·:[ Environmental News Bits ]:·
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today launched a Web page for consumers with information on how to dispose of certain drugs, including several high-potency opioids and other selected controlled substances. These medicines have the potential to be harmful, even deadly, in a single dose if taken by someone other than the intended person.

The FDA recommends that these medicines be disposed of by flushing down the sink or toilet. The goal is to keep them away from children and others who could be harmed by taking them accidentally.

Medicines not listed should be thrown away in the household trash after mixing them with some unpalatable substance, such as coffee grounds, and sealing them in a bag or other container. Another option is to dispose of them through drug take back programs, if federal and state law permit.

“The safe disposal of medicines from the home after they are no longer needed is an important concern for the FDA,” said Douglas Throckmorton, M.D., deputy center director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

All medicines listed have disposal instructions in their professional prescribing information; however, this information is targeted to health care professionals. The Web page provides clear instructions for consumers on whether a medicine should be flushed or disposed of in the trash.

Throckmorton also said, “The FDA is working with other groups to improve the use of several drug disposal methods, including drug take back programs. However, for some potent medicines that can cause harm or death if inadvertently taken by family members, the FDA currently recommends flushing them down the sink or toilet to immediately and permanently remove them from the home. Simple precautions like these can reduce the likelihood of accidental and potentially dangerous exposure to unused medicines.”

The FDA worked with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to develop the first consumer guidance for proper disposal of prescription drugs. The ONDCP federal guidelines were first issued in February 2007. The 2009 version of the federal guidelines is available at http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/pdf/prescrip_disposal.pdf.

For more information:

• Disposal by Flushing of Certain Unused Medicines: What You Should Know
• Medicines Recommended for Disposal by Flushing

Via Resource Shelf.

Energy Explained
From e-mail:

Energy Explained , a new web portal launched today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), celebrates Energy Awareness Month with the most comprehensive energy education resource available from the U.S. Government.

The site explains where gasoline comes from, what determines the price of electricity, how much renewable energy the United States uses, and hundreds of other energy topics.

“Energy touches us in many ways every day, from the electricity that lights our homes to the fuel we use in our cars,” said EIA Administrator Richard Newell. “Energy Explained uses plain language and clear graphics to help explain a sometimes complex, but vital subject.”

Energy Explained allows easy navigation between major energy topics:

• What Is Energy?
• Use of Energy
• Energy and the Environment
• Nonrenewable Energy Sources
• Renewable Energy Sources
• Secondary Energy Sources

Source: Energy Information Administration

FuelEconomy.gov provides a mobile version of their site at fueleconomy.gov/m. The mobile site provides:

• Fuel economy ratings for all cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. back to model year 1985
• Annual fuel cost estimates
• Annual petroleum use (barrels of domestic and imported petroleum)
• Carbon footprint (tons of carbon dioxide emitted annually)

Read the full story in Research Information.

Web 2.0 technologies have fundamentally changed the way that many people share personal information. It might be an exaggeration to say that everyone is constantly twittering, blogging their daily thoughts, or uploading their holidays snaps to Flickr but there is an increasing number of people who are. Even those who aren’t publishing vast quantities of their own information are often using these technologies to follow the goings-on of family and friends.

The potential of Web 2.0 technologies for collaboration and communication in a more professional setting has also been widely recognised, with the ‘two point oh’ moniker being added to a host of organisational types and professional activities. However, within the world of scholarly publishing, despite the huge potential of Web 2.0 technologies for the transforming of the research and publishing process, adoption is seemingly a slow affair. The question is, are academics waiting for the right tools, or are they just too stuck in their ways?

Via Docuticker.

State Green Economy Profiles
Source: National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices

As governors across the country look at ways they can help build a green economy in their state, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) has commissioned Collaborative Economics Inc. (CEI) to prepare a profile of each state’s green economy. State profiles can be found by clicking on the map above. This data is designed to provide a detailed, empirical account of each state’s existing assets across multiple green sectors and serve as a foundation for identifying future growth areas and related needs. The profile is based on a methodology presented by CEI (PDF; 2 MB) at the NGA Center’s Green Economy State Roundtable in April.

