One of the most prevalent themes in our soon-to-be-released book, and really what inspired the cover art for the book, is that project managers stand to benefit from the “green wave”, and that although it’s the right thing to do – altruistically – it’s also the right thing to do from a business perspective.
That said, we provide this update from GreenBiz which shows a much rosier picture of the ‘green economy’.
Here’s an extract (note the embedded link directly to the survey data):
“There’s good news this week on the green business front: Budgets and hiring in corporate environmental departments are on the rise. Those are core findings of the twice-annual “Green and the Economy” survey conducted by our GreenBiz Intelligence unit. While the overall economy still seems shaky, corporate environmental and sustainability departments seem to be on much more solid ground.
One big finding of our mid-year 2010 survey is that “the economic downturn is no longer driving most large companies’ environmental strategy,” as my colleague, John Davies, vice president of GreenBiz Intelligence, writes this week. That means environmental initiatives are being driven more on the basis of strategic business decisions, as they should be. Chief among them, Davies found, is that “the economic downturn has taken a backseat to growing customer requirements as the principal driver of corporate environmental strategy.”
Hiring is up, too. Large companies, in particular, are increasing headcounts for environmental and sustainability roles. In early 2009, 27 percent of large companies reported hiring freezes and only 8 percent planned to increase headcount for environmental departments. Today, only 11 percent report hiring freezes and more than 28 percent plan to increase headcount, a major swing.”
You’ll see more from us soon on this topic as we provide some references to Pamela Gordon’s excellent book on this topic, Lean and Green.
Strange Environmental Bedfellow’s Defeat Prop 23 (Update)
The California vote “signifies the largest public referendum on clean energy legislation. Tom Steyer, co-chairman of the NO on 23 campaign, stated “In the midst of a major economic downturn, and with a barrage of fear mongering and scare tactics, voters still said they want a clean energy future.”” from Solar Novus Today (www.solarnovus.com)
Californians rejected the attempt to suspend the state’s global warming law signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The defeat was by a significant margin, 39 percent to 61 percent, with 93 percent of the precincts counted, according to the Associated Press.
The San Francisco Chronicle states that; “The vote clears the way for a state law restricting greenhouse-gas emissions to go into effect in 2012. The law requires the state cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. It will require utilities to get almost a third of their electricity from renewable sources such as solar panels, and create a market for carbon-dioxide pollution permits. Proposition 23 was “the largest public referendum in history on climate and energy policy,” said Fred Krupp, president of the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund.”
Although backers of Proposition 23, conceded defeat, they called the outcome “a victory for Wall Street over Main Street” vowing to continue their efforts to “save jobs” and curb energy costs. I’m a little confused. When I look at the contributors to the fight for and against Proposition 23, I might say it was a victory for Wall Street over Wall Street, because on one side are the likes of Microsoft and Apple, on the other is Big Oil. It reminds me of the Harlequin, turn one way it is dark, turn the other it is light, but overall, it is the same, but that’s the subject of another post.
Continuing with the Chronicle, “”Millions of voters have said they see clean-energy jobs as the path forward through a tough economic climate,” Krupp said.” For us, as project managers, that is key. We need to continue to “surf the green wave.” Green jobs mean green projects, mean project managers to manage those projects.
Don’t you think that those sponsors of green projects would rather have someone familiar with the reasons, the driving forces, behind the green wave, to manage their projects? For further information on how you get SMARTER* on this “green revolution” see our book and follow us on this site. The revolution is here, evidenced by the defeat of California’s Prop 23 and a continued emphasis on tax incentives for alternate energy development.
*From Green Project Management, CRC Press (Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic, Timely, and Environmentally Responsible)