·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Via Docuticker.

Climate Change and Water (PDF; 5.1 MB)
Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The Technical Paper addresses the issue of freshwater. Sea-level rise is dealt with only insofar as it can lead to impacts on freshwater in coastal areas and beyond. Climate, freshwater, biophysical and socio-economic systems are interconnected in complex ways. Hence, a change in any one of these can induce a change in any other. Freshwater-related issues are critical in determining key regional and sectoral vulnerabilities. Therefore, the relationship between climate change and freshwater resources is of primary concern to human society and also has implications for all living species.

Read the press release.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson today announced the appointment of Lynn Buhl to serve as Regional Administrator for EPA Region 5, which encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Bharat Mathur, EPA’s Acting Regional Administrator since May of 2008, will resume his position as Deputy Regional Administrator.

Read the press release.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to award approximately $3.4 million in grants to establish projects using emerging technologies to reduce emissions from the nation’s existing fleet of diesel engines. Addressing the existing fleet is important because it pre-dates EPA’s stringent new particulate and nitrogen oxide standards and diesels remain in use for decades. This sum was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and funded for the first time this fiscal year.

Read the full story at Edie.net.

More than £23m will be invested in an environmental research partnership between two major universities.

The funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, which will be provided over five years, will support a £55m project to create an alliance between Aberystwyth and Bangor Universities.

It will fund purpose-built facilities for research and teaching at the two universities, and new scientific and management posts.

Under the alliance, the newly-formed Institute for Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) at Aberystwyth will team up with Bangor’s College of Natural Sciences to investigate major environmental challenges such as climate change and renewable energy.

For a full-color, graphic version of this newsletter, go to
http://www.greenbiz.com/enewsletters/2008/greenbiz/index.html.

A Yearlong Road to Green Certification
By Tilde Herrera
http://greenbiz.com/podcast/2008/07/17/a-yearlong-road-green-certification
Rachel Patterson of San Francisco’s Hanson Bridgett law firm offers a snapshot
of the year it took her company to become a certified green business.

Whole Foods Expands Farmed Seafood Standards
By Jonathan Bardelline
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/07/17/whole-foods-farmed-seafood-standards
Whole Foods Market has updated and expanded standards that farmed seafood
vendors must comply with.

Exelon Looks to Cleaner Energy Generation to Cut Emissions
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/07/16/exelon-looks-cleaner-energy-generation-cut-emissions
Electric and gas utility Exelon has crafted a plan to reduce, displace or offset
15.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually. The
company’s strategy is a mixed bag of energy reductions, customer education and
low-carbon energy generation from renewable and nuclear sources.

California Adopts Green Building Code for All New Construction
By Leslie Guevarra
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/07/18/california-adopts-green-building-code-all-new-construction
The green building code, unanimously approved this month, sets eco-friendly
standards for all new construction statewide as part of a rules package that
policymakers said was the first of its kind in the nation.

Wal-Mart Launches Jewelry Line Traceable from Mine to Market
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/01/01/wal-mart-launches-jewelry-line-traceable-mine-market
Wal-Mart has introduced a gold and silver jewelry line that allows buyers to
trace the path of their baubles by going online to review every link in the
supply chain from mine to market.

Green Marketing Failing: Report
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/01/01/green-marketing-failing-report
The number of people concerned about climate change continues growing, but they
aren’t convinced that the business sector is doing as much as it should because
companies are failing to adequately communicate their climate change-related
efforts, according to a new study.

Ethical Sourcing Awareness Trickling Down Global Supply Chain: Report
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/07/18/ethical-sourcing-awareness-trickling-down-global-supply-chain-report
Ethical Sourcing Report 2008 found CSR performance has become a bargaining chip
for attracting business, and companies are increasingly training buyers on
sustainable procurement.

Canadian Firm Bombardier Launches Green Planes Program
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/07/17/canadian-firm-bombardier-launches-green-planes-program
Canadian aircraft and rail manufacturer Bombardier is launching a new family of
fuel-efficient, single-aisle commercial airliners.

National Association of Counties Supports Extended Producer Responsibility
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/07/18/national-association-counties-extended-producer-responsibilit
The National Association of Counties has declared its support of Extended
Producer Responsibility to put companies, not governments, in charge of
recycling products.

EPA Begins Sketching Carbon Capture and Storage Framework
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/07/17/epa-begins-laying-carbon-capture-and-storage-framework
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday began etching the regulatory
framework for the underground storage of carbon dioxide. Capturing carbon
dioxide emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants and injecting it deep in
the earth is touted by many as a potential weapon against climate change.

New PV Test Lab Could Help Speed Product Pipeline
By Tilde Herrera
http://greenbiz.com/news/2008/07/16/new-facility
The continent’s largest photovoltaic testing facility opened its doors in San
Jose Monday. The development holds the promise of helping solar technologies
reach the market faster and accelerating the growth of green collar jobs in the
region.

The Greenwash Guide
http://greenbiz.com/resources/resource/the-greenwash-guide
A graphic-rich primer on greenwash: what it is, why it’s a problem and how to
avoid it.

PHH Arval’s 2008 Green Fleet Survey
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/resource/phh-arvals-2008-green-fleet-survey
This survey of private and public fleet managers gives a quick and brief
overview of the main barriers to reducing the impact of fleets and what fleet
managers are doing to green their fleets.

The New Green Focus for Future MBAs
By Padma Nagappan
http://greenbiz.com/feature/2008/07/21/new-green-focus-future-mbas
Current and prospective business-school students are clamoring for CSR programs
in their curricula; Padma Naggapan takes a look a how three traditional MBA
programs are responding to this demand in different ways.

How Wal-Mart Became the New FDA
By Marc Gunther
http://www.greenbiz.com/column/2008/07/16/how-wal-mart-became-new-fda
The plastics industry is dealing with a nightmare these days when it comes to
potentially toxic chemicals.

GreenUsesForWaste was formed to offer a unique reference point on environmentally friendly ways to re-use all your waste. Although the focus is the U.K., there are a lot of excellent tips on reusing items you might otherwise throw away. Sections include Events and Seasonal; Food & Garden; Get Creative; In the Home; Office; Schemes & Help; and Shops & Shopping. Thanks to Louise Clare for the pointer.