Via Docuticker.

Report Estimates Climate Change Adaptation Costs, Impacts to Utilities
Source: National Association of Clean Water Agencies

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and the Association of the Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) released a report today detailing the impacts climate change can have on wastewater and drinking water utilities and estimating the adaptation costs for these critical facilities to be between $448 billion and $944 billion through 2050. The associations, which represent the nation’s public wastewater and drinking water agencies, urged Congress and the Obama administration to recognize that climate change is fundamentally about water and to implement policies that will help utilities take timely actions to adapt.
…
Climate change impacts to wastewater and drinking water utilities, which provide critical economic, public health, and environmental benefits, include sea level rise and extreme flooding that can inundate and incapacitate treatment facilities; water quality degradation and increased treatment requirements; water scarcity and the need to develop new drinking water supplies; and lower flows in drought conditions that can affect the operation of treatment facilities.

Adaptation strategies involve integrating aspects of the constructed and natural water cycle through “water portfolio management” that provides utilities flexibility to craft sustainable approaches to suit their specific needs. Water conservation, new water conveyance and storage, desalination, and wastewater reuse are options to help utilities adapt. In addition, green infrastructure solutions that mimic the natural environment can be used to address stormwater flows at a lower cost while providing the ancillary benefits of providing habitat, recharging aquifers, and enhancing water quality.

+ Full Report (PDF; 2.6 MB)

Via Docuticker.

Plastic Bottle Recycling Reaches Record High of Over 2.4 Billion Pounds Annually
Source: American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR)

Plastic bottle recycling by consumers increased 75 million pounds in 2008 (up 3.2%), to reach a record high of more than 2.4 billion pounds for the year, according to figures released jointly today by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR).

The 19th annual National Post-Consumer Plastics Bottle Recycling Report also found that the results reflect a continuing increase in the pounds of bottles collected for recycling each year since the industry survey began in 1990. The recycling rate for plastic bottles rose nearly 3 percent to reach 27 percent.
…
Over the last two decades, America’s plastics and recycling industries have invested over $2 billion in developing technologies and the infrastructure to recycle plastics in communities across the nation. Most recently, these efforts have focused on increasing awareness of recycling opportunities among consumers and expanding access to away–from–home recycling bins.

APR, which represents more than 90 percent of the postconsumer plastics recycling capacity in North America, has initiated a series of recycling workshops and webinars for recycling officials to help increase the volume of plastics available for recycling. In addition, APR works closely with packaging and consumer product companies on design for recycling of new containers and works with industry to minimize contamination of the recycling stream.

+ Full Report (PDF; 115 KB)

Via RFF Library Blog.

Via RFF Library Blog.

Via RFF Library Blog.

Via RFF Library Blog.

Brookings Institution / by Craig Pirrong
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2009/09_cap_and_trade_market_oversight_pirrong.aspx

[From introduction] The original concept of cap-and-trade envisioned that the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions would be capped and rights to emit would be traded. But it is inevitable that there will be demand to trade instruments other than emissions rights themselves. Specifically, there will be a demand to trade derivatives on emissions rights…

the current regulatory environment is extraordinarily hostile to derivatives generally, and to carbon derivatives particularly. Indeed, several proposals have been introduced to constrain or eliminate various types of derivatives trading, including proposals to:

• Impose limits (e.g., speculative limits) on the uses of these products, or on the amount of trading certain kinds of entities can undertake;
• Restrict where and how derivatives are traded, with a decided preference for trading on organized exchanges;
• Constrain arrangements for the allocation of performance risk, with a decided preference for “clearing” derivatives transactions through central counterparties (“CCPs”);
• Ban certain derivatives altogether.

The American Clean Energy and Securities Act (ACESA), passed by the US House of Representatives in June, includes provisions mandating many of these restrictions.

All of these proposals are misguided, some extremely so. They are predicated on a widespread misunderstanding of what derivatives are, how they work, and the reasons that firms trade them…In this chapter I will support them by going back to basics, describing what derivatives are, why they are used, how they are traded, the abuses they are subject to, and the most efficient ways to constrain those abuses.

