Under new laws in some states, businesses can incorporate as benefit corporations, allowing them to take factors like social and environmental goals into consideration, without fear of investor lawsuits. Proponents of the law say that it gives companies a way to look out for the public good, as well as their shareholders. When companies incorporate as a benefit corporation, they change there bylaws to instruct those in charge to take other factors, like the environment, into account.
See "With New Law, Profits Take a Back Seat", Angus Loten, The Wall Street Journal, January 18, 2012