GreenBiz.com released its second annual State of Green Business report Feb. 2, heralding the report’s release with a daylong forum that drew nearly 500 people from 20 states to San Francisco.

One report conclusion highlights a trend we’ve followed for over a year: green marketing is failing to communicate. While green is going mainstream, and many companies, large and small, are doing good, there’s also a lot of greenwashing. And surveys show that people are overwhelmed and befuddled by vague and conflicting claims. The report notes, “…with the new players and products has come a new wave of claims that companies aren’t doing enough, aren’t telling their stories well, or both.”

The upshot, says the report, is that “despite the continued upswing in green business activity, there’s no concomitant rise in consumer awareness or trust.” The challenge for companies is credibility. Green messages and sustainability claims need to be specific and substantiated. That will help not only with customers but also with internal audiences: The report points out that while green has had C-suite attention for years, companies are failing to engage lower ranks. Communications (backed by genuine actions) are key to bringing management and lower ranks on board. Green can make people feel good about their company.

Forum participants readily admitted that there’s little consensus about what is green. For instance, everyone is talking about the new green economy and how it will spur job creation, but the definition of a “green” job varies.

But I think we’ll soon see less greenwashing and less confusion all around. Marketers are realizing that people want credible information, and universal standards and independent verification will help. (Two recent developments: Just last month, Underwriters Laboratories announced UL Environment, its green verification service, and in 2008 the Federal Trade Commission began a serious review of its environmental marketing guidelines—a year earlier than planned, due to the storm of green marketing.)

Green is also an imperative for the new administration, confirmed panelists who provided an insider’s view during the forum’s closing session. President Obama is following through with his commitments to curb global warming and promote a green economy. And it’s not just an add-on: green policy is coming out of the White House economic team.

You can see webcasts of all the forum panels at http://www.greenbiz.com/stateofgreenbusinessforum.