Via RFF Library Blog.

Congressional Budget Office / Testimony before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U. S. Senate : Statement of  Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director
http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10561

[From Director's Blog] Today I testified about the economic effects of legislation aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, drawing on a report that CBO released a few weeks ago.

Reducing the extent of climate change would entail substantial reductions in U.S. emissions and in emissions from other countries over the coming decades. Achieving such reductions in this country would probably involve some combination of three broad changes: transforming the U.S. economy from one that runs on carbon-dioxide-emitting fossil fuels to one that increasingly relies on nuclear and renewable fuels; accomplishing substantial improvements in energy efficiency; and implementing the large-scale capture and storage of carbon dioxide emissions.

My testimony emphasized several points:

• The economic impact would depend importantly on the design of the policy. Decisions about whether to reduce greenhouse gases primarily through market-based systems (such as taxes or a cap-and-trade program) or primarily through traditional regulatory approaches that specify performance or technology standards would influence the total costs of reducing emissions and the distribution of those costs. The costs would also depend on the stringency of the policy; whether other countries imposed similar policies; the amount of flexibility about when, where, and how emissions would be reduced; and the allocation of allowances if a cap-and-trade system was used.
• Reducing the risk of climate change would come at some cost to the economy. For example, CBO concludes that the cap-and-trade provisions of H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, would reduce GDP below what it would otherwise have been—by roughly ¼ to ¾ percent in 2020 and by between 1 and 3½ percent in 2050. By way of comparison, CBO projects that real (that is, inflation-adjusted) GDP will be roughly two and a half times as large in 2050 as it is today, so those changes would be comparatively modest. In the models that CBO reviewed, the long-run cost to households would be smaller than the changes in GDP because consumption falls by less than GDP and because households benefit from more time spent in nonmarket activities. Moreover, these measures of potential costs do not include any benefits of averting climate change.
• Climate legislation would cause permanent shifts in production and employment away from industries that produce carbon-based energy and energy-intensive goods and services and toward industries that produce alternative energy sources and less-energy-intensive goods and services. While those shifts were occurring, total employment would probably be reduced a little compared with what it would have been without such a policy, because labor markets would most likely not adjust as quickly as would the composition of demand for different outputs.
• CBO has estimated the loss in purchasing power that would result from the primary cap-and-trade program in H.R. 2454, incorporating both the higher prices that households would face and the compensation they would receive (primarily through the allocation of allowances or the proceeds from their sale). CBO’s measure omits some channels of influence on households’ well-being that cannot be readily quantified, and it appears that the measure probably understates the true burden to a small degree. As estimated, the loss in purchasing power would be modest and would rise over time as the cap became more stringent, accounting for 0.2 percent of after-tax income in 2020 and 1.2 percent in 2050. Households in the lowest fifth of households when arrayed by income would see gains in purchasing power in both 2020 and 2050, because the compensation they would receive would exceed the costs they would bear. However, households in the middle fifth would see net losses in purchasing power amounting to 0.6 percent of after-tax income in 2020 and 1.1 percent in 2050.

Via Docuticker.

Global Climate Change Policy Tracker: An Investor’s Assessment
Source: DB Climate Change Advisors (Deutsche Bank Group) and Columbia Climate Center at the Earth Institute, Columbia University

This report, “Global Climate Change Policy Tracker: An Investor’s Assessment” (Climate Tracker), provides investors with an analysis of climate change policies and assigns a risk rating to 109 countries, states and regions based on key government mandates and supporting policy frameworks. The report was produced by DBCCA, working with the Columbia Climate Center at the Earth Institute, Columbia University.

The “Climate Tracker” is the first publicly-available analysis of its kind. It incorporates results of a model prepared by Columbia Climate Center researchers that estimates the impacts on carbon emissions of each of 270 major climate policies, and aggregates them at country, regional and global levels. The “Climate Tracker” provides a risk rating of countries and regions based on their relative attractiveness to investors. It is designed to help investors identify the best risk-adjusted returns in climate change investment opportunities around the world.

