I have no doubt that the anti Wal-Mart crowd will find a reason to discount this effort. The fact is, though, that it IS a big deal.

One of the largest corporations on the planet has committed to decreasing their energy footprint. They are using their purchasing power to lower the prices on everything from solar panels to compact fluorescent light bulbs. Their trucking fleet is having APUs installed to reduce idle emissions -- they've even looked at a Hybrid trucking fleet.

Why? Maybe it comes down to the almighty dollar. Lower energy costs, lower fuel costs, lower packaging costs...all translate to lower prices for the consumer. Those lower prices drive more sales for Wal-Mart.

Is there anything wrong with that? Nope. What difference does it make WHY someone chooses to improve themselves -- as long as there is improvement.

Folks, this company is trying to make itself better on every front. Environmental, health-care, product-lines. All while staying true to the core beliefs and values that are the basis of the store that Sam Walton built: Respect for the individual. Service to the customer. and Strive for Excellence.

Is that a lot to ask of a discount retailer? Sure is. But if anybody can pull it off -- it's Wal-Mart.

This is a good move by Wal-Mart. Not only conservation but savings as well is always good business.

With Wal-Mart's relentless pursuit to cut costs and pass it on to their customers, it just shows how they're always looking for ways to do it, and why they're always ahead of the pack.

This does not take away some key factors.
One the stores geographic footprint is immense by any reasonable standard.
While a 20% reduction may sound nice, Wal-Mart Supercenters are so large that they remain energy hogs in thier very nature. On top of that nearly all of them are open 24 hours a day, increasing energy ineffeciency even further. Many stores reduce energy in one of the easiest and most effective ways possible: closing to the public for the night. On top of that the Wal-Mart Supercenters are nearly twice as large as thier nearest competitors (while it may actually use more then twice as much energy as its nearest competitors, and even with a 20% reduction in energy usage, the stores themselves are inherantly wasteful just by thier very size). Many of Wal-Mart's high effeciency standards they are adopting today, were adopted by thier competitors in the late nineties.
The question remains is a 200,000+ square foot supercenter "energy effecient", absolutely not. Especially considering the parking lot and outdoor lighting demands. The truth is a simple reduction in the average store size to something that was reasonable would reduce enegry waste in a geniune way. Instead Wal-Mart still pushes for a large a footprint as possible. The truth is the improvement in energy effeciency for the Wal-Mart Supercenters is really comparing the Hummer H1 to the Hummer H2, while one is slightly lighter and more fuel effecient, it is still an energy hog. The problem is the basic store design itself, the size of the store is inherantly ineffecient by its very design. Since Wal-Mart is the largest store, it is by its very nature the most ineffecient store. Buildings are much like cars: the bigger they are, the more expensive they are to heat and cool.

Also the environmental efforts are especially disengenous because Wal-Mart still demands only super large super-center designs with immense parking lot footprints. This leads to extensive stormwater runoff.

Wal-Mart is also not addressing any of the concerns with regards to toxic materials in its stores, especially in the content of its toys, childrens clothing and other consumer products.

If Wal-Mart really wants to appear green, they need to make a geniune effort, the first thing they can do is address the very size of thier stores. Having a 200,000+ square foot store with a large parking lot still strikes me as being completely disingenious. They need a fundimental change is store design and philosophy. Right now they are still stuck in the mindset a bigger store is always better. That is an inherantly un-environmental viewpoint.

Wal-Mart does not deserve a lick of postive press regarding anything environmental until it scraps the 200,000+ square foot designs, and go for something much smaller. Can't they provide products and services at 100,000 square feet or less and still make a profit.
But in the Lee Scott era, the mindset has been supercenters and supercenters only, and until that mindset changes, they will have no credibility in the environmental community.

Instead Wal-Mart continues its pro-sprawl ways.

They may be trying to do something good for the environment yeah. But, in the end this will only take away money for stores that are already in operation and in dire need of being remodeled or reparied to try to make them more ecologicaly sound.
And if this experiment is going to be so expensive to build do you really thionk they will just pull it out of their back pocket,no it will come from cutting overhead in all other stores and increasing prices to compensate for the differance. In the end it will be the stock price falling as usual , because they are building to many stores and can't keep them fully staffed and run properly. They need to take all this extrea income and put it some of it back into the pockets of the associates who put 7.10.15.20.25,and 30 years of blood, sweat, and life in them to help build this comoany into this giant it is today.

thank god wal-mart has found a way too keep unions out. as a young sales clerk in a dept store that paid the retail clerks union money every week and rec'd. nothing from them ever. when wal-mart pulls off the energy saving trucks I'm sure the union will say that wal-mart truck drivers aren't union and the trucks would run better if they were.

It is good that Wal-mart is doing things to save energy. But there is one thing it can do to help everybody... CLOSE!
Wal-mart is bad for the American economy. I do not know of any other retail establishment that is more directly or indirectly responsible for sending high paying manufacturing jobs overseas.
And as for core beliefs, it has been my experience that Wal-mart knows nothing about respect, service, or excellence.