Another environmental/anti-poverty case study

What looks like just an article about Fortune 500 French company Lafarge Group acquiring another cement facility in China is actually another example of their ongoing fine good citizen corporate credentials. I've always argued that environmentalists/corporate/anti-poverty coalitions must work together to raise standards of living for everyone and be "responsibily green." Here is a case study of how this is working. Basically Lafarge acquires Chinese companies and then raises the production, safety, operational, and environmental quality to their own corporate standards, trains the Chinese employees, and partners with the World Wildlife Fund. Check this out:

China Daily News article:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-07/11/content_5432144.htm
French cement maker Lafarge Group, a Fortune 500 company, opened a branch in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan province, on Tuesday, after acquiring a Chinese cement company there.
Lafarge Shui On Cement Co. -- which has bought out Sichuan Shuangma Investment Group in Mianyang City -- will operate three cement plants in Sichuan, located in Dujiangyan, Jiangyou and Yibin, according to Cyrille Ragoucy, CEO of Lafarge Shui On. The Ministry of Commerce and the China Security Regulatory Commission have both approved the acquisition. Ragoucy said that Lafarge will retain the Shuangma workforce and upgrade the production facilities by replacing some of the old technology, so that they reach Lafarge's environmental and safety standards as soon as possible.

Lafarge Group web page about their business in China and partnership with World Wildlife Fund
http://www.lafarge.com/cgi-bin/lafcom/jsp/content.do?function=eventX3&BV_SessionID=@@@@2071897640.1184102149@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccdaddkkimigfmcfngcfkmdhgfdggg.0

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You know, back in the 1980's when I was working for Exxon, I decided to run for a board seat for a wildlife protection group that I was fond of, and to whom I had regularly donated. I was visited in my home by several people from this organization (Defenders of Wildlife) and told that they would not even put me on the election slate because "their donors would never go for someone with a job in a corporation." I could not believe it. I said, that might be true that there is a prejudice, but isn't this the very example of how to educate your donors about the need to get folks like me, with an environmental degree from an Ivy League university and a passion for the environment, but who could partner with business? They would have none of it. And that's why I've been inactive in environmental matters for many years, except as a silent and prayerful coach. It's sad and inexcusable to think of the missed opportunities, frankly.

So I'm doubly glad when I read where a fine environmental group, WWF, and a corporation did partner, and how China, with so many challenges, welcomes their participation in their economy.