·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
• • • • •

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.

Read the full story in InfoWorld.

Don’t let misinformation prevent you from cashing in on PC power management