Joel has written more than 2,000 articles — reported stories, opinion pieces, interviews and explainers — for Trellis (and its predecessor, GreenBiz) — plus hundreds more for other publications. Here are some of his (and readers’) favorites.

You can read more of his stories, dating to 2004, here. Also, feel free to try JoelBot.net — an AI chatbot based on his articles and books. Just an experiment for now.

It’s time to lace up and continue the inexorable forward march that has long been our strong suit. Here are 7 leadership qualities we’ll need for the journey. (November 8, 2024)

Environmental and social commitments are aligning more closely with tangible financial goals, a sign of sustainability’s maturity in business. (November 6, 2023)

Get ready for a nice warm bowl of alphabet soup. (June 12, 2023)

What does it take to determine how much a bank’s lending and investments contribute to the climate crisis? (May 1, 2023)

It’s time to reclaim the word in the name of a just and sustainable future. (April 10, 2023)

Amid the pushback, companies are staying the course but keeping their heads down.(March 13, 2023)

Is it any wonder few sustainability stories ever see the light of day? (February 13, 2023)

Can artificial intelligence conduct an informed conversation about the broad and complex technologies under the climate tech umbrella? Let’s let it speak for itself. (February 6, 2023)

If we don’t know what greenwashing is, how can we avoid it or fight it? (January 17, 2023)

Welcome to the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t world of sustainability communications. (October 23, 2022)

Satire, obviously. (October 3, 2022)

The money is there, but a new form of capitalism is needed. Can it arrive in time? (September 12, 2022)

The state of corporate sustainability messaging is dismal. It’s not just the comms folks’ fault. (August 22, 2022)

A new era of climate- and sustainability-related lawsuits against companies is on the docket. (June 20, 2022)

Part 1 of a three-part series on ratings and ratings agencies and some of the challenges they are facing. (May 9, 2022)

There’s a flipside to concerns about the risks and returns of committing trillions of dollars over decades to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. (January 31, 2022)

The idea of converting every type of impact into dollars, euros, yen or other currency is alluring. But it doesn’t add up. (October 12, 2021)

What it takes to effect wholesale changes, from markets to mindsets. Suffice to say, it’s complicated. (August 16, 2021)

It’s a good time to be an ESG professional. A very, very good time. (July 19, 2021)

“Net zero,” for all of its compelling simplicity, turns out to be anything but. (June 22, 2021)

At some point, if everything companies do or claim is dubbed greenwash, it becomes more reflective of the accusers than the accused. (April 27, 2021)

The underside of beauty isn’t always pretty. Here how one company is trying to fix that. (October 5, 2020)

In a world where everything from buildings to oatmeal can be dubbed “regenerative,” does the word really mean anything? (September 8, 2020)

A legacy chemical company aims to revolutionize plastics recycling. Can it make a material difference? (May 11, 2020)

You don’t have to be a war hero to get through a crisis, but you can learn from one. Spoiler: Optimism alone doesn’t help. (April 28, 2020)

The weather outside is frightful. What, exactly, do we call it? (December 2, 2019)

A global movement being led by your company’s future employees, neighbors and customers should be of considerable interest, and more than a little concern. (April 30, 2019)

How did we get here? Where is all this going? (September 10, 2018)

A story about an extraordinary effort to transform an ordinary piece of clothing. (September 25, 2017)

Manufacturers such as BSF, Dow and Eastman are racing to develop recyclable, reusable and durable materials with which to build the future. (April 10, 2017)

It’s been 10 years since the behemoth from Bentonville launched is sustainability quest. So, how’s it doing? (November 17, 2015)

What happens when conservative activists steal a page from Greenpeace’s name-and-shame playbook? (March 3, 2014)

The fast-food giant is committing to purchase sustainable beef. Is it biting off more than it can chew? (January 7, 2014)