Wal-Mart Watch Statement on Wal-Mart’s “High Efficiency” Stores

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, January 16, 2008

David Nassar, Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director today released the following statement in response to Wal-Mart’s announcement regarding the opening of its second generation of High-Efficiency stores (HE.2) that will use 25 percent less energy than the baseline Wal-Mart Supercenter: 

“Every few years Wal-Mart opens a few greener stores and hundreds of its traditional, energy-draining stores.  As Wal-Mart continues to expand, its in-store energy saving measures will be offset by the increase in the number of supercenters consuming electricity.  Leslie Dach’s announcement is just the latest example of Wal-Mart’s willingness to focus its efforts on public relations campaigns rather than make substantive changes to its environmental and other business practices.  If Wal-Mart ever accomplishes Leslie Dach’s dreams of reduced energy use, we will applaud the company.  Until then, we will be watching.”

Background information:

Wal-Mart’s public relations chief, Leslie Dach said Wal-Mart plans to “ultimately reach a day when every new store is 25-30 percent more energy efficient than it was in 2005.” Wal-Mart has previously stated it hopes to cut CO2 emissions by 2013 via making its existing stores 20% more efficient. However, new stores built in 2007 alone will consume enough electricity to add approximately one million metric tons of CO2 to the atmosphere. At that rate – adding an additional one million metric tons of CO2 per year because of new stores – by 2013, Wal-Mart will be offsetting its goal for a 20% greenhouse-gas footprint reduction at existing stores by adding 28 million metric tons of new emissions through expansion over the same time period.

In addition, Wal-Mart’s sourcing is one of its most critical environmental problems. Wal-Mart imports more than 70% of its products from China and would rank 7th (ahead of the UK, Singapore and Taiwan) on China’s top export locations, creating a tremendous carbon footprint. If it chooses to source products from countries with low environmental standards because it reduces cost, then it must aggressively monitor and enforce the environmental standards of the suppliers from which it buys. Asking domestic suppliers to make efforts to reduce their carbon footprints cannot possibly compensate for Wal-Mart’s massive global carbon footprint.

For more information regarding Wal-Mart’s environmental impact, visit: http://walmartwatch.com/issues/environment/