·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the press release.

Today, EPA, with state and national partners, released a comprehensive plan to reduce runoff and increase environmental and economic benefits for communities. The strategy will help reduce stormwater runoff and sewer overflows by promoting “green infrastructure” approaches, such as green roofs, trees and tree boxes, rain gardens, and porous pavements. Green infrastructure techniques, technologies, and practices reduce the amount of water and pollutants that run off a site. These tools have many other benefits, including cost savings, improved air quality, urban heat island reductions, energy savings, water conservation, and urban habitat creation.

Read the full story in PC Magazine.

With green as the official color of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), HP announced today its commitment to implement a 25 percent cut in energy consumption across its entire lineup of volume desktop and notebook PCs by 2010.

Read the full story at EU Observer.

A plan to tighten the European Union’s greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme is likely to cause the loss of some heavy industries to global competition, EU officials have acknowledged ahead of the publication of the new legislation.

Read the full story in the Environmental Leader.

Wal-Mart set the goal of one day using only renewable energy and creating zero waste, and it challenged its suppliers to similar goals. To help meet that goal, Wal-Mart had an enormously successful campaign for green packaging, but its move into green electronics is proving a bit more complicated, Reuters reports. Part of the problem is that there are no uniform federal regulations for energy consumption or recycling. “We’d like to see some kind of federal legislation that would take all the individual state programs and bring it together,” said Kevin O’Connor, Wal-Mart’s general merchandising manager for consumer electronics.

Read the full story in Environmental Leader.

For seven years, British Petroleum has invested heavily in its “Beyond Petroleum” campaign which has been praised by business press and awards shows but criticized by skeptics as greenwashing. The success of the ongoing campaign has compelled Adweek to ask if advertising, as much as action, can change public perception.Though BP was the first oil company to acknowledge a link between energy use and global warming, the company lost its green credibility when it abruptly withdrew from the Global Climate Coalition, Adweek writes. So in 2000, after a 1998-merger with Amoco, BPAmoco invested heavily in its “Beyond Petroleum” campaign to reintroduce itself as a socially conscious company. That campaign, notes this article, was quite polarizing.

For a full-color, graphic version of this newsletter, go to
http://www.climatebiz.com/enewsletter.

Matsushita to Include Emissions as Performance Indicator
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36524
The parent company of Panasonic will add emissions figures to its key performance indicators to help it slash 100,000 tons of CO2 from its operations by the end of fiscal 2009.

Banks Take Steps Addressing Climate Change but Long Road Ahead: Report
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36513
HSBC and ABN led the pack of 40 banks and financial institutions examined by Ceres on the steps undertaken to address climate change.

Climate Registry Gains 54 New Members
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36534
Big names such as Alcoa, Shell, National Grid, and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. joined the coalition of states and municipalities that will track, verify and publicly report their emissions.

F.T.C. Kicks Off Green Marketing Hearings
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36510
The Federal Trade Commission is updating its green advertising guidelines a year before schedule because of the growing wave of environmental marketing claims. Its first target: carbon offsets.

Aurora Organic Dairy Takes Aim at its Emissions
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36503
The milk and butter producer will join forces with the University of Michigan to measure and reduce its carbon footprint across the lifecycle of its product line.

Calif. Leads Legal Challenge Against EPA
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36469
California led a coalition of states and non-profits that sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its refusal to let the states set tougher auto-related greenhouse gas emissions regulations.

All Commercial Buildings Can Be Carbon Neutral, U.K. Report Finds
By Kate Martin, Edie News
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36454
The majority of new non-domestic buildings can be zero-carbon if onsite, near-site and offsite renewable energy sources are used, a new report has found.

Dow, FPL, Bloomberg and Goldman Sachs Join Climate Group
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36455
The four prominent corporations joined The Climate Group ranks this week to promote pragmatic climate change policy and demonstrate that companies can slash emissions but still make money.

Peabody Joins Chinese Clean-Coal Project
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36459
Coal company Peabody Energy plans to help build China’s first coal-fired power plant that will use carbon capture and storage to avoid nearly all emissions.

U.C. San Diego Joins Chicago Climate Exchange
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36481
As part of a larger, overall conservation strategy, UCSD will be the first West Coast university to take part in the country’s only voluntary, legally binding trading system for greenhouse gases.

PPG Sets New GHG Emissions Goal
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36450
PPG plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent below 2006 levels by 2011. The glass, paint and chemical supplier already reduced its emissions last year 18 percent below 2002 levels.

