·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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For a full-color, graphic version of this newsletter, go to
http://www.greenbiz.com/enewsletter.

Canon Canada Adds Recycled Calculators
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55570
The electronics company has added five calculator models to its EcoSense line of environmentally-friendly products.

Staples Fires Paper Supplier with Questionable Green Track Record
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55572
Staples Inc. reportedly canceled all contracts with a Singapore-based paper company because of concerns over its deforestation practices.

Wal-Mart Wants Food Suppliers to Comply with Food Safety Guidelines
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55558
Wal-Mart plans to require suppliers of its private label items to comply with Global Food Safety Initiative standards, the retailer announced last week.

HP Recycles 250 Million Pounds of Products
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36629
Hewlett-Packard recycled about 250 million pounds of products last year and collected another 65 million pounds of equipment to be reused.

Clean Sky Initiative Plans to Green European Planes
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55557
A $2.3 billion European Union research project hopes to put cleaner aircraft in the sky starting in 2015.

Bar Association, EPA’s Law Office Climate Challenge Picks Up Steam
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36631
Since its launch late last year, the program has racked up nearly 100 law offices across the country committing to its three-pronged plan green up the law business by reducing paper waste, increasing energy efficiency and purchasing green power for law firms.

Banking Giants Develop ‘The Carbon Principles’
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36625
Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley drafted the framework for assessing carbon risks in the financing of coal-fired power plant projects.

Guidance Releases Tips to Help Companies Green Their Operations
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55563
The specialized technology advisor drew from its own efforts to become more environmentally responsible to create a guide full of tips to help businesses reduce carbon impacts.

Hybrid-Only Car Service Co. Launches in NYC
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36628
NYC Green Car now operates its fleet of Toyota Camry and Lexus cars in Manhattan, with services spanning the tri-state area. The company uses 2007 or 2008 hybrid models equipped with global positioning systems for navigation.

ICT Helps Energy Efficiency and Productivity: Report
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55559
Information and communications technologies have helped the economy achieve greater levels of productivity without increasing overall levels of energy consumption, a new study found.

Ports Ranked Among Biggest U.S. Polluters, Progress Slow: Study
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36626
New research from Energy Futures finds that ports for container ships are among the biggest sources of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, and that recent efforts to curb pollution are not yet making a noticeable difference.

Getty Images Study Finds Polar Bears, Melting Ice Make for Bad Ads
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=55565
Firms seeking to advertise their green credentials should shun generic images associated with climate change such as polar bears and melting ice floes, according to a major new survey by Getty Images.

IBM Plans Water Research Center
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/news_third.cfm?NewsID=36618
As part of its Big Green Innovations initiative, IBM plans to establish a water management research center in the Netherlands to help develop prediction and protection systems for low-lying coastal areas and river deltas susceptible to climate change.

How To Operate as an Environmentally Aware Organization and Reduce or Eliminate
Your Carbon Footprint
http://www.greenbiz.com/toolbox/reports_third.cfm?LinkAdvID=97242
The report is a step-by-step guide helping companies evaluate their operations, calculate their carbon footprint and take action.

Selling Sustainability
By Anna Clark
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/columns_third.cfm?NewsID=36639
Sustainability champions who underestimate the human factor can never facilitate genuine change in their organizations. If you learn how to sell people on your green idea, you’ll make your company more competitive and create a cleaner world at the same time.

Could the Credit Crisis Drag Down the Climate Fight?
By Valerie Nibler
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/columns_third.cfm?NewsID=36638
Resource efficiency and closed-loop manufacturing are not new concepts in sustainable business; what is new is an economic slowdown that threatens to undermine our urgency to act on climate change.

Read the full post in Wired’s Science Blog.

With his characteristic media savvy, Richard Branson offered to set up an “environmental war room” to help combat climate change. It appears that he envisions a quasi-independent but UN-linked office that would promote climate change best practices and mediate between countries.

Read the full story in Info Today.

While news might be a readily available commodity in our internet world, a small U.K.-based company thinks there’s a better way to present it to users—with relational analysis and explanatory graphics that provide users with contextual insight. Silobreaker (www.silobreaker.com) has officially launched its new search service for news and current events. Its goal is to provide meaning, context, and insight to content using easily understood graphical tools. Silobreaker pulls current content from approximately 10,000 news, blog, research, and multimedia sources. It then automatically and on-the-fly extracts and tags people, companies, topics, places, and keywords; understands how they relate to each other in the news flow; and puts them in a visual context for the user. The free service is aimed at anyone wanting an in-depth perspective on current news for personal or business use, but it should prove especially appealing to journalists, researchers, scientists, consultants, marketing professionals, and industry analysts.

See the results of my search on Climate Change for an example of search results. An interesting and potentially useful tool.

