Wal-Mart to Settle Lawsuits by Going Solar

With an ambitious goal of being 100-percent renewable-powered, Wal-Mart wants to be a green company — but apparently on its own terms. The company has been fighting for more than two years against a pair of lawsuits that demanded that two planned stores get greener. The Center for Biological Diversity and a handful of other groups filed lawsuits against the California cities of Yucca Valley and Perris, contending that two Wal-Mart Supercenters, if built as planned and approved by the cities, would violate California’s greenhouse gas emissions standards under the California Environmental Quality Act.

After years of litigation, Wal-Mart finally decided to bury the hatchet by settling. And the settlement bodes well for environmentalists. In order to set things right, the infamous supermarket chain must add three rooftop solar power systems at least 250 kilowatts in size, install efficient heating and cooling systems, as well as LED lighting at the two new stores, and donate $120,000 to the Mojave Desert Land Trust — a group trying to expand Joshua Tree National Park.

Wal-Mart is happy that the mess is over, while the environmentalists are happy that a major retailer will, like it or lump it, set the example that a “big box” store can be built efficiently using renewable power. So, Wal-Mart has been testing new store designs and renewable energy systems that would make their “boxes” more energy efficient and hopefully totally renewable-powered. Several solar arrays have already been installed on California stores, generating 20-30 percent of each store’s power needs, says Wal-Mart. The company plans to add up to 20 new systems in the next year.

All that said, it seems weird that the company would go two years without settling lawsuits that simply wanted Wal-Mart stores to meet GHG standards already in place, of which Wal-Mart must have been aware of, considering the slew of other stores in California. Whatever the reasons for the holdout, be they financial or bureaucratic, the result will benefit both Perris and Yucca Valley, as well as Joshua Tree National Park — one of the most beautiful and fun parks I’ve ever visited.

Sources:  The Press-Enterprise & Environmental Leader

Photo Credit: Box Turtle Bulletin & Blue Oak Energy

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Wal-Mart to Settle Lawsuits by Going Solar