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Friday, January 27, 2006
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A new suite of Internet tools is allowing activists to better connect the dots about companies' social and environmental promises and performance. And that could put new juice into the movement aimed at getting companies to say what they do, and do what they say. [Joel Makower: Two Steps Forward]
12:06:36 PM Google It! 
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Jan. 25, 2006 - Engineers have developed a method for "precooling" small office buildings and reducing energy consumption during times of peak demand, promising not only to save money but also to help prevent power failures during hot summer days. [GreenBiz.com]
12:02:15 PM Google It!
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TOKYO, Jan. 25, 2006 - Teikoku Databank Ltd., a major Japanese credit research company, have announced the results of an opinion poll on corporate attitudes toward climate-friendly office wear. [GreenBiz.com]
11:59:36 AM Google It!
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2006 - George Washington University has partnered with Conservation International to develop and implement an educational curriculum on ecotourism management. [GreenBiz.com]
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LONDON, Jan. 23, 2006 - A group of seven European industry associations has called on the European Commission and European Governments to take action to ensure full implementation of the 2003 Energy Performance in Buildings Directive. [GreenBiz.com]
11:56:38 AM Google It!
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Government policy, NGO engagement, innovation, transparency, and increased accountability will be the big themes for the coming year, say authors Tobias Webb and Paul Hohnen. [GreenBiz.com]
11:55:08 AM Google It!
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The Patagonia clothing company, which has a history of socially and environmentally conscious actions, recently completed the installation of a large solar photovoltaic carport project at its Ventura, California headquarters. [Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
11:41:29 AM Google It!
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Ford Motor Company recently unveiled the Ford Escape Hybrid E85 at the Washington Auto Show. The Escape Hybrid E85, a research vehicle that features both hybrid electric power and flexible-fuel capability, is the world's first hybrid vehicle capable of operating on blends of fuel containing as much as 85 percent ethanol. [Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
11:39:03 AM Google It!
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The U.S. Department of Energy rolled out a large new round of funding dollars and a research "roadmap" aimed at identifying and overcoming the technical and manufacturing challenges associated with the further development of commercially available hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This also, however, continues a policy goal that many critics say faces insurmountable challenges and comes at the expense of research and support of renewable energy technologies. [Source: RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
11:28:22 AM Google It!
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Wastewater management facilities face the daily challenge of preventing odors from escaping their industrial and municipal storage ponds. Any lapse in maintaining an effective odor cap has dire consequences. Before the solar-powered circulators came along, previous aeration technology caused turbulence from brush aerators that released aerosols and bacteria-laden mist into neighborhoods, risking serious health hazards, public outrage, and even shutdowns. [Source: RenewableEnergyAccoss.com]
11:26:35 AM Google It!
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In an effort to reduce the amount of toxic metals leaching into groundwater and streams, California has made it illegal to throw virtually any consumer electronics device in the trash -- from TVs to computers, cell phones to printers. No other state's rules go as far. Paul Rogers reports in the San Jose Mercury News, 1/24/06. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today]
11:03:01 AM Google It!
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Bottled water in Canada -- advertised as especially clean and pure -- contains higher levels of a deadly toxin than groundwater and even tap water, a study warns. Randy Richmond of the London Free Press reports, 1/20/06. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today]
10:59:55 AM Google It!
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NASCAR will use unleaded fuel for its racecars and trucks beginning in 2008, making the switch from the high-octane leaded fuel that it has used for decades. Viv Bernstein of The New York Times explains why the heat was on to make the switch, 1/20/06. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today]
10:55:01 AM Google It!
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But people must begin to manage its ecosystems to put the planet on a sustainable path, says a new report. More from the Christian Science Monitor's Peter N. Spotts, 1/20/06. [SEJ Environmental Journalism Today]
10:49:38 AM Google It!
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An important report on the world's ecosystems says there is time to avert the worst consequences of global warming, if we start now. [AlterNet.org: EnviroHealth]
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The waters of New Bedford Harbor, Mass., sparkle on sunny days. But beneath the bay's gleaming surface lies one of the most toxic environments in the nation. By Cheryl Lyn Dybas. [washingtonpost.com - Science]
10:41:54 AM Google It!
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A recently published notice from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on hybrid vehicle tax credits removes most of the burden from the buyer, thanks to a certification process for manufacturers. The car companies will certify that a vehicle is eligible and will calculate the size of the tax credit. [EERE Network News]
10:39:10 AM Google It!
