“Green is green”—good for the environment and good for the bottom line. That’s how General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt describes “ecomagination,” an initiative launched by the company this spring.
In going green, GE joins a growing trend in industry. At the 2000 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, for example, business leaders ranked global warming as the most pressing issue of the new century. “GE may not be the first, but they are certainly the 800-pound gorilla in this in terms of what they can do,” says Bernie Bulkin, former chief scientist at the BP energy company and a member of a group that advises the UK government on sustainable development issues.
GE’s new initiative includes a pledge to more than double the company’s investment in environmentally friendly products and energy efficiency from $700 million to $1.5 billion a year by 2010, a hike from 25% to 35%...
