Author name: Scott Cooney

Scott Cooney (twitter: scottcooney) is an adjunct professor of Sustainability in the MBA program at the University of Hawai'i, green business startup coach, author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill), and developer of the sustainability board game GBO Hawai'i. Scott has started, grown and sold two mission-driven businesses, failed miserably at a third, and is currently in his fourth. Scott's current company has three divisions: a sustainability blog network that includes the world's biggest clean energy website and reached over 5 million readers in December 2013 alone; Pono Home, a turnkey and franchiseable green home consulting service that won entrance into the clean tech incubator known as Energy Excelerator; and Cost of Solar, a solar lead generation service to connect interested homeowners and solar contractors. In his spare time, Scott surfs, plays ultimate frisbee and enjoys a good, long bike ride.

Love Armies and Love Economies: Economic Hit Man for good

At the Envision Festival in Uvita, Costa Rica last month, one of the speakers present was Jon Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. For those who haven’t read the book, Perkins writes about how he worked for years to identify foreign nations which had resources the US economy needed, and then to […]

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New Business Trends that Can Improve Your Company’s Environmental Footprint

There has been a dramatic change in how office space is being used in the past decade. Thanks to the rise of coworking spaces and an increasing level of employee demand for flexible working hours and remote working options, traditional office environments are fast becoming outdated. In fact, it could be argued that the alternative

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The Invisible Hand (Never Picks Up the Check)

Raise your hand if this has ever happened to you. You’re telling someone about some problem the world is facing, whether it’s global warming, animal cruelty in factory farms, sweatshop labor conditions, polluted rivers, e-waste, or some public health epidemic like diabetes, heart disease, cancer or obesity. In your mind, it’s clear as day: the cause

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Agriculture where plants can’t grow: Israel’s Arava valley

Israel’s central Arava desert, where saline soils and dry climates are the norm, a thriving community creates up to 60% of Israel’s exported agricultural products. Recently, I visited the Arava valley to see the miracle of agriculture in the desert up close and personal. According to our tour host Michal Marmary: “By any standard, farming

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Israel’s Aggressive Oil Reduction Goals: Is 60% In 12 Years Achievable?

At the Bloomberg Fuel Choices Summit in Tel Aviv, we learned about Israel’s aggressive alternative transportation goals–reducing oil use by 60% by 2025–and how they plan to achieve it. A talk by Eyal Rosner of the Prime Minister’s office elucidated some of the insights the country has learned from its various clean tech programs over

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Siemens Pursuing Strong Offshore Wind Power Development in UK and EU

The opening of the London Array, the world’s largest offshore wind power plant, with 174 Siemens wind turbines installed in the Thames estuary, Siemens is well-positioned to continue to lead the way in offshore wind power development in the UK and EU. Their massive turbines, rated at 3.6 MW and with rotor diameters of 120

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Sustainable Development, Water Rights, and Beer: How the Free Market Can Solve Water Conflict

In the dry western United States, water rights are one of the biggest impediments to sustainable economic development, and often the cause of major conflicts between industries, companies and states. In addition, the archaic laws that protect water rights holders make it virtually impossible for streams and rivers to flow as they have for millenia,

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Will Australia Nix Its Carbon Tax?

Last week’s general election victory for Tony Abbott and his liberal party may well spell the end of the carbon tax in Australia. Abbott’s liberals (which are kind of the opposite of liberals in the U.S.) have verbally opposed putting a price on carbon, and with overwhelming financial backing from heavy pollution industries in Australia,

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Companies we love: Niagara Conservation leads the way in water and energy efficiency for homes

Often, it seems the news is full of companies doing bad things. Other times, it seems that their CSR efforts are largely just greenwashing (the act of advertising themselves as doing something good, when in reality, the big picture is still really pretty bad). But there are companies we love out there, and this series

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Sustainable Economics: Tim Jackson gives a reality check

If you read Inspired Economist, you’re well aware that our economic model based entirely on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is flawed and is driving us over the edge of a cliff. Growth, traditionally, has been measured only by transactions. The more transactions worth more money, the more the gross domestic product, the better. But of

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Economic Analysis of Keystone XL: Jobs, the Environment, and Long Term Outcomes

John Kerry, Secretary of State, is tasked with making some high level recommendations to President Obama regarding the construction of TransCanada’s controversial oil pipeline known as Keystone XL. Environmentalists have weighed in firmly against the project, citing the “dirty” nature of tar sands oil and the high probability that the pipeline will leak and be

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Element Media’s Print Publications Go Carbon Neutral

Element Media, publishers of a variety of magazines focused on the Honolulu market, this week announced a partnership with Hawaiian Legacy Hardwoods to plant native koa trees on the Big Island of Hawaii in order to offset the carbon emissions and paper use from their periodical Pacific Edge. The move bucks a trend, as many

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Solar Panels & Resale Value: Is There An Effect?

Generally speaking, putting solar on your home is a good investment. But what if you’re planning to sell? Are homebuyers willing to up the ante for a home with solar panels? According to some recent studies, the answer is an overwhelming yes. The first study, by the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, looked at home resale statistics

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“Stealthy” Obama Adds Some Cement to His Climate Change Legacy

Most enviros these days have their sights set squarely on Keystone XL (KXL) as the true barometer of the Obama climate change legacy. Given that, just yesterday, the British Columbia government shut down the possibility of piping the extremely dirty Canadian tar sands oil from Alberta to the coast through the BC province, Obama’s decision

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McDonald’s sets sights on local food… or, at least its version

Restaurant chain McDonald’s yesterday rolled out a new menu item in Italy built around the country’s iconic food staple, pasta. The new dish, “Insalata di pasta” is made up of bleached, processed white flour pasta with tuna, tomatoes, peppers, capers, and olives, and was rolled out at a premium price of €4.90 (currently about $6.33). It’s

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Sustainable Behavior Change: Effective Programs

It’s fairly well established that, in terms of sustainability, attitudes far surpass actions. According to Gallup polls, at least 2/3 of respondents have consistently responded to questions about their concern for the environment by saying that they would describe themselves as fairly green. This trend has been consistent for decades. But action is not always

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Environmental Attitude vs. Behavior: Why the Disconnect?

People frequently respond very positively to polling about environmental attitudes. Even in down years, a grand majority of people respond that they’re concerned about the environment (and/or describe themselves as “environmentalist” in attitude). But the behavior often doesn’t follow the attitude, and it is perhaps the biggest missing link in creating real sustainable change. In the introductory

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Corporate Social Responsibility at Epson: Printers Designed for the Dump?

Japanese electronics manufacturer Epson has kept a low profile in its corporate social responsibility efforts over its 7 decades in business. The company has recently made a few small waves, including committing to the green electronics certification EPEAT. EPEAT is a certification registry that now includes computers, printers, scanners, copiers, and multifunction devices. Other than that,

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How do we foster sustainable behavior? Douglas McKenzie-Mohr workshop aims to teach educators how to create lasting change

“The cornerstone of sustainability is behavior change” I think, as environmentalists, we’d like to see people, altruistically, care about things that [we think] matter. Species extinction. Global climate patterns that are going to create millions of environmental refugees and spawn war and bloodshed. Ever dwindling wild places. But reality hits, and we realize that that’s

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Why is Google investing so heavily in renewables?

With concerns over the wider environment growing on an almost daily basis, the pressure is increasing on some of the world’s largest companies, particularly those in the technology sector to clean up their act. Google is one firm that seem to have paid attention to their carbon footprint, and have apparently invested huge amounts of

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