DuPont is continuing its leadership role in energy efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gases.

In 1990, spurred in part by their successful development of alternatives to ozone depleting CFC chemicals, the global chemical giant announced its intention to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Now they have unveiled a new sustainable growth strategy that by 2015 is projected to generate $6 billion dollars of additional revenue while creating 1,000 new products or services that will enhance the environmental profile of its business operations.

New innovations include reduced greenhouse gases in refrigerants, safer automotive finishes, and the engineering of polymers and coatings based on renewable materials. Additionally, DuPont pledges to introduce clean fuel fleet vehicles with the goal of converting its entire off-site fleet towards fossil fuel alternatives, and they will continue with its 2010 goal to hold total energy use flat versus 1990 and to source 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources.

Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday Jr. termed "sustainable growth" as "the biggest market opportunity on the horizon for the next two or three decades." The strategy could yield an additional $6 billion in revenues by the year 2015, he said.

"Many companies say that what's good for the environment can also be good for business. We have a slightly different view: What's good for business must also be good for the environment and for people everywhere in the world," Holliday said in a statement.

For those who think DuPont's goals are hot air, consider this. While Canada and the USO have been dithering and denying their own climate change responsibilities for the past 16 years, DuPont has reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 72%, and they reduced their overall energy use to 9% below 1990 levels, while increasing production by 35%. There plans have also gained the praise of the Natural Resources Defense Council - a leading ENGO in the US.

“Dupont's made a lot of progress in reducing its global warming emissions. Partly that’s from refashioning its business, selling things off and changing what they do, but largely, it’s a real improvement,” says policy director David Doniger. “They seem to be pledging more of the same, and we need more progress of that kind, from companies that take a forward-looking position.”

Duponts plans put an exclamation point on the Liberal's inaction and the sham that has been the Tories' green propaganda plan. It also demonstrates with clarity how achievable it is to go beyond what Kyoto, and how infinitely within our reach the solutions to global warming are.