·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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ENB will be taking a break for the holidays. Posting will resume on January 5, 2009. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Read the full story from InfoWorld.

It’s that time of year again to dust of the old crystal ball and put forth some predictions as to what 2009 holds for the world of green technology. Rather than leaving the speculation to myself, however, I once again decided to tap experts at a host of organizations on how they envision green IT evolving in the year to come.

Suffice to say that no one has dismissed the green-tech movement as a mere passing fad. Both economic and political conditions (e.g. President-Elect Obama’s vision of a cleaner energy economy) will continue to drive vendors to develop greener wares and organizations across the board to embrace greener practices — be it in the name of cutting costs, meeting environmental regulations, or simply “doing the right thing.”

Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.

Is that laundry soap truly “environmentally friendly”? Was that mattress treated with toxic chemicals? Is that sweatsuit fashioned from organic cotton? Is that lipstick “natural”?

California officials launched a sweeping green initiative on Tuesday to inform consumers exactly how hundreds of thousands of products sold in the state are manufactured and transported and how safe their ingredients are.

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

• Deepwater Offshore Wind Power Generation Using Oil and Gas Platform Technology
• Wind, Water and Sun Beat Biofuels, Nuclear and Coal for Energy Generation, Study Says
• The Solar Industry Needs More Consistency To Realize a Sustainable Future
• One Last Chance: Starting a Green Business
• Offering More Than Ever: Technical Trends in Solar Thermal

Read the full story in the Christian Science Monitor.

Out on the high frontier of energy efficiency, John Petersen sees a future where every home has a “building dashboard” and an “energy orb” to help Americans shift from electricity-gulping ignorance to power-sipping sophistication.

Many aim to reduce global warming by using low-carbon renewable energy sources. But Dr. Petersen, a professor of environmental science at Oberlin College in Ohio, also targets energy waste in buildings. They gobble about 40 percent of the nation’s energy, much of it electricity generated by burning fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.

Read the full story in Newsday.

As more people decide to live a green lifestyle, they’ll have to consider how the decision impacts their relationships and friendships–for better or for worse. Greeniacs who talked to RedEye said they’ve attempted to push their friends and family members to also go green, sometimes to disastrous results. Trying to force others to change their wasteful ways, some eco-friendly Chicagoans have learned, can alienate friends to the point that the only meaningful relationship the environmentally conscious have left is one with the Earth.

Read the full story at vindy.com.

The pupils at Canfield Village Middle School want to save the environment, one aluminum can at a time.

Teacher Vicki Latimer said the kids collected 1,924 pounds of cans in October — the most ever turned in to Mahoning County’s Green Team in one month.

Three years ago, pupils in Latimer’s fifth- and sixth-grade STAR class, approached her about starting a recycling project at the school. The goal of the class, which integrates science and technology, is to raise $20,000 — enough money to replace the school’s current track, made of dirt and gravel, with recycled scrap rubber from tires.

Read the full story at Fox News.

Hangers? I mean, seriously, do we really need eco-friendly clothing hangers?

“Do we ever,” says Danny Schrager, CEO of Mountain Valley Recycling in Morristown, Tenn. “Ninety percent of America’s clothes are now imported, and every garment that comes in from overseas comes in on a hanger — 30 to 40 billion of them each year.”

Read the full post at Cleantech.com.

For clean technology investors in China, the future is bright. There is a perfect positive storm of government policy, consumer awareness, capital, land, engineers and entrepreneurs lined up to create and sustain a very long run of successful investments.

Read the full story from Environmental News Service.

Indiana public employees and visitors to the Government Center’s cafeterias will now be eating and drinking out of bio-based plastic containers made from Cereplast compostable resins.

Read the full story in the Star-Gazette.

How do you know it’s a green year at Corning Community College during our 2008 academic year? Students are having a slightly different experience in their art, biology, theater and machine tooling classes.

Read the full story in Occupational Health & Safety.

Environmental Defense Fund has released a five-step framework to help companies minimize the environmental impact of their corporate fleets while protecting the bottom line. The new report, “Greening Fleets: A roadmap to lower costs and cleaner corporate fleets,” highlights the work of EDF and PHH Arval in developing the industry-leading approach to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions without increasing costs. A PDF is available at www.edf.org/greenfleet.

