General Electric (GE)

General Electric (GE) is one of the largest global business conglomerates, with 2007 revenue of $183 billion. It has over 300,000 employees in 100 countries, with 50 percent of employees outside the United States. The American company, founded by Thomas A. Edison, has operated for 120 years. GE is the only company listed in the Dow Jones Index that was in the original index in 1896.

For the 21st century, GE has adopted a new green philosophy, which more or less coincided with the ascension of Jeffrey R. Immelt as chief executive officer in 2001. Its green initiatives have intensified since 2005, when GE coined the term ecomagination for its various efforts. GE is now a major force in renewable energy with green initiatives, including solar and wind power; diesel–electric locomotives; lower emission aircraft engines; sodium-based batteries; energy-efficient lighting; water purification; biomass, hydro, geothermal, and other renewable power projects; and financing for other companies’ green energy efforts.

Perhaps better known for making Energy Star–rated home appliances and compact fluorescent lighting, General Electric has long produced energy-efficient, wide-body aircraft engines, such as this GE90-115B model

Source: GE

GE has been named on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index as one of the world's leaders in environmental, social, and economic programs, and applauded by Greenpeace for its commitment to incorporate Greenpeace's climate-friendly technology into refrigerators to be sold in the U.S. market. But it has also been awarded its share of dubious distinctions, placing number six on a list of U.S. companies ranked by releases of toxic chemicals in 2005 as compiled by the University of Massachusetts’ Political Economy Research Institute (PERI).

[Page 272]Environmental watchdog groups frequently accuse the company of greenwashing, that is, using misleading advertising to project an unwarranted image as an environmental leader.

There is no question that over the years GE has had its share of environmental problems. It continues to manufacture pollution-generating, global-warming products (appliances, plastics, fossil-fuel-fired turbines, diesel locomotives), and to invest in the petroleum industry, nuclear energy and coal-fired plants. Nor can its past history of dumping 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls into the Hudson River in the 1960s and 1970s be ignored. The company's response to the continuing problems associated with their dumping has been widely criticized as inadequate and defensive.

The company faces ongoing pollution issues both at home and abroad. It released more than 4 million tons of toxics into the air, and more than 7 million tons of toxics into rivers and lakes in 2004. GE's website does not list toxic release amounts, but does provide metrics for the number of releases related to global operations—98 in 2007 and 70 in 2008. For those same years, they report fines of $236,000 and $96,000, respectively. GE corporate policy is to comply with all applicable laws.

The 2005 ecomagination campaign aimed to double revenues from environmentally friendly products. After reporting $14 billion in revenues from ecomagination products and services in 2007, GE increased its annual sales revenue target for 2010 from $20 billion to $25 billion. To expand the product line, GE reinvests ecomagination revenues in “cleantech” development at triple the rate of its research and development in general. GE began with 17 ecomagination products in 2005. Today, the portfolio exceeds 60 products and pervades every one of GE's businesses.

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