#daniel c. esty

[thoughtyoushouldseethis-blog]

Creating demand for innovation is far more effective than subsidizing company-specific research projects or providing incentives for particular technologies. Governments just aren’t good at picking winners; witness the billions wasted on corn-based ethanol subsidies.

In Pain at the Pump? We Need More, HBS professor (and Monitor* co-founder) Michael Porter and Daniel C. Esty, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, make the case that Americans need to suffer *more* sticker shock, not less, when it comes to filling up at the pump. This, they write, is the only way to motivate "changes in behavior and technological investments." In other words, the authors figure that the change we need to see will happen a lot faster if everyone is put off their usual routine by finding they're totally strapped for cash. A political hot potato, if ever there was one, but they avow that their goal isn't to raise revenue, but to spark innovation. "Entrepreneurial spirit would be unleashed in companies from multinational enterprises to back-of-the-garage inventors," they conclude. "By stimulating major gains in energy productivity and renewable energy, our approach would help stimulate global growth and free up resources to meet other pressing needs."

* Potential bias alert. I work for Doblin, a part of Monitor Group.

[quotesbyberil]

Advantage.

Environmental leaders see their businesses

through an environmental lens,

finding opportunities to cut costs,

reduce risk,

drive revenues,

and enhance intangible value.

.

They build deeper connections with

customers, employees, and other stakeholders.

.

Their strategies reveal a new kind of

sustained competitive advantage

that we call Eco-Advantage.

.

.

Etsy, D., and Winston, A. S. (2006; reprinted 2009). Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

[quotesbyberil]

Failure.

Environmental missteps can:

create public relations nightmares,

destroy markets and careers,

and knock billions off the value of a company.

.

Companies that do not add environmental thinking

to their strategy arsenal risk

missing upside opportunities in markets

that are increasingly shaped by environmental factors.

,

Etsy, D., and Winston, A. S. (2006; reprinted 2009). Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.