In 2007, Mr James Rogers did the unthinkable. As chief executive of Duke Energy, one of the largest coal-powered utilities in the United States, he lobbied for the passage of aggressive cap-and-trade legislation. The Bill, if passed, would have imposed billions of dollars in costs on his business, and it was vigorously opposed by the coal industry's primary lobbyist. Mr Rogers, who died last year, was no masochist; he was a visionary who understood something fundamental about the relationship between time and profits: Over the long run, the profitable thing and the right thing are usually the same.

We live in an economy increasingly at odds with this truth. Short-term business practices are polluting our environment and harming our health and well-being for the sake of quick payouts.