Green

News to Keep you in the Know.

EasyJet boss calls for polluter tax on planes - Reuters. British low-cost airline easyJet called on Tuesday for the government to scrap airport taxes on passengers and replace them with taxes on aircraft that penalize the heaviest polluters.

China Faltering On Support For Solar Power: Report - ENN. Solar panels could generate over 10 percent of China's power by the middle of the century, but only if Beijing steps up support for pioneering generating plants and sets more ambitious targets, a report said on Wednesday

Agrofuels Favor Business over Farmers - ENN. Agrofuel development has arrived on the global stage. Just this year, the number of declarations, dollars, and development plans devoted to agrofuels is unparalleled. An idea that languished for decades has become the darling of politicians, business, financiers, and the media.

EPA Targets $2 Million to Fight Climate Change with Projects in China, Russia, Seven Other Countries - ENN. Washington, D.C. - China, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, India, Korea, Mexico, Nigeria and Ukraine will have projects funded under the auspices of the Methane to Markets Partnership, an international effort promoting near-term, cost-effective projects that capture and use methane as a clean-energy source

Stuck in Traffic? You're Not Alone - ENN. Drivers waste nearly an entire work week each year sitting in traffic on the way to and from their jobs, according to a national study released Tuesday. The nation's drivers languished in traffic delays for a total of 4.2 billion hours in 2005, up from 4 billion the year before, according to the Texas Traffic Institute's urban mobility report. That's about 38 hours per driver.

Ban Urges Strong Message From Climate Summit - ENN. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Tuesday for a climate change summit he has convened next week to send a "strong political message" to enable a "bold" new global environment pact to be negotiated

• More Posts (65)

News to Keep you in the Know...

Could Kyoto Protocol learn from Montreal? ENN. Could the solution to global warming be as simple as a switch of cities

A Little Frightening, a little good news on climate and energy - ENN. Sometimes the news makes you want to crawl under your bed and hide. Other times there’s great hope and I'm ready to dance and cheer. These related stories for the week beginning September 9, 2007:

BMW, Norsk Hydro Among the World's Most Sustainable Companies - GreenBiz.com. In the ninth annual survey of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, Norwegian aluminum company Norsk Hydro took the overall top score, while BMW topped the automotive index for the third year running.

Wegmans Reverses Supermarket Supply Chain, Starts Organic Farm - GreenBiz.com. Wegmans, a 71-store supermarket chain based in Rochester, has begun selling produce grown on its own 50-acre organic farm to nearby grocery stores. The farm is in its first year of production, so the land is not yet certified organic, but the company's CEO, Danny Wegman, said the goal is to use the land not just to grow fresh produce for sale, but to help grow the local food market in the area

Carbon Reduction Wins Mega Brand Attention at Conference - GreenBiz.com. At this week's Carbon Footprint Consumer Products Conference and Expo in Chicago, the companies behind the world's biggest brands made it abundantly clear that they are both dedicated to reducing their carbon footprints and to spreading the word about their efforts.

Communicating Climate Change: Getting Beyond the Usual Suspects -- GreenBiz.com. On September 9, the Oregonian headlined its Sunday edition with a story about the Greenland ice sheet melting much faster than scientists had predicted. The well-crafted story found the news "...particularly unsettling because elaborate climate models that scientists use to estimate the effects of global warming did not foresee it."

Finding the Green in Cleaning Products -- GreenBiz.com. It has become clear that the green movement is here to stay. From global warming to sustainability to green buildings, these issues have become a part of our daily lives. It was once the lexicon of environmental groups; today all segments are involved, including mainstream companies such as Wal-Mart and General Electric, who have each committed hundreds of millions of dollars to green their operations.

STATES ARE CLOSER TO TRIMMING AUTOS' CO2 EMISSIONS -- GreenBiz.com. The move by 12 states could coax Congress to pass efficiency limits.

• More Posts (65)

News to Keep you in the Know....

Clean coal to qualify for Kyoto carbon offsets -Reuters. Very efficient coal-fired power plants will be able to sell carbon offsets under the Kyoto Protocol, in an expansion of project eligibility under the carbon trading scheme, U.N. official Jose Miguez said.