Read the full story in Business Week.

A new report analyzes how far advanced top companies are in addressing climate change and adopting environmentally friendly policies

Read the full story in Network World.

Applications that can help to better manage power and cooling and improve management, automation, load and capacity administration of these servers, will be in demand across the Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region.

Read the full post at Worldchanging.

Andy Revkin makes a needed point, that an American bright green recovery can’t happen without a lot of new innovation, and thus a lot more people working on innovation.

Read the full story in the Christian Science Monitor.

America’s dream factory is out to put its reputation for waste in the can.

With a huge carbon footprint, and possibly more influence than any other industry, big TV networks and movie studios are partnering with major environmental organizations to go green. A growing list of behaviors once cutting-edge such as recycling, composting, and using wind, solar, and alternative fuels have become commonplace in Hollywood.

Read the full story in USA Today.

A children’s book author hopes that her new Christmas story will help kids realize that they can have an impact on global warming.

Santa Goes Green (Mackinac Island Press, $15.95) is the story of a boy, Finn, who writes Santa and asks him to help raise awareness about global warming. Finn is interested in the environmental issue because he has adopted a polar bear, and polar bears are losing habitat to global warming.

RR – 113 Materials and Energy Efficiency in SMEs / Bierma, Thomas J.; Marsch, Dan. –  Champaign, IL: Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2008.

RR – 112 Investigation of Metal and Organic Contaminant Distributions and Sedimentation Rates in Backwater Lakes along the Illinois River / Cahill, Richard A.; Salmon, Gary L.; Slowikowski, James A. –  Champaign, IL: Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 2008.

The Golden Arches’ Golden Rules for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/11/golden-arches-sustainability
McDonald’s vice president for corporate responsibility went to the Virtual
Energy Forum this week to offer up his company’s take on energy management,
green building and sustainability.

DHL, FedEx Improve Climate Records
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/12/dhl-fedex-improve-climate-records
New Climate Counts scores show most major shippers are striding toward better
measurement, reduction and communication of their climate impacts.

Toshiba Announces Plans to Build Retrofit CCS Pilot Plant
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/09/toshiba-announces-plans-build-retrofit-ccs-pilot-plant
Post-combustion plant will aim to capture 10 tonnes of CO2 a day from Japanese
coal-fired power station.

Anheuser-Busch’s Water Use Flat Despite Increased Production
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/08/anheuser-buschs-water-use-flat-despite-increased-production
In it’s first corporate social responsibility report, the beer maker outlines
its recent history of resource use and how it plans to meet reduction goals.

Twilight of the Dustcart — Wembley to Nix Bin Collections
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/11/twilight-dustcart-wembley-nix-bin-collections
A massive mixed development at Wembley in the U.K. will do away with the need
for curbside collections thanks to Swedish technology that pipes waste away with
a giant vacuum.

IBM, Tesco and Dell Earn Top Marks for Climate Change Governance
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/12/ibm-tesco-and-dell-earn-top-marks-climate-change-governance
IBM, Tesco and Dell are among a select group of major consumer and technology
companies taking active steps toward addressing the risks and capitalizing on
the opportunities posed by climate change, according to a new report from the
nonprofit Ceres.

Sustainable Silicon Valley Targets Lower Emissions
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/10/sustainable-silicon-valley-targets-lower-emissions
Twenty-two members of the regional coalition have reduced carbon dioxide
emissions more than 20 percent below 1990 levels.

Yum Brands Explores Green Efforts Around the World
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/10/yum-brands-explores-green-efforts-around-world
In its first corporate responsibility report, the parent of KFC, Taco Bell and
Pizza Hut talks about efficiency steps in place companywide and being tested at
restaurants.

U.S. Needs $500 Billion Clean Tech Investment, 5 Million Green Jobs: Report
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/09/clean-tech-green-jobs-report
The Apollo Alliance’s extensive plan for America’s future includes clean energy,
energy efficiency, green building and green jobs investments.

EPA Puts Up $1 Million to Fund Sustainable Ag Projects
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/08/epa-fund-sustainable-ag-projects
The grants will fund studies to improve and spread integrated pest management
practices, harnessing natural methods to reduce the use of pesticides and bring
a more ecologically sensitive approach to farming.

