Tuesday, April 19, 2005

[Corporate sustainability] Sustainable Business -- A Declaration of Leadership Via Gil Friend: Declaration of Leadership website. 'Sustainable Business - A Declaration of Leadership' now has its own web site. PDF downloads are free; hard copy posters (11x17, Reincarnation 105# book paper (100% recycled, 50% post-consumer) suitable for framing, hanging in your office, or giving to your boss, are now available for purchase. Coming soon: discussion space to explore how people are putting the Declaration into practice. You can find the story behind the poster -- and the challenge it carries -- in my latest Sustainability Sundays posting at WorldChanging.com. [Gil Friend] 3:50:17 PM Google It!    [Sustainable products] Via Gil Friend Since iPods don't have nine lives. I've written a lot about product take back and zero waste strategies as a business imperative. The pressure comes from outside as well: Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition releases 'alternative' unApple annual report, From iPod to iWaste -- http://www.computertakeback.com/docUploads/UnApple%20Report.pdf -- and asks people to join our press conference and rally on the morning of the Apple shareholders meeting on Thursday, April 21, from 9am to 10am, at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino. (Details below). What: Rally at the Apple shareholders meeting When: Thursday, April 21 9:00 am Where: Apple Headquarters, 1 Infinite Loop, Building 4, Cupertino CA (near 280 and DeAnza Blvd) More info: http://www.badapple.biz or http://www.computertakeback.com [Gil Friend] 3:49:26 PM Google It!    [Alternative fuel vehicles] Who says green can't look great? This env (Emissions Neutral Vehicle) bike was designed to Intelligent Energy's brief by a British team, led by multi-award-winning designers Seymourpowell (last year cited as Britain's 6th most important cultural movers and shakers in a BBC poll). The bike is fully-functioning and has been engineered and purpose-built (based around Intelligent Energy's world-beating Core fuel cell) from the ground up, demonstrating the real, everyday applicability of fuel cell technology. Posted by Hello [Z+Blog!] 3:37:18 PM Google It!    [Environmental policy] Williams Calls for Environmental Agency D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams proposes creating a cabinet-level Department of Environment that would focus on providing District residents with cleaner air, clearer water and more inviting parks and open spaces. By Lori Montgomery. [washingtonpost.com - Government] 3:05:40 PM Google It!    [Alternative energy] Pennsylvania Offers $10 Million for Clean Energy Projects Pennsylvania is providing $10 million to help finance clean energy projects throughout the state. The funding is available for grants, loans, and loan guarantees for projects and research involving energy efficiency, low-impact hydropower, fuel cells, and solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal power. [EERE Network News] 3:05:08 PM Google It!    [Automobile industry] Canadian Automakers Agree to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions The Canadian government announced on April 5th that it has reached an agreement with the Canadian automobile industry to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new light vehicles, which include cars, pickups, vans, and most sport utility vehicles. [EERE Network News] 3:04:33 PM Google It!    [Gas prices] EIA: Gasoline Prices to Remain High All Summer The price of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States is expected to average $2.28 per gallon through September, with the highest average prices in May, according to DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). Crude oil prices are expected to remain above $50 per barrel through 2006. [EERE Network News] 3:04:01 PM Google It!    [Climate change] [NEWS FOCUS] ECOLOGY: Experimental Drought Predicts Grim Future for Rainforest An extraordinary research effort in the Amazon starved a tropical forest of rain and provides a glimpse of the potential effects of climate change. Author: Erik Stokstad [Science: This Week's News] 3:02:59 PM Google It!    [Green building] "A Pent-Up Demand for Green Luxury High-Rises" Via Sustainablog: Who knew? Apparently, the folks who developed New York City's Solaire, "the first residential high-rise to earn LEED Gold": 293 units were leased within five minutes. A similar phenomenon is occurring in other cities, though the primary nature of the the "green features" varies from place to place. From GreenClips via Gil Friend. Technorati tags: housing, green building By noemail@noemail.org (Jeff McIntire-Strasburg). [sustainablog] 2:58:55 PM Google It!    [Earth day] Take Action for Earth Day Via Sustianablog:   I've come across a number of political activism sites that are using this Friday's Earth Day to highlight environmental issues: Moving Ideas is a project of The American Prospect (and, of course, I found this through TAP's blog TAPPED); Care2 is putting on a Virtual Earth Day March to highlight opposition to oil drilling in ANWR. While some might claim these efforts represent the least we can do, a targeted effort like this can at least provide a megaphone to voice our frustrations. Technorati tags: Earth Day, activism Plant a Tree for Earth Day! Treegivers.com By noemail@noemail.org (Jeff McIntire-Strasburg). [sustainablog] 2:45:29 PM Google It!    [Air pollution] If You Can't Get It In Through the Front Door.... From Sustainablog: Try sneaking it in the back, of course. That seems to be the tactic of some of our Congressfolk who planted "a brief provision that could have major consequences for communities struggling to clean up their dirty air" deep in the bowels of the newly approved energy bill. If it becomes law, [the provision] would make one of the most significant changes to the Clean Air Act in 15 years, allowing communities whose air pollution comes from hundreds of miles away to delay meeting national air quality standards until their offending neighbors clean up their own air. The provision could especially affect states like New York, which has some of the nation's dirtiest air, and other Northeastern states that have always had difficulty meeting federal standards for ozone, a leading cause of smog, because much of any state's pollution originates in states to the south and west. Under the new provision, the "downwind" states would not be required to meet clean air standards until the "upwind" states that were contributing to the problem had done so. Currently, states can get more time but only if they agree to added cleanup measures. As you might guess, the proponents of this boondoogle are promoting it as a means of creating "flexibility and discretion" for state and local governments.  From the New York Times via ClimateArk. The Guardian and Observer digital editions By noemail@noemail.org (Jeff McIntire-Strasburg). [sustainablog] 2:44:48 PM Google It!    [Environmental policy] It's My Party Too: Taking Back the Republican Party--and Bringing the Country Together Again Republican Party Source: Council on Foreign Relations It's My Party Too: Taking Back the Republican Party--and Bringing the Country Together Again "Former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman discusses her book It's My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America, and says that 'social fundamentalists' are crowding moderates out of the Republican Party." [ResourceShelf's DocuTicker] 2:42:29 PM Google It!    [Energy efficiency] New Mexico Bills to Encourage Efficiency and Renewable Energy Three energy-related bills in New Mexico were signed into law in early April, including a bill allowing up to $20 million in bonds to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in state and school district buildings. The other two bills encourage energy efficiency and biomass energy. [EERE Network News] 1:01:49 PM Google It!

© Copyright 2005 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 10/25/2005; 12:09:53 PM.