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The Mouse That Roared at Wal-Mart: Capitalists as Conservationists Revisited

Audrey Henderson | Monday 27th April 2009

"Tell me why I should care about an endangered mouse in Arizona?"

The question above was posed by H. Lee Scott Jr., the recently retired chief executive of Wal-Mart. The dialogue resulting from this query inspired Scott to impose a new, ostensibly more environmentally conscious direction in merchandising for the retail giant. In addition, the implication was that the action by the behemoth retailer has resulted in a wave of changes in the manufacturing, packaging and marketing of dozens of other companies, willingly or less so and even for companies which are not actual suppliers of Wal-Mart.

Was Scott touched by the plight of the mouse? Not so much. The mouse was fortunate enough to be sitting on Wal-Mart's bottom line. The new green focus is all about keeping finances in the black. Some months ago, in Earth for Hire -- are capitalists the new conservationists?, I commented on an editorial article in Conscious Choice which addressed the growing alliance of corporate America and environmental initiatives. The piece closed with a question: what happens to those "orphan" environmental causes which cannot be justified for the allocation of resources by a more robust bottom line?

It was a legitimate question at the time, and with the ongoing financial crisis, it has become even more legitimate. Because Scott was able to see a direct connection between "greening" Wal-Mart and maintaining the company's profits, he directed his employees and his suppliers to become more environmentally conscious. As a result, Wal-Mart's largely working-class customers can purchase concentrated laundry detergent which uses half as much water and fluorescent light bulbs which use only a quarter of the electricity of incandescent bulbs.

This is all for the good, according to Jib Ellison, the founder of Blu Skye, and who has worked as a sustainability consultant for Wal-Mart. "If all this sustainability stuff is just for the well-to-do, it's not going to make a difference," according to a recent quote attributed to Ellison in the New York Times.

Fair enough. And with the ongoing economic downturn, everyday citizens are faced with the increasingly difficult issue of how to make ends meet. If struggling individuals and families are given the opportunity to make a small contribution to sustainability as they save money, so much the better.

The hard truth is that for many , concern for the environment takes a back seat to putting food on the table and a roof overhead. Is there an endangered mouse in Arizona sitting on the budget of a family with a laid-off breadwinner? While a compelling argument could be made that there is indeed; in the present economic environment it is understandable, that for that family, holding off foreclosure trumps concern about decreasing the levels of phosphates in laundry detergent.

However, along with the economic crisis, many in the environmental movement as well as the scientific community believe that the prospect for climate change is no longer one of prevention, but of mitigation. If many ordinary Americans literally cannot afford to focus their efforts on environmental concerns, who will take up the slack? Is the cause of environmentalism truly safe in the hands of a corporate America which has to ask

why

it should care?

On the eve of President Barack Obama's 100th day in office, his overall ratings are generally high. More importantly, these ratings are high across the board, including among Republicans (who presumably did not vote for him). The consensus is that he has bought considerable political capital with his performance at the beginning of the term, even with the misery of the economy.

Along with tackling the compelling challenges of the economy and the ongoing war in Iraq, President Obama should devote some of this political capital in meeting the expectations for his performance on environmental issues. While the task of championing the cause of the environment is certainly not the President's alone, he is certainly charged with the duty of leading the direction of this country. That direction should lead not only to economic recovery, but to increased awareness of looming climate change and related issues.

In many respects, the environmental and economic health of the country, if not the planet, are interrelated. There is indeed reason to be concerned with an endangered mouse in Arizona, even in the absence of a profit-driven motive to take action.

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