New Report Grades Sustainability Reporting of California Companies

    CLAREMONT, Calif., June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The Roberts Environmental
 Center of Claremont McKenna College today released a detailed analysis of
 the social responsibility reporting efforts of California's top
 corporations. Titled "Analysis of Sustainability Reporting of Fortune
 Companies in California," the report contains a compilation of Pacific
 Sustainability Index scores evaluating the environmental and social
 reporting of all California companies on the 2006 Fortune 1000 list.
 
     The report scores companies based on the reporting, intent and
 performance of environmental and social sustainability efforts. The
 research found that companies such as Chevron, Hewlett-Packard and Walt
 Disney widely publicized their socially beneficial actions on their Web
 sites while noted socially conscious companies such as eBay, Google and
 Apple rarely mentioned the subject, if at all.
 
     "We were surprised to see companies like Google with such low scores
 while many of the oil companies scored quite high," said J. Emil Morhardt,
 Director of Roberts Environmental Center. "It's a lot like the tree falling
 in the forest conundrum -- companies that perform admirably, but don't
 communicate their efforts get the same scores as companies that don't even
 think about these issues. We hope this report encourages socially
 responsible companies to be more vocal about their efforts while
 encouraging companies that have not addressed sustainability issues to step
 up."
 
     To create the report's rankings, Professor Morhardt and his team
 evaluated each California based Fortune 1000 company's Web site using the
 Pacific Sustainability Index. The index uses a general systematic
 questionnaire to analyze the quality of sustainability reporting. The
 selection of questions was based on the most frequently-mentioned topics in
 over 900 corporate sustainability reports analyzed from 2002 through 2007
 at the Roberts Environmental Center. The company's grades were assigned on
 a grading curve, giving an A+ to the highest scoring company in each
 sector.
 
     "How businesses address issues of sustainability in the information age
 is critical," continued Morhardt. "The report is completely unique in that
 the grades are based solely on how these companies tell the public about
 themselves through their Web sites. I believe these rankings will compel a
 lot of companies to reevaluate how they position themselves in their
 external communications."
 
     The detailed analyses also reveal what social and environmental themes
 these companies perceive to be most important to the American public today.
 Researchers noted Web site content patterns to determine the most
 frequently reported topics. Companies with environmental achievements
 tended to tout their accountability and energy efficiency efforts while
 socially responsible businesses highlighted their superior policies and
 care for human rights.
 
 

     To view the complete report, visit:
 http://www.roberts.cmc.edu/PSI/SectorReports.asp
 
     About Roberts Environmental Center
 
     The Roberts Environmental Center is an environmental research institute
 at Claremont McKenna College (CMC) in Claremont, CA. Its mission is to
 provide students of all the Claremont colleges with a comprehensive and
 realistic understanding of today's environmental issues and the ways in
 which they are being and can be resolved. The Center strives to identify,
 publicize and encourage policies and practices that achieve economic and
 social goals in the most environmentally benign and protective manner.
 
 

     "Fortune Companies in California Analysis" Scoring Summary:
 
     Highest Overall Scores:
     Chevron
     Cisco Systems
     Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
 
     Highest Environmental Reporting Scores:
     Applied Materials, Inc.
     Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
     Walt Disney
 
     Highest Social Reporting Scores:
     Chevron
     Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
     Cisco Systems
     Intel
 
     Lowest Overall Scores:
     Google
     VeriSign
     Intuit
     Pacer International
     Ross Stores Inc.
 
 
 

SOURCE Claremont McKenna College