In the wake of the state's utility industry deregulation, California businesses have been afforded the opportunity to make a significant environmental contribution to the fight against air pollution, simply by switching their workplaces to renewable energy. In a rare and encouraging intersection between commerce and environmentalism, renewable energy promises to be widely accepted and adopted in the public sphere, while offering economic and marketing incentives to corporations.

For businesses, the incentive for the switch to power generated from renewable resources is as much economic as it is environmental: many local governments -- from San Diego to Santa Monica -- have been offered a cheaper rate for "green" power than they were for "brown" power, that is, non-renewable, fossil- or coal-burning energy. These entities and municipalities in San Diego County make up a regional power pool, consuming more than 100 megawatts of energy, equivalent to the power drawn by about 85,000 homes, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. Yet even corporations who are not able to receive the state credit on a lower rate for renewable energy are nevertheless adopting green power while simultaneously incorporating energy efficiency measures into their workplace to offset the increased rate over the long-term.

Global Green USA's Go Green Power campaign, spearheaded by Sony Work Group President and GG USA Board member Jordan Harris, seeks to educate and encourage businesses, residents and local governments to switch to green power. The campaign, focused primarily in Southern California, has enjoyed a great deal of success, with perhaps the greatest milestone toed by the business sector's willingness to adopt green energy. Several leading area businesses have enthusiastically stepped up to the plate to switch their offices to renewable energy, with many more soon to follow. And as these key business leaders individually regard the advantages of renewable energy, they realize collectively that striking a balance between the "bottom line" and environmental issues is an easy, and attractive, convergence.

At Global Green USA's October 1998 symposium, "Establishing a Sustainable Energy Future: Common Sense Solutions to Climate Change for Los Angeles and Beyond," a wide spectrum of business leaders from across the Los Angeles area gathered to talk about climate change and renewable energy technology solutions. The symposium featured business leaders who had started to implement renewable energy technologies as part of their business plans. They included:

• Jim Cooke, Corporate Manager Strategic Planning, Toyota Motor Sales USA;
• Peter Beadle, President BP Solar Inc.;
• David Olsen, CEO Patagonia;
• Jordan Harris, President, Work Group/ Sony Music;
• David Freeman, General Manager, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; and
• Chris Flavin, Worldwatch Institute and climate change expert.

The symposium also featured Green Cross International President Mikhail Gorbachev, who commended the leadership of the panel members and thanked them for their participation in the fight against air pollution and climate change.

Matt Petersen, Executive Director of Global Green USA, opened the symposium by presenting the challenge and response among California consumers. "The restructuring of the California electric industry has placed a green option in the hands of every California business and consumer. Choosing a green electricity product is simple and the environmentally responsible thing to do."

Patagonia CEO David Olsen discussed his company's decision to switch all their California facilities to 100% wind power. Olsen reported that Patagonia turned their additional expense in paying for renewable power into an opportunity to become more efficient as a business. Patagonia pays roughly 16 percent more for new wind than they did from Southern California Edison, so Olsen challenged his colleagues to find ways to cut their electrical consumption by more than 16 percent. "For us the decision to switch to new windpower was really an easy one ... the bottom line for us is really that doing the right thing has always helped our business grow substantially. We think this switch to windpower will do the same thing."

Most businesses are frozen by a barrier-myth that declares that there is no economic incentive to accomplish energy efficiency or a switch to renewable energy, and businesses are diffident to swallow much of the cost because it is the right thing to do. LA DWP's David Freemen asserted that renewable energy is a more valuable product while exposing the fallacy that the price of natural gas and fossil fuels will remain low forever. Jim Cooke, of Toyota Motor Sales USA, claimed that one reason Toyota made the switch to renewable energy was to encourage and challenge other corporations to take a leadership position on the environment and global warming. "I think the biggest thing in concert with David <Freeman> is that there isn't a business in existence today that cannot find ways to save energy. There's plenty of low hanging fruit in most cases out there to save enough in terms of usage to pay for whatever green power technology that you might choose."

Jordan Harris, President of Sony's Work Group, claimed that he became interested in renewable energy after driving an EV-1, in order to make a contribution to reducing emissions. He stated, "I think we have an opportunity in California, a window of opportunity that we have to take advantage of, that if we do it right here as other states like Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are close behind us looking at deregulation, the deregulation isn't just about cost. It's about the environment and it's an opportunity for everyone to participate. Believe me, it's easier than recycling. It's easier than anything else you do ... I think the most frightening thing with this opportunity is how unaware everybody is that it even exists. So what we want to do is raise the consciousness and get people to think when they flip that light switch where the power is coming from. That, in fact, they can do something about it."

Peter Beadle, representing BP Solar on behalf of CEO John Brown, offered the view from an oil company willing to acknowledge climate change and committed to reducing emissions and developing alternative energy techniques. He told the other panelists and the audience about BP's goal for the renewable energy future, " Last year solar <energy> provided 1/1000% of the world's energy demand. We believe that by 2020, it could be 5%. In 50 years it could be 50%. Those figures weren't dreamed up by V.P.s. ... We believe there is an industry out there to be created."

As utility markets deregulate across the nation, state by state, renewable energy choices will continue to wed business concerns and environmental issues in one of the most dynamic, and beneficial, steps to fostering a cultural shift towards a sustainable world in the future. As President Gorbachev concluded the symposium, "The problem of resources will become more dramatic in the future despite new technologies, sophisticated technologies, developed throughout the world and especially in this country. So I want you to succeed because then everyone else will also succeed. That would be real leadership instead of just ambition."