Friday, December 02, 2005

[Household toxics] Clean It: Safer House-Cleaning Methods That Really Work! This guide provides less toxic methods for household cleaning than the use of cleaning products that are hazardous to the health and to the sewer system (and possibly water life). Includes general cleaning guidelines, items not recommended for garbage disposals, and specific ideas for cleaners, ovens, drains, bathrooms, furniture, and metal polishes. From the San Francisco Bay Area Pollution Prevention Group. [Librarians' Internet Index: New This Week] 5:23:27 PM Google It!    [Sustainability] Sustainability: A Necessarily Collaborative Effort Sustainable initiatives require cooperation not only across public and private sectors but across hemispheres as well. By Simran Sethi [GreenBiz.com] 5:21:41 PM Google It!    [Sustainable design] Designing for the Environment Turns Intel Fabs Green How does a manufacturer push technological boundaries without causing environmental problems? For Intel, it all comes down to design. By John Harland and Tim Mohin [GreenBiz.com] 5:20:47 PM Google It!    [Schools] Parking and Sustainability at Cornell Via sustainablog: If I had a nickel for every time I've heard a student or a fellow faculty member at my university complain about the parking situation, I'd be wealthy. I'm pretty certain this is a common complaint at most schools, and I'm very happy to see that Cornell University is considering their parking woes within the context of campus sustainability. Horticulture professor Ken Mudge, at a forum on the issue, hit the nail right on the head about the commuter mindset that pervades American colleges and universities: Mudge explained that while sustainability is a global issue, it is essential to take steps locally, and now. "We have to be cognizant of local issues such as the loss of green space and the quality of campus life, he said. "Otherwise, it will be too late, too soon." He added that people falsely assume that they have the rights to commute and to use as much energy as they can afford. In order to change these beliefs, "The campus needs a paradigm shift in how we look at sustainability options," he said. (my emphasis) Mudge also offered some potential solutions, including smaller parking spaces, making central campus "pedestrians only" to deter commuters from driving, and a "pay as you go" system as an alternative to pre-paid parking passes. I'd imagine that most colleges and universities have pretty hefty carbon footprints, and that commuting to and from class accounts for a sizeable portion of them. We need to start thinking creatively about this problem, and not view it merely as an issue of convenience. We also need to realize that most schools are commuter campuses -- residential students, as a rule, are minorities of the student population. 5:18:06 PM Google It!    [Fuel efficiency] Is CAFE Dead? Via sustainablog: And if it is, is it a step forward? Grist's Muckraker Amanda Griscom Little takes a look at the debate over fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks in Washington, and takes note of some efforts by legislators to bring fresh thinking to the table. The environmental community (at least in its institutional form) seems to have accepted the idea that arguing for higher CAFE standards is a non-starter: "CAFE is and will remain an important policy instrument, but politically speaking, it's dead," said Ashok Gupta, senior energy economist for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Kevin Curtis, a vice president at National Environmental Trust, put it this way: "There are those who argue that CAFE has been dead for years, or even decades, given that no substantial improvements in the standards have been made since the '70s. The difference now, for better or worse, is that most fuel-economy advocates are no longer even trying to make it seem alive." A Senate vote in June illustrated this point: When Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) offered an amendment to the energy bill that would have gradually increased CAFE standards to 40 mpg by the model year 2017, 67 senators opposed it. "Nay" voters included the Senate's two most prominent Democrats, Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and John Kerry (Mass.), both of whom had presumably done some electoral math and decided they didn't want to piss off Michigan. "Essentially, CAFE has become a whipping horse -- an obstacle that all parties are stuck on, an ideological debate more than a practical, constructive one," said Kit Kennedy, a senior attorney at NRDC. I will say that I like the premise behind Joe Lieberman and Evan Bayh's Vehicle and Fuel Choices for American Security Act for the same reasons that the auto industry seems to be warming to it: it's less prescriptive than typical CAFE standards, which, ideally (and I stress 'ideally'), would harness the creativity and flexibility of the private sector in meeting defined goals of lower oil consumption. Sen. Barack Obama has also proposed a trade-off to the auto industry with "...a recently introduced bill that would relieve U.S. automakers of some of their huge legacy health-care costs if the companies would funnel at least half of resulting savings into the production of more fuel-efficient cars." Are these feasible options? We simply have to talk about fuel efficiency if we really want to reduce dependence on oil, as most of it goes into our cars and trucks. I suspect the Sierra Club's Dan Becker is correct when he notes "It is a good development that members of Congress are searching for new ways to save oil... but I suspect that ultimately they will find that CAFE is the best way." 5:06:29 PM Google It!    [Renewable energy] What's the 'Clean Energy Capital of the US?' Via sustainablog: Folks in Austin, TX, plan to find out. The group Solar Austin, with a grant from the Department of Energy, has created the Energy Freedom Challenge, which is "...a race to see which city in the U.S. can be the first to get 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources like wind, solar, geo-thermal, methane and biomass power by the year 2025." Austin itself, which will host the contest for the next twenty years, plans to be a front-running competitor: Right now Austin receives 5 percent of its energy from either wind, solar or landfill methane power; well short of hitting the 50 percent mark. Austin can expect plenty of competition from other cities for the clean energy title, [Solar Austin Co-Director Jane] Pulaski said. "Places like Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Chicago, New York, New Jersey," Pulaski said. The Union of Concerned Scientists will be in charge of establishing the rules, metrics and qualifications for the contest. Solar Austin expects to have cities signed up to compete by early next year. Austin will be both the host and a competitor in the first year. Austin's Green Choice program already sells more renewable energy to customers than any other program in the country. What a cool idea! Perhaps something like this could get other cities (like, say, St. Louis) more involved in renewable energy development. Cities do like cool titles... 5:04:01 PM Google It!    [Green industry] Clean Tech's Trillion-Dollar Markets A newly formed alignment of legal, financial, and investment interests will direct "trillions" of U.S. dollars over the next 10 years into evolving markets linked to climate change, clean technology and sustainable use of natural resources, according to a report being prepared for the United Nations. [Joel Makower: Two Steps Forward] 10:23:14 AM Google It!    [Green meetings] The Greening of Meetings My latest monthly "Toiling Point" column on Grist is up. The focus this month is on how to create more environmentally responsible meetings and events. What started years ago as a handful of small and largely symbolic practices -- printing on recycled paper and recycling name badges, for example -- has taken a far more substantive turn. [Joel Makower: Two Steps Forward] 10:07:31 AM Google It!    [Ethanol] Ethanol industry enjoying boom period The ethanol business, once perceived as an industry kept alive mostly by government support, is becoming more viable amid worries of a global oil crunch. [Environmental Health News] 10:05:44 AM Google It!    [Biofuels] Biofuel imports anger farmers For U.S. agriculture, the energy gold rush is on, and Minnesota's pioneering biodiesel and ethanol producers are in the thick of it. But suddenly, they have foreign competition. [Environmental Health News] 10:04:50 AM Google It!    [Nanotechnology] New Inventory Of Research Into Nanotechnology's Health, Environmental Effects A new inventory of research into nanotechnology's potential environmental, human health, and safety effects (EH&S) shows the need for more resources, for a coherent risk-related research strategy, and for public-private partnerships and international EH&S research collaborations. These are the key conclusions drawn from the first single inventory of largely government-funded research projects exploring nanotechnology's possible EH&S impacts, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars announced on Nov. 30. The inventory is publicly available online at http://www.nanotechproject.org or http://www.wilsoncenter.org/nano. It was compiled and released by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The project is a partnership of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Wilson Center. [Source: Environmental Protection E-News] 10:00:59 AM Google It!    [Grants] EPA Air Innovations Grant Applications Due January 6, 2006 EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards is seeking applications for two $50,000 Innovations Grants for State/Local/Tribal Innovative Approaches to Reducing Air Pollution. These awards aim to facilitate the implementation of new and innovative programs, technologies, and/or strategies, including non-traditional and voluntary measures for achieving additional air pollution emissions reductions. Proposed projects must include a mechanism to quantify emissions reductions, as well as a progress report mechanism. The deadline for submitting proposals is 5:00 pm, January 6, 2006. For more information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/ttn/airinnovations/funding.html. The complete request for applications is available at http://epa.gov/oar/grants/05-22.pdf. The grants were first announced at the 2005 Air Innovations Conference. See http://www.cleanairinfo.com/airinnovations2005/addlinfo.htm for information. The conference included presentations from two past grant recipients: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection http://www.cleanairinfo.com/airinnovations2005/Presentations/Wed4-Interesting%20Iniatives%20for%20Clean%20Air/11-SerpilGuran.pdf Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District http://www.cleanairinfo.com/airinnovations2005/Presentations/Fri2-What%27s%20on%20the%20Horizon/6-CynthiaLee.pdf 9:59:29 AM Google It!

© Copyright 2006 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 1/11/2006; 3:14:14 PM.