In today’s NYTimes business section there is an article about a very unusual product and business decision made by America’s brand marketing giant, P&G. It seems that for several years they’ve had a product branded under their PUR water purification brand that is a powder that can purify water in the field. It has not been marketed in the US until now. Instead they attempted to sell it in third world countries. When it became obvious that it would not be profitable they did something incredibly unique and forward-thinking: They built a plant in Pakistan to make the product very cheaply. Then they distributed the packets for pennies. A local village market can sell them for a dime and make 5 cents. Each purifies 10 kilos of water. P&G formed a not for profit organization internally to help provide pure water for children globally. This was a big hit within the huge company.
Now they have arranged for US sales via a much smaller company called Reliance that sells into outdoor sports and survival markets including disaster recovery. This is where it gets interesting. They are not out to make a profit on US sales. All P&G proceeds from Reliance (an independent distributor) will be donated to the Children’s Safe Drinking Water program, a not for profit agency.
While there are questions about charging US disaster victims more for this than 3rd world countries, overall it is a great concept. I would hope the major Pharma companies who won’t design drugs for poor markets will take a look at this model. The fact is that climate change and its affects are global- we’re all in this together.
Kudos to Proctor and Gamble.

Ordinarily I do not plug the media, especially thick glossy magazines, however the current issue of Vanity Fair is a must read for anyone interested in climate change and global warming. Last year they decided to do a major focus on green issues on an annual basis. What they’ve done is create a current report on the state of the world:
- The politics of denial (really frightening)
- The business of water (people in China are paying up to 25% of their income for water)
- Vehicle technology
- The tipping point for the end of the rainforests
And many more very in-depth articles. Despite a stupid photo series dedicated to green ‘celebrities’, the issue is a tour de force look at the green movement and our very real enemies.
I am off to St.John in the US VI and plan to spend some time reading through the mag (along with the new Einstein bio and my boss’s account of his Everest expedition) so blogging will be light for a week or so. No Internet connection and I’m not taking my laptop…bliss.

I recently added another category for my posts, Green Business. You can see the categories in the ‘cloud’ in the right hand column. These clouds are a new way of displaying information. Each category’s font size grows as more posts on that subject are added. Green Business is in teeny tiny type right now because its a new category and I have not gone back and tagged old posts with it. I suspect that if I did, it would be one of the most prominent in the cloud.
The cloud fascinates me because it shows how interrelated these subjects are- I almost never have one subject assigned to a post. The cloud also embraces some subjects that are not listed. You don’t see Iraq War as a category, nor do you see Bush Cheney, even though I frequently post on these subjects. That’s because I feel that Energy is a unifying issue in these subjects: We fight in Iraq because of a terrible fear in the executive branch that if we don’t get an oil-rich country for ourselves, we’re screwed. The fact that Bush Cheney both come out of the fossil fuel cloud isn’t lost on anyone at this point.

Walter Reed and War Spin
Perhaps the best example of how things have changed politically since the election is the scandal over treatment of wounded soldiers (they’re not veterans until they are discharged from the military). Every time a Democrat votes to defund the war the right sends the message that they are hurting our troops. Yet the reality uncovered in the Walter Reed scandal is that the neo-conservatives don’t give a damn about the troops- all they care about is pursuing their oil wars. They have made a decision that it is worth paying a price in human suffering to get a foothold in oil country.
Is this too cynical and harsh? Read the stories of how impossible it is to live as a wounded soldier. Now look at the wealth accumulated by the Rumsfelds and Cheneys, not to mention the oil executives and Halliburtons of the world. This is all about short term gains.

Why They Block Innovative Energy Technology and Efficiency Standards
This is simple. The wealth the oil policies generate is so great that the beneficiaries are establishing a ruling class of legacy wealth that will outlive any disasters, wars, climate calamities, etc. Bush is already an example of such a royal clan as are Cheney and Rumsfeld. Their descendants will never have to deal with anything but the best.
If we enforce efficiencies and develop clean, cheap alternative energy sources this destruction of the middle class will fail. Cheap energy is a great democratizing force no matter where you live in the world. Blocking cheap energy and raising prices short term through wars is a way of destroying the middle class and building a world aristocracy.

Don’t get the wrong idea- I’m not a socialist, I’m a capitalist who believes in free markets and a global economy. Free markets cannot exist when a small power group are politically manipulating things to benefit their own agenda. The Democrats need to hit them hard on these points- it’s a winning strategy.

This one hits all my categories which in itself is a pretty big rave. TED is a conference of people from the Technology, Entertainment and Design worlds that takes place each year in Monterey. It costs a lot to attend ($4400. last time) and it’s by invitation only (although you can apply to be invited) so most of us aren’t likely to experience it in person. This is too bad because a lot of really brilliant people get up and do brief talks and demos about things they’re working on or interested in, things that may change the world.
Fortunately they’ve posted these presentations on the TED Talks site and anyone can watch, download and even grab code to embed them into your site or blog. I was orginally going to embed the Al Gore talk from last year but decided instead to provide info and the site link so you can explore what TED has to offer. This is another incredible web resource, one that reminds me of what a remarkable information age we live in.