Archive for the ‘green inc’ Category

The folks at Greenbiz today released an interesting article as part of a series of interviews from the MIT Sloan Management Review in July 2009. The full interview is available here.

On the policy side, WSJ’s Keith Johnson has been following the latest developments in the Senate as committee debates continue. The latest activity, reports Johnson, is a letter written by some fourteen senators to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) making the case to divvy allowances completely on the basis of emissions (rather than the emissions-to-production ratio that defined the breakdown in the bill that passed in the House this past June). Reuters has more on this story.

Liz Galst of NYT’s Green Inc. Blog has the scoop on the latest issue advocacy campaign that’s sweeping (make that crawling) across the nation. It’s Seventh Generation’s new “Million Baby Crawl” campaign. Here, folks are encouraged to sign up by customizing their own “baby avatar” and writing a short message to their local representative about why we need stronger legislation to keep harmful chemicals out of the home.

“The Million Baby Crawl takes a systemic and holistic approach to the problem,” Seventh Generation’s executive chairman Jeffrey Hollender said.

Systemic, yes. Holistic, I suppose. But aren’t the babies adorable? Look at them! Babies are a truly post-partisan vehicle for message dissemination and issue advocacy. What party or constituency could possibly be anti-baby? Just look at this video, one of several spots that belong to the campaign. If babies crawling across the street isn’t funny, I don’t know what is.

Submitted by Grant Draper, President of FD Element

GreenBiz reports that the entertainment industry that has a reputation for being comprised of “tree-hugging liberals,” is not so green after all.  In a report entitled “2009 Entertainment Sector Analysis,” the Roberts Environmental Center at Claremont McKenna College analyzed the social responsibility reporting efforts of the world’s leading entertainment companies. While a majority of the entertainment companies surveyed for the report has published an environmental visionary statement, few actually report on the major environmental issues.  Or anything at all, for that matter.  Only four of the 14 companies surveyed received points for environmental reporting, and no company received points for environmental performance.

As Environmental Leader reports, FedEx Ground is building a 2.4 megawatt solar array atop its distribution facility in New Jersey.  This array will provide up to 30 percent of the hub’s annual energy needs, and will be the largest in the U.S.  To give you a sense of what a 2.4 MW installation looks like, it will cover 3.3 acres of rooftop space, featuring approximately 12,400 solar panels, and will generate 2.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

The New York Times’ Green Inc. reports on the efficacy of the much-discussed “Cash for Clunkers” program.  While good-intentioned, there was clearly someone asleep at the wheel when this was initially drafted.  Apparently, you could trade in your “clunker” that gets 18 mpg, for a “whiz-bang new model” that gets 22 mpg.  What am I missing?  In any case, the White House has approved an additional $2B in funding (pending a Senate okay), as if that’s going to help at all… Adam Lee, a co-owner of Lee Auto Malls, one of the largest car dealerships in Maine, outlined for Green Inc that “we [they were] having all sorts of problems” with the program.

Business Week’s Green Business blog reports on the difficulties airlines will be facing once the European Emission Trading System begins including their industry in the mix beginning in 2012.  Based on current market prices in Europe ($20.50 per metric ton of CO2), airlines will have to pay approximately $1.6 billion annually for all flights that land or take off within the EU, including those operated by companies registered overseas.  Delta will face a carbon shortfall of 3.5 million metric tons (worth an estimated $71 million) and United must offset 3.3 million metric tons (worth an estimated $67 million). “The American carriers in the scheme will be the first sector in the U.S. to be drawn into mandatory international emissions trading, even though it is implemented by the EU,” Point Carbon senior analyst Andreas Arvanitakis said in a statement.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

Climate Biz reports on the Waxman-Markey bill being debated on the floor of the House today.  The cornerstone of the bill would be to put a cap and a price on emitting carbon. If passed, the bill would be a giant step toward low-carbon electric power, but unfortunately it would not solve the grave problem of U.S. oil dependence.

The Wall Street Journal’s Environmental Capital blog reports that in February, First Solar tooted its horn about breaking the $1-per-watt barrier for making solar modules in the last months of 2008. This week, the company said costs had fallen again to 93 cents per watt, down 5% in three months and down 28% in a year.  The Walton family of Wal-Mart fame owns about 39% of First Solar stock – and the retailer’s legendary penchant for driving down costs is rubbing off on the renewable-energy company.