You Can’t Go Green Without Adding a Little Blue
By Andrew Collier
http://www.greenbiz.com/feature/2008/12/15/cant-go-green-without-a-little-blue
In the face of increasing scarcity and rising costs, companies are beginning to
realize that water, like energy and carbon, should be a key pillar of a
corporate sustainability strategy.

Sustainability 101: The Human Problem
By Stephen Linaweaver
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2008/12/08/sustainability-101-the-human-problem
Here are seven activities you can do, with minimal investment in a down economy,
to start getting up that sustainability learning curve. Like any journey, the
hardest part is getting off the couch or out the door. The key is to start.

Co-op America Announces Year’s Worst Corporate Scrooges
By Ariel Schwartz
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2008/12/11/worst-corporate-scrooges
Co-Op America’s Responsible Shopper program announced earlier today the year’s
worst corporate “scrooges”— each of whom exhibited notable greed and lack of
concern for others.

Shipping with Less Guilt
By Tilde Herrera
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2008/12/10/shipping-with-less-guilt
New York-based First Global Xpress promises its customers shipments than are
cheaper, faster and with up to 30 percent less CO2 emissions.

Behind the Green Door: Dreamscapes to Recycle Sex Toys
By Jonathan Bardelline
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2008/12/09/behind-green-door-recycled-sex-toys
While recycling markets are drying up, the Florida-based company is opening up a
new recycling stream for some items you won’t find in curbside collection bins.

Rob Watson on the Real Impact of Green Buildings
By Joel Makower
http://www.greenbiz.com/podcast/2008/12/11/rob-watson-real-impact-green-buildings
In this podcast interview, Joel Makower and Rob Watson talk about the new 2008
Green Building Impact Report and the state of green buildings.

MTV Switch and Ashoka GenV have launched the Dream It. Do It. Challenge. Come up with a creative idea for how you can make our planet cooler or greener and MTV Switch will help you launch your own environmental project or “venture.” Ashoka GenV will give you support and even seed funding of up to US$1,000 to put your ideas into action.

The best projects may be featured in a half hour MTV documentary scheduled for Earth Day 2009. Also, The Lemelson Foundation will award five project leaders a trip to Boston, USA to take part in a roundtable discussion on climate change at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Eligibility Criteria

1. The challenge is open to all youth between the ages of 12 and 20 in North America and Europe and 12 and 24 everywhere else. (Proof of age will be required before grants can be approved.)
2. Each participant is limited to one grant
3. Each participant will be required to submit an action plan showing what activities will be carried out and how the grant will be spent.
4. Each participant will need to form a team with at least two other youth to qualify for funding.
5. Participants under age of 18 must have parental or guardian support and approval to receive grants and launch projects.
6. Ideas and action plans should be submitted before December 31, 2008 in English, Spanish, Portuguese or French.

Assessment Criteria

Grants will be awarded to projects that best meet the following criteria:

1. Innovation – Project includes a new solution or new approach to addressing an environmental issue.
2. Impact – Project has potential to produce significant or measurable impact on the issue it addresses.
3. Sustainability – Project has potential to produce on-going positive change. In other words, it’s not a one time event.
4. Youth-led and youth-driven – Leaders of the project should be between 12 and 20 (North America and Europe) and 12 and 24 (everywhere else).

General Guidelines

1. Deadline – The last date to submit a project idea is December 31, 2008.
2. Grants – Up to 25 grants will be awarded for this challenge.
3. Entries – Submit an idea first. If your idea meets our criteria (see above), we will send you an application (an “action plan”) to apply for a grant. We welcome all ideas, even if they are similar to ideas other youth have submitted.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

The Interior Department announced a rule that has largely freed federal agencies from consulting independent biologists before projects that might harm federally protected wildlife.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Carol M. Browner’s new position as White House coordinator of energy and climate policy may be undefined, but her thinking on those issues is clearly in line with the president-elect’s.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

When a car’s underbody or a ship’s hull begins to corrode, it usually ends up junked. New protective coatings developed at the University of Illinois heal over their own scratches with no external intervention, protecting the underlying metal. The self-healing elements, enclosed in microcapsules that rip open when the coating is scratched, are compatible with a wide range of paints and protective coatings. The coatings, being marketed by Autonomic Materials of Champaign, IL, may be on the market in as soon as four months.

