Business Environmentalism: Good Works and Greenwash
Products, processes, and whole companies are voluntarily going green today, leading the way to a whole new approach to protecting the environment. Company claims of green products, processes, and philosophy are merely so much greenwash, with little or no real substance. Both of these sharply contrasting views of business environmentalism command passionate support today. Three questions about business environmentalism become apparent: Why is business environmentalism important? Second, what are companies doing today and are they getting better environmental performance? Finally, what policies make sense: specifically, should we require accurate information about business environmentalism for green consumers, green investors, and green civil society?