Companies get scored on global
warming
By Associated
Press
Tuesday, June 19, 2007 -
Updated: 02:30 PM EST
CONCORD, N.H. -
Consumers who want to give their business to climate-friendly
companies got a new tool Tuesday.
It’s
a pocket-sized scorecard produced by a new nonprofit, Climate
Counts, based on 22 criteria developed with help from experts.
Companies are graded from 1 to 100 on whether they measure their own
carbon "footprints," what they have done to reduce their impact on
the climate, their stances on global-warming legislation and what
they disclose to the public about their work on the issue.
"Global
warming is real. We have 10 years to do something significant about
it, and we can," said Gary Hirshberg, the chairman of ClimateCounts
and chief executive of organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm in
Londonderry. "Business must play a significant role in stopping
global warming, and we believe the key to influencing companies lies
in the hands of the consumer."
In a
statement, Climate Counts said Canon, Nike and Unilever got the best
scores in its initial ratings of 56 companies. Amazon.com, Wendy’s,
Burger King, Jones Apparel, CBS and Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster,
Olive Garden) all got zeros. Apple, eBay.com and Levi Strauss were
among 16 companies with scores under 10.
The
downloadable scorecard and other information is at
www.climatecounts.org. Shoppers can look up scores on the road by
texting "cc company name" (for example, "cc Nike") to 30644 from
their cell phones.
Climate
Counts said it developed the Scorecard with help from business and
climate experts and verified data with the companies.
"We saw
that no one was grading companies on climate from the consumer point
of view," said Wood Turner, the project director. "Most of the
recent attention has been on what people and families can do to
reduce their own climate footprint, such as buying compact
fluorescent lightbulbs or energy-efficient appliances."
"We’ve
created this tool to help people flex their consumer muscle," he
said.
©
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed.
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