Nations ink deal to provide safer atomic power - Reuters. Sixteen nations signed a U.S.-initiated pact on Sunday to help meet soaring world energy demand by developing nuclear technology less prone to being illicitly diverted into making atomic weapons.

N.Y. Group Trying to Eat Only Local Food – ENN. Dick Shave got a duck for dinner. It was firm, fresh and — this is very important when you're only eating food grown within 100 miles — raised nearby.

New fingerprinting method tracks mercury in environment – ENN. With mercury polluting our air, soil and water and becoming concentrated in fish and wildlife as it is passed up the food chain, understanding how the potent nerve toxin travels through the environment is crucial.

U.S. Climate Program Flawed, Threatened by Budget Cuts – ENS. The Bush administration's climate research program has helped scientists clarify some basic facts about global warming, but has done little to provide much-needed information about how society might mitigate or adapt to the changing climate, a National Academy of Sciences committee said today.

What Should We Really Be Doing About Global Warming? A Freakonomics Quorum – NYT. The authors of Freakonomics “thought it would be a good idea to host a Freakonomics Quorum in which we asked a few smart people a very straightforward two-part question: What should the U.S. government be doing about global warming, and what should individuals be doing?”

Safeway Unveils First Solar-Powered Grocery Store - Press Release.

• More Posts (65)

The Untapped Green Within Graying Buildings – GreenerBuildings.com. An excellent article highlighting the greening of the 80 year old Joseph Vance Building in Seattle by Jonathan Rose Companies LLC. The company launched a $100 million smart growth investment fund in 2006 to green existing buildings. The company explains the impetus behind the fund: “In terms of the building stock, only 1 percent is new construction annually, so it is critical to focus on the existing 99 percent, which are huge consumers of energy.”

The article discusses the company’s climate sensitive approach to heating and cooling, and extensive lighting improvements. The developer’s approach to historic windows is particularly noteworthy. The company “weighed installing new windows against restoring existing windows. Since operability was key for tenant comfort, the company chose to restore the existing wood windows because the sashes of many had been nailed shut. Weather stripping was added, as well as mecco shades and light shelves to the south and west facades for proper interior shading.”

... Read More →

• More Posts (65)

Green Home Remodeling  -- Blogger Emerson Lockwood discusses green home remodeling as "a thinking process, not a contest to see how many green things you as a homeowner can incorporate into your home." He notes that reusing as much material from your existing home is a key part of green remodeling, and that it can save you money.

In the coming weeks, the National Trust will be offering preservation-sensitive tips for greening your existing home -- I'll keep you posted.

News to Keep you in the Know...

Environment Takes Its Place on Board's Agenda - Washington Post. Greater Washington Board of Trade sees stewardship of the enviroonment as a unifying cause for the region that makes good business sense.

 Eating Less Meat May Slow Climate Change - AP. Eating less meat could help slow global warming by reducing the number of livestock and thereby decreasing the amount of methane flatulence from the animals, scientists said on Thursday. 

Global warming may cause world crop decline - Reuters. Global warming could send world agriculture into serious decline by 2080 with productivity collapsing in some developing countries while it improves in a few rich nations, a study reported on Wednesday.

World Conservation Union:16,300 species threatened  - Reuters. From the lowland gorillas of Africa to corals of the
Galapagos Islands, more than 16,300 species are threatened with extinction, the World Conservation
Union said on Wednesday in its annual Red List.

Can YouTube Save the Planet? – The Scientist.com. Pooling videos can provide instant evidence of global environmental problems

Small Businesses and Congregations Honored by EPA for Energy Savings - EPA. EPA announced the winners of the 2007 Energy Star Award for Small Businesses and Congregations. Together, the winners saved more than $1.2 million in annual energy costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 1,600 vehicles annually. .

New Guidelines to Help Improve Accounting for Energy Sector Carbon Offsets - Environmental Protection. Quantifying the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions benefits of renewable energy and energy-efficiency projects is now easier with the release of new accounting guidelines by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). 

Energy efficient appliances should be made compulsory, says UN expert – International Herald Tribune. Governments should make energy efficient appliances and building materials compulsory because that is the smartest way of controlling greenhouse gas emissions, a U.N. expert said Tuesday. 

• More Posts (65)