·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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A full-color, graphic version of this newsletter is available online at:
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/enewsletter

How to Navigate the Green Seas
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/podcast/2008/10/17/how-navigate-green-seas
By Tilde Herrera
GreenBiz.com Executive Editor Joel Makower discusses his new book, “Strategies
for the Green Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the New World of
Business.” He offers three keys to help companies assess how well they are doing
and answer the question: How good is good enough?

Green vs. Greed — An Open Letter to Green Building Professionals
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/blog/2008/10/23/green-vs-greed
Rick Fedrizzi, the CEO, president and founding chairman of the U.S. Green
Building Council writes about the strength and resilience of green building
movement in these tumultuous economic times.

Holcim Honors Top Green Building Projects in North America
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/22/holcim-honors-top-green-building-projects-north-america
An arts and education center in New York, a day labor station in San Francisco
and a lake restoration and research center in Canada are among the nine winners
sharing $270,000 in prize funds in the prestigious North American Holcim Awards
competition.

U.S. Mayors, USGBC Join Forces to Green Schools
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/20/green-schools
The U.S. Conference of Mayors has formed the Mayors’ Alliance for Green Schools,
which will work with the U.S. Green Building Council toward the goal of making
the nation’s schools environmentally friendly within a generation.

Indiana Hospital, California Library Snag LEED Gold, Colorado Capitol Goes Green
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/21/leed-gold-green-capitol
Community Hospital South in Indianapolis and the San Mateo Public Library Main
Branch have attained LEED Gold status, and Colorado’s Capitol has become the
first LEED-certified state house in the country.

South Africa Joins World Green Building Council
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/22/south-africa
The Green Building Council of South Africa has been accepted as the 13th full
member of the World Green Building Council.

Johnson Controls, Dow Chemical Added to Pew Center’s Green Business Council
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/22/pew-center
Energy efficiency giant Johnson Controls and Dow Chemical have been named to the
prestigious Pew Center Business Environmental Leadership Council.

Green Energy Resources Eyes 1M Tons of Storm-Damaged Texas Wood
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/20/green-energy-resources-eyes-1m-tons-storm-damaged-texas-wood
New York renewable energy company Green Energy Resources is working to obtain up
to one million tons of hurricane-damaged forest wood from southeastern Texas.

USGBC, Marriott, Enterprise Honored for Work to Green Travel Industry
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/21/green-travel-tourism
Travel + Leisure magazine named the U.S. Green Building Council, Marriott
International and Enterprise Rent-A-Car among its winners of the 2008 Global
Vision Award.

Giant Eagle Supermarket Tapped as First LEED Gold Grocer
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/10/17/giant-eagle
Supermarket retailer Giant Eagle earned LEED Gold status for a store in
Columbus, the first to receive such a high eco-friendly rating from the U.S.
Green Building Council.

The Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools: Second Edition
http://www.greenbiz.com/resources/resource/guide-green-cleaning-schools-second-edition
This online guide from the Healthy Schools Campaign offers sections on
sustainability, green cleaning for food service, integrated pest management, new
technologies and more ways to make schools as healthy and clean as possible.

Read the full notice.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is proposing to amend the Guidelines for Designating Biobased Products for Federal Procurement, by adding nine sections to designate the following nine items within which biobased products would be afforded Federal procurement preference: Chain and cable lubricants; corrosion preventatives; food cleaners; forming lubricants; gear lubricants; general purpose household cleaners; industrial cleaners; multipurpose cleaners; and parts wash solutions. USDA also is proposing minimum biobased content for each of these items.

DATES: USDA will accept public comments on this proposed rule until December 22, 2008.

Federal Energy Management:  Agencies Are Acquiring Alternative Fuel Vehicles but Face Challenges in Meeting Other Fleet Objectives.  GAO-09-75R, October 22.
http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-09-75R
Highlights – http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d0975rhigh.pdf

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

EPA recently strengthened the nation’s air quality standards for lead, improving public health protection, especially for children. The new standards tighten the allowable lead level 10 times to 0.15 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air (ug/m3).

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman and Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer released the National Biofuels Action Plan, which outlines specific action areas and goals toward achieving renewable fuels production targets.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

Alternative sources of fossil fuels such as oil sands and coal-to-liquids have significant economic promise, but the environmental consequences must also be considered, according to a RAND Corporation study.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

In a survey commissioned by Green Mountain Energy Company and conducted by Harris Interactive, 88 percent of U.S. adult respondents said they would be willing to make changes to be more environmentally friendly as long as it didn’t cost a lot of money, and 83 percent would be willing to make changes if they were easy.

Read the full post at Treehugger.

In these difficult times a lot of people are working from home, whether they want to or not. A lot of others would like to, but employers have not been crazy about it, even though it can cut overhead as well as your company’s carbon footprint. As Megan suggests at Planet Green, “Let your boss know that green telecommuting is a growing trend, that eco-smart bosses and workers everywhere are giving this carbon-footprint-shrinking solution a go, and that you’d like to hop on the emission-reduction wagon.” (read more in How to Convince Your Boss You Can (and Should) Work From Home). And if you suddenly don’ t have a boss to convince, check out How to Go Green: Job Searches and think about your new home office.

We offer herein our suggestions for keeping your office healthy, furnishing it, some tips and tricks and a tour of TreeHugger home offices around the world.

Read the full story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

No matter who wins on Nov. 4, the next president promises to chart a different course on energy and the environment than President Bush.