I would love our PR firm to work 100% on environmental issues like water, clean energy, and cleantech. Our clients like ElectraTherm have proven our effectiveness in this effort.

A LinkedIn cleantech group member recently asked a question about the water shortage in Los Angeles. My answer was so good, perhaps you may enjoy reading it as well.

LA is at the tail of a tiger that is getting grouchy-the Colorado River, providing water to 25 million people in 7 states. Follow that river upstream and you will find a battle royal brewing over this symptom of man’s unsustainable management of this limited resource.  (see LA Times article)

Until the mid 20th century the river supported a rich marshland, now decimated, teaming with wildlife. The river, so wide and grand at points, now trickles into the Gulf of California, sucked dry by our determination to sustain the unsustainable.

Yes, PilmerPR would like to be the PR firm that fights for better stewardship of fresh water in the western U.S. And, let’s not stop there, we want to be the PR agency of record for stewardship of the ocean where our tons of waste and over fishing are really screwing up one of our most incredible food resources.

What’s the answer? Education and a view beyond the next drink are a start. Until we share a vision of mutual benefit and stewardship of resources, we are only treating symptoms of the problem.

http://pilmerpr.com/green_public_relations.html

jpilmer@pilmerpr.com
LinkedIn group: Office of Sustainability

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There are so many new green technologies under development that it’s hard to keep track. Here’s one more. What if I told you there was a cleantech auto transmission under development that will yield 30% greater MPG, even in big-rig trucks? Gas, diesel, electric, CNG–doesn’t matter. What if I further told you that Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, and Subaru were all looking at it. More to come…

Did you know that in the U.S. we consume 176 billion gallons of motor fuel per year? (source: USDOT) If 1% of our vehicles increased their MPG by 30%, that would save 528 million gallons of fuel the first year.

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More more info: jpilmer@pilmerpr.com

Treehugger this week reported that a new solar project in Hawaii transformed into the “Holy Grail” of renewable energy when they integrated waste heat power generation capacity using the ElectraTherm Green Machine (PilmerPR client). Is that too strong of a claim?

ElectraTherm previously announced integration with geothermal technology and industrial waste heat. This is the first solar project they have been involved in and the results look promising.

President Obama has crowned “energy efficiency” as an heir apparent for federal support going forward. ElectraTherm fits the energy efficiency definition very well, taking low temperature heat from any source and turning it into fuel-free, emissions-free electricity.

What do you think?

Yesterday, I heard Louis Pope speak to the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF.net) as he received recognition as Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Louis thinks globally, about our back yard in Utah, about our back yard to the world. In his acceptance remarks, he said more than a billion people live in extreme poverty-less than $1/day. However, his comments were not gloom and doom. He spoke of the net reduction of that number over the past several years because of efforts to create jobs.

In PilmerPR’s work in social responsibility (CSR) we tell clients to first “be good, then talk about being good.” Louis and his company are the best examples of this that I know of. He could likely afford to retire to anywhere he chooses. What he chooses to do is lift people by the thousands and to inspire others to do the same. He, Yehu Microfinance, and US Synthetic have truly inspired me. Thank you Louis.

Great story about Louis Pope on KSL TV

What does Wal-Mart and the United States government have in common? Answer: buying power. According to USAspending.gov, the U.S. government spends more than $500 billion in products and services each year from roughly 230,000 different companies. It is the world’s largest buyer of goods and services. Wal-Mart is the world’s largest consumer products retailer, buying roughly $300 billion each year in products it sells in retail stores from more than 100,000 different companies.

The U.S. government and Wal-Mart’s buying power are influential in setting the stage for corporate social responsibility requirements. According to Information Management, the U.S. government and Wal-Mart will begin phasing in corporate social responsibility requirements for their suppliers and vendors over the next few years. Read more at Utah Business Magazine.

PilmerPR was honored by its peers in Utah for its outstanding media relations, Wednesday.

The Golden Spike Awards committee recognized PilmerPR in the Publicity and Media Relations category for its work promoting the ElectraTherm Green Machine. As part of the campaign, PilmerPR garnered 38 news articles, a syndicated radio interview, interviews on FOX Business News, The 700 Club, and multiple local television stations, and an online podcast. We also helped catch the attention of Popular Science Magazine, which awarded the ElectraTherm Green Machine in its “Best of What’s New” issue. In one year, the campaign reached more than 304 million people, and achieved publicity that would cost around $570,000 if gained through advertising.

