Chad Holliday
Coatings World: How and when did
you first become a steward of the envi-
ronment?
Chad Holliday: It all started at DuPont.
We were the world’s leader in making
chemicals that produced fluorinated gases,
called CFCs—the real culprit responsible
for the depletion of the ozone layer—well
before the time I began my tenure as CEO
in 1999. DuPont understood the issue, the
Montreal Protocol, which is an international treaty designed to protect the Ozone
layer (see side bar on page 53) went into
effect and DuPont developed substitutes
for CFCs, which formed the core of a half-dozen new business lines.
During this process, through talking
with DuPont’s own climate scientists as
well as some of the best scientists in the
world outside of DuPont, we discovered
that the problem of the Ozone layer was
not the only threat the environment faced. DuPont became sensitive to this and decided we wanted to get out ahead of the curve
and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and we did, by more
than 70 percent during my tenure as CEO.
So it was through that experience at DuPont that I first became aware of the issues surrounding global warming and climate change. I’m currently serving on a committee of the
National Academy of Scientists. It’s called America’s Climate
Choice. It’s a request by Congress to make recommendations.
We are still in the process of completing our study.
Chad Holliday
Former Chairman and CEO, DuPont
Chairman, Bank of America
can be part of the solution, and not just
part of the problem. That’s not 100 percent
of NGO’s but it’s a significant number and
I think that is a very positive sign. On the
government side, the astute ones understand that the solutions to these problems
could be some of the biggest markets we’ve
ever seen. There really are opportunities to
create jobs and help their countries advance. So the really astute ones are carving
out their niches where they think they can
play. It’s a lot easier to do when you’re a
real small country. Germany is doing a nice
job and there has been some positive
progress in Spain. If you look inside the
U.S., as much as we like to criticize California, they’re a leader here and whether
they’re ahead of the curve and going to
have a problem, I wouldn’t speculate on
that but clearly they’re doing things the rest
of the country hasn’t done yet.
CW: No major U.S. environmental legislation has passed through
Congress with unemployment above six percent. As of January
2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 9. 8 percent
unemployment. Knowing Capitol Hill’s reluctance to pass environmental legislation during periods of high unemployment, how
optimistic can we be that steps toward real change will be enforced at the federal level?
CW: If the science is there to back up the climate change claims,
why are so many people reluctant to accept this reality?
Holliday: It’s very hard to debate the fact that the planet is warming. That is a scientific fact. You can’t debate that greenhouse
gases have contributed to that. What becomes much more difficult to understand is the ultimate impact of climate change and
how quickly it will come. That’s where I think there is a lot of
room for legitimate disagreement. With all the other demands
governments and businesses have now, it’s very difficult to get
them to work on something we don’t know exactly in concrete
terms how bad it’s going to affect us and when it’s going to come.
Some still believe there will be something magical to come along
and reverse the current climate trends. You can never say it will
never happen, but the probability is against us that we’re going
to get lucky.
Holliday: I think it’s unlikely. I don’t think we’re going to have
a major environmental bill anytime soon. Never say never, but
unfortunately I think that is the case. I think clearly we have a
budget issue. And we’ve got to find a way to live within our
means much better than we’re living today. However, it doesn’t
mean we won’t have an energy bill in the near future. I think that
could be a lot different. Some very recent gallop polling found
that the issue of energy is really on the minds of Americans. Particularly when it comes to the security of energy sources and the
cost of energy. Energy concerns are more immediate, while the
environmental impact won’t be felt until farther down the road.
CW: What are your hopes from Capitol Hill moving forward?
CW: What role are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
governments playing?
Holliday: Today NGO’s are much more open to partnering with
businesses than they ever have before because they see business
Holliday: What I hope they do is fund additional research for
breakthrough energy technology. This should be a natural area
for the U.S. to be a leader in. I see so many of these new tech-
nologies such as hydrogen fuel cells for example for trans-
portation. As I looked at that technology six or seven years ago
I was very doubtful that the cost could come down enough to
make a difference but I just saw some data in the last week that
says this will not be the answer to everything, but in some situ-
ations it’s clearly a good answer to problems. That is just one ex-
ample of how if we spent the money on research we could make
a difference.
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