giving it to them. Businesses far and wide are claiming to go green, to the point where society needs a term to describe consumers being misled by a company regarding their environmental practices. The term ‘greenwashing’ was claimed to have originated from a NY suburban environmentalist named Jay Westerveld in 1986, although the actual practice originated somewhere in the 60s alongside the emerging environmentalist movement. It’s no wonder that greening your business has become so marketable when over half of the baby boomer population – some 40 million – are environmentally conscience consumers. Therefore greening your business can be an all around profitable endeavor from a marketing standpoint as well as a cost savings standpoint. The danger is when it comes to advertising a practice or an approach as green which isn’t reflected in the day to day operations. It’s simply fraudulent or better known as …greenwashing. The Think Green Alliance aims to provide a safeguard against “greenwashing,” which is common in the marketplace today when so few standards and regulations exist for determining whether a company is truly environmentally friendly and if so, just how environmentally friendly they are. The criteria for membership, established by Cybernomics, are simple but telling. Think Green Alliance members (1) must show tangibly that they have incorporated green principles into their business plan, (2) must have a concrete, measurable, and step-by-step approach to integration of these principles, and (3) must be committed to a continuous cycle of improvement. Think Green Alliance members span multiple industry verticals and therefore lend a multidisciplinary approach to companies looking to start adopting green principles into their business plan and operations, as well as provide a benchmark to companies who have already embarked upon a green plan. For more information on the Think Green Alliance, or to apply for membership for your company, please visit http://www.thinkgreenalliance.com. Jean Jerome Baudry founded Cybernomics in 1993 as a Professional IT Consulting, Management, and Support firm. Today, Cybernomics is a leader in Green IT and financially and environmentally sustainable solutions. Mr. Baudry is also the founder of the Think Green Alliance, a green business community dedicated to the promotion, development, and awareness of fiscally sound green business practices. For more information on Mr. Baudry or on Cybernomics, please visit http://www.cybernomics.net.

Mr. Baudry has expressed concern and has provided solutions to keep companies honest with regard to being environmentally friendly. As an environmentalist I applaud these efforts and as a consumer, I vow to investigate claims by companies that claim they are ‘green’. We need to know the truth, therefore avoiding ‘greenwashing’ that is becoming rampant. Anyway that’s what I think, tell us your opinion. In the meantime, see you around the galaxy…