Big business sees greenbacks in going green, but as consumers, we should demand more OK, so who caught the Greenzo episode of “30 Rock” (back in season two)? Hilarious! Al Gore is just icing in this scathing portrayal of how big business sees greenbacks when consumers say “green.” Here’s a two-minute clip if you missed it and want a laugh: I was reminded of this episode because reality imitated Tina Fey recently when the Consumer Electronics Association released its report, “Environmental Sustainability and Innovation in the Consumer Electronics Industry.” (That’s a PDF.) While I applaud any and all efforts by manufacturers at reducing waste and energy consumption, I could hear Jack Donaghy’s eager avarice in it: “The power of the purchasers’ dollars matters. Philips claims that 20% of its sales come from ‘green products’ …. Epson’s customer surveys show that 46% of its consumers pay attention to green criteria when buying.” [ For more InfoWorld coverage of green tech, see Ted Samson’s blog Sustainable IT ] How green in the scheme of things? I recently returned from a trip to Iceland, a tiny country but a world leader when it comes to the use of extremely clean geothermal energy. Icelanders told me proudly that they that they pay just pennies (well, kronur, but not many of them) to power their homes and heat water. I toured a power plant that was the size of a small hotel, emitted only a small amount of steam as a by-product, and could, I’m told, easily power Paris. Icelanders aren’t satisfied with this, though. The country has ambitious plans to convert the cars on the road and its fishing fleets to geothermal power as well. They are planning a test of geothermal-powered cars in conjunction with Mitsubishi next year. Downtown Reykjavik is littered with public swimming pool complexes complete with tiered hot tubs powered entirely by geothermal energy. And the only geothermal power accident resulted in the healing waters of the Blue Lagoon Spa.In fact, the server farms you tap into daily may soon be powered by Iceland’s geothermal plants. Google, Microsoft, and others are eager to tap the country’s inexpensive and reliable power. But here in our huge country, we pay attention to green criteria when we buy electronics. Less than half of us do, anyway. We have started to think about waste and power consumption when we design products. And we let out employees ride bikes to work. So that’s good, right? OK, I’m not naïve. The situation is complicated. I get that. And I’m pleased that consumer spending can drive change because I’m a consumer — certainly of consumer electronics. And there is even good information — and some good news — in the CEA report. Am I too cynical? Me and Tina Fey both, I guess. So who has gripes? One of these not-green-enough-yet-for-me consumer electronics companies getting on your nerves? Let’s use the power of the press to get that fixed, shall we? Write to me at christina_tynan-wood@infoworld.com. Technology Industry