The materials, described online this week in the journal Advanced Materials, were developed by Paul Braun and Scott White, both professors in the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The self-healing system consists of two kinds of microcapsules: one filled with polymer building blocks, the other with a catalyst. Because the capsules, made of polyurethane, keep the reactive chemicals inside isolated, they can be mixed into a wide range of coatings. When the coatings are scratched, the microcapsules are torn open and their contents flow into the crack and form siloxane, a polymer that Braun likens to bathroom caulk. Unlike other self-healing systems, the Illinois coatings don’t require elevated temperatures or moisture to mend.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

Pulp and paper plants could soon double as biorefineries if financing for a Swedish gasification project is any indication. As gas prices have slumped this fall, threatening to run some biofuels innovators out of business, Swedish company Chemrec has pulled in a stream of grants and investments backing a process for turning the black liquor left over from pulp and paper bleaching into a clean-burning synthetic biofuel.

Read the full story in Environmental Protection.

A new way of pinpointing where zinc pollution in the atmosphere comes from could improve pollution monitoring and regulation, says research in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

Imperial College London researchers say their work is a major breakthrough as current methods for analyzing zinc pollution only measure pollution in the atmosphere; they do not trace it back to its source.

Read the full story from Plenty Magazine.

Lucky for you, Plenty’s staff has compiled ideas for every important person in your life, from the woman who birthed you to the boss you’d really rather not have to buy a present for, thankyouverymuch. The emphasis this year is on things you can make yourself, things that are inexpensive (with one outlandish — but totally worth it — exception), and, of course, things that are low-impact or actually help the earth and its inhabitants. So start wishing for a green Christmas. (For the print magazine’s own 100 percent unique gift guide, you can find the December issue on newsstands now.)

Via Docuticker.

EPA’s Risk Assessment Process Bogged Down by Unprecedented Challenges; Expansion of Current Model Could Help Meet Needs
Source: National Research Council

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s process of generating risk assessments — which estimate the potential adverse effects posed by harmful chemicals found in the environment in order to protect public health — is bogged down by unprecedented challenges, and as a decision-making tool it is often hindered by a disconnect between available scientific data and the information needs of officials, says a new report from the National Research Council. EPA’s risk assessment process should be streamlined to ensure the appropriate use of available science, technical accuracy, and tailoring to the specific needs of the problem.

The risk assessment process entails four steps — hazard identification, exposure assessment, dose-response assessment, and risk characterization –  which were described in a 1983 National Research Council report known as the Red Book. After a risk assessment is complete, officials and regulators use it to decide how to protect the public from exposure to toxic substances. However, the challenges of risk assessment have become increasingly complex. As knowledge of environmental contaminants and potential health impacts advances, EPA must address issues of multiple exposure, multiple risks, and susceptibility of different populations. Recognizing this, the agency asked the Research Council to identify improvements it could make to enhance risk assessment. In turn, the committee that wrote the report presented recommendations and a proposed framework for risk-based decision making to provide a template for risk assessment in EPA and strengthen the scientific basis, credibility, and effectiveness of future risk management decisions.

The committee found that EPA is struggling to keep up with demands for hazard and dose-response information and is challenged by a lack of resources. For example, the risk assessment for trichloroethylene, a chemical that is linked to cancer, has been under development since the 1980s and is not expected until 2010. However, state and federal officials often must continue to make risk management decisions in the absence of completed risk assessments. If this practice continues, the value and credibility of risk assessment will erode, the committee stressed. Perfection in scientific knowledge is unattainable; therefore, risk assessment should incorporate the best available scientific information and reasonably capture uncertainties in information so it is still useful for officials.

+ Report in Brief (PDF; 322 KB)
+ Full Report (Read for free online via National Academies Press.)

The December 2008 ITP Bulletin from DOE’s Industrial Technologies Program is now available.

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

• New Mexico, Land of Windchantment
• More Universities Offering Master’s Degree Programs in Renewable Energy
• Inside Renewable Energy podcast: Energy Businesses Recognizing the Need to Diversify
• The UK: The Next Great Bastion of Solar Policy?

