An analysis of social responsibility reporting by New York’s top corporations found that several of the largest firms–IBM, Time Warner, Alcoa, and Hess–did very good jobs of publicizing details of their socially beneficial actions and environmental management. The lowest scores went to two of the smallest firms on the list — Icahn Enterprises, a real estate developer, and NBTY, a maker and distributor of nutritional supplements — and one of the largest, Citigroup.

Titled “Analysis of Sustainability Reporting in New York Public Companies,” the report from The Roberts Environmental Center of Claremont McKenna College contains Pacific Sustainability Index scores evaluating the environmental and social reporting of the 91 New York companies on the 2008 Fortune 1000 list. The report scored companies based on the reporting, intent, and performance of environmental and social sustainability efforts.

“From our previous work on the sustainability reporting of multinationals from many industrial sectors, we were not surprised that larger companies generally performed better than smaller ones,” J. Emil Morhardt, Roberts Professor of Environmental Biology at CMC in Claremont, Calif. and director of the Roberts Environmental Center, said in a statement. “They have greater visibility, are likely to be examined by investors and the public more closely, and they have more resources to do the data collection and reporting in the first place.”

“In the current business climate, a demonstration of corporate social responsibility is more important than ever,” Morhardt said. “What we are analyzing is the quality of that demonstration–how transparent the companies are with respect to their environmental and social issues, and how good a job they are doing resolving any problems they currently have and avoiding future ones.”

The detailed analyses also reveal what social and environmental themes these companies perceive to be most important to the American public today. The research screened Web site content to determine the most frequently reported topics. Companies with environmental achievements tended to tout their accountability and energy efficiency efforts while socially responsible businesses highlighted their superior policies and care for human rights.

Here is a scoring summary of the report:

Highest Overall Scores

• Alcoa
• Hess
• Time Warner

Highest Environmental Reporting Scores

• Alcoa
• Hess
• Estee Lauder

Highest Social Reporting Scores

• Hess
• Avon Products
• Alcoa

Lowest Overall Scores

• IAC/InterActiveCorp
• Icahn Enterprises
• NBTY
• Citigroup

The Philadelphia Phillies are still trying to close out the World Series, but the team has already been declared winners off the field. The National League Champions were among the winners cited in the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2008 Green Power Leadership Awards. The announcement was made at the the National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference in Denver, Colo.

EPA’s Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program helping to increase the use of green power among leading U.S. organizations. The program encourages organizations to purchase green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. The EPA says the program has hundreds of partner organizations buying billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually.

According to the EPA, the Philadelphia Phillies are the first Major League Baseball team to join the Green Power Partnership. The baseball club buys 20 million kilowatt-hours annually from wind and biomass resources, enough to power 100 percent of the annual electricity use for Citizens Bank Park.

Here is the complete list of the 2008 EPA Green Power Purchaser Award winners:

On-Site Generation

• Kohl’s Department Stores
• Lundberg Family Farms

Green Power Purchasing

• City of Houston, Texas
• The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
• ING
• Merritt 7 Venture, LLC
• Oregon State University
• PepsiCo, Inc.
• The Philadelphia Phillies
• Powdr Resorts
• U.S. Air Force

Green Power Partner of the Year

• Bellingham, Washington Community
• Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Intel Corporation
• University of Pennsylvania
• WhiteWave Foods Company

DOE Green Power Supplier Awards

New Green Power Program or Company

• AmerenUE

Small Residential/Commercial Green Power Program or Supplier of the Year

• City of Palo Alto Utilities

Large Commercial/Institutional Green Power Program or Supplier of the Year

• 3Degrees
• Sterling Planet

CRS Market Development Awards

Green Power Beacon Award

• Portland General Electric
• Honorable Mention: Detroit Edison

Green Power Pilot Award

• Energy Action Coalition
• Honorable Mention: Green Mountain Energy

Green Power Pioneer

• Dr. Jan Hamrin

Related link:

• The Green Power Network –  U.S. government web site provides green power market information

The 2008 Green Power Leadership Awards were presented in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Marketing Conference, held October 26-29 in Denver, Colorado.

Green Power Purchasing Award

The Estée Lauder Companies is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of beauty care products. The company’s 36 million kilowatt-hour wind purchase powers 100 percent of its U.S. manufacturing, distribution, research and development and owned office spaces. In addition to the wind purchase, the company also installed a 600-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array at its Oakland, New Jersey facility, one of the largest solar photovoltaic projects in the state.
The company’s U.S. purchase is part of a larger initiative to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, which also includes purchases for global facilities, and preferential status to the company’s suppliers that use green power. In 2008, The Estée Lauder Companies is planning to install additional on-site systems to power other facilities within its operations.

The Estée Lauder Companies communicates its environmental values to customers, employees and shareholders as a vital part of its sustainability goals. The company uses window decals and ads to promote its green power purchase to customers in retail stores, and actively communicates to employees and stakeholders through newsletters, reports, and employee education events.