Archive for Corporate Responsibility
Eco-grading for cars has dealers crying foul immediately
Posted by: | CommentsFollowing on from yesterday’s story about the proposed environmental grading stickers that may be added to new vehicles in 2012, the first complaints from the automobile industry are already being registered. As I wrote yesterday the proposal is for a grading system based upon emissions, vehicle range, fuel economy and annual cost of operations. At this point the idea remains a joint proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transport, although not confirmed dealers have been quick to respond in a negative fashion. The grading system would simply bring the US auto industry in line with what is already happening in Japan and Europe and yet the response to the proposed change has caused some immediate panic from car dealerships .
The knee-jerk reaction appears to be driven by the fact that only a few cars (typically electric or hybrid vehicles) would receive a grade above a ‘B’ with the A+ designation reserved exclusively for electric vehicles. A dealer in Massachusetts feels the information will cause confusion and lost sales for his dealership:
“Anything that’s not an A is bad, right? It’s misleading to the consumer. I could be so customer a D (rated vehicle) but if you are driving mostly on the highway it could be an A”
A second dealer agreed and suggested that the car industry should receive support from the government in terms of stimulating sales as opposed to devising new environmental labels:
“I think it’s foolish and more government intervention where it doesn’t need to be, people aren’t idiots”
While I do understand car dealers may not be very responsive to change, I think the key message is being entirely missed. The idea and value of the labeling (which admittedly is very large and bold) is to heighten public awareness about fuel economy and environmental impact, the playing field will be level in terms of evaluation for each individual vehicle and the final decision naturally will rest with the consumer. What I feel is probably causing the reaction is the perceived stringency of the grading system, where previously miles per gallon or kilometers per litre were the only shared information in an immediate fashion now a consumer will see an overall environmental rating based upon emissions, vehicle range and running costs. If anything it will move the understanding of vehicle impact to a better place in the public forum, consumers will still shop for specific vehicles based upon their needs but when the final comparison is made between cars the relative eco-friendly aspects will be considered in the buyer’s equation. Surely that is a good thing?
Perhaps car dealers should be looking internally as to how the manufacturers themselves can develop vehicles which receive higher grades rather than immediately crying foul and saying sales will be impacted. If sales are indeed impacted it will primarily be for vehicles that perhaps need a full redesign.
New cruse ship sewage ban for 2011
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve never been one who really enjoys an extended period of time in a confined space therefore going on a cruise has never held particular appeal to me. I’ve been on ferries crossing the Irish Sea and the North Sea to visit Ireland and Europe but always using the ship as a method of transport not as a holiday. Naturally without my participation the cruise industry is still huge and growing on an annual basis. While I lived in Los Angeles I marveled at the size of the magnificent ships harboured in San Pedro waiting like sentinels to take their cargo of two or three thousand holidaymakers down the Pacific Coast to various Mexican and Central American ports of call. I never realized until reading a recent article that sewage from these huge vessels was not previously restricted for dumping in coastal waters.
Happily new federal regulations will now ban all cruise ships and larger commercial ships from discharging their sewage within 3 miles of the California coastline according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. The laws come into play in 2011 and it is estimated that the results will keep approximately 20,000,000 gallons of sewage away from coastal waters annually. In addition to cruise ships commercial boats in excess of 300 tons will also be subject to the same rulings. The US Coast Guard will also have the authority to charge vessels with sewage violations. Naturally enough when a cruise ship with sometimes as many as 4000 passengers takes to the seas it becomes the equivalent of a small city offshore and all the resultant pollution that goes with that many residents.
Many cruise lines are stating that the ban will have little impact as they already have internal policies which reflect an earlier law that was passed in 2005 with many operators now keeping sewage in large tanks to either dump further out at sea or transferred to wastewater treatment facilities. Nevertheless the impact on commercial vessels should also help the water quality on the Pacific coast that has continued to deteriorate in recent decades. The law makes perfect sense especially when stringent laws have already been passed to reduce runoff from rivers and sewage centers and pipes that are onshore.
I still don’t think it’s enough to make me want to jump on a 10 day cruise and have dinner with strangers every evening but it’s good to see the EPA holding the cruise industry to task when it comes to environmental matters. Surely the best procedure of all would result in banning the discharge of sewage anywhere on the seas rather than just the coastal barrier that has now been more properly enforced. One step at a time but it’s most certainly a step in a positive direction.
Expedia.com help bring ‘green hotels’ into the marketplace
Posted by: | CommentsThe days of just booking a hotel by calling the chains toll free number have been greatly changed by large online travel agencies who have cornered the bookings part of the market by combining the best in selection, information and pricing - all key factors for someone planning a trip. Expedia.com® have emerged as the largest online travel agency but in addition to value and scope of selection they have also developed 
an online tool that is ideal for the environmentally conscious traveler. Via a very specific approval process hotels can be approved as green properties and customers can now search with that specific criteria in mind .
