Retailing juggernaut Wal-Mart has long been anathema to environmentalists, but lately the company is making headlines left and right for a
variety of green initiatives, from its entry into the
organics market to its
promotion of sustainable fisheries. Now, the latest: It seems
Sam Walton's empire is considering getting into the ethanol business. As you may be aware, many new vehicles are equipped to run on E85, but good luck finding it. Oil companies, for obvious reasons, couldn't care less about the stuff. But Wal-Mart says it's interested. The story is part of a
Fortune magazine report. On the web, the money mag asks readers their opinion:
Is Wal-Mart's green renaissance for real? Or is this just more corporate bunkum? So, what about it? Putting aside the question of
whether or not corn-based ethanol is a step in the right direction, what do you think about the bigger question? Wal-Mart: Good or evil?
3 Comments:
ahh, could go either way depending on the area in which they are built. Would a walmart built in the Tenderloin of SF be such a bad idea, contingent upon their hiring of the local communitity? Cheap prices and jobs for an impoverished area? - Anyway, I believe Walmart is for real with their new environmental movement and this is just the begining. They will pave the way for other buisness to do the same. They are the McDonald's of retail and any change they make will have a ripple effect. - So are they evil? No. Good? Maybe. Can they do more? Of Course.
I agree with averagejoe above. Let's say it's all just greenwashing, what's the harm? On the other hand, if it's for real, the upside seems enormous. So, let's hope they carry through. If they don't, well, we're no worse off than before. Right?
Don't trust them, never will. Even if they do provide jobs in impoverished areas, they treat their employees like dirt and strive to keep their hours just below full time to avoid giving them benefits. I have a hard time believing anything they say, green or otherwise.
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