The New York Times’ Green Inc blog questions whether making trade more free could lead to a rise in carbon dioxide emissions as a result of greater economic activity. But more trade could also help to staunch climate change by increasing the availability of climate-friendly technologies and products.  Those are the conclusions in report issued on Friday by the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Environment Program.

Treehugger reports that on the passing of Michael Jackson last night, an important contribution of his to the environmental movement may have been overlooked.  “Earth Song,” his big, bold environmental call-to-arms, is indisputably the most popular green-themed tune ever. It remains Jackson’s best-selling single in the U.K., and beat out the Beatles’ first single in 25 years for the top spot on the British charts. But if you live in the U.S., you probably haven’t heard it, until now…

Tim Woodall at FD Element

The New York Times’ Green Inc. reports that electronics manufacturer Dell recently took its competitor, Apple, to task for advertising that its Macbook line is “the world’s greenest family of notebooks”.  The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus — the advertising industry’s self-governing body whose job it is to review truthfulness and accuracy in marketing claims — was brought in to determine the veracity of Apple’s assertions.

Environmental Leader reports that all 30.8 million allowances under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) were sold at auction this week, fetching an average price of $3.23 per allowance.  One bidder bought up 7.7 million allowances or nearly a fourth of all those available. In all, four bidders purchased 2 million or more emission allowances, with nine bidders buying 1 million or more, and 18 bidders scooping up 250,000 allowances or more.

Treehugger reports on the seedy underbelly of green business.  Stories have been surfacing that solar power companies who start projects without agreeing to hire unionized labor are finding themselves in a suspicious bit of trouble. Reports suggest that they’re suddenly buried under legal demands to ensure the project won’t interfere with dozens of different species, face hostile testimony at public hearings, and are forced to conduct lengthy, barely relevant environmental studies.

The Wall Street Journal’s Environmental Capital reports on Duke Energy’s announcement that it plans to build a 1,600-megawatt nuclear power plant in Ohio. Duke CEO Jim Rogers said last month that he’s “betting on nuclear” as a low-emissions power source, especially given all the uncertainty over the cost and timing of developing “clean coal” plants.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

Green Biz reports on how companies are identifying and mitigating greenhouse gas “hot spots” in their own operations and energy purchases.  The article goes on to note that there are a few reasons for this, such as their desire to communicate with customers, investors, and others about the environmental impacts of their products and relationships.

Environmental Leader reports that federal police will be forced to become “carbon cops” under the Australian Government’s climate laws to cut greenhouse emissions. Federal police agents, who are involved in law enforcement in Australia and overseas, now will be expected to prosecute a new range of climate offenses including under reporting of carbon emissions by firms and bogus carbon offset schemes.

The New York Times’ Green Inc. blog reports that despite the controversy surrounding carbon sequestration, Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a major public-private project to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions that was abandoned by the Bush administration is being restarted.  The Illinois-based coal plant project known as FutureGen will store nearly all of its emissions underground, where they cannot contribute to global warming.

Grist reports that carbon entrepreneurship is alive and well, and living in Silicon Valley.  At Microsoft’s Silicon Valley headquarters a crowd of entrepreneurs showed up to elevator-pitch their startups to a panel of VCs and win $40,000 in services. Competition to just get in the door was fierce, with 400 companies vying for 30 slots at Launch: Silicon Valley, the annual competition put on by the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

The New York Times’ Green Inc. reports that with the new digital era being ushered in this year, consumers will now be able to distinguish between new television sets based on their environmental impact.  Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Panasonic, Sony, Environmental Protection Agency, Natural Resources Defense Council and 70 other large enterprises has agreed to create a voluntary labeling system that will let consumers know, for example, how much lead, mercury and toxic flame retardants their televisions contain.  The labeling system goes far beyond the now-familiar EnergyStar sticker, which simply designates the energy efficiency of electronic products.

Environmental Leader reports that organizations are increasingly putting more effort into their recycling programs for all types of materials such as aluminum cans, fluorescent lamps, wood waste and scrap metal.  Novelis Inc., a producer of flat-rolled aluminum and a recycler of used beverage cans, has recycled an estimated 39 billion aluminum beverage cans in the past year, a new record for the company.