PilmerPR founder John Pilmer was also recognized as one of the top five PR pro’s in the state for his accomplishments and ethics.

According to the committee, all Golden Spike entries are judged by fellow PR professionals, following a stringent set of criteria that ensure only the best in the industry are recognized.

These awards represent our commitment to provide best-in-class results for our clients. They can depend on our staff’s media relations skills to bring new top-tier investors and customers to their door.

We are pleased that our results are not only recognized by our clients, but also other PR professionals. We look forward to the years ahead.

Read the full press release here.

Obama is talking about it. Gap, Hewlett Pack (HP) and Timberland are talking about it. Neighbors, executives and world politicians are also talking about it. What are they are all talking about? … Answer: Social Responsibility.

A recent article in Time magazine written by managing editor, Richard Stengel, introduced the idea of a new kind of consumer. “We are again entering a period of social change as Americans are recalibrating our sense of what it means to be a citizen, not just through voting or volunteering but also through commerce: by what we buy. There is a new dimension to civic duty that is growing in America – it’s the idea that we can serve not only by spending time in our communities and classrooms but by spending more responsibly. We are starting to put our money where our ideals are.”

Never in the history of capitalism has social responsibility played such an important role. Gone are the days of cheap talk and sparse metrics to prove the importance of corporate social responsibility. In fact, according to a recent poll in Time magazine, 40 percent of all respondents said they purchased a product in 2009 because they liked the social or political values of the company that produced it. From that same poll, 82 percent said they have consciously supported local or neighborhood business this year. Read more at Utah Business Magazine.

U2 has launched one of the largest, most over-the-top tour production tsunamis known to rock n’ roll.  189 trucks will roll cross the world supporting what’s sure to be a really big show. Their PR team swears the tour is green (story). I think this is a perfect example of what’s wrong with the growing support for buying indulgences (carbon credits). I can pollute like crazy, waste resources and then buy my way into green heaven.

Producing 65,000 tons in carbon emissions, this tour smacks of Greenwashing to me.

Here’s the process Bono and company likely went through: 1)Let’s make the biggest bang ever for a rock concert tour (with no thought for the environment – the bang makes up for lagging brand equity) 2)Public Relations team says, “Well guys, since Mr. Bono has been talking a good Green PR game in public, this is gonna raise some Green eyebrows with a Carbon footprint of 65,000…” 3)The team hatches a plan to donate to the right green charities and buy enough carbon credits (ie cap n trade indulgences) to offset the extravagance. 4) All is right with the green rock n’ roll world. Bono and the boys get richer and still call themselves socially responsible.

I don’t buy it even though there are a few U2 songs I can’t do without, and even though I’ve enjoyed playing rock and blues bass for many years. We teach our clients that when it comes to corporate social responsibility, you should BE GOOD before you talk about being good.  Are you listening, Mr. Bono?

What do you think?

POLL: 

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Last week, Green Week in Review’s Bart King interviewed William C. Olson, Senior Vice President and co-founder of ElectraTherm–a company that has developed modular technology (the ElectraTherm Green Machine) to harness waste heat from a variety of industry sectors.

The United States produces enough industrial waste-heat (think smokestacks) to replace roughly 30 percent of the electricity produced by burning fossil fuels. According to the United States Department of Energy, there is more waste heat available in the United States than all other sources of renewable energy combined. Yet most of it goes to waste.

ElectraTherm has fielded interest from all over the world in the company’s fuel-free, emissions-free systems. The ElectraTherm Green Machine can produce power from a wide array of heat sources including industrial waste heat, engines, biomass, and solar thermal installations

Read more and hear the podcast.

Hewlett Packard is feeling the heat from Greenpeace after a little roof painting. Greenpeace activists climbed to the top of HP’s global headquarters in Palo Alto, CA and painted the message “Hazardous Products” on the roof.

The painting on HP’s roof is in response to HP’s alleged backtracking on its public commitment to eliminate key toxic chemicals in its products by the end of this year. According to Greenpeace, ”HP continues to put hazardous products on the market despite promises made years ago to phase out these toxic compounds.”

In response to the claims made by Greenpeace,  HP said it “has a comprehensive approach to environmental sustainability, with three main components: minimizing our impact, helping our customers to improve their environmental performance and driving towards a sustainable, low-carbon economy.”

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