Green

Rising Seas Likely to Flood U.S. History -- AP.  Ultimately, rising seas will likely swamp the first American settlement in
Jamestown, Va., as well as the Florida launch pad that sent the first American into orbit, many climate scientists are predicting.

Reporting from the UN: Schwarzenegger Steps Up, Moves Beyond Kyoto – Washington Note. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed to the UN general assembly session demonstrates that, while the federal government is not fully engaged in climate change policy, a number of states are.

Finding the Limits of LEED – Chronicle of Higher Education. Posting looks at the limits of LEED, especially in giving credit to existing buildings.

Carbon windfall to go to clean energy: - Reuters. The European Commission wants to back alternative energy like wind and solar with the money it raises from sales of carbon emissions permits, which could reach billions of euros, a senior EC official said on Wednesday.

World Energy Revolution Needed For Climate, Says Condoleezza Rice -- Reuters. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday the world needs a revolution on energy that transcends oil, gas and coal to prevent problems from climate change.

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A Manifesto for a New Environmentalism – New Republic. Authors Ted Nordhaus & Michael Shellenberger argue that increasing investment in clean energy technology is the key to addressing global climate change, not reducing overall energy demand.

Wal-Mart To Push Suppliers On Energy Efficiency Reuters. Wal-Mart Stores Inc has formed a partnership with the Carbon Disclosure Project to look for ways for its suppliers to better manage their energy efficiency, as part of its environmental push, the company said on Monday.

World energy revolution needed for climate: U.S. –Reuter. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday the world needs a revolution on energy that transcends oil, gas and coal to prevent problems from climate change.
"Ultimately, we must develop and bring to market new energy technologies that transcend the current system of fossil fuels, carbon emissions and economic activity. Put simply, the world needs a technological revolution," Rice told delegates at a special U.N. conference on climate change.

U.N. chief sees major commitment to climate change -- Reuters. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said a one-day high-level meeting on climate change on Monday was a turning point in the battle against global warming. “What I heard today is a major political commitment for a breakthrough in climate change in Bali," Ban said.

Gore urges U.N. to "overcome paralysis" on climate – Reuters. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore bluntly told a U.N. conference on Monday that the planet would be better off if people cared more about global warming and less about O.J. Simpson and Paris Hilton

Deal Reached to Phase Out Greenhouse Gas – AP. Governments of almost 200 countries have agreed to speed the elimination of a major greenhouse gas that depletes ozone, U.N. and Canadian officials said Saturday, describing a deal they said was a significant step toward fighting global warming. The agreement reached Friday night will accelerate a treaty to freeze and phase out hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) which are used in home appliances, some refrigerators, hair sprays and air conditioners, said Nick Nuttall, spokesman for the United Nations Environment Program.

Dumpster Dive – The Digital Way – Chicago Tribune. Freecycling is all the rage.

US Telecommuters save 840 million gallons of gas per year – Environmental Leader. That’s enough to power 1 million households for a year.

Report recommends cutting urban sprawl – Pittsburgh Post Gazette. The report by the Urban Land Institute, Smart Growth America and other national and state organizations warns that total vehicle miles driven in the United States are on track to increase 59 percent by 2030, and the exhaust from all those vehicles driven all those millions of extra miles will overwhelm expected emissions reductions produced by more efficient, cleaner-running cars and trucks

Follow the Money: The (Slow) Rise of Green Financial Services – Joel Makower. We seem to be on the cusp of a cluster of green financial services -- everything from energy-efficiency mortgages to green consumer banks to climate-friendly credit cards. It's hardly approaching a tipping point, but financial services companies seem increasingly interested, almost eager, to cater to green-minded consumers and companies.

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Do to technical error - my morning round-up wasn't posted yesterday (the 24th). Enjoy a double dose of news today.

News to Keep you in the Know - September 24th.

Cut sprawl, help environment, report says -- Baltimore Sun. Living in pedestrian-friendly area would cut emissions, according to report's author Suburban sprawl is the missing link in climate change, a group of urban planning researchers said today, warning in a new report that global warming can only be slowed by changing development patterns to reduce the need for driving. Living in more compact, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods actually would do more to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide -- the chief climate-changing gas -- than driving a hybrid car while staying in a typically spread-out suburb, the report asserts.