World Bank Launches Finance Program to Reward Forest Preservation
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?NewsID=36445
The World Bank Group unveiled a carbon finance incentive to encourage developing countries to reduce deforestation. Total commitments have reached $165 million.

Is Mainstream Media Stepping up to Its Role in Climate Fight?
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?Page=1&NewsID=36516
By Darcy Hitchcock
The media finally took notice of climate change in 2007 — now it’s time to emphasize the solutions and the innovations that will lead us out of this crisis over the danger climate changes poses to the planet.

Asia and The Age of Sustainability: Where The East Has an Edge
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?Page=1&NewsID=36518
By Rick Seireeni
The Western world is in the throes of a green revolution that is slowly
spreading around the globe. When the powerhouse Asian economies pick up speed,
expect them to grow ever more powerful, and dramatically speed up the process of
innovation to boot.

Renewable Energy Firms Strike Gold with Green Employee Benefits
http://climatebiz.com/sections/news_detail.cfm?Page=1&NewsID=36517
By Dawn E. Dzurilla
Leaders of companies across industries — but most noticeably in the clean energy field — are providing eco-perks as a way of developing an environmentally sustainable company culture, and makes employees happier, healthier and more productive.

A New Mindset for Corporate Sustainability
http://climatebiz.com/sections/toolsresources_detail.cfm?LinkAdvID=96851
“A New Mindset for Corporate Sustainability,” published by six academics from around the world, presents a concept of using corporate sustainability to lead innovation and benefit the environment, society and shareholders. A focus on sustainability can not only better the world, but a company’s bottom line.

RETScreen Clean Energy Decision Making Tool
http://climatebiz.com/sections/toolsresources_detail.cfm?LinkAdvID=95846
This downloadable application, developed by the CETC in Varennes, Quebec, can be used to help companies of all sizes determine which renewable energy sources will meet their needs most efficiently and cost-effectively.

Read the full story at Government Executive.

In response to a congressional mandate that the Environmental Protection Agency restore closed libraries, the agency said it will proceed with modernizing its library network, leading some people to believe the EPA will not resume physical library operations.

Read the full story in Metropolis Magazine.

Architecture and design awards tend to mime the Hollywood model. There are gregarious speakers, a tolerance for long, rambling acceptance speeches, and elegant, enthusiastic audiences. Love and admiration hang thick in the air even as a hidden undertone of envy and contempt whispers softly. But, by and large, all is well and everyone feels good, making plans to come back for the same performance next year and dreaming of his or her moment in the spotlight. But all is not well: these oldfangled awards may in fact contribute to keeping the design professions out of the great environmental debate of our time.

Edward Mazria is still fighting the good fight — ­virtually. As a follow-up to last year’s successful 2010 Imperative Global Emergency Teach-in, Mazria’s organization Architecture 2030 will host another student-focused webcast on January 30th.

The Face It webcast, sponsored by Metropolis Magazine, is part of Architecture 2030’s larger Reverberate Campaign which will feature several events throughout 2008. Two competitions for students will be unveiled during the webcast. While full details won’t be released until the webcast, we can tell you that there will be two categories­graphic design and video. Winners will share $20,000 in prize money and the winning graphic design entry will appear in a full-page ad in Metropolis while the winning video entry will be featured on metropolismag.com and Architecture 2030’s website.

You can register for the webcast now.

Read the full story in Metropolis Magazine.

The 2007 IIDA/Metropolis Smart Environ­ments award winners may, once and for all, blow apart the widely held belief that clients don’t care about green design. These clients specifically wanted buildings and interiors that would be good for their workers’ health and well-being — and, incidentally, their bottom lines. These five spaces represent such diverse interests as the U.S. government, a condo developer, a viticulturist, a non­profit, and a nature preserve. It turns out that being kind to your people (or,  in the case of the winery, to your grapes) is also kind to the earth. The idea that interior designers and architects have trouble collaborating is also going out of style. To do top-notch green design, all kinds of skills are needed. You  may also note that there’s almost no sustainable ideology in these stories; these designers are too busy finding earth-friendly solutions to spend their time preaching. And it turns out that minimalism may be good for the environment too: you buy less stuff, and what you choose is carefully considered in terms of manu­facturing, materials, local availability, and, of course, beauty, function, and performance

Read the full story from Worldwatch.

California’s ambitious energy conservation legislation has created an unusual challenge for the state’s utility companies: to get customers to consume less of their product. Laws that reward utilities for meeting energy reduction targets and punish them for missing the goals have led to unusual business tactics. “It’s a strange business,” Roland Risser, the head of customer energy efficiency for Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), told the Wall Street Journal. “You have to do gymnastics to get things moving forward.”

