[sustran] Advisory Meeting for Shell Sustainable Energy Initiative

Todd Litman litman at IslandNet.com
Wed Mar 4 01:36:30 JST 1998


A. Rahman Paul BARTER asked:

>I have been invited to the following meeting next week in Bangkok. It is a
>consultation on the Shell oil company's proposed Sustainable Energy
>Initiative.  The half-day meeting is being run by the Asia office of the
>International Institute for Energy Conservation (IIEC).
>
>I would very much appreciate any comments and ideas to help me better
>represent a pro-equity, pro-environment, transport-focused constituency.
>And to avoid being dazzled by corporate "greenwash"?!

I have three suggestions:

1. Recommend that Shell, and other energy producers, submit to an ongoing,
independent environmental audit. I think that this could be considered
acceptable because businesses are accustomed to having independent audits,
so the concept should be understandable. 

Of course, this raises the question of who is qualified to be an
independent environmental auditor that would be acceptable to Shell and its
critics. I'm not sure. It should be a group with respectable cridentials in
both camps (Maurice Strong comes to mind).

2. Argue that economic theory requires that all external costs be
incorporated into price to provide "information" to the market. Shell
officials should at least acknowledge this concept, even as they lobby
against new taxes on their products, such as petroleum. To the degree that
Shell is an energy company, not just an oil company, it should not be afaid
of full-cost pricing because they can simply sell alternative energy
products, including efficiency technologies.

3. I think it is important to use a wide definition of environmental
issues, rather than let the discussion focus on any one, such as global
warming. Make sure that sustainability includes consideration of social
impacts, equity, etc.




Sincerely,

Todd Litman, Director
Victoria Transport Policy Institute
"Efficiency - Equity - Clarity"
1250 Rudlin Street
Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, Canada
Phone & Fax: 250-360-1560
E-mail:      litman at islandnet.com
Website:     www.islandnet.com/~litman



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