How Business Saw the Light

Smart companies are using the environment not just to seem virtuous but to crush their rivals

By Bryan Walsh/Tokyo Monday, Jan. 15, 2007
    • ILLUSTRATION FOR TIME BY ELLEN WEINSTEIN

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    Even Toyota has seen the average fuel economy of its vehicles decline as it pursued the U.S. market with the fuel-hungry trucks and SUVs that Americans demand. Although public concern over climate change seemed to crystallize this past year, it hasn't been fully reflected in our buying decisions. We're green hypocrites, according to Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com "Consumers remain depressingly ignorant about the environmental impact of what they do," he says. "They find no irony in getting into their SUVs to drive a few miles and buy recycled toilet paper." In other words, American consumers haven't really begun to change their habits. To avert the worst that global warming has in store for us, we may have to make decisions even more radical than the ones business leaders are making now.

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