Collage

Hanson Bridgett Brief: “Greenwashing into the Red”

SVN member Jonathan Storper and his colleague Lance Alarcón at Hanson Bridgett have just released a business brief entitled “Greenwashing into the Red.”

“Capitalizing on consumer interest in sustainability just got more complicated. BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil disaster has reversed years of goodwill built by its “Beyond Petroleum” rebranding campaign, perhaps the best-known green marketing effort in history. But consumers’ growing environmental-marketing skepticism is not the only challenge companies will need to overcome when they tout environmental benefits to their products. The Deepwater Horizon spill is also a political disaster, and it is occurring in the context of renewed interest by the Federal Trade Commission, the courts, and state legislatures in curbing misleading environmental claims. Marketers take note: Prosecution for “greenwashing” is now more likely than-ever before.”

Hanson Bridgett Brief: "Greenwashing into the Red"

Mike Lapham Tells NPR “Tax Me More”

The infamous Bush-era tax cuts are due to expire this year. While Obama wants to extend some of those cuts, he does support letting them expire for individuals earning over $200,000. Critics claim that the super-rich are the engine of our economy and need to be taxed less, for the good of all, but others say that that is simply false. SVN member Mike Lapham took to the airwaves to speak with Robin Young of NPR’s “Here & Now” to explain why we need the tax the rich more. Mike is director of United for a Fair Economy’s Responsible Wealth project which has signed many high net worth individuals to its Fair Tax Pledge. Click here to listen to the interview.

ASBC Policy Updates: Toxic Substances & Tax Havens


Investors Need the Reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act

We have been waiting 34 years for a chance to reform the Toxic Substance Control Act and now we finally have bills in both the House and Senate. Whether you are a private equity fund or a community development financial institution (CDFI) toxic chemicals hurt your assets. How much longer will we have to wait to get toxic chemicals out of our products and communities? Not only will these bills help us do just that, but they will also ensure those businesses who care about making their products safe and sustainable will be able to know exactly what chemicals are being used throughout their supply chain via one central database.

The American Sustainable Business Council is working to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act and we need your support. We believe that, as investors, TSCA reform will have a positive impact on your portfolio companies, while it helps get toxic chemicals out of our products, bodies, and communities.

Join us in delivering a strong message to Congress when they return from summer recess.

New legislation has been introduced in the House and Senate. The new legislation deserves investor support not only because it enhances protection for public health and the environment, but there’s a compelling business case for it.

The new legislation will lower business’ overhead costs, promote innovation, and enhance the global competitiveness of American industry. Regulatory reform can help drive investment opportunities in the safer materials “space”, as the existing regulatory system that favors older, dirtier chemistries is changed to broaden markets for newer, safer chemicals.

As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ramps up their opposition to strong TSCA reform, ASBC is committed to representing a different voice for businesses around the country, one focused on creating a vibrant, just, and sustainable economy.

Please lend your support by signing our petition.

Business and Investors Against Tax Haven Abuse

On July 20th, SVN launched a new campaign as a part of our work with ASBC called Business and Investors Against Tax Haven Abuse, with the release of a report and press conference with Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX). The report, Unfair Advantage: The Business Case Against Tax Haven Abuse continues to receive attention in the media and prompted the Small Business Committee in the U.S. House to consider scheduling a hearing on tax havens in the
fall. Business for Shared Prosperity and Wealth for the Common Good are the lead ASBC partners on this campaign.

http://www.asbcouncil.org/uploads/EndingTaxHavenAbuse726.pdf

Over and over, both of these Congressional champions of closing overseas tax havens reiterated their gratitude for this new business-led effort and said that it is essential to changing the policy dynamics. This resulted in ABSC’s first mention in The New York Times (both print and blog).

Take Action:

Please sign the petition calling on policymakers to end tax dodging and support a level playing
field for business.

Ed West Talks About His Stealthy Electric Motorcycle

SVN member Ed West graced the cover of the August issue of Sustainable Industries. The cover story focuses on the “Stealth Superstars” of the starup world and Ed discusses the pros and cons of operating a startup in “stealth mode.” Ed’s company, Mission Motors, worked stealthily for years, developing and fine-tuning the company’s flagship product – an all-electric motorcycle dubbed “the Mission One.” The clandestine launch strategy paid off when Mission Motors drove its superbike onto the 2009 TED stage for its grand reveal. “It enabled us to attract customers and start to create an extraordinary brand presence,” Ed tells Sustainable Industries. Click here to read the full article.

Rebuild Resources Featured on CBS

Rebuild Resources, founded by SVN member Kevin Lynch, was recently featured in a news segment on WCCO TV, a CBS affiliate. The deeply personal piece tells Kevin’s own story of combating addiction and how it led him to create Rebuild to help those with similar problems but fewer opportunities.

