While the White House has taken a slash-and-burn position on previous environmental policies, many of the nation’s biggest corporations plan to fight climate change in innovative and creative ways.  This has nothing, really, to do with politics, and more to do with a response to a variety of issues related to climate change that directly impact businesses.

At the top of the list in terms of priorities to address climate change is the push to cut energy costs.  Energy costs – like everything else in life – are likely only going to rise over time, so cutting costs translates to serious dollars back to the bottom line.  Another priority is to address issues raised by activists who want to see a positive environmental impact and are willing to put their dollars where their interests are.  Ultimately, companies want to mitigate risk, and climate change poses real risk in a variety of ways, no matter which way the political winds blow.  Industry giants, like Wal-Mart, have pledged to get half its power from renewable resources by 2025, as an example.  Getting ahead of the curve, being proactive rather than reactive, is an important business strategy.

In fact, many companies believe that a strong energy policy makes their respective industries more competitive on a global scale.  Fortunately, saving energy costs doesn’t have to mean a complete overhaul of your business and its equipment.  It could mean identifying the processes that create the most waste and addressing those to solve a revenue/loss problem as well as create a safer environment for the community.  Considering how much waste is created by old equipment with less innovative designs, which often cost a fraction of what it would cost to replace an entire machine, becoming more energy friendly through creative equipment serves both purposes.  Any exchange processes or mixing processes can be improved dramatically – at a price that might seem shockingly low.