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A new national coalition plans to build grassroots demand for the production of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which can travel 25 to 35 miles without using any gasoline. A new industry consortium and a California non-profit are also advancing the technology, but some experts are skeptical. [EERE Network News]
10:37:34 AM Google It!
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DOE is sending an Energy Saving Team to a fertilizer plant near Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Terra Nitrogen Company plant in Verdigris is a major U.S. producer of nitrogen fertilizer products. [EERE Network News]
10:35:53 AM Google It!
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DOE is sending one of its Energy Saving Teams to the Ohio Valley Aluminum plant in Shelbyville, Kentucky, as the latest effort in its continuing "Easy Ways to Save Energy" campaign. The Shelbyville facility produces aluminum billets, which companies can extrude into rails and other products. [EERE Network News]
10:34:20 AM Google It!
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As of January 23rd, any central air conditioners for homes that are manufactured for sale in the United States must meet a higher energy efficiency standard. New units must achieve a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) of 13, a 30 percent improvement over the old standard. [EERE Network News]
10:32:53 AM Google It!
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DOE is sending an Energy Saving Team to the Land O' Lakes Dairy Food plant in Tulare, California, on a three-day stint to identify opportunities to save energy. DOE plans to send Energy Saving Teams to 200 industrial plants, and as of early this month, it had selected 65 of them. [EERE Network News]
10:31:43 AM Google It!
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In early January, China called for a nationwide repeal of restrictions on smaller, more economical cars by the end of March in a move to ease the country's growing dependence on imported oil. [Worldwatch Institute]
10:27:58 AM Google It!
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A burgeoning U.S. market for "green roofs" has greenhouse owners cultivating plants that help keep out the summer heat and winter cold while also managing storm water runoff and absorbing carbon dioxide. [ENN Business Headlines]
10:26:26 AM Google It!
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The National Environmental Partnership Summit
Stewardship in Action: Our Responsibility - Our Environment
IMPORTANT DATED INFORMATION
Early Registration Closes March 1, 2006
Full week registration fees will increase from $325 to $425 for Government, Academic, NGO and from $525 to $625 for Industry after March 1, 2006.
Registration is here:
http://www.environmentalsummit.org/register.cfm
Breaking News:
Our opening keynote will feature Alan AtKisson, CEO, Earth Charter Initiative
Trainings and Site Visits will span the entire Summit week and include the following opportunities:
TRAININGS
- Leveraging Lean Manufacturing Methods to Achieve Better Environmental Results: A Toolkit for Environmental Assistance Providers
- Ecological Footprints: Measuring Sustainability and Problem Solving
- Can comprehensive environmental reporting foster continual environmental improvements?
- Introduction to Logic Modeling
- Community-based change in natural urban environments
- Leading by Example: Environmental Improvement In Action
- Sustainability 501
- Data Collection Tools and Techniques: The First Step in Measuring P2 Results
- Compliance Assistance for the Inspector
- Consumer Conservation: More in Your Wallet, Less from the Environment
SITE VISITS
- Chattahochee River Trip
- Calloway Gardens & Interface Flooring Systems
- Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
- Southface/Atlantic Station Green Building Tour to Southface/Atlantic Station
For more information visit the Summit agenda online: http://www.environmentalsummit.org/agenda.cfm
SUBMIT YOUR WORK TO OUR LEADING BY EXAMPLE SESSION
Take this opportunity to show how your facility is "leading by example" by participating in the Summit's First Annual Best Practices Showcase. Organizations are invited to submit a proposal by February 15 describing an environmental improvement that they would like to highlight through a poster board and handout. This is a great, low-cost and simple way to demonstrate how you are putting stewardship in action.
For more detailed information and to submit your proposal, please go to:
http://www.environmentalsummit.org/leadingbyexampleap.cfm
OUR BREAKOUT SESSIONS WILL BE BETTER THAN EVER!
218 proposals for presentations and full sessions by more than 200 organizations and EPA offices were submitted for review, selection and session design by teams of your peers! We'll be featuring 12 tracks that will be woven into a total 9 breakouts of 6 sessions each - that means 54 sessions to choose from, to learn first hand what your colleagues from around the country are doing right now. All track team selections are in and the Summit team is meeting next week to layout our breakout session agenda. Sessions will be published in early February!
For registration questions please phone: (202) 299-9701
2006 National Environmental Partnership Summit Team
Co-sponsors:
The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable
Performance Track Participants Association
United States Environmental Protection Agency
- Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics,
- National Center for Environmental Innovation, and
- Office of Compliance
Special Thanks to:
EPA Region IV
Georgia Pollution Prevention Assistance Division
Georgia Tech
U.S. Department of Defense
Southface Energy Institute.
