Here’s How to Tell Green Good Deeds From Greenwashing: QuickTake

Corporations are growing more interested in proclaiming how green they are, on everything from their packaging to their bond issues.

It’s a trend that may have reached a new level with word that Amazon.com Inc. has bought the naming rights to Seattle’s KeyArena and plans to call it Climate Pledge Arena, in tribute to the company’s push to get more businesses to eliminate net carbon emissions by 2040. Faced with a flood of self-congratulatory announcements, it can be hard to figure out what’s really green and what’s “greenwashing” -- the use of misleading labels or advertising to create an undeserved ...