Read the full story in Technology Review.

Startup Qteros, based in Hadley, MA, and formerly known as SunEthanol, thinks that it holds the key to finally making cellulosic ethanol cost-effective. It’s a bacterium called the Q microbe, or, more properly, Clostridium phytofermentans, and the company claims that it can eliminate the costly enzymes normally used to turn cellulose into ethanol.

Via Docuticker.

DOI Climate Change Task Force Draft Subcommittee Reports
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior (via USGS)

In March 2007, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne established the DOI Climate Change Task Force, chaired by Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett. Three subcommittees were formed to undertake this assignment:

1. a Land & Water Management Subcommittee to identify potential issues and challenges facing the Department of the Interior (DOI) as a consequence of climate change and to suggest possible options for addressing them. The subcommittee was composed of 39 staff including economists, geologists, managers, and engineers;
2. a Law & Policy Subcommittee to identify the legal and policy issues facing the DOI and to suggest possible options for addressing them. That subcommittee had 36 staff, including diverse representation from among the career resource managers, representatives of the Solicitor’s office, and personnel from the DOI policy offices; and,
3. a Science Subcommittee to identify the science and information needed to assist the DOI in addressing the consequences of climate change and to suggest possible options for getting the needed science. There were 35 staff members on that subcommittee, including not only scientists from USGS but also multiple other professions from other parts of the Department.

The three Draft DOI Climate Change Task Force subcommittee reports highlight a series of questions and issues (and options for addressing them) that may become increasingly important as a result of climate change.

+ Report of the Subcommittee on Land and Water Management (PDF; 908 KB)
+ Report of the Subcommittee on Law and Policy (PDF; 435 KB)
+ Report of the Subcommittee on Science (PDF; 367 KB)

Read the press release.

Turn off Dora and Sponge Bob. GreenGorilla.com’s “Gorilla in the Greenhouse” is infectiously funny, cleverly written and (listen up, parents!) shares a meaningful moral in each episode. Episode 2 of the “Gorilla in the Greenhouse” animated Web series hits GreenGorilla.com on December 9.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

By engineering the metabolic process of the common E. coli bacteria, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have coaxed the microorganism into churning out useful long-chain alcohols that have potential as new biofuels. The bacteria-produced biofuels have between five and eight carbon atoms, compared with ethanol, which has two carbons.

Read the full story in Occupational Health & Safety.

EPA’s process of generating risk assessments — which estimate the potential adverse effects posed by harmful chemicals found in the environment in order to protect public health — is bogged down by unprecedented challenges, and as a decision-making tool it is often hindered by a disconnect between available scientific data and the information needs of officials, according to a new report from the National Research Council. EPA’s risk assessment process should be streamlined to ensure the appropriate use of available science, technical accuracy, and tailoring to the specific needs of the problem.

Read the full story in Occupational Health & Safety.

The European Commission decided on Dec. 3 to table a proposed review of the EU Directive on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), which was enacted five years ago to increase the reuse and recycling of the 35-40 pounds of computers, TVs, cell phones, light bulbs, refrigerators, and other cast-off electronic equipment estimated by the EC to be generated annually by each European citizen. Most of the discarded material is waste sent to landfills, but there is pressure both to raise the amount that is recycled and to make manufacturers pay for household collection. Collection costs should be shifted from taxpayers to consumers of the electrical equipment through producers, the EC says.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

Toxic gases may be rising into homes in Brooklyn, a legacy of dry-cleaning plants and manufacturers.

Read the full story in the New York Times.

The economic downturn has decimated the market for recycled materials, leaving more headed for landfills.

Read the full story from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

With the holiday season quickly approaching, many people may be overwhelmed by the idea of trying to make their holiday events festive and green. To take out some of the guesswork, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) offers 10 practical tips to reduce your environmental footprint this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season.

Sustainability: The Journal of Record is actively seeking peer-reviewed papers with an action-oriented focus for consideration for publication in 2009 on the following topics:

• Policy shifts or procedural changes either on campus or in the corporate sector that have resulted in an improvement in sustainability
• Papers that emphasize practical approaches to sustainability challenges and that take a broader view (e.g., methods for greening an entire campus, methods for greening facilities)
• Papers which are likely to have broad applicability to and interest from our readers.