The Expedia.com Green hotel program has not been activated for very long but new properties keep getting added to the program which now boasts over 2,000 options for the well informed traveler which also is the largest such range of choices amongst online agencies. Tim MacDonald, senior vice president and general manager, Expedia.com adds:
“Expedia.com is committed to helping travelers find the broadest range of ‘green’ properties in the industry, the recent inclusion of Hilton Worldwide’s brands, that use the LightStay system, in Expedia.com’s Green Hotel Program helps fulfill that commitment.”
Expedia expect the choices to grow rapidly in the years ahead as the immportance of a hotel’s practices will soon be akin to their overall facilities and locations as travelers place this ever higher on their list of needs. The company are partnering with a non profit called Sustainable Travel International.org to build even more inroads within the marketplace. Expedia explain part of the approach more fully beneath:
Find green hotels that balance environmental protection and social responsibility—without sacrificing your comfort. Together with Sustainable Travel International, we’ve pinpointed the green hotels that are pioneering green travel practices. Green travel—also known as responsible travel, sustainable travel, eco-tourism, and geotourism—is redefining the travel industry. Hotels and other tourism companies are being challenged to do business in an increasingly environmentally friendly, socially responsible way. This growing demand has spurred many hotels, both large and small, to implement green business practices. To recognize these green hotels, each striving toward the three main areas of sustainability—environmental protection, socio-cultural responsibility, and local economic growth—we’ve compiled a list with the help of Sustainable Travel International!
The example of newly added Hilton’s measurements are a clear indicator of how individual proprerties will be assessed as over 200 operational practices are measured, including housekeeping, paper product usage, food waste, chemical storage, air quality and transportation. Expedia’s purchasing power also means that people who book green are also getting the best available deals for the hotels in question which makes the choice that much easier.
To learn much more about Expedia’s green hotel program please visit for the specific details on their site - or better still bookmark it and use it the next time you travel!!
Fleet vehicles only making gradual moves toward renewable energy
Posted by: | CommentsWhen looking at the changing face of the automobile industry and designs to move drivers toward a greater ratio of hybrid or electric vehicles we tend to consider what consumers will purchase and select. While naturally consumer purchases of cars and trucks dominates the market, fleet vehicles for government, businesses, car rental companies and service/delivery trucks and vans also corner a sizable portion of what is on our roads. In the US and Canada around 20% of all vehicles on the road fall into the ‘fleet’ category, estimates would place that total at somewhere around 60 million cars and trucks in total.
With that in mind a recent poll amongst decision makers at fleet operations makes for rather grim reading. Over 60% of 100 private and government fleets answered that they were ‘not likely’ to be purchasing a vehicle that fell into the categories of ‘plug-in hybrid or all electric’. The reasons given were incomplete data to assess operating costs, pricing, resale and fuel efficiency. The message I take from that is two fold, the industry needs to make rapid improvements in terms of educating their potential buyers and providing the specifications that address these concerns; and companies/government need to be making a more positive step in helping to demonstrate more environmental commitments with regards to their vehicle programs. Fleet vehicles are important purchases, the cars are in high demand and use and need replacing and maintenance on a consistent basis. The automobile industry needs to take an active role with government and fleet management to increase the market share of alternate fuel vehicles in a way that makes sense for both manufacturer and fleets. Chelsea Mathis, an environmental consultant within the strategic consulting services group of Northbrook, IL-based fleet leasing and management firm Donlen added more insight:
“Without the specifics, fleets are concerned about the potential for these vehicles to meet application demands, including driving range, battery and fuel efficiency, Companies would have to establish a policy around vehicle charging including identifying charging locations, potentially investing in the construction of charging stations on location, determining after-hour charging policies, and the charging level of stations available—i.e. will it take 20 minutes or one hour to complete?”
When a survey such as this does actually pinpoint the reasons why these purchases are not likely it gives car makers the advantage of knowing what needs to be addressed. Changing a way of thinking and thus purchasing will take a lot of added information to eliminate the unknowns for those who make the purchasing decisions. Production also needs to increase, if a hypothetical delivery company such as Fedex were to make a four year commitment to change all of their vehicles to electric there is no evidence that the industry is ready to support such demand. Fedex for example currently operate 71,000 vehicles within the international fleet.
Electric vehicles seems to be the most likely to gain long term support - if the vehicle range and performance can meet the needs of a business it
becomes an ideal fit as each vehicle could then be recharged at the end of each session at the main garage/depot location. Ideally we would be further along the path to fleet vehicles becoming electric but we are now at the point where evaluation and sample testing is the most likely next step to be considered by fleet management companies. I think one of the major automakers has the potential to gain a huge advantage in being the most ambitious in creating plans that lend themselves to real market enivoronments and testing as soon as possible. Purpose built or modified vehicles such as mail trucks, delivery vans and taxis all stand to be huge markets and opportunities for an industry that states it is in the process of reinventing itself. The proof may be in what changes can be made to fleet operations over the next few years. One fleet I routinely find fascination with due to the immense size of the operation is the US Postal Service who are actually making healthy progress. Of the 215,000 USPS vehicles in operation some 44,000 are currently designated as alternate fuel vehicles - that constitutes 20% at present, which is above the industry norm.