Global Warming: How to Seize the Initiative

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But though mayors prefer to downplay the costs of fighting global warming, there seems to be truth to the Bush Administration's contention that meeting the Kyoto targets involves pain--not just gain. And in Seattle, where population growth is projected to push up regional greenhouse gases by 38% in the next 15 years, ratcheting down to 1990 levels would require slashing emissions by 683,000 tons--the equivalent of taking some 148,000 cars off the road. To do that may require such unpopular measures as highway tolls and increased parking taxes. But in the absence of federal controls, Nickels says, he's ready and willing: "If it's not going to happen from the top down, let's make it happen from the bottom up." --By Margot Roosevelt

THE RETAILER THE GREENING OF WAL-MART

All around the world, shoppers flock to Wal-Mart to buy everything from socks to sofa beds. In McKinney, Texas, they come for another reason: to see the wind turbine. Rising 120 ft. above the ground, it's the tallest structure in town and supplies 5% of the store's electricity. It's not the only thing that makes this Wal-Mart a green giant. There are photovoltaic shingles on the roof, exterior walls coated with heat-reflective paint and a high-tech system that automatically dims or raises the lights depending on whether it's sunny or overcast. Brent Allen, who manages the experimental store, says customers tell him all the time that "they drove out of their way to shop at this Wal-Mart." Which makes you wonder: If folks drive farther than they have to, aren't they burning extra gasoline in their pickups and SUVS? And isn't that offsetting the store's energy savings?

The laws of unintended consequences can be cruel for companies trying to do the right thing. The laws of economics suggest that Wal-Mart is so big, with 5,200 stores worldwide, that it influences everything from the price of lumber to the size of the container your laundry detergent comes in. And if this retailing giant throws its weight behind environmental responsibility, the impact could be profound: less air pollution at factories in China, mass-market sales of organic products, cereal boxes that aren't half filled with air. "One little change in product packaging could save 1,500 trees," says Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott. "If everybody saves 1,500 trees or 50 barrels of oil, at the end of the day you have made a huge difference."

Scott wants Wal-Mart to do its part too. He has promised to cut greenhouse-gas emissions at existing stores 20% over the next few years and pledged to construct new stores that are 25% to 30% more efficient. He wants Wal-Mart's fleet of more than 7,000 trucks to get twice as many miles per gallon by 2015. Factories that show Wal-Mart they're cutting air pollution--even those in China--will get preferential treatment in the supply chain. Wal-Mart says it's working with consumer-product manufacturers to trim their packaging and will reward those that do so with prime real estate on the shelves. Scott has pledged to enlist Wal-Mart's army of lobbyists to push for pro-environmental policy changes in Washington, including incentives for utilities to cut greenhouse gases.