
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 22, 1992                   TAG: 9203220075
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

UNITY'S THE KEY TO CLEAN PLANET, EXECUTIVES SAY

Cooperation rather than confrontation with citizens - is an easier and more profitable way for companies to solve environmental problems, three corporate executives told a Roanoke College seminar Saturday.

Complaints about a harmful process should be taken to the company that is responsible first; and if they are not resolved, the problems should go to the media and government, said David Collins, president of Schering-Plough Health Care Products Co. The company makes Coppertone sunscreens and Dr. Scholl's foot products.

Corporate responsibility for the environment is good business, he said, and it brings cost savings as well as control over waste and pollution.

Collins, also executive vice president of Schering-Plough Corp. - a Madison, N.J., pharmaceutical company - said corporate responsibility for the environment is important for employee recruitment and employee pride.

In the United States, "we get in our own way when we address issues in a confrontational mode." European companies have a cooperative approach.

James Conner, controller and general manager of Cycle Systems Inc. of Roanoke, and David Guy, a Roanoke native who is president of Arvida Real Estate Co. in Florida, also spoke on the Earth Visions panel.

Working with the environment is very important for a successful real estate company, Guy said. Because of the tremendous cost of violating laws, "we ask for reasonableness. . . . We've got to work together."

In a planned-unit development - where developers and government planners commit to long-term projects - the issue is preserving the environment to ensure the habitat, rather than getting the zoning and engineering, Guy said. His company built 150 acres of lakes and left a bird sanctuary in one community. "We didn't have to do it, but it makes good sense."

Cycle Systems found that 90 percent of companies surveyed were willing to participate in recycling even if it cost more than trash removal, Conner said.

By 1995, the state will require a 25 percent reduction in the amount of waste deposited in landfills. And as landfill rates go up, Conner said, recycling becomes a good alternative, he said.

Strong backing for the use of solar hydrogen as a clean alternative to coal and oil as energy sources came from C.E. Thomas, legislative assistant to Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

Hydrogen is an ideal environmental fuel, he said, because it is based on water and sunlight and is totally renewable. Solar hydrogen leaves no acid rain, smog, toxic air emissions or greenhouse gases, he said.

But the main hurdle for the use of hydrogen is the cost of production and storage, Thomas said. The nation needs a visionary leader who will see that adequate funds are provided for research and development, he said.

Greater technology for a national energy policy exists now than was in place 30 years ago when the nation met John F. Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon, Thomas said.

David A. Wirth, an assistant law professor at Washington & Lee University, said the time has come to make international environmental principles more accountable to the public.

A major problem, Wirth said, is that some countries fail to provide minimal environmental protection. Substandard environmental policies are a much greater problem than excessive protection, he added.

by CNB