About Scott Cooney

Scott Cooney is an Adjunct Professor of Sustainability at the University of Hawai'i, green business startup coach, author of Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur (McGraw-Hill), and developer of the sustainability board game GBO Hawai'i. As a serial eco-entrepreneur who has started, grown and sold multiple green businesses, Scott believes that capitalism, true capitalism, can be a powerful force for change, but that our current version of capitalism is severely hampered by perverse subsidies and negative externalities that make unsustainable products less expensive than healthier alternatives. Scott is a vegetarian, an avid cyclist, and an organic gardener.

Best Counterargument to Price on Carbon Hurting Jobs?

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At yesterday’s Sustainable Industries Economic Forum, keynote presenter Paul Hawken was asked, “What is the best counterargument to the argument that carbon caps will raise energy costs and hurt our economy?”  In typical Hawken style, his earlier speech was well done, inspiring and insightful.  In typical Hawken style, his off-the-cuff answers to audience questions was [...]

Paul Hawken on Being a 'Doomer'

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During yesterday’s Sustainable Industries Economic Forum, keynote speaker Paul Hawken suggested that it will take a somewhat monumental effort to get back to 350 ppm in our atmosphere (we’re at 387 right now). His list was daunting.  We’d need one new olympic sized pool of bioalgae fuel production every second for 25 years, for example.  [...]

Is Condensed Water the Salvation for Developing Countries?

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Yesterday, I wrote about the new DH9 from DewPointe, one of the cool eco-innovations to be showcased at West Coast Green October 1-3 in San Francisco.  The DH9 is capable of extracting water vapor from the air and converting it to (very) pure drinking water, at a rate of about 6.5 gallons per day.  The [...]

Communicating Green Business to Non-Green Audiences: Clean Tech Makes a Great Educational Tool

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Clean Tech makes a great teaching tool for those new to the green business world.

A Ride on the Hornblower Hybrid Ferry to Alcatraz

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Previously challenged on CleanTechnica to use its first-ever hybrid ferry as more than just a ‘publicity stunt’, Alcatraz Cruises does a good job of using its vessel to educate tourists about environmental issues.

Eco-Driving Technology

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Last week, in an experiment some cast aside as a PR stunt, several drivers drove a Ford Focus Hybrid car 1,445 miles, approximately double how far Ford estimated it could go, on a single tank of gas using Eco-Driving techniques.  The drivers were well versed in Eco-driving methodology, making the results of the test far [...]

Keeping Winter Cool

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A little known ski resort in Western Massachusetts erected a wind turbine to help power its operations in the Fall of 2007.  With a total price tag of $4M, many wondered if it would pay off. Fighting global warming is a natural for ski resorts.  Their success depends on winter.  Even in red state Utah, ski [...]