FC Experts Blogs
Terry Tamminen
February 15, 2008
The 29% Who Are Onto Something Big
The Economist magazine recently released a report entitled “Doing Good - - Business and the Sustainability Challenge.” They analyzed responses about corporate social responsibility - - put more succinctly, sustainability - - from 1200 execs and concluded that the picture is grim.
The opening of this interesting report states...”Being a good corporate citizen has never been so challenging. Companies have long been under public scrutiny for practices ranging from recruitment to workplace safety, from attitudes to overseas investment to environmental pollution. The emergence of climate change as a mainstream political issue, however, has served to drive home the breadth of ethical issues with which firms must now grapple. The business—and societal—implications of how companies address these are so far reaching that a new area of management practice has come into being to manage them, known by many as “corporate sustainability”.
Posted by Terry Tamminen at 12:58 PM
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February 8, 2008
“Dear Lee”
It’s been almost two years since Exxon CEO Lee Raymond was paid about $400 million upon retiring. I’ve been wondering how he’s been spending his “golden” years and thought I’d drop him a line...
Dear Lee,
Boy did you jump ship at the right time! The legal noose is tightening around the fossil fuel industry as the evidence of damages to planet earth from global warming stack up higher than an Oklahoma gusher. California sued automakers to recover costs to the state from greenhouse gases and other air pollution (much like tobacco companies that paid billions for health care costs because of their toxic air pollution). Those cars burn the products you sold for so long, so I’m guessing your old pals are next.
Continue reading "“Dear Lee”"Posted by Terry Tamminen at 12:56 PM
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February 1, 2008
Game Changers - Part Two
Last week I mentioned that a perfect storm is about to change the game on our energy future and, therefore, our environment and economy (the elements in this case being climate change; fossil fuel shortages; and epic world-wide competition for energy). I listed three technologies that will allow us to weather this storm, game-changers, and promised two more this week.
Continue reading "Game Changers - Part Two"Posted by Terry Tamminen at 11:51 AM
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January 26, 2008
Game Changers
A perfect storm is about to change the game on our energy future and, therefore, our environment and economy. The unprecedented confluence of elements in this case? Climate change; fossil fuel shortages; and epic world-wide competition for energy. So what technologies will allow us to weather this storm, indeed to bring home the big catch from tempest-tossed seas? Here are my top 3 (I’ll give you two more next week):
LED lights. Using less energy and lasting longer than most of us alive today, LEDs will revolutionize the way we light our homes, businesses, streets, and game consoles (to name a few). LED lighting is not only more efficient and durable than anything on the market today, it can be programmed in a breathtaking variety of ways to deliver every color of the rainbow from each “bulb”, finally putting the “image” into “imagination” big time. Look at LED Effects, the designer of the ball that dropped on Times Square this past New Years Eve. It’s not just the LED “bulb” itself - - it’s how you program it to deliver light and images that will change the world of lighting as we know it.
Continue reading "Game Changers"Posted by Terry Tamminen at 2:10 PM
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January 18, 2008
But What If We HAVE To Do It?
Record heat waves, melting glaciers, epic droughts - - the climate is changing faster than we once thought possible, which means our response will have to be much more creative and comprehensive than we may have imagined. Just a few years ago, it would have been unthinkable to suggest slashing greenhouse gases in half by 2020, but what if we have to do it? Does the technology exist? Is there enough money and political will power on earth to commercialize those technologies fast enough?
I’ll let you in on two secrets that could be very profitable for smart entrepreneurs and investors. We could end our fossil fuel addiction within 20 years - - and make a lot of money in the process - - with two basic strategies.
Continue reading "But What If We HAVE To Do It?"Posted by Terry Tamminen at 1:00 PM
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January 11, 2008
Postcards from the Year 2030
Like our ancestors a century ago, who were debating massive transitions - - from horse to horseless, from blocks of ice to Fridgidaires, from carrier pigeons to telephones - - we too are faced with similar monumental choices today. Imagine our children grown to adults, sending us postcards from the year 2030. What world will their images and words convey?
I foresee two likely possibilities based on the world we have created so far. One postcard depicts 2030 in Dickensian terms. World oil supply disrupted by rebellions and social unrest, as people who benefit little from their nation’s resources attack oil pipelines to demand their share, while oil tankers and refineries have become frequent terrorist targets. Unrestrained demand in the U.S., China, and India has created shortages at gas stations as fuel prices double every twenty-four months.
Ford and GM reorganized under bankruptcy protection after decades of producing gas-guzzling vehicles that no one wanted, reduced to selling products made by Chinese companies and adorned with their once-proud American nameplates.
Continue reading "Postcards from the Year 2030"Posted by Terry Tamminen at 1:00 PM
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January 4, 2008
Of Comets and Carbon
By Terry Tamminen
What do the horseless carriage, the iPod, and global warming have in common? Once thought fads or fantasy, it turns out that all three are here to stay.
It also turns out that each is more connected to the other than is apparent at first glance, especially when viewed through the lens of 21st century business. In the coming weeks, this blog will take readers on a journey of connecting the dots, from emerging technologies to evolving environmental ethics. I’ll share some insights as I travel the world - - working with inventors, investors, and political visionaries - - offering provocative and profitable ways to shape the future of our planet and our economies.
Corporate social responsibility (“CSR”), especially when it comes to the environment, offers that rare intersection of doing well and doing good at the same time. But environmental CSR (call it “e-CSR”) will be defined in new ways, even with a new language. Growing concern (and regulation) of greenhouse gases, for example, will result in a trillion dollar carbon market within a decade, creating a new global currency that anyone can trade for a profit.
Posted by Terry Tamminen at 1:00 AM
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