Wal-Mart Thinking Environmentally Stirs Controversy

In a surprising chain of events, Wal-Mart now aligns itself with environmentalists, supposedly frustrating its suppliers, who resist going green.

Wal-Mart is working with the Carbon Disclosure Project, a group of investors that push companies to disclose their greenhouse-gas emissions because they think those facts financially impact the businesses.

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) criticized the big-box store for pressuring its suppliers to combat the "unproven global warming threat" by asking them to report their carbon dioxide emissions. The center fears that Wal-Mart officials will give preferential treatment to suppliers who provide the statistics and ignore those that don't.

John Carlisle, the NLPC policy director, insists that the retailer's push to reduce its environmental impact is merely a political agenda to make up for bad press, and that it will only hurt the store in the end by negatively impact the store's small business suppliers. I didn't think Wal-Mart sold much made by small businesses – it's not exactly a boutique.

Perhaps he hasn't heard that many stores are finding profits in environmental consciousness because the people are finally waking up. Almost two thirds of Americans are seriously concerned about the environment and only 29 percent believe that companies are doing their part to protect the environment.

Carlisle's report can be downloaded here.