Recently published papers include:

• Green IT 101, Technology helps businesses and college become enviro-friendly
  Authored by: A. Naditz
• Think Systemically, Act Cooperatively: The Key to Reaching a Tipping Point for the Sustainability Movement in Higher Education
  Authored by: J. Elder
• Opposites Attract, Corporate and nonprofit partnerships yield benefits for both
  Authored by: L. Tripoli

Click here for manuscript instructions and submit papers for consideration for publication to ltripoli@liebertpub.com

Smart Energy Solutions: ‘Free’ Money for Taking Charge of Your Power
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/feature/2008/12/11/smart-energy-solutions-free-money
By Mary Catherine O’Connor
Think the costs of powering your facilities are out of your control? Think
again. From “selling” electricity back to your utility to generating renewable
energy on site, you have plenty of power to control costs — and reap the
rewards.

Shangri-La Construction to Unveil World’s Most Sustainable Aircraft Hangar
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/blog/2008/12/05/worlds-most-sustainable-aircraft-hangar
By Ariel Schwartz
We’ve heard a lot of talk recently about improving aircraft sustainability, but
Shangri-La Construction is taking the aircraft industry to a new level of
green-ness with the world’s most sustainable aircraft hangar.

Five Tips from Dell for a Greener Data Center
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/blog/2008/12/09/five-tips-dell-a-greener-data-center
By Preston Gralla
Looking for low-cost or no-cost ways to green your data center and saving
significant money? Tim Webb, Dell’s Director of Global Infrastructure Consulting
Services has solid advice. I spoke with him recently, and here are his five top
tips for a greener data center.

Party On — or Party Off?
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/blog/2008/12/08/party-on-party-off
By Leslie Guevarra
With holiday party season in full swing, a host of sources offer tips on
greening office celebrations from ideas on pared down, eco-friendly festivities
in house to the ultraminimalist option of bagging it all together.

Sustainability — It’s all about performing
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/blog/2008/12/08/sustainability-performing
By Robert Pojasek
Some have said that sustainability is “doing well by doing good.” Perhaps this
is a good start. But sustainability is much more than doing well or well enough.
It’s all about performing!

DOE’s Pacific Northwest Nat’l. Lab to Help China Push Green Building
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/12/08/china-green-building
With half the world’s new construction for the next 10 years expected in China,
the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is developing
plan the country can use to increase compliance with its stricter building
energy codes.

NetApp’s Green Drive Fueled $1.4M PG&E Rebate, Recognition as Eco-Friendly
Business
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/12/09/netapps-green-drive
NetApp’s $1.4 million rebate — the largest of its kind awarded so far by PG&E —
for construction of its new data center and its certification as a green
business mark the latest recognition for the 16-year-old firm and its
eco-friendly efforts.

Webroot Launches Global ‘Go Green’ Recycling Program
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/12/10/webroot
Webroot is partnering with Guaranteed Recycling Xperts and Centillion to provide
free recycling of legacy security hardware to purchasers of Webroot’s new hosted
online threat protection solution.

The Golden Arches’ Golden Rules for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/12/11/golden-arches-sustainability
McDonald’s vice president for corporate responsibility went to the Virtual
Energy Forum this week to offer up his company’s take on energy management,
green building and sustainability.

PepsiCo’s Chicago HQ Lands LEED Silver Thanks to Workers’ Efforts
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/12/08/pepsico
An employee initiative called the Green Team led a drive to slash energy use,
water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and waste to achieve the LEED
rating.

Van Jones’ Green Vision
http://www.greenerbuildings.com/podcast/2008/12/02/van-jones-green-vision
By Leslie Guevarra
Van Jones, the author, activist and adviser who helped bring social justice
issues to the forefront of the green movement, talks to GreenBiz about his
highly acclaimed book, “The Green Collar Economy,” and what inspired him.

Read the full post in the NYT’s Green Inc. blog.

Among other findings from a survey released today by the Consumer Electronics Association, an industry group representing computer and gadget manufacturers, 89 percent of consumers said that energy efficiency would be a factor in choosing their next television — even as less than half of the 960 people surveyed said they’re generally able to make sense of the environmental attributes attached to electronics on the market.

