·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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Read the full story at GreenBiz.com.

Although people want to live more sustainably, there are still plenty of barriers keeping them from acting in tune with their thoughts. A sustainable society won’t be born out of just consumer choices, but out of business actions as well.

A new report from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development looks at global consumption and the varied ways businesses can bring sustainability to the mainstream.

Via Docuticker.

Just Released — Green Stimulus Source Book
Source: U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources

We’re happy to take this moment to thank you for being a regular reader of Senate ENR news releases. As a token of our appreciation, please enjoy ‘Green’ Stimulus Proposals — a compilation of green jobs ideas for the next economic recovery bill. This collection of policy and program recommendations is posted on the Energy Committee website (PDFs). The proposals come from a range of sources, including:

• Statements for the Record submitted by witnesses testifying at our Dec. 10 full committee hearing regarding investments in clean energy and natural resources projects/programs to create green jobs and to stimulate the economy.
• Statements for the Record submitted for that hearing by individuals and groups that did not testify.
• Additional proposals submitted to the Committee prior to the Dec. 12 cut-off deadline for this document.

Read the full story at GreenBiz.com.

Talking to consumers about buying less stuff just might be the third rail of green marketing. Reducing or limiting consumption is antithetical to marketing, or at least it has been so far. Practically no one seems to want to go there. I’ll accept my portion of responsibility. In the late 1980s, when I penned The Green Consumer, I helped advance the notion of solving our planet’s environmental ills by making good purchasing choices — that we could, in other words, shop our way to environmental health. “By choosing carefully, you can have a positive impact on the environment without significantly compromising your way of life,” I wrote. “That’s what being a green consumer is all about.”

Read the full story at GreenBiz.

A friend of mine just started a new job as the head of operations. With my congratulations, I asked whether the company was considering a management system as a means to drive improvement. The response that I received was, “I don’t have time for that right now. I feel like I am drinking out of a fire hose!”

This made me realize that operations professionals have either little appreciation of the role of management systems as a foundation for process improvement, or they have not personally had a positive experience with them. Most of you are all too familiar with the phrase, “put a certificate on the wall” when hearing about experiences with management systems. When a key customer demands a certificate, the supplier pays the cost for these systems. However they rarely see this as being valuable for their operations.

Read the full story in Technology Review.

Will putting a price on carbon increase the use of renewables?

Read the full story at News.com.

Green fatigue is now pervasive.

Numerous environment-theme blogs and news sites over the past week have pointed to a statement put out by Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., calling for the demise of all “green” labeling.

Since 1975, the university has been taking nominations for words that need to be banned. The top vote getters for 2008 were “green” and “going green.” Also on the black list were the terms carbon footprint and carbon offset.

One word-banning nominator, Ed Hardiman from Bristow, Va., summed up his lack of patience nicely: “If I see one more corporation declare itself ‘green,’ I’m going to start burning tires in my backyard.”

Read the full story in Technology Review.

Without a radically expanded and smarter electrical grid, wind and solar will remain niche power sources.