LEED - The Green Standard?  -- Fast Company. As alarm over the environment intensifies, LEED has been in the right place at the right time. But critics say that the LEED standard falls short of what's possible in terms of saving energy.

Athena Hits the Mark with Green Building Tool - Tree Hugger. The construction industry has gained the Athena Assembly Evaluation tool for use (free!) with the Green Building Initiative’s™ (GBI) Green Globes™ environmental assessment and rating system for commercial buildings. The intent is to leverage life cycle assessment within the industry and provide a simple framework and tool that can be incorporated into the system.

Sunny Outlook: Can Sunshine Provide All U.S. Electricity? - -Scientific American. Large amounts of solar-thermal electric supply may become a reality if steam storage technology works—and new transmission infrastructure is built

China Could Be Top Wind Market inThreeYears -Reuters. China could become the world's top wind power market in three to five years but will grow faster if it reforms its subsidy system, executives of major wind turbine maker Vestas said on Friday

UK Sees Need For Global Biofuel Standards, Protections -- Reuters. Global standards must be developed to ensure the growth in the use of biofuels does not have damaging consequences for the environment, Britain's Climate Change Minister Phil Woolas said on Thursday.

New Software Designs & Calculates The "Green" In Your Building – ENN. Green Building Studio, Inc., today announced the beta availability of Green Building Studio V3.0, offering architects, owners, and building design teams the opportunity to use the new web service’s advanced capabilities firsthand

Combating Climate Change Given Big Confidence Boost in Canada – ENN. Governments Agree to Accelerated 'Freeze and Phase-out" of Ozone and Climate-Damaging Chemicals at Montreal Protocol's 20th Anniversary Celebrations

10 Solutions to Save the Ocean - ENN. The most inspiring thing I’ve read lately about the oceans is “10 Solutions to Save the Ocean,” a series of short, upbeat, and to-the-point essays in the latest issue of Conservation magazine.

Global warming meetings put focus on U.S. role -- Reuters. A trio of climate change meetings in the United States this week will focus attention on how Washington can deliver on its pledge to play a lead role in combating global warming.

Bush Seeks Global Warming Process – ENN. Bush administration officials set out Friday to convince the world it can cool the Earth with voluntary "processes," more cooperation and fewer barriers to trade among the U.S., China and other major polluters, contrary to the U.N.'s mandatory approach to global warming.

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Walk into any super-mart today, and you'll find a "green" option for every item on your list, from energy-efficient light bulbs to seeded stationary to Low-E windows. Green is on everyone's mind these days. As green building and historic preservation overlap, university students across the country are forging new majors that reflect the times, which could mean revolutionary changes for both fields.

"The first day of class, out of the 11 people who introduced themselves, I think five people identified sustainability as a reason why they chose to go into historic preservation," says Jennifer Flathman, who is pursuing her master's degree in historic preservation at the University of Oregon in Portland.

"Students, because of their age and generation, are very much in tune with these issues [the connection between green building and preservation]," says Ken Guzowski, former professor of historic preservation at the University of Oregon and the current senior planner for the city of Eugene.... Read More →

National Trust for Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded non-profit organization, works to save America's historic places.

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Going 'green' in Glens Falls – The Saratogian. Barton Mines Co. unveiled its new corporate headquarters Wednesday, that combines environmentally trend-setting design with historic preservation.

EPA Adds Seven Sites and Proposes 12 Sites to the Superfund List -- EPA Press Release. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adding seven new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the list for investigation and clean-up. The list, known as National Priorities List (NPL), sets priorities under the federal Superfund program that addresses complex uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country.

China’s Policy of Returning Farmland to Forests Must Be Upheld -ENN. China is witnessing a dangerous trend. The country’s policy of returning farmland to forests is faltering, and many areas are opting out of this activity in a push to protect local farmers. They are recklessly expanding farmlands that should have been replaced with forests under the policy, or they have simply allowed farmers to continue cultivating steep hillsides.

CO2 emissions could violate EPA ocean-quality standards within decades - ENN. In a commentary in the September 25, 2007, issue of the Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), a large team of scientists state that human-induced carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will alter ocean chemistry to the point where it will violate U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Quality Criteria [1976] by mid-century if emissions are not dramatically curtailed now.

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