'Getting Green' eyes the bottom line - The Boston Globe

Case in point: Early in his tenure as the paid environmental guru at Aspen Skiing Co., Auden Schendler approached the manager of the nearby Little Nell Hotel with a can't-fail pitch. Install compact fluorescent light bulbs in the resort's 90 rooms, Schendler said, and the savings will pay for the lighting in less than a year. To his astonishment, the manager replied with a flat-out no. The bulbs could dim the hotel's five-star rating, the manager explained.

Brimming with such examples, "Getting Green Done" is a valuable tonic against the sophistry that saving the planet is as easy as a beach stroll. Schendler, a protege of renowned environmentalist Amory Lovins, is a committed but non-shrill environmentalist who juggles sympathy for business concerns with a conviction that time is running out to reverse global warming. His common-sense point is that if environmental measures were truly profitable, profit-seeking business would have implemented them already. The reality, he says, is that contrary to consultants' claims, environmentalism doesn't always pay off - and, if it does, the payback may come so far into the future that no self-respecting financial officer will bite.

SOTU Watch: Energy Claims | GlobalWarming.org

The President might make various remarks relating to energy tonight. These are likely to center around grandiloquent claims as to the effectiveness of “green jobs” and alternative energy in saving the economy, not to mention the planet. Here are a few notes on the reality of these claims.

Transcript: Obama's Speech To Congress - Our president still claims that carbon dioxide is 'pollution'

But to truly transform our economy, to protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy. So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America. That's what we need. (Applause.) And to support -- to support that innovation, we will invest $15 billion a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power, advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more efficient cars and trucks built right here in America. (Applause.)

Transcript of Gov. Jindal's GOP response to Obama speech - Not a word about climate change

To strengthen our economy, we need urgent action to keep energy prices down. All of us remember what it felt like to pay $4 at the pump and unless we act now, those prices will return. To stop that from happening, we need to increase conservation, increase energy efficiency, increase the use of alternative and renewable fuels, increase our use of nuclear power, and increase drilling for oil and gas here at home. We believe that Americans can do anything and if we unleash the innovative spirit of our citizens, we can achieve energy independence.