http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/nov/24/reuteman-colorado-rides-on-fat-tire-to-beer/
There's a guy who has been constantly contesting the validity of New Belgiums claims...He posted a comment on the bottom of a recent Rocky Mountain News article...For all you Fort Collins folk especially, this is something to consider.
How could a newspaper editor, let alone a business editor, provide erroneous information about New Belgium's energy use? Could it be that the company continues to mislead the public when they think the coast is clear? This seems to be the case. Mr. Reuteman is not the only recent vistor to the brewery to come away with a false impression.
Climate change and resource depletion are difficult, serious problems to deal with. Insincerity is not going to be effective.
Here are a few facts we wish Mr. Reuteman had considered in his hyperbolic editorializing.
- New Belgium uses more that just a "small amount" of natural gas as an energy source for the brewery. As much as 50%, although media disinformation experts like Mr. Simpson will not produce an accurate estimate.
- Only 15% of the electricity that the company purchases comes from renewable sources. Renewable Energy Credit (REC)purchases "offset" the remainder. Nothing speaks to the insincerity of the greenwashing like the contrived functional equivalencies that REC purchasers claim.
- The overwelming majority of the embodied energy in a six pack is in the packaging.
- New Beligium's largest competitor, Sierra Nevada Brewing of Chico, California, will actually be 100% self powered electrically as soon as they complete the last installment of their photovoltaic installation. Sierra Nevada does the real thing, and they don't greenwash.
http://www.denverpost.com/allewis/ci_619...
http://blogs.denverpost.com/lewis/2007/0...
1 comment:
i don't think that i buy either of these articles... one pushes extreme environmental conscious and the other is based in the rants of an ex-employee. i bet the answer lies in MIDDLE...
while it seems that some New Belgum claims may be misleading and in need of further re-vamping, there are still a top ten beer brewer in the nation and do a lot more environmentally friendly practices than most businesses do (save apparently sierra-nevada, advertisement?)....
everyone could do better, but at least new belgum is trying, and i personally dont feel them trying to be misleading:
having done tour de fat, tours, free beer, and sustainable fair... plus the co-founder is social work grad from CSU (they are cool)
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