Warm, fuzzy manatees and PR – coming soon to a powerplant near you!

Alright, so this is not exactly the post that will get you your million dollar investment in cleantech, greentech, sustainability and so on.

It is just a warm, fuzzy story, a story that can also be a good PR exercise and bring some free advertising – just the kind that Tampa Electric is now enjoying. They deserve it too!

So, the story of the year is that Florida is in the throes of an extremely cold winter. This has a lot of the marine life in Florida in a very vulnerable position. It is not just the manatees that were affected – the victims of the unnaturally cold conditions include sea turtles, eagle rays and spinner sharks.

Tampa Electric as a power plant that had been taken offline last year for apparent modernization. However, the plant has been a throng for manatees for years because the discharge waters are warm. It appears that the company was wise enough to leave a special water heater on, just to keep the waters warm, and this has proved serendipitous for the manatees and a handful of other marine life this winter. One article I reported read that more than 400 manatees had collected in the area to enjoy the warmth!

Now, there is a story of a company that is sensitive to it’s environment, reaping the rewards of foresight! Wouldn’t it be nice if more companies were this sensitive?

Explore Avenues of sensitivity and sustainability

If your organization is involved in industries that face such issues – typically traditional energy companies and such, you might want to strongly consider doing something like what Tampa Electric is doing. Show sensitivity, and find ways to act sustainably, or in ways friendly to the environment.

Don’t fudge facts, and try to employ delaying tactics like “Jack Gerard” at the American Petroleum <del>Institution</del> Institute , who recently commented on the US Government’s plan to tightly regulate on-shore drilling in the following manner – “And Jack Gerard, at the American Petroleum Institute, said what Salazar is looking to do will ultimately be bad for the economy and “further delay and limit American energy resources for all Americans.””.

This sort of brazen disregard for the ground realities of the 21st century will of course take your organization down only one path.

Disconnecting from the naysayers

Organizations like the U.S. Chambers of Commerce and this American Petroleum Institute from the last paragraph are all public relations disasters waiting to fling themselves onto your organization. If you have been subscribing members or sponsors of such organizations, one simple step toward progress would be disconnecting completely from such organizations. Like it or not, slow or fast, this century will be much more a century of science and sustainability than ever before.

In such an environment of progress, any energy company that is seen in association with such organizations that not only lack vision, but also the will to change will be seen as weak. This definitely cannot be good for your organization – especially if you produce energy with the more traditional flavor, compared to your renewable competitors, against whom you are already at a steep disadvantage.

Here’s to hoping the manatee sauna inspires you!

References

1. The Manatee Story:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0720661320100107?type=marketsNews

2. Regulating On-Shore Drilling:

http://www.heatingoil.com/blog/salazar-vows-closer-inspection-of-oil-and-gas-drilling-leases108/

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January 9, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Causes, Science and the Environment, Sustainable Businesses

One Response

  1. Kylie Batt - April 20, 2010

    Вы сами придумали такую бесподобную фразу?…

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