10:23:41 AM Google It!
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(Washington, D.C. - January 26, 2006) EPA has released a specialized toolkit to encourage school officials and child care facilities to reduce lead in their drinking water. The "3Ts for Reducing Lead in Drinking Water at Schools and Child care Facilities Toolkit" contains materials to implement a voluntary Training, Testing, and Telling strategy.
"Our drinking water tools for schools teach lead prevention through action and awareness," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water. "This new and improved guidance will help students, teachers, and parents have confidence in the quality of their school's tap water."
Testing water in schools and child care centers is important because children spend a significant portion of their days there. The "3Ts Toolkit" explains how to test for lead in drinking water; report results to parents, students, staff, and other interested parties; and take action to correct problems. The toolkit also includes an update to a 1994 EPA technical guidance to help schools design and implement testing programs. Steps in the program include:
- Collecting information on school drinking water and identifying assistance to implement a school lead control program.
- Developing a plumbing profile.
- Developing a drinking water testing plan.
- Testing the facilities' drinking water for lead.
- Correcting problems when elevated lead levels are found.
- Communicating with the school community about a school lead-control program.
EPA developed the toolkit in conjunction with nongovernment organizations and several federal agencies including the U.S. Department of Education, whose Safe and Drug-Free School Coordinators will help promote and distribute the package to schools.
Deborah Price, assistant deputy secretary of the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the Department of Education, said, "An unhealthy school environment is a serious barrier to learning. This toolkit will help schools work with their community partners to understand and reduce children's lead exposure from drinking water."
Printed copies of the toolkit will be available through the Water Resource Center at 800-832-7828 and through the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at: 800-426-4791. To view the toolkit visit http://www.epa.gov/safewater/schools/guidance.html.
EPA will also distribute toolkits at conferences attended by school officials and child care providers throughout 2006. Information about drinking water and children's health is available at http://www.epa.gov/safewater/kids/kidshealth.
10:21:37 AM Google It!
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Students discuss their concerns and share their recommendations for improving the environment in the Great Lakes region. [Source: Milford (MI) Times via GLIN Daily News]
10:18:43 AM Google It!
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An estimated half-million gallons of water could be saved daily if owners of single-family homes built before 1994 updated their toilets to "low-flow" facilities. [Source: Milwaukee Sentinal via GLIN Daily News]
10:15:54 AM Google It!
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Ohio is one of 20 states courting the U.S. Department of Energy for the right to build what could become America's first coal-fired power plant of the future. [Source: Toledo Blade via GLIN Daily News]
10:14:25 AM Google It!
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(Washington, D.C.-Jan. 25, 2006) EPA is launching a global stewardship program inviting companies to reduce PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) releases and its presence in products by 95 percent by no later than 2010 and to work toward eliminating sources of exposure five years after that but no later than 2015.
PFOA is an essential processing aid in the manufacture of fluoropolymers, and fluorotelomers, which are used in the manufacture of a wide range of non-stick and stain-resistant surfaces and products. PFOA may also be produced by the breakdown of fluorotelomers, which are used to impart water, stain, and grease resistance to carpets, paper and textile.
PFOA is persistent in the environment, it has been detected in low levels in wildlife and humans, and animal studies conducted have indicated effects of concern.
"The science is still coming in, but the concern is there so acting now to minimize future releases of PFOA is the right thing to do for our environment and our health," said Susan B. Hazen, acting assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. "EPA is pleased to provide companies the opportunity to step up to the plate and demonstrate their leadership in protecting our global environment."
Participating companies will commit to reduce by 95 percent facility emissions and product content levels of PFOA, PFOA precursors, and higher homologue chemicals, by no later than 2010, with the year 2000 as the baseline for measuring reductions. The program also calls for companies to commit to work toward eliminating these sources of PFOA exposure five years after attaining the 95 percent reduction but no later than 2015. Companies are being asked to meet these commitments in the United States as well as in their global operations.
Also, participants are being asked to provide their commitment to EPA by March 1, 2006, and to submit their year 2000 baseline numbers for emissions and product content to EPA by Oct. 31, 2006. Annual public reports on their progress toward the goals will be due in October of each successive year. To ensure comparable reporting of reductions, participating companies must commit to work with EPA and others to develop and agree upon analytical standards and laboratory methods for these chemicals. EPA will also initiate efforts to add PFOA and related chemicals to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) to help monitor the results of the stewardship program.
