Small Wages, Huge Pollution: New Report Exposes Walmart's Coal-Saturated Climate Destruction

Published on Thursday, November 20, 2014

by Common Dreams

Small Wages, Huge Pollution: New Report Exposes Walmart's Coal-Saturated Climate Destruction

Undermining claims of 'leadership in sustainability,' new report reveals mega-retailers heavy dependence on coal-fired electricity

by Jon Queally, staff writer

A coalition of environmental and social justice leaders on Thursday rallied around a new report exposing Walmart's enormous annual consumption of coal and demanded the giant corporation stop calling itself a leader on sustainability if it chooses to depend on one of the world's most polluting energy sources to fuel its global retail empire.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance study—titled Walmart’s Dirty Energy Secret: How the Company’s Slick Greenwashing Hides Its Massive Coal Consumption—co-authored by Stacy Mitchell and Walter Wuthmann, describes how despite lofty rhetoric and unmet promises the company is one of the world's leading carbon polluters and consumers of coal on the planet, burning a "staggering" 4.2 million tons of coal every year.

Calculating the total electricity use, coal-fired power consumption and resulting greenhouse gas emissions of every Walmart store and distribution center in the country, the report found that Walmart operations in the U.S. alone consume nearly six times the amount of electricity as the entire U.S. auto industry. In total, coal continues to be energy source most utilized by the company, amounting to 75 percent of the company’s total emissions from U.S. electricity use.

“Walmart has made remarkably little progress in moving to renewable energy, while other national retailers and many small businesses are now generating a sizable share of their power from clean sources,” said Mitchell. “Despite making a public commitment to sustainability nine years ago, Walmart still favors dirty coal-generated electricity over solar and wind, because the company insists on using the cheapest power it can find.”

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