Climate

What a breath of fresh air. More than 40 companies have pledged to work with President Biden and Congress to “enact ambitious, durable, bipartisan climate solutions.”

General Motors, Dow, Walmart, Ford Motor, Carrier Corp., Dupont, Goldman Sachs, Unilever, Citicorp and Edison International are among the companies that signed a Dec. 2 letter sent to the Biden transition team in support of climate action.

While coal-loving and climate change-denying Donald Trump yanked the US out of the Paris Agreement, a significant chunk of Corporate America wants back into the climate club.

“Our communities and our economy are enduring not only a devastating pandemic but also the rising costs of climate change,” reads the letter. “Record wildfires, flooding, hurricanes and other extreme weather are upending lives and livelihoods. And science makes clear that future generations will face far greater environmental, economic and health impacts unless we act now.”

The corporations aren’t starry eyed tree-huggers. They say environmental progress requires strong sustained leadership from Washington that harnesses market forces, mobilizes investment and innovation and provides the certainty needed to plan for the long term.

Kudos to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions for organizing the letter. It now has the responsibility to help put those corporate words into action.

Swag-less Christmas season. The first “Season Without Swag” campaign raised more than $340K in donations earmarked for nonprofit groups from advertising, marketing and media companies.

Social impact platform Givsly organized the seven-week push, which wrapped up Dec. 1

Its asked companies to redirect holiday gift budgets to nonprofits and causes in need. An estimated $25B is spent in North America for promotional swag.

Hearst Magazines, Fox, Yelp and Tivo were among the dozens of companies to ditch swag in favor of donations to groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Feeding America, American Red Cross, Empty Stocking Fund, UNICEF and American Cancer Society.

The Season Without Swag fell short of its $1M goal. It will do better next year in post-pandemic America.

Bah, Humbug… Thirty-five percent of working Americans want to can office Christmas parties this year, according to Piplsay research organization.

Those attending a holiday gathering, promise to wear a mask as much as possible (26 percent) and to maintain social distance (25 percent).

About four in ten (39 percent) of Americans plan to spend Christmas only with members of their immediate family. New Year’s Eve doesn’t look too festive either, as 61 percent plan to spend the night at home.

Happy COVID-19 Holidays!