The Momentum of Climate Change

It is stunning to me how the threat of climate change has moved so swiftly from a big, simmering news story to a gigantic, omnipresent news story. One question I hear a lot, however, is this: Does big business care about climate change as much as everyone else?

Judging from the pages of the Wall Street Journal, the answer is yes. Here are some of the headlines appearing in today’s edition:

While Housing Withers, ‘Green’ Materials Bloom

Ikea to Charge for Plastic Bags [“Proceeds from the surcharge will go to an environmental-conservation group”]

Arctic Melting May Clear Path to Vast Deposits of Oil and Gas [summarizing a Feb. 18 Boston Globe article]

Emissions Caps Could Be Ruinous [a letter to the editor challenging WSJ columnist Alan Murray’s declaration that “business opposition to global-warming legislating is melting faster than the polar ice cap”]

Biodiesel Powers Up on Financing [showing that North American venture capital investment in “clean technology” has nearly tripled in four years]

Group Seeks Greenhouse-Gas Cuts [reporting on the activities of the Global Roundtable on Climate Change]

EU Sets 20% Reduction in Emissions by 2020

And that’s just in the Journal‘s “Marketplace” section. One section, in one day, in one newspaper.