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There was a time, and not so long ago, when people who attended conferences about the “greening” of America could be safely lumped into one of two categories - environmental activists or academics.
That time has passed, if last week's eight annual “Green Energy Summit” in Milwaukee was any indication. While environmentalists, academics and even a few no-growth diehards gathered for the three-day summit, they were joined by company executives and other business leaders who are quietly transforming how Wisconsin defines its green economy.
From large companies such as Johnson Controls, Diversey and A.O Smith, to mid-sized firms such as Orion Energy, Virent Energy and Helios USA, the conference featured a number of business speakers who talked about their successful corporate efforts to save energy, water and other resources - and how it's essential to their bottom-line performance.
“The greening of business is an unavoidable shift, and it's sweeping the world,” said Andrew Winston, co-author of “Green to Gold” and a Fortune 500 consultant whose Wisconsin affiliations include serving on the Sustainability Advisory Board for Kimberly-Clark Corp. “I don't care what (political) party you are, it's good for business.”
The “unavoidable” part of Winston's observation is based on trends driving consumers behavior, manufacturing, transportation, information technology, natural resources, real estate, government and energy generation. While some skeptics believe the “green movement” is little more than the byproduct of global warming scares, some of the best examples of green thinking, research and action have come from business.
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