GEF

Unit 10  |  Toward a Sustainable Future 226 coverage of environmental issues and sustainability requires time and resources that media outlets are finding increasingly scarce in an age of cutbacks and journalist layoffs. As the public has become more educated about sustain- ability, some businesses are resorting to greenwashing . Greenwashing means to use misleading or selective messages that emphasize a business’ green credentials in an attempt to create a positive public image. For example, a company might use CSR approaches to deflect attention away from damag- ing economic activities or blunt government intervention. BP, formerly called British Petroleum, has been criticized for heavily publicizing its sustainability initiatives, and even changing their tagline to “Beyond Petroleum” in 2001, while continuing to relentlessly pursue oil drilling and development. Another example of greenwashing is the coal industry’s mes- saging on clean coal . This marketing campaign is an attempt to rebrand coal as sustainable and environmentally friendly. The coal industry has poured millions of dollars in to televi- sion, advertising technological advancements, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), which would make coal a clean fuel source. However, as of December, 2015, there were no large-scale (more than 500 megawatts of power) CCS power plants in operation, and a study by the World Economic Forum showed that the fuel costs of coal-fired power plants would likely increase by up to 136 percent with the addition of a CO 2 cap- ture plant. This leads energy industry leaders to concede that CCS is unlikely to be economically viable. Meanwhile, the coal industry is pushing to build hundreds of traditional coal-fired plants, using the same technology that currently makes coal contribute to twenty percent of human-caused global green- house gas emissions. GREENWASHING Misleading or using selective messages that emphasize a business’ “green” creden- tials to create a positive public image. CLEAN COAL A marketing campaign by the coal industry, claiming that new technologies reduce the harmful impact of coal energy generation on the environment. CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE (CCS) The process of trapping carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels or any other chemical or biological process and storing it in such a way that it is unable to affect the atmosphere.