Via Librarians’ Internet Index.

Website for a program to recycle natural wine corks, which when recycled “can become flooring tiles, building insulation, automotive gaskets, craft materials, soil conditioner and sports equipment.” Includes a list of private collection locations in California and Oregon and a FAQ about the program. From an alliance of concerned businesses, individuals, and ecological organizations.

Read the full story in the Washington Post.

The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday abandoned its push to revise two air-pollution rules in ways that environmentalists had long opposed, abruptly dropping measures that the Bush administration had spent years preparing.

Read the press release and the full report.

A new report from the National Research Council finds serious weaknesses in the government’s plan for research on the potential health and environmental risks posed by nanomaterials, which are increasingly being used in consumer goods and industry.  An effective national plan for identifying and managing potential risks is essential to the successful development and public acceptance of nanotechnology-enabled products, emphasized the committee that wrote the report.

Read the testimony from the Center for American Progress.

CAPAF’s Bracken Hendricks testifies before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on green recovery. Read the full testimony.

Read the press release.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) today outlined the key policies that President-elect Obama and the Congressional leadership must address to expand the use of solar energy and help put over 1 million Americans back to work by 2011.

What: The 2008 Sustainable Government Symposium and Green Government Awards
When: Friday, December 12 from 8:30am to 3:00pm
Where: Department of Agriculture Building, State Fairgrounds, Springfield, IL

Please join the Council for a symposium dedicated to greening Illinois state government operations and policies. Registration is free and includes breakfast and lunch. To register, visit http://www.standingupforillinois.org/green/symposium_sg.php. Morning panelists will discuss energy efficiency and conservation programs, green procurement, green leased office space, and recycling and waste reduction. Morning working groups will provide an opportunity to exchange best practices and brainstorm future sustainability projects with other agencies.

After lunch, Lt. Governor Pat Quinn will address symposium attendees and present the 2008 Green Government Awards to state agencies that have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to improving the sustainability of their programs and operations. From 1:30 to 3:00pm, the Green Governments Coordinating Council will hold its final quarterly meeting of the year. Everyone is welcome to stay for the meeting and participate in further discussion.

Global climate change is upon us, altering weather patterns, depleting water and food resources, creating armed conflicts and environmental refugees. While this is certainly newsworthy, climate has been a high-impact variable since civilizations beginnings 10,000 years ago. Human societys vulnerability to climate increased exponentially with deforestation, agriculture and the domestication of animals, and short-term climate change devastated great civilizations such as the Mayas. Current media reporting on climate change is overwhelmingly driven by scientific projections, policy debates over industry regulation, and the chimera of climate denial. Our conference factors in the missing human dimension by examining the impacts of climate on human society through time, with a view to better grasping the impacts of the current long-term warming and our means for adapting to its staggering demands.

With speakers drawn from the sciences, humanities and the media, the Planet U conference will emphasize the human story of our ever-changing relation to climate, from the volcanic catastrophes of pre-history, to the rise and decline of civilizations, to our own intensifying sense of vulnerability on a warming planet. The goal of the conference is to stimulate dialogue between various academic disciplines in their research on climate change, and to encourage more effective communication between the academy, the media, and the general public.

April 8-10th
Illini Union and Beckman Institute
http://www.planetu.illinois.edu

Via The Swamp.

The energy and environmental front is coming into focus in the Obama transition:

President-elect Barack Obama will tap:

• Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu as his energy secretary.
• Former New Jersey environmental commissioner Lisa Jackson as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Former EPA administrator Carol Browner, who served in the Clinton administration and served as director of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection before that, as a high-level energy adviser reporting to the president.

A senior Democrat confirmed these appointments for Tribune’s Washington Bureau this evening. Obama plans a press conference in Chicago on Thursday.

Read the full post at Sustainable IT.

From the way products are packaged to the means by which they’re shipped, waste abounds in the supply chain. That’s the case made by Paul Brody and Mondher Ben-Hamida, supply chain experts for IBM’s Global Business Services. In a recent article that warrants reading on Environmental Leader, the duo have outlined steps toward cutting supply-chain waste.