The WSJ’s Environmental Capital reports on new thinking with regards to China’s ballooning carbon dioxide emissions.  The Chinese say much of the stuff they make is for the West, so rich countries should shoulder those emissions as well.  Climate-change guru and advisor to HSBC, Lord Nicholas Stern, figures the Chinese might be right: “The logical point China makes is that there is a definite responsibility with the consumer and not just with the producer is a sound one.”

GreenBiz reports that a group of faith-based investors will withdraw its shareholder resolution it filed to get Chevron to track its products’ carbon contents after the oil company agreed to comply.  After agreeing to comply with the resolution filed by the Sisters of St. Dominic, Chevron consented to voluntarily track product carbon content, and pointed out another oil giant — ExxonMobil — is still resisting similar proposals.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

The New York Times’ Green Inc. reports that Last week, the Energy Department announced nearly $50 million in new financing and scholarships through its Nuclear Energy University Program for American colleges working on “cutting-edge” nuclear energy research.  “The next generation of nuclear power plants, with the highest standards of safety, efficiency and environmental protection,” Energy Secretary Steven Chu said, “will require training the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers.”

As Consumer Reports… well, reports, this week Coca Cola unveiled its new PlantBottle, which is made from 100% recycled contents.  It is comprised of a mix of petroleum-based materials and up to 30 percent plant-based materials, including sugar cane and molasses. Compared with the production of petroleum-based PET bottles, says Coca-Cola, making the PlantBottle relies less on a nonrenewable resource and reduces greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 25 percent.

GreenBiz reports that Safeway stores recycle about 85 percent of their solid waste through a series of programs that have diverted hundred of thousands of tons of garbage from landfills.  The company’s 85% diversion rate exceeds the 50 percent mandated goal of California, the state in which the retailer is headquartered. All told, the programs have diverted more than 500,000 tons of waste materials, Safeway said in its 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility report published today.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

Environmental Leader reported that Living Cities has released its Green Cities report that provides an assessment of how cities in the United States are trying to limit their carbon footprint, and identifies areas where environmental efforts lag. The report shows that cities have not waited for federal or state governments to initiate green policies that help combat climate change.

The Wall Street Journal’s “Environmental Capital” blog reported that the long-term outlook for oil supply isn’t getting any better, which means the prospects for a price spike when demand finally recovers is increasing. OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said even more oil drilling projects in cartel member countries are being put on hold or axed altogether.  Early this year, Mr. El-Badri said 35 upstream projects had gotten yanked in member states because of weak oil prices and an uncertain, longer term demand outlook.

As they say, what is measured is managed.  SustainableBusiness.com reported that this spring, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct the first-ever, wide-scale survey of organic farming in the nation.  The survey will look at many aspects of organic farming during the 2008 calendar year–from production and marketing practices, to income and expenses. It will focus not only on operations that are currently engaged in organic production, but also on those making the transition to organic agriculture.  The results will help shape future decisions regarding farm policy, funding allocations, availability of goods and services, community development and other key issues, USDA said.

The New York Times’ “Green, Inc.” reported that just days after declaring that carbon emissions were a threat to human health, the Environmental Protection Agency has given high marks to a wide-ranging energy and climate bill  that was recently put forward by the House Energy Committee.  The Waxman-Markey bill, also known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, will “drive the clean energy transformations of the U.S. economy,” and substantially reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, according to the E.P.A.’s review.

Hill Heat reported on the verbal fireworks that ensued as a week of hearings got underway on the Waxman-Markey climate bill.  But the real attention on Capitol Hill was tuned to a few moderate Democrats who have the power to make or break the bill.  House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman acknowledged their concerns this morning as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood were being questioned by the committee.  Praising one of those moderates, former committee chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.), Waxman said he had hoped to see his legislation pass with something like the committee’s 42-1 vote that had secured amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990. But he added, “I have my suspicions after listening to the opening statements here that we may not be able to succeed in the same way.”

