Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore recently spoke at the Spain-U.S. Business Sustainability Conference on March 17. He cited improved energy and climate technologies as the key to solving three of the most pressing global issues – the global economic crisis, climate crisis and security crisis. Gore said that the common thread between the three is an overdependence on outdated, heavily polluting carbon-based technologies.
As I sat there, I couldn’t help but get depressed thinking about the perils to our world — global climate change, the melting polar ice caps and their implications on our children’s future. But, wearing my business cap, I couldn’t help but get excited thinking about the inherent opportunity.
The companies ready to address our environmental and supply problems by cost-effectively tapping renewable energy sources like the sun, wind and earth will be well positioned going forward. They will be rewarded with incentives, stimulus money, contracts and customer loyalty. Likewise, those pioneering advances in industrial biochemicals and biofuels have a promising future as long as they can demonstrate an acceptable level of performance and cost parity.
The primary lesson for PR pros in all of this is to be a strategist. Encourage your clients and/or executives to work on meaningful environmental efforts and don’t be shy about promoting them. But when you do promote, focus on how these efforts make good business sense and tie into current trends, topical issues and news emphasis… not on meaningless self promotion or puffery.
The “Inconvenient Truth” is that things will eventually change. What we all have to ask ourselves is whether we will be part of the solution or part of the problem. In my mind, being part of the solution isn’t just the right thing to do. Time will prove it the profitable thing to do.
(Guest contributor Steve Halsey is a vice president at Gibbs & Soell Public Relations.)
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