In the last few years, corporations have talked a great deal about becoming more environmentally friendly—and their growing commitment to sustainability.

But consumers don’t believe them. And, apparently, with good reason.

According to the “Sense & Sustainability Study,” from public relations firm Gibbs & Soell, conducted by Harris Interactive, only 16% of US consumers think a majority of businesses are committed to “going green.”

A plurality of consumers (48%) do believe “some” businesses are committed to sustainability.

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According to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), based on figures compiled from various sources, in 2009 the US used 94.6 quadrillion BTUs (or “quads”) of energy, and that figure was down from 99.2 quadrillion BTUs in 2008.

Simply put, US energy use fell 4.5% last year.

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It’s that time of year again—back to school for millions of students around the country.

To mark the occasion, Sierra magazine issued its “4th Annual Listing of America’s Greenest Universities,” and appropriately Green Mountain College ranked first, receiving a score of 88.6 and moving up from 35th place last year.

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While information technology (IT) is estimated to account for 2% of the world’s total carbon emissions annually, Environmental Leader projects that from 2010 to 2015, the US green data center market will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29%.

IT is getting a little greener.

According to a poll conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, sponsored by Procter & Gamble (P&G), despite the fact that 90% of the business decision makers surveyed consider that the issues of sustainability and environmental responsibility important to their businesses, when it comes to choosing cleaning products, performance and price are more important.

Ease of use also trumped environmental impact.

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Move over global warming.

According to the “Global Survey,” from McKinsey & Company, not only are business executives around the world beginning to recognize the importance of biodiversity—they are incorporating it into their future strategies.

McKinsey researchers assert that biodiversity—defined as the diversity of species, variety of ecosystems and variability of genes—now “occupies a similar position in the public debate as climate change did in 2007.”

In a survey of global executives, a majority of them considered biodiversity at least “somewhat important” to their businesses, and only 32% felt the subject wasn’t important.

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From the “Sustainability in Business Today: A Cross Industry View” report, published by Deloitte:

“The two main challenges that respondents identified in making their products more sustainable were keeping the product cost-neutral to their customers and making the sustainable product’s quality and functionality comparable to that of the traditional alternative. Cost, especially, emerged as a major concern with regard to the marketability of sustainable products. As one consumer products respondent put it, ‘Our customers are not going to pay us any more money for [sustainable] products, so it has to be cost-neutral. That is what we are learning over and over—there is no premium for green products.’”

To download the full report from GreenBiz.com, click here.

Data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows retailers are increasingly turning to green energy sources to run their operations.

As of July 2010, Kohl’s ranks as the largest retail purchaser of green power. All of its electricity comes from biogas, biomass, small-hydro, solar and wind energy sources.

Whole Foods is the second largest retail purchaser of renewable energy—powering 100% of its electricity use with solar and wind.

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According to the “2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study,” conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, among the guests who were aware of them, 73% claimed they participated in hotels’ conservation programs.

At the same time China is taking strides to become the world leader in alternative energy production, tests on water samples taken from the country’s major rivers and lakes by the Ministry of Environmental Protection show less than half of China’s water is safe for drinking.

The percentage of potable water did rise from 48% in 2009 to 49.3% this year, however.

The GEMS system was created by Soyka & Company and IW Financial to rate Russell 1000 corporation on their sustainability policies and practices, Of the 962 companies assessed this year, 448 scored under 10, and 170 received a zero—they disclosed no information related to the 49 indicators used.

According to the US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), worldwide, the first six months of 2010 have been the hottest on record.

It has not been as bad in the States. “For the US, January to June, this is only slightly warmer than average,” Jay Lawrimore, chief of climate analysis at the NCDC told Reuters.

Nevertheless, warmer temperatures and drought conditions in many parts of the country are taxing aquifers already stressed by heavy agricultural and consumer use—and the situation could get worse.

The “Climate Change, Water and Risk” report, issued by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), predicts over 1,100 counties across the US—one-third of all the counties in the contiguous 48 states—face potential water shortages by mid-century.

Here is the NRDC’s view of US counties in 2050 with no global warming effects.

(c) Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), used by permission.

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