Big Foot Response

In the article, “Big Foot” Michael Specter argues that companies today are almost trying too hard to become “green” and that it is up to the consumers to decide what kind of carbon footprint they want to leave. I believe that his Thesis falls within the fallowing statement:

“Leahy’s sincerity was evident, but so was his need to placate his customers. Studies have consistently demonstrated that, given a choice, people prefer to buy products that are environmentally benign. That choice, however, is almost never easy. “A carbon label will put the power in the hands of consumers to choose how they want to be green,” Tom Delay, the head of the British Government’s Carbon Trust, said. “It will empower us all to make informed choices and in turn drive a market for low-carbon products.” Tesco was not alone in telling people what it would do to address the collective burden of our greenhouse-gas emissions. Compelled by economic necessity as much as by ecological awareness, many corporations now seem to compete as vigorously to display their environmental credentials as they do to sell their products.”

I think that Mr. Specter is trying to say that companies’ are trying to “go green” in order to appeal to consumers, rather than for reasons of morality or environmental conciseness.


3 Fact Checks

1. “In 1995, each of the six billion people on earth was responsible, on average, for one ton of carbon emissions.”

According to the Department of Energy and the Energy Information Administrations, in 1995 there was a total of around 5.84 Billion tons of carbon emissions. Which would make Mr. Specter’s fact true.

2. “American produce travels an average of nearly fifteen hundred miles before we eat it.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture states that the current estimate for how far our food travels, is in fact an average of 1500 miles

3. “This year’s Super Bowl was fuelled by wind turbines.”

It is a fact that the town of House, NM and the New Mexico Wind Energy Center helped power University of Phoenix Stadium for Super Bowl XLII. They used enough energy during the event to power 750 homes for one month.