Wal-Mart to Seek Savings in Energy
By MICHAEL BARBARO and FELICITY BARRINGER
Published: October 25, 2005
BENTONVILLE, Ark., Oct. 24 - Wal-Mart's chief executive is set to announce on Tuesday a set of sweeping, specific environmental goals to reduce energy use in its stores, double its trucks' fuel efficiency, minimize its use of packaging and pressure thousands of companies in its worldwide supply chain to follow its lead.
Embracing energy-conscious and environmentally conscious goals will help both the company's bottom line and its customers' needs, H. Lee Scott said in an interview Monday.
Mr. Scott's announcement signals that the nation's largest retailer is joining the nation's largest manufacturer, General Electric, in pursuing policies that set specific goals for environmental performance, while advertising those goals to shareholders and customers and the public as strategic business decisions.
G.E. faced criticism for its own environmental practices; Wal-Mart has faced criticism as well, but largely over its low wages, scant health insurance coverage and what its critics have called poor treatment of workers. Those critics responded to Wal-Mart's environmental initiative by saying that, while admirable, it is intended to divert attention from the chain's image problems....
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News of the upcoming announcement drew carefully parsed praise from leaders of environmental groups, including some, like Environmental Defense, which have a history of joint initiatives with large businesses, and others, like the Sierra Club, which have traditionally been more confrontational....
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/25/business/25walmart.html