If the entire dairy industry sector (organic and traditional) did what Aurora is embarking on - Aurora is planning for third party measurement of life cycle carbon footprint of all its operations - and announced the results to stakeholders, there could be both winners and losers. (The same argument applies to any industry sector.)
Stockholders would have an opportunity to learn the value of carbon intensity as a surrogate metric for long term risks posed by both climate change and energy price volatility.

The upshot: those firms which are relatively energy intensive and carbon emissive in their operations would see reduced valuations, while those which have invested in resource efficiency, with as much fervor as is usually attached to cost reduction and production capacity increases, would see increased valuation.

Aurora Organic Dairy, a leading U.S. provider of high-quality, private-label organic milk and butter, today announced a major initiative with the University of Michigan to measure and reduce its carbon footprint across the entire product lifecycle, from cattle feed to cartons in retail dairy cases. This research is believed to be the most comprehensive carbon emissions reduction initiative undertaken in the organic dairy industry, and will be funded by the newly established Aurora Organic Dairy Foundation.

Note: We are aware of the complaint(s) that have been filed with USDA against Aurora, relative to the firm's organic pasturing methods. Aurora's defense against the complaint(s) is stated in a facsimile of a letter to the Denver Post. This is a separate issue from the life cycle carbon footprint metric development project described in this post.

Via::Business Wire, "Aurora Organic Dairy Launches Initiative to Reduce Its Carbon Footprint Through First Grant Funded by Aurora Organic Dairy Foundation; Partnership with Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan Will Identify Ways to Increase Energy Efficiency and Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Findings to be Shared with Organic Agriculture Community"

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