EPA is raising the 2008 renewable fuels standard (RFS), which determines how much non-petroleum fuel will power your vehicle, to 7.76 percent. The move is in response to the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), which President Bush signed in December.

Last November, EPA announced a RFS of 4.66 percent, based on previous law, that mandated at least 5.4 billion gallons of renewable fuels be blended into the nation’s transportation fuels this year. However, EPA is now increasing the standard to 7.76 percent to comply with the new minimum of 9.0 billion gallons of renewable fuel that EISA requires.

EISA increases the overall volume of renewable fuels that must be blended each year, reaching 36 billion gallons in 2022. To achieve these volumes, EPA annually calculates the percentage-based standard, which applies to refiners, importers and non-oxygenate blenders of gasoline.

Based on the standard, each of these parties determines the minimum volume of renewable fuel that it must use. The RFS program creates new markets for farm products, increases energy security, and promotes the development of advanced technologies that would expand the production of renewable fuels.

More information: epa.gov/otaq/renewablefuels/

Read the editorial in the New York Times.

To the long list of natural blessings to resent Hawaii for, you can add a dizzying abundance of clean, renewable energy sources. The state announced in late January that it had formed a partnership with the federal Energy Department to plunge into green technologies and to outpace the nation in moving beyond fossil fuels. Two highly plausible reactions to the news were: 1) of course, and 2) what took it so long?

Read the full story in the New York Times.

The full emissions costs of producing biofuels are higher than those of producing of conventional fuels, scientists said.

The latest issue of Renewable Energy Weekly is now available. Highlights include:

• Renewable Energy Firms Compete for Talent in a Tight Market
• Sun Farmers of Canada
• UK Research Team Aims To Decrease Cost of Solar Energy
• Clean Energy: Recovery vs. Addiction
• Renewable Fuels and Environmental Sustainability
• Crossing the Divide: The Future of Clean Energy

In honor of Focus the Nation Day – a national teach-in to encourage countrywide dialogue about global warming solutions – Lt. Governor Pat Quinn launched the first-ever Illinois Sustainable Schools Compact with students, teachers and administrators from six Illinois learning institutions that are leading the charge toward a greener Illinois.

For more information, visit http://www.standingupforillinois.org/green/index.php.

Read the press release from February 7.

The Financial Times and the Urban Land Institute have extended the entry deadline to March 31, 2008 for submissions to the Financial Times Urban Land Institute (FT/ULI) Sustainable Cities Award.

The FT/ULI Sustainable Cities Award has global relevance since nominations will be invited worldwide. The announcement of up to seven winners will be the closing highlight of the first-ever Sustainable Cities conference, which will be jointly hosted by the Financial Times and the Urban Land Institute in London on June 16, 2008.

Read the full story at News.com. See also the photo essay Green Bloggers Stash Trash.

Ari Derfel likes living with his garbage. He hasn’t thrown anything away in more than a year, but he insists he doesn’t suffer from any compulsive hoarding disorders.

Rather, Derfel views the bins of bottles, boxes, leaflets, cartons, and wrappers he’s stacked in his Berkeley, Calif., home as fruits of a continued meditation about sustainability.

This week Virginia joined 15 other states as part of EPA’s Clean Energy-Environment State Partnership to help address climate change.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah are already working with EPA to develop and carry out comprehensive strategies for promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy.

This partnership aims to improve air quality and the environment while reducing energy costs and helping states achieve their economic goals. The 16 partner states represent 55 percent of U.S. population and energy consumption, and nearly 50 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Under the Partnership Program, launched in February 2005, partner states agree to develop and implement a state-specific Clean Energy-Environment State Action Plan that contains one or more clean energy-environment goals. Virginia will harness the power of the partnership to advance the goals of their recently released energy plan.

EPA provides partner states with access to a comprehensive assistance package of planning, policy, technical, analytical and information resources, and works to establish connections to other federal programs that support clean energy-environment strategies. Partners also benefit by learning from the federal government and other states about successful programs and policies at work, like Energy Star. EPA recognizes these states as environmental and clean energy leaders, commending them for the environmental benefits that result from their efforts. This work helps states plan to meet their energy policy goals and implement energy efficiency programs.

To learn more about the Clean Energy-Environment State Partnership and what states are doing, visit epa.gov/cleanenergy/stateandlocal/partnership.htm.

Energy Matters, the BestPractices quarterly of DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program, is now available online. This issue highlights DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program’s long history of successful partnerships, and looks ahead to new ventures that will meet U.S. industrial energy-efficiency challenges. Also included: a new animation to show the workings of the Super Boiler; a Save Energy Now case study on steam system optimization at a fertilizer plant; the new Ask an Energy Expert column; and introduction to two ITP Software tools now available in metric version.