“We view the job itself as the best training,” Kevin explained to WCCO TV anchor Don Shelby at his St. Louis factory. The company offers recovering alcoholics and addicts a recovery-laden, Twelve-Step environment where addiction is seen with compassion, but not illusion. Rebuild Resources has graduated nearly 1,000 individuals. Click here to watch the news segment.

Lucid Snags $1 Million Department of Energy Grant

Lucid Energy Technologies, led by SVN member Tim Braun, has recently received a $1,000,000 dollar grant award from the U.S. Department of Energy to further develop and commercialize its key product, Northwest PowerPipe. The funds come from the Department’s Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant program which enable small companies to move competitive ideas into the marketplace.

Lucid’s Northwest PowerPipe is a unique power generating system that produces renewable energy from large-diameter water transmission pipelines. The heart of this system is Lucid’s novel spherical turbine, designed to extract energy that is currently wasted, while minimizing its effect to the pressure and flow necessary for water delivery. Lucid’s innovation stands to generate millions of kilowatt-hours of electricity from a previously untapped source of energy.

Moving water from one place to another is an extremely energy intensive and expensive operation. Water agencies spend a large portion of their budgets on electricity to move water from one place to another. By harnessing the potential energy from excess pressure in gravity fed pipelines and turning it into electricity, Northwest PowerPipe™ can add tremendous value for a pipeline operator.

Click here to read the full press release.

Josh Knauer Tapped for President’s Science & Technology Council

SVN member Josh Knauer, CEO of Rhiza Labs, has been appointed to a working group of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). This Federal Advisory Committee is comprised of leading scientists and engineers, appointed by the President to augment the science and technology advice available to him from inside the White House and from cabinet departments and other federal agencies.

Drawing on Josh’s long history of involvement in conservation issues and data management, he will begin his contribution to the Council by helping the Working Group on Biodiversity Preservation and Ecosystem Sustainability identify research priorities and best practices in data management, necessary for protecting biodiversity and managing ecosystems.

Josh is also leading an initiative to deliver recommendations for standardizing how open data can be defined, collected and published by federal agencies. As a pioneer of open data initiatives for non-profit and government clients, Josh has first hand experience helping organizations be more effective in data sharing, analysis and visualization and systems that facilitate collaboration.

Have any recommendations for Josh to consider as part of his work with PCAST working group?  He’s specifically looking for public examples that show off some of the best/cutting edge practices in data sharing and collaboration. Share your comments below, follow him on Twitter and Facebook. You can also read more about Josh’s activities.

Download the full press release.

Chid Liberty on CNN & PRI

SVN Member Chid Liberty was recently featured on CNN and Public Radio International in news segments highlighting how Liberia, where Chid was born, is recovering from decades of civil war. Chid is manager of a t-shirt factory in Monrovia, Liberia. Profits from the factory are put into a fund and the women who work there “decide where that money goes in terms of building schools, roads, health clinics in their communities,” Chid explains.

Chid is founder and CEO of Sustainable Global Sourcing, a social venture committed to the eradication of extreme poverty in Africa by using partnerships with producers along a fair trade certified supply chain to provide African organic cotton garments and home textiles for internationally recognized brands.

Deb Nelson on “Getting Something Done” – Aug. 12th

SVN’s own Deb Nelson will be taking to the airwaves on Thursday, August 12th to discuss “Getting Something Done” with Marti Spiegelman on her show, “Awakening Value: Shamanic Technologies of Consciousness and Success.” Deb and Marti will take an honest look at what it takes to get things done, not just to get through the checklist, but specifically to awaken value and enhance societal well-being! They’ll talk about vision, passion, and the role of business in adding value to society – and make no mistake, they’re talking about available power and genius! Yet when it comes to actualizing this power, bringing the genius of vision into action, we tend to lose our way. At Social Venture Network a growing group of visionary entrepreneurs is using the organizing principles of consciousness, bringing the technologies of the collective, wholeness, and highly focused intent to catalyze extraordinary change in the way we do business. Remember two truths: [1] consciousness is always rising, reaching for innovation, success, and higher levels of well-being, and [2] business is now our primary path to consciousness. This is Awakening Value in action. Tune in here on Thursday at noon Pacific!

Van Jones: “Shirley Sherrod and Me” NYT Op-Ed

Van Jones has written an op-ed in the New York Times comparing his own experience in the vitriolic cable news limelight to Shirley Sherrod’s recent ordeal. Jones is now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a visiting fellow at Princeton and SVN member, was the White House special adviser for environmental jobs in 2009. Jones writes:

I UNDERSTAND how Shirley Sherrod, the Agriculture Department official who was forced to resign last week, must have felt.

Last year I, too, resigned from an administration job, after I uttered some ill-chosen words about the Republican Party and was accused — falsely — of signing my name to a petition being passed around by 9/11 conspiracy theorists. Partisan Web sites and pundits pounced, and I, too, saw my name go from obscurity to national infamy within hours.

Click here to read the full article.