Al Gore & the greening of WMT
Wal-Mart discusses global warming steps By MARCUS KABEL, Associated Press Writer
BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the biggest private user
of electricity in the world and has huge potential to cut back on
greenhouse gases in-house and among its 60,000 suppliers, company
officials said ahead of a global warming information stop Wednesday
by former vice president Al Gore.
Wal-Mart working groups on environmental change were meeting ahead of
Gore’s visit to discuss steps already taken and new efforts ahead
under a green initiative launched last October by Chief Executive Lee
Scott to make the often-criticized company a better environmental
citizen.
The world’s largest retailer emitted the equivalent of 20.8 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide last year, the main greenhouse gas,
while the best estimate for its supply chain — all the production and
shipping needed to fill Wal-Mart shelves — is 10 times that, said Jim
Stanway, director of project development in Wal-Mart’s energy
department.
“We’re big, but we’re certainly not the biggest,” Stanway said. Coca-
Cola Co. produces about 5 million metric tons a year while utility
American Electric Power emits about 160 million metric tons, he added.
Wal-Mart disclosed its CO2 figure for the first time this year.
Scientists have become increasingly concerned in recent years about
the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by the
burning of fossil fuels. Average worldwide temperatures have risen
this century as a result of what many believe is a greenhouse effect
from that pollution.
Stanway and other executives said Wal-Mart’s potential to slow global
warming stemmed from the size of its supplier network and the
influence Wal-Mart can wield to encourage better practices by those
companies it buys from.
“We have made it clear that all things being equal, we’ll give
business to operators who show they’re fully engaged” in fuel
efficiency efforts, said Tim Yatsko, Wal-Mart senior vice president
of transportation.
Before a presentation from Gore on his anti-global warming campaign,
executives from 14 so-called sustainable value networks traded ideas,
with each group consisting of Wal-Mart people, suppliers and outside
experts to work on specific issues like alternative fuels, textiles
and logistics.
Charles Zimmerman, in charge of developing new Wal-Mart stores, said
the company was already reducing energy demand by installing more
efficient lighting and retrofitting refrigerators.
New store prototypes in the works will use design and technology to
be 30 percent more efficient than today’s stores and in the longer
term even 50 percent more efficient.
“We are the number one private purchaser of electricity in the United
States and therefore in the world,” Zimmerman said.
In logistics, covering Wal-Mart’s fleet of 7,000 trucks, Tim Yatsko
said the company had already cut fuel use by 8 percent by putting
alternative power units in rigs this year so they can stop idling
engines during loading or breaks. That saved $25 million in fuel
bills and cut 100,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Lee Scott plans to make the retailer a leader in cutting emissions,
energy use and solid waste and selling more environmentally friendly
products. Scott took the environmental offensive at a time when Wal-
Mart is under attack from organized labor and other groups for its
business practices, including employee pay and health benefits.