Wednesday, November 02, 2005

[Cleaning] Green Washing Get your company to clean up its janitorial act. [Source: Grist Magazine] 4:28:24 PM Google It!    [Meetings] 2006 National Environmental Partnership Summit Call for Speakers, Due November 18, 2005 The third annual National Environmental Partnership Summit will be held in Atlanta, Georgia at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel during May 8-11, 2006. The theme is Stewardship in Action: Our Responsibility – Our Environment. During three days of interactive sessions, workshops and field trips, environmental assistance policymakers, providers and recipients will explore stewardship activities in pollution prevention, compliance assistance, and environmental leadership. November 18 is the deadline to submit your proposals for papers, panel sessions, dialogues or work sessions. If your proposal is selected, you will receive a discounted registration fee. The link listed below gives more information on how to submit your proposal. Please contact Joanne Berman at (202) 564-7064 with any questions. [ChemAlliance Environmental News] 4:26:07 PM Google It!    [Biodiesel] Doughnut shop's leftover oil is used for biodiesel Leftover cooking oil from Sesame Donuts' shops in Salem and Portland is being used by SeQuential Biofuels to make biodiesel. [Source: Salem (OR) Statesman Journal] 4:23:49 PM Google It!    [Sustainable design] Mo' better design Via Gristmill: The mtvU episode in which Cameron Diaz and William McDonough surprised Stanford's "Maintaining Sustainable Building Projects" class is now available (though you need the dread IE to watch it). Sadly, the class didn't seem too interested in Professor McDonough's lecture on cradle-to-cradle design until Cameron appeared. As Ms. Diaz said, "sustainability isn't sexy ... which is why I am here." (Ok, the second part was my addition.) And Bill, what is up with the bowtie? You're on MTV, yo! [Gristmill] 4:21:02 PM Google It!    [Corporate environmental responsibility] The Three Disciplines of Sustainable Management Running a successful business, as we all know, requires discipline. But running an enterprise that is both successful and sustainable might require an altogether different kind of discipline. By Ron Nahser, Ph.D. [GreenBiz.com] 4:18:37 PM Google It!    [Corporate environmental responsibility] Greening Your Catalog: Why It's Good for Your Business Deborah Fleischer outlines two low-cost solutions for greening your business catalog -- and why companies like Norm Thompson and Dell couldn't afford to pass them up. [GreenBiz.com] 4:13:13 PM Google It!    [Sustainable development] Driving Success: Human Resources and Sustainable development Functional briefing helps managers make sustainable development good for their careers and good for their companies. [GreenBiz.com] 4:12:04 PM Google It!    [Renewable energy] Beyond NIMBYism Via sustainablog: So what drives the "Not in my backyard" (NIMBY) mentality when it comes to renewable energy development? British researchers have received a grant to study the phenomenon from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to develop a study entitled "Beyond "NIMBYism": a multidisciplinary investigation of public engagement with renewable energy technologies." The study will take place at DeMontfort University's Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD), and will involve researchers at Lancaster, Loughborough, Northumbria and Surrey Universities. Principal Investigator for the research, Dr Patrick Devine-Wright, an environmental psychologist of De Montfort University's IESD, said: "To have any chance of meeting these targets, we need to better understand the reasons why renewable energy projects in the UK frequently lead to local controversy and antagonism between members of the public and other stakeholders including developers, local authorities and regional bodies. "It's crucial that the UK develops a sophisticated understanding of public responses to renewable energy technologies. Currently, the most popular way of thinking is the "NIMBY" concept, and we want to investigate what impact it has had upon pathways of development of different renewable energy technologies. The significance of issues of public acceptability, including public perception and engagement, are increasingly recognised by policy makers, the research community and other stakeholders as a vital part of technology development. "But whilst recent planning guidance recommends consultation with members of the public in the early phases of development, developers are unsure how to proceed, as it is often suspected that informing people earlier just gives them more time to resist unwanted development. Through systematic, multi-disciplinary research and case studies of public engagement in renewable energy projects, this research will enable us to better understand the determinants of public perceptions, manage uncertainty in renewables development, and help contribute to government targets for increasing the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy resources." This should be a very interesting study, though, at one level, an obvious answer comes to mind: it's environmental racism/classism, stupid! While I doubt anyone would consciously list "living away from power-generating facilities" as a sign that one has achieved economic success, we all know that poor people of color traditionally have been the ones located closest to these structures. I tend to think it's a holdover from that, even if renewable facilities aren't "dirty" (both in terms of pollution and aesthetics). 4:09:04 PM Google It!    [Environmental health] The Legacy of 'Silent Spring'. Forty-three years ago, Rachel Carson became the unlikely founder of the radical ecology movement. Her message is even more powerful today. [AlterNet.org: EnviroHealth] 4:07:31 PM Google It!    [Climate change] London Summit Tackling Global Warming Energy ministers from 20 countries meet in London to discuss how to tackle climate change through technology and persuade the big polluters -- the U.S., India and China -- to get involved in the fight. Reuters reporter Stuart Penson has the story, 11/1/05. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today] 4:01:50 PM Google It!    [Schools] Violation Of Free Speech? A Kentucky agency that certifies environmental educators wants them to pledge not to push any particular points of view -- a promise that some critics say violates free speech. James Bruggers of The Louisville Courier-Journal has more on the controversy, 11/1/05. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today] 4:00:08 PM Google It!    [Forest products industry] Forest Service Tries For 'Green' Timber Private timber companies have been getting "green" certifications for the past decade to boost sales among consumers who want to be assured that forests are not harmed by producing the lumber they buy. Now the U.S. Forest Service is getting involved. AP's Jeff Bernard explains in a story that appears in The Bellingham (Wash.) Herald, 10/29/05. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today] 3:58:43 PM Google It!    [Energy efficiency] Bright Idea At a glance, the new lights outlining the famous boathouses along Philadelphia's Schuylkill River are just another string of holiday bulbs. But on the inside is a technology that -- a century after Thomas Edison perfected his incandescent bulb -- experts are calling the ultra-efficient light source of the future. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Tom Avril reports, 10/31/05. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today] 3:57:26 PM Google It!    [Environmental health] Risky Legacy Weapons of mass destruction thrown into the sea years ago present danger now -- and the Army can't account for all of them. Details from reporter John M.R. Bull in a special series published in the Daily Press of Newport News, Va., 10/30/05. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today] 3:56:11 PM Google It!    [Climate change] Harvard Study Shows Escalating Climate Change Impacts On Human Health, the Environment and the Economy The Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, along with co-sponsors Swiss Re and the United Nations Development Programme, today released a study showing that climate change will significantly affect the health of humans and ecosystems and these impacts will have economic consequences. The study, entitled "Climate Change Futures: Health, Ecological and Economic Dimensions," surveys existing and future costs associated with climate change and the growing potential for abrupt, widespread impacts. The study reports that the insurance industry will be at the center of this issue, absorbing risk and helping society and business to adapt and reduce new risks. The full report (142 p.) is available at http://www.climatechangefutures.org/pdf/CCF_Report_Final_10.27.pdf. 3:48:09 PM Google It!    [Perchlorate] Perchlorate In Milk Examined A dairy cow's rumen can act as a biological filter, breaking down most perchlorate in feed, according to an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. [Source: Science Daily] 3:41:38 PM Google It!    [Sustainable development] New issue of Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy now available Editorial Hurricane Katrina rekindles thoughts about fallacies of a so-called "natural" disaster Michael H. Glantz Center for Capacity Building, National Center for Atmospheric Research Articles Obstacles to and potentials of the societal implementation of sustainable development: a comparative analysis of two case studies Karen Kastenhofer & Christian Rammel University of Vienna, Austria Abstract | Full Text - HTML | Full Text - PDF The Use of Science in Environmental Policy: A Case Study of the Regional Forest Agreement Process in Western Australia Martin Brueckner & Pierre Horwitz Edith Cowan University, Western Australia Abstract | Full Text - HTML | Full Text - PDF Uncertainty, Innovation, and Dynamic Sustainable Development Lenore Newman Royal Roads University, Canada Abstract | Full Text - HTML | Full Text - PDF Community Essay EPA's P3 - People, Prosperity, and Planet - Award Julie Beth Zimmerman Environmental Protection Agency, USA 3:34:37 PM Google It!    [Telecommuting] Employer TeleCommuter Hire Savings Calculator Getting cars off the road can help drive down the cost of employment, as users of this online calculator will see. Enter the number and hourly rates of your company's potential teleworkforce to compute how much money your company could save on payroll taxes, benefits, office space and equipment, and absenteeism. According to its developers, the calculator "presents possible savings based on company experience and research by government and other organizations."  [via ClimateBiz.com] 3:28:22 PM Google It!    [Corporate environmental responsibility] Warming up for Profit It's no time for "business as usual" -- or is it? Entrepreneurs thrive on excitement, says columnist Solitaire Townsend. Business should do what business does best -- and seize the new opportunities thrown up by climate change. [Source: ClimateBiz.com] 3:26:14 PM Google It!    [Corporate environmental responsibility] A 'green' spurt for US businesses? Wal-Mart's new plan to pare energy costs by shifting to renewables could prompt other firms to follow its lead. [Source: Christian Science Monitor] 3:24:27 PM Google It!    [Schools] Half MW Solar PV System for NJ University New Jersey's best-in-the-nation solar rebates continue to drive a robust market in the state. Monmouth University's Board of Trustees said that installation will begin on the largest solar electric system at any New Jersey university in the next few weeks at Monmouth University. [Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com] 3:22:36 PM Google It!    [Renewable energy] Ten Ways to Save Energy and Money Using Renewables The U.S. is facing the reality of a very expensive heating season, higher gasoline and natural gas prices and increasing awareness of our nation's effect on global warming. So it is timely for us to offer some tips (and plenty of links) on how to save money and energy using renewable resources. [Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com] 3:20:25 PM Google It!    [Biofuels] Setting the Record Straight on Ethanol Biofuels, and specifically ethanol, have been the subject of a great deal of criticism in recent months by detractors claiming that more energy is required to produce ethanol than is available in the final product, that it is too expensive, and that it produces negligible carbon reductions. These critiques are simply not accurate. State-of-the-art technologies have been competently forecasted-even proven in the market-to produce ethanol that is far more cost-effective and less energy-intensive than gasoline. [Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com] 3:17:39 PM Google It!

© Copyright 2005 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 12/2/2005; 9:58:40 AM.