Is the corporate dinosaur dying? Are we teetering on the brink of a new clean and green era of business and development?

While I’m not holding my breath it’s hard to ignore the steps that big business, and in particular big oil, has been taking of late to address the issue of global warming. ConocoPhillips has just announced that it is doubling it’s alternative fuel research spending to $150 million as well as funding a $22 million project to develop bio-fuels over the next 8 years with Iowa state university.

As the fifth largest oil company in the world they join companies like BP and Shell who have led the oil industry in research and development around alternative fuels and reducing carbon emissions. While it’s true that big industries have resorted to ‘green washing’ their action around global warming, we can’t very well criticize business, call it to action and then criticize again when they appear to be doing the right thing. If ConocoPhillips was the Vancouver Canucks in last night’s game, I’d say they were still in the first period – they may be up, but the game is far from over and I’m settling in for a triple overtime.