The sustainability exec who saw the light

Bill Weihl is at the vanguard of corporate climate action. He was Google Inc.’s “green energy czar” for five years and Facebook Inc.’s director of sustainability for another six. Then he left.

Why? Weihl saw a hole in tech companies’ sustainability work: their lack of engagement on broader climate policy. So he founded ClimateVoice, a nonprofit that engages with corporate employees to get them to agitate for climate-friendly practices and policy advocacy.

Weihl and climatologist Michael Mann sent a letter Tuesday to the CEOs of Walmart Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and 10 other companies, asking them to speak up for the $555 billion in climate spending being considered in Congress and to distance themselves from trade groups that have opposed federal climate policies.