Read the full story from Worldwatch.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, recently issued a directive banning the production of ultra-thin plastic bags for environmental reasons. The ruling also prohibits shops, supermarkets, and sales outlets nationwide from handing out free plastic bags starting on June 1, according to China News Agency. The imposition of fees on plastic bag usage is likely to influence consumer behavior in China and bring environmental benefits in the coming years.

Read Chapter 1 of Worldwatch’s 2008 State of the World Report. There’s also a podcast.

Environmental decline and persistent mass poverty suggest that the dominant model for economies worldwide is in crisis. But alternatives to business-as-usual can steer most economies onto sustainable paths. Underpinned by a handful of key Big Ideas, economic innovations might just remake our world.

Read the full story from Worldwatch.

One car gets 46 miles per gallon, features fancy accessories, and sports two engines with a combined 145 horsepower. The other car reportedly gets 54 miles per gallon, runs on a diminutive 30-horsepower engine, and is positively spartan in its interior trimmings. The first is a darling of the environmentally conscious. The latter is reviled as a climate wrecker. These two vehicles are the Toyota Prius and the newly unveiled Tata Nano, dubbed “the people’s car.” Is there a double standard?

Read the full story in Building Design & Construction.

With its European counterparts blazing the trail, the North American vinyl (PVC) roofing industry announced a new phase in its commitment to environmental sustainability through recycling. The Vinyl Roofing Division of the Chemical Fabrics & Film Association has initiated a feasibility study to evaluate strategies for making post-consumer recycling in North America viable on a broad scale.

Read the full story in Building Design & Construction.

Building Teams pursuing certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s  LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System now have the opportunity to view the Innovation & Design Credit Catalog – a listing of proven green building strategies that have been submitted and utilized by LEED Certified projects.

Read the full story in Building Design & Construction.

The WWF and Masdar, The Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, today launched a “Sustainability Action Plan” to deliver the world’s greenest city – Masdar City.

Masdar City will be the world’s first zero-carbon, zero-waste, car-free city, aiming to exceed the 10 sustainability principles of “One Planet Livingâ„¢”– a global initiative launched by the WWF (known internationally as the Worldwide Fund for Nature and in the U.S. as the World Wildlife Fund) and environmental consultancy BioRegional.

Read the full story from United Press International.

A major energy bill signed last month by President Bush could decrease domestic oil consumption by increasing biofuels, but opposition to the new law has come hard and fast from an unusual source: environmentalists.

Read the full story at Physorg.com. The story details research by INHS and WMRC scientists.

Herons nesting in the wetlands of southeast Chicago are still being exposed to chemicals banned in the U.S. in the 1970s, a research team reports. The chemicals do not appear to be affecting the birds’ reproductive success, however. The findings appear in the current issue of the Journal of Great Lakes Research.

Read the full story in the Toronto Star.

Offshore wind could play an important role in the development of renewable energy resources in Ontario, says Premier Dalton McGuinty, who confirmed yesterday that an official announcement on wind power in the Great Lakes is coming soon.

Read the full story in E: The Environmental Magazine.

In 1981, when 22-year-old David Tollas moved from Michigan to live in the middle of the Arizona desert as part of the Arcosanti community, his friends and family looked at him as a radical idealist. Located 65 miles north of Phoenix, Arcosanti was born in 1970 out of the vision of one man, Italian architect Paolo Soleri.

Soleri proposed to build a laboratory for an ecologically sensitive, compact, high-density community where people could live and work car-free, growing their own food—a “lean alternative” to urban sprawl and hyper consumption. “What attracted me to live there was the idea of building something for the future,” says Tollas, who is now 47 and still works as an architect at Arcosanti with his wife and two children.

The project, inspired by Soleri’s “arcology” theory, which combines ecology and architecture, was meant to house 5,000 residents on 25 acres. But nearly 40 years later, that dream has failed to materialize, partly because it could not attract sufficient capital to finance the prototype community.

Today, Arcosanti is three percent complete, and only 60 residents have committed to live there permanently. The current site has housing, a café, a bakery, a convenience store, a small agricultural area and a theater, built mostly through volunteer labor. About 6,000 students have come from all over the world to attend workshops at Arcosanti and help complete the buildings since the project started.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The banking sector still has a long way to go in confronting the business challenges posed by global climate change, according to a report by Ceres, a coalition of investors, environmental groups and other public interest organizations.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a collaboration of more than 315 institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Allianz and HSBC, with assets under management of more than $41 trillion, is working with some of the world’s largest companies to help them measure their emissions through their supply chains.