Green Bottom Line?

Over in the hated New York Times earlier this week was a story about various companies taking steps to sell greener products (with the catchy title, “Saving the Environment, One Quarterly Earning Statement at a Time”). A lot of the examples invoke the high price of oil as a driver, but there isn’t any discussion about whether corn-based packaging or biodiesel are really promoting sustainability. That’s because the topic of sustainability metrics is probably a little too advanced for the Times. Come to think of it, the definition of “sustainability” is a bit plastic, depending on your political and economic orientation. But at least the market’s dimly growing awareness of the environment is slowly becoming part of the conventional wisdom, if it’s being published in the Times. Strangely enough, there’s scarcely a word on trading credits for greenhouse gas emissions, even with this story nearby.