The report found many reasons for optimism, according to the authors. Green building is on the rise, spurring new technologies that save energy and money while creating more healthful workplaces. There is a green race taking place in the automobile industry, with every major manufacturer planning to introduce electric vehicles. The leading consumer product makers and retailers are starting to rigorously assess the environmental impact of their products using sophisticated metrics, sending signals up the supply chain that tomorrow's products will need to hew to higher levels of environmental responsibility.
The report marks the second year of the GreenBiz Index, a set of 20 indicators of U.S. business environmental progress. They include macroeconomic measures, such as carbon emissions, toxic releases, packaging materials, and paper use per unit of gross domestic product, as well as the fuel efficiency of corporate vehicle fleets, construction of green office space, investments in cleantech, and the financial costs of companies' environmental impacts.
Among the findings:
* Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States rose in 2007 by 1.4 percent in absolute terms over 2006, but shrank 0.6 percent in intensity - that is, when measured as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). That's the smallest annual decrease since 2002, when intensity improved 0.4 percent.
* U.S. patents for clean-energy technologies - wind, fuel cells, hydroelectric, tidal, and geothermal - in 2008 were at their highest level in seven years.
* Americans are continuing their love affair with the car, and appear unwilling to give up their vehicles for the solo commute to work. Since a high of 77.8 percent in 2003, the number of solo commuters has inched down slowly to 76.1 percent in 2007.
* American industry has been doing more with less energy for decades. The amount of energy required - in the form of electricity and fuel - per dollar of GDP has dropped more than 75 percent since 1950.
* The growth of certified green buildings, which for years had been growing from 10 to 90 percent, slowed dramatically in 2008.
* Generation of non-hydro renewable energy - including solar, wind, and biomass - grew nearly 7 percent in 2007 from the year before, outpacing the 2.3 percent annual growth in all electricity generation during the same period.
* The packaging intensity of the economy - the aluminum, plastics, cardboard, and other materials used per dollar of GDP - continued to decline slightly, as it has for the past several years.
* Over the past decade, the amount of paper used per dollar of GDP dropped by 27 percent and the amount of paper recycled rose - also by 27 percent.
* Over the past 18 years, disposal and release of chemicals by U.S. companies decreased by 1.77 billion pounds, or 59 percent.
"State of Green Business 2009 brings an authoritative, level-headed view of the headlines and hype," says Pete May, President of Greener World Media, Inc., which produces GreenBiz.com. "It is part of our commitment to help companies gain context and perspective in their quests to align environmental responsibility with business success."