This stewardship program is a result of the Agency's on-going process with industry, stakeholders, consumer groups, and interested parties to identify and develop the scientific information needed to fully understand how people are being exposed to PFOA and what, if any, concerns those exposures may pose. Industry has responded by initiating new studies, including through enforceable as well as voluntary testing efforts, and this important data gathering effort will continue as an additional element under the Stewardship Program.
PFOA, also known as C8 or Ammonium Perfluorooctanoate (APFO), is used in the manufacturing process of fluoropolymers. Fluoropolymers impart desirable properties, including fire resistance and oil, stain, grease, and water repellency. They are used to provide non-stick surfaces on cookware and waterproof, breathable membranes for clothing. PFOA can also be found as an impurity in the production of some products.
For more information on the Agency actions on PFOA or to read any available commitment letters, visit http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/pfoa/pfoastewardship.htm.
10:11:50 AM Google It!
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Efforts to forecast how Earth's future climate will affect us must consider the economic growth of both rich and poor nations. But there are doubts over the theories being used, as Quirin Schiermeier explains. [Source: Nature]
10:09:08 AM Google It!
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Editorial in Nature argues that climate research can only gain from closer collaboration with economists.
10:07:59 AM Google It!
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(Washington, D.C.-January 25, 2006) The 2006 Green Power Top 25 list, released today, includes a diverse set of U.S. companies, organizations and government institutions that have voluntarily bought the most renewable energy and are part of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Green Power Partnership. EPA also announced its Green Power Partners are now purchasing more than 4 million megawatt hours of renewable energy, an increase of nearly 100 percent since the end of 2004.
The 2006 Top 25 green power purchasers are buying enough energy to power more than 300,000 homes a year, which is also comparable to removing the emissions of nearly 400,000 cars from the road annually. More than half of the Top 25 EPA green power purchasers are comprised of U.S. corporations, a number that continues to increase every year.
"EPA's partners continue to meet President Bush's call to diversify our nation's energy supply by promoting alternative and renewable energy sources," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "These leaders in environmental stewardship are making the voluntary decisions to switch to green power - helping to decrease our nation's overall dependence on foreign sources of power."
The U.S. Air Force once again leads the green power Top 25 list, purchasing more than 1 million MWh annually for Air Force bases across the country. The Air Force has held the No. 1 spot since the Top 25 list started in September 2004. Whole Foods Market surpassed both Safeway, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson to lead all corporate purchasers after increasing their purchase to more than 450 thousand MWh annually of renewable energy. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy follow the U.S. Air Force in purchase size for government institutions in the Top 25.
Green power is electricity generated from environmentally-preferable renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, and low-impact biomass and hydro resources. Green power accounts for nearly two percent of America's electricity supply, but voluntary purchasing of renewable energy is accelerating renewable energy development.
The complete list of Top 25 EPA Green Power Partners is as follows, listed in order of purchase size:
1. U.S. Air Force
2. Whole Foods Market
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
4. Johnson & Johnson
5. U.S Department of Energy
6. Starbucks
7. The World Bank
8. Safeway, Inc.
9. U.S. General Services Administration (Region 2)
10. HSBC North America
11. City of Sand Diego, Calif.
12. New Jersey Consolidated Energy Savings Program
13. Advanced Micro Devices/Austin, Texas Facilities
14. WhiteWave Foods
15. Staples
16. Austin (Texas) Independent School District
17. Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc.
18. The Tower Companies
19. FedEx Kinko's
20. U.S. Amry/Fort Carson
21. University of Pennsylvania
22. Montgomery County, Md.
23. Hyatt Regency/Reunion & DFW Airport Hotels
24. Western Washington University
25. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary EPA program that seeks to increase the use of green power among leading U.S. organizations. Partners in the program switch to green power for a portion of their electricity needs in return for EPA technical assistance and recognition. The Green Power Partnership currently has more than 600 Partners, including Fortune 500 companies, states, federal agencies, trade associations and universities.
EPA updates the list of green power purchasers quarterly. For more information on green power, visit http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.
10:05:28 AM Google It!
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The cover article (p.73-81) in the February 2006 issue of Metropolis (design/building/architecture magazine) features Foster and Partners? new Philology Library at the Free University of Berlin. The cover describes it as "Norman Foster's greenest building ever."
The photos in the print copy are larger and clearer, but to see the text of the article online, go to:
http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=1745 and
http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=1742.
[Thanks to Jan H. Berry of the Spencerian College -- Lexington Learning Resource Center for the links]
9:57:24 AM Google It!
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© Copyright
2006
Laura L. Barnes.
Last update:
2/2/2006; 3:48:07 PM.
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