The Sustainability Ninja reported that the National Center for Atmospheric Research has released a new report detailing finding that indicate rivers in world’s most populated areas are losing their water as a consequence of climate change.  Researchers have determined that the descending level of water in rivers is in many cases associated with global warming, and that this trend could cause reduction of water supplies in some of the world’s most major cities.  Studies showed that Colorado River in the United States, the Yellow River in China, the Ganges in India and the Niger in Africa are steadily losing their water.  “Reduced runoff is increasing the pressure on freshwater resources in much of the world, especially with more demand for water as population increases,” says NCAR scientist Aiguo Dai.  “As climate change inevitably continues in coming decades, we are likely to see greater impacts on many rivers and water resources that society has come to rely on,” said Kevin Trenberth, also of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

Environmental Leader reports that Earth Day is driving green efforts at several supermarkets around the nation, ranging from recycling paper goods and promoting the use of reusable bags to designing energy-efficient stores.

Whole Foods Market claims to be the first national retailer to produce all of its national in-store Earth Month materials using “third generation” closed-loop recycled papers thanks to the help of Mohawk Fine Papers Inc.  “Closed-loop” means that Whole Foods Market has recycled and reused its own paper for zero waste.
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The Wall Street Journal’s Environmental Capital blog reports that as expected, the Environmental Protection Agency ruled that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. The question was and remains: By flexing its muscles, is the EPA angling to regulate the entire U.S. economy, or is it simply waving a threatening stick at Congress to prod legislators into passing climate-change legislation?
The 133-page endangerment finding dedicates scores of pages to summarizing the scientific evidence on climate change and agonizing over how much leeway the EPA has in using its judgment to determine what’s good and bad.

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The New York Times’ Green Inc. blog reports that the most immediate problem Canada faces from greenhouse gas emissions is economic rather than environmental. At least that was the message at a news conference on Thursday held to unveil a report from a government advisory body on carbon pricing.
Bob Page, the chairman of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, said that if Canada did not introduce an effective, national carbon emissions control program, it would face potentially ruinous trade retaliation from the United States once Congress and the Obama administration introduce their own emissions control programs.

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Treehugger reports that the tiniest state in the world—that’d be the Vatican—has some big plans for solar power. The Pope, an outspoken proponent of fighting climate change, is moving to build the largest solar power plant in Europe on 740 acres of land near the medieval village of Santa Maria di Galeria.
At $660 million, the project would also be one of the most expensive—but it would eventually turn the small state (the Vatican has around 900 residents) into a major power exporter. The solar station would go online in 2014, and would reportedly initially produce 100 megawatts of power—enough to provide electricity to 40,000 homes in Italy. The energy generated would also provide 9 times the power needed to run the Vatican radio, which reaches 35 countries as far as Asia.

Tim Woodall at FD Element

GreenBiz.com reports that non-hydro renewable energy increased 17.6 percent in 2008 compared to the year before, according to new figures released this week by the Energy Information Administration.  In comparison, electricity generation from coal and natural gas declined by 1.1 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. Overall electricity generation declined 1 percent in 2008, most likely due to the economy.  Non-hydro renewables, which includes wind, solar, geothermal and biomass, accounted for about 3 percent of total generation, up from 2.5 percent in 2007.

Rebecca Smith in The Wall Street Journal looks today at another kind of water war out West — between thirsty power plants and environmentalists worried about dwindling water resources. In some cases, power companies are pulling back from plans to build traditional power plants that require steady streams of water to operate. In others, renewable-energy projects such as wind farms or solar arrays are gaining momentum because their water needs are minimal. A utility in Colorado, for example, delayed plans for a new coal-fired plant in part because of worries about water consumption:  Tri-State Generation no longer is sure what it might build in southeast Colorado but it is going ahead with plans to build a 500,000-solar-panel project in northeast New Mexico in partnership with First Solar Inc. “There’s no water requirement with solar,” said Mac McLennan, senior vice president for Tri-State, based in Westminster, Colo.

The NY Times blog Green Inc. reports that this week the Union of Concerned Scientists weighed in with a report that said that a national “renewable electricity standard” set at 25 percent by 2025 would translate into 297,000 new green jobs.  A “renewable electricity standard” refers to the objective of producing a certain percentage of the nation’s electricity from sources like wind power, solar panels, wood chips and dams. President Obama has endorsed a 25-percent-by-2025 standard, and the issue is expected to be included in forthcoming energy legislation.

Tim Woodall at FD Element