A colleague here at FD Element forwarded a New York Times Op-Ed on the usual suspects that really caught my eye today.  The article struck me as unusual – both with its street smarts and nuanced analysis – for two reasons.

One, the author, a well-known Geography professor named Jared Diamond from UCLA with a real ear to the street and clearly, the boardroom, took a devil’s advocate approach to the usual suspects that stoic environmental advocates immediately write off as nothing but “greenwash”.

I am talking about household names like Coca-Cola, Chevron and Wal-Mart that the author says “many critics of business love to hate, in my opinion, unjustly.”

In the case of Chevron: “Not even in any national park have I seen such rigorous environmental protection as I encountered in five visits to new Chevron-managed oil fields in Papua New Guinea. (Chevron has since sold its stake in these properties to a New Guinea-based oil company.).”  And, the publicly traded company gives five savvy reasons on why it needs to care and is spending the money to prove it cares.

And then there is Wal-Mart, for whom scale is both a beast and blessing. Case in point: “This is what Wal-Mart did with fuel costs, which the company reduced by $26 million per year simply by changing the way it managed its enormous truck fleet. Instead of running a truck’s engine all night to heat or cool the cab during mandatory 10-hour rest stops, the company installed small auxiliary power units to do the job. In addition to lowering fuel costs, the move eliminated the carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to taking 18,300 passenger vehicles off the road.”

Second, Diamond states exactly what underpins and is attractive about the whole sustainability means consuming less argument. It is that consumption rates and standards of living are only loosely correlated, because so much of our consumption is wasteful and doesn’t contribute to our quality of life. Hello, Western Europe with less of our American stuff and more happiness due to more access to medical care, financial security after retirement, infant mortality, life expectancy, literacy and public transport. So, happiness is more complex than that, but definitely the social foundation matters.

Third, Diamond spoke with strikingly clarity on some of the actions Washington, D.C. can take to stimulate more businesses to adopt sustainability practices that keep the planet healthy. Namely:

“My friends in the business world keep telling me that Washington can help on two fronts: by investing in green research, offering tax incentives and passing cap-and-trade legislation; and by setting and enforcing tough standards to ensure that companies with cheap, dirty standards don’t have a competitive advantage over those businesses protecting the environment.”

So, if you have not already, read Diamond’s article. It will grab your attention too.