In a study of 100,000 IT professionals surveyed by The Corporate IT Forum in the U.K., "About 58% said it was difficult to make a business case for green IT; they found it difficult to overcome the 'so what?' factor."Really? Is it that hard to make the case for more efficient IT systems that can ultimately cut costs, and reduce carbon emissions?

Or is rationalizing ongoing inefficiency just an easy way out?

It's time for IT professionals to stand up and make the case for implementing greater efficiencies and cleaner technologies -- on their own terms -- before "green directives" become mandatory, under a Kyoto 2.0 scheme, or its equivalent in the United States.

IBM's climate change chief Graham Whitney told an audience at a green IT summit in London Wednesday that regulation could force change. "I don't think it needs to be painful, it just needs to indicate clearly that if people do not change then the measures will come in more forcibly," he told the BBC.

Like they say in TV cop shows: "We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way." The hard way is harder.

If you've been trying to make a business case for going green, or spending to save, or whatever other term isn't working, try following these guidelines from IT management consultant Dustin Walling:

1. Pitches are nothing more than the midpoint in a larger conversation
2. Assuming the perspective of the audience is critical
3. Focusing on the larger conversation will help align your perspective with your audience and tune your approach, greatly improving your odds of success

Walling contends that "it's a toss-up as to what's the No. 1 flub in business pitches of all kinds. It's either focusing way too much on technical details, or having far too little evidence of a sound operational plan that will make good use of money."

Read the full text of his article 3 Steps To Better Business Pitches here, and start pushing for a cleaner way to do business -- before a new way is pushed on you.