Disney outlines plan for carbon reduction

Disney has laid out a long-term plan for being more environmentally friendly as part of a new Corporate Responsibility Report that also calls for social initiatives like encouraging kids to eat healthy food and not to smoke.

The report — longer on philosophy than specific details — calls for Disney to cut carbon emissions from fuels in half by 2012, in part by encouraging employees to carpool, walk and use mass transit.

Dinsey said that, in July and August, it logged 195,989 instances of clean-air commuting by its Southern California employees, an 18% improvement over the same months a year earlier.

While a clever internal promotion based on the “WALL-E” movie gets some credit, the company acknowledged that high gas prices also played a role.

Disney also set a goal of eliminating 300,000 tons of waste that it sends to landfills each year through recycling and composting and promised to use water more efficiently.

The entire report is at Disney’s Web site, beginning with a message from CEO Robert Iger, who promises that the goodwill engendered by its lofty goals will add to shareholder value.

Unfortunately, Disney’s feel-good news was a bit marred Monday due to an overlap with a “sell” recommendation from an influential Wall Street analyst.

Pali analyst Rich Greenfield slashed his per-share earnings estimate by 28% and slapped a $12.50 target price on Disney stock, which dropped 1.5% to $15.59 on Tuesday.

Greenfield says Disney’s multiyear hot streak, content-wise, is in jeopardy, citing disappointing boxoffice results from “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience” and “Bolt.” He also is “skeptical” on the prospects for “Up,” the Pixar movie due out in May.

Greenfield also envisions sinking ad revenue at Disney’s media networks division in both fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010 and a decline in theme park revenue in those frames as well.

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