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To get business on board the 'green' wagon, highlight profit

This week we celebrate Earth Day, a time to honor our planet and pledge to live in more environmentally responsible ways. The first Earth Day was observed in 1970, and although it is widely celebrated, many people still think it to be a fad of the 1960s activist generation. Its proponents see it as a way to educate people about the environment. Opponents see it as an attack on the free market by encouraging social planning. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but what is certain is that environmentalism has tended to polarize our nation.

Reconciling our polarized attitudes can be done, indeed must be done, through a real dialogue about the benefits of "going green."

Environmentalism will never be accepted as mainstream if it is thought to discourage economic growth. If environmentalists want to win over the business community, they must acknowledge that business is motivated by profit. It is the profit motive that will bring businesses to the table to discuss the benefits of being green.

Recently, the Institute for Emerging Issues brought together business and government leaders, academics and environmentalists at the 23rd Annual Emerging Issues Forum to find ways to reconcile these opposing camps.

The forum gave these groups an opportunity to discuss environmental and business concerns within the context of our impending energy crisis. In particular, the forum focused on green business opportunities and green economic growth for North Carolina.

Speakers told the audience that going green is not only good for the environment but also good for the bottom line. Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute said that smart companies are already profiting from going green. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman reminded the audience that capitalism has been the driving force in our country's greatness and that capitalism can solve our energy problems and do it in a green way.

But it was Lovins who spoke the language that businesses understand best. He said, "Saving energy is cheaper than buying it, so firms are starting to buy energy efficiency, whether or not they worry about [the] climate. While politicians endlessly debate theoretical 'costs,' smart firms race to pocket real profits."

And they are. In a few short years, companies such as DuPont, Dow and British Petroleum each saved billions of dollars by figuring out ways to cut their consumption of energy. And in the process, they helped the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in some cases by substantial amounts. Green is green.

Here in North Carolina, it is important to remember that it is not only large corporations that can gain from energy efficiency and other green practices. Several companies showcased at the forum got their start here -- all companies looking for profit in the green economy.

Beyond companies focused on new energy technology opportunities, small businesses can turn green into green through energy efficiency. To do so, smaller firms need to learn more, and where necessary, get help from our state's outstanding business support networks, including cooperative and industrial extension. In this way, profit-seeking companies will produce a cleaner, greener Earth for the rest of us.

So as we celebrate Earth Day, I am not asking you to embrace green solely out of love for Mother Earth. I am asking you to embrace green out of love for the almighty dollar -- and there's nothing wrong with that!

(Johnny Shull is a GlaxoSmithKline faculty fellow at the Institute for Emerging Issues at N.C. State University. He is also the lead instructor of business and economics at Central Carolina Community College in Lillington. He can be reached at jshull@cccc.edu. Hear what Thomas Friedman, Amory Lovins and other forum speakers said at ncsu.edu/iei/forum/2008/look-listen.php.)

Has doom and gloom taken flight?

So ... On Page D1 this morning ("Bad bet on mortgages takes chunk out of giant," Business, April 15), is that a vulture over the Wachovia building?

Steve Colby

Raleigh