Our oil companies can learn a little bit from Canada. There, the industry pays to help the environment, according to statistics from a Canadian study.
Eh?
Reports the Canadian Press, the study says that oil and gas companies spent $2.8 billion in 2006 to protect the environment. But oil and gas companies aren’t the only ones. In Alberta alone, almost 50 percent of capital investment by all businesses went toward environmental protection. Then comes Ontario businesses, which spent $827 million, and Quebec businesses, which spent $371 million.
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Money went toward more efficient equipment and facilities.
To put this in perspective, in the country of Mounties, the investments by the oil and gas companies were more than any other industry spent towards the environment.
“In 2006, $4 of every $100 invested by oil-and-gas extraction went to environmental protection,” reports the Canadian Press.
And to put this in a more global perspective, “Canada is the seventh largest producer of crude oil and third largest producer of natural gas, with total employment of 500,000 jobs and up to C$49 billion (US$48.67 billion) worth of investments in 2007,” according to Forbes.
Photo Credit: rblood on Flickr under a Creative Commons License
Canada is planning for the future. Nunavut is soon to be home to the largest cities in the world as climate change continues into the future.
It's the point that is often overlooked. A shift toward a greener business policy is actually good for business. There are millions to be made in a variety of businesses which seek to reduce pollution, protect the environment or produce alternative energy. It's good for business all around.