Preserving the Environment
Of all the world’s complex and pressing challenges, none is more momentous and fundamental than protecting the environment. Booz Allen Hamilton is privileged to participate in and catalyze many initiatives, large and small, that aim to preserve the environment.
With increasing recognition among industry and government of the consequences of global warming—including coastal flooding, greater risk of droughts, and threats to biodiversity—has come deepening awareness that good environmental stewardship is not only an imperative, but also good business. “Public and private organizations are increasingly coming to understand how their environmental activities can be sources of value and competitive advantage instead of just necessary costs or areas of risk to be managed,” says Gary Rahl, a vice president in McLean, Virginia.
Creating Value from Environmental Activity
An example of creating value from environmental activity is our innovative work with the U.S. military to quantify the value of environmental resources and to put a price tag on giving others access to them. For example, Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base opens 280,000 acres of land to the public for hunting, fishing, boating, and other recreational uses. Booz Allen helped determine that recreational use of the land has a value of more than US$10 million annually.
Similarly, in 2006, Booz Allen began facilitating negotiations between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the state of Virginia aimed at developing a conservation baseline pilot program for DoD facilities in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that would recognize and credit installations for environmental stewardship; it would also create a database that could allow the DoD to participate in a statewide water quality trading program Virginia is designing. By optimally managing the watershed, Virginia can potentially create a new revenue stream by “selling” the pollution-free water sources to developers and other landowners.
Working with Clients on Alternative Energy Initiatives
The world’s energy companies are increasingly aware that the assets they manage are limited, and Booz Allen is a trusted advisor on alternative energy initiatives. These companies concurrently recognize that operating with environmental sensitivity adds value to their enterprises. Extracting fuels from unconventional sources ups the ante on sustainable business practices, as energy companies must balance community concerns with the higher cost of tapping such resources. They turn to Booz Allen for its unique blend of technological skills and public policy experience.
For example, last year Booz Allen advised a global energy company on ways to increase the pace of its drilling program while minimizing negative environmental impact.
And in the utilities sector last year, Booz Allen advised one of the largest multistate utility companies in the U.S. on how to make a new clean coal power generation technology commercially deployable.
In another kind of environmental effort, Booz Allen is working with the Millennium Challenge Corporation to help Mozambique develop a road infrastructure improvement plan. Development of the plan included an intensive field effort to provide input for economic modeling to estimate the effects of roadway improvements on agriculture and tourism, as well as the potential economic and educational benefits of reducing gender inequality. “We were able to incorporate environmental and social components in our modeling, ensuring that the proposed plan accounted for all economic, environmental, and social impacts and benefits,” says Molly Finn, a vice president in McLean.
Booz Allen combines its environmental and energy capabilities with expertise in security, infrastructure, and global operations to tackle situations and engagements that few other consulting firms would have the expertise to approach.
One example is our work with the U.S. Departments of Energy, Defense, and State supporting programs aimed at preventing the proliferation of nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction, especially in the countries of the former Soviet Union. For example, we advise these U.S. government organizations on the viability of eliminating weapons infrastructure and transforming former defense organizations into viable, sustainable businesses that don’t produce such dangerous materials.
“In this work, we leverage the firm’s expert knowledge of regulations and technical requirements built in other engagements, such as those with the Department of Energy’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Management program, with a cadre of Booz Allen specialists in Russia and central Asia who understand and can successfully navigate a complex maze of approval processes,” says Todd McNutt, a Booz Allen principal who splits his time between McLean, Moscow, and countries in the former Soviet Union. “This is important work for the nation and the world. It leads to better assurances that dangerous material is controlled in a sustainable way.”
story posted August 2007