+ Executive Summary [PDF; 382 KB]
+ Detailed Summary of Targets by Region & Country [PDF; 474 KB]
+ Detailed Analysis of Targets by Region & Country [PDF; 1.74 MB]

Via Docuticker.

Health Problems Heat Up: Climate Change and the Public’s Health
Source: Trust for America’s Health

Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) released a new report today that finds only five states have published a strategic climate change plan that includes a public health response. This includes planning for health challenges and emergencies expected to develop from natural disasters, pollution, and infectious diseases as temperatures and sea levels rise.

The Health Problems Heat Up: Climate Change and the Public’s Health report examines U.S. planning for changing health threats posed by climate change, such as heat-related sickness, respiratory infections, natural disasters, changes to the food supply, and infectious diseases carried by insects.

+ Full Report

Via Docuticker.

Exposed: Groundbreaking report details climate change hotspots in US Southeast
Source: Oxfam America

A number of “hotspots” of vulnerability to climate-related hazards exist in the US southeast, according to a new groundbreaking study released today by Oxfam America. The report, Exposed: Social Vulnerability and Climate Change in the US Southeast, is the first of its kind to combine hazards associated with climate change with social variables, revealing the people and places that will most likely to be hit worst by climate change.

“Climate change will impact everyone, but not everyone will be impacted equally,” said Oxfam America President Raymond C. Offenheiser. “Social factors like income and race do not determine who will be hit by a natural disaster, but they do determine a population’s ability to prepare, respond, and recover when disaster does strike. This report will serve as a critical tool to help us identify especially vulnerable communities and invest wisely in their climate resiliency and preparedness.”

The study covers 13 states in the US southeast from Arkansas to Virginia, measuring the underlying social and demographic characteristics of populations and how some of those characteristics negatively affect their ability to cope with climate change-related hazards, such as flooding, drought, hurricane force winds and sea-level rise. Poverty is deepest in the rural South where more than one in four people live in counties with persistent poverty, and it is therefore one of the country’s most socially vulnerable regions to climate change.

+ Full Report

View a few of the amazing pictures at Mother Nature Network.

Every year, the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife magazine team up to put on an international showcase of the best wildlife photography from across the globe: The Veolia Environnment Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. Here are just a few photographs from the 2009 exhibition.

See also The Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition.

Via Docuticker.

Managing Electronic Waste: Issues with Exporting E-Waste (PDF)
Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists/Secrecy News)

Although there may be limited data regarding how e-waste is managed, the consequences of export to countries that manage it improperly are becoming increasingly evident. In particular, various reports and studies (by the mainstream media, environmental organizations, and university researchers) have found primitive waste management practices in India and various countries in Africa and Asia. Operations in Guiyu in the Shantou region of China have gained particular attention. Observed recycling operations involve burning the plastic coverings of materials to extract metals for scrap, openly burning circuit boards to remove solder or soaking them in acid baths to strip them for gold or other metals. Acid baths are then dumped into surface water. Among other impacts to those areas have been elevated blood lead levels in children and soil and water contaminated with heavy metals.

The impacts associated with e-waste exports have led to concerns from environmental organizations, members of the public, and some Members of Congress.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) recently released its third annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, which ranks U.S. states according to adoption and implementation of energy efficiency policies.

The scorecard examines state’s performance in six energy efficiency policy areas: (1) utility-sector and public benefits programs and policies, (2) transportation policies, (3) building energy codes, (4) combined heat and power, (5) state government initiatives, and (6) appliance efficiency standards. It also documents the best practices and leadership roles that states are playing in national efforts to reduce energy use.

This year, the scorecard found that the top 10 states doing the most to implement energy efficiency were California (1), Massachusetts (2), Connecticut (3), Oregon (4), New York (5), Vermont (6), Washington State (7), Minnesota (8), Rhode Island (9), and Maine (10). In addition, the average state energy efficiency score improved from 15 to 17 points (out of 50) when compared with last year’s average score. The “most improved” states, which climbed at least eight spots from last year’s rankings, include Maine, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, South Dakota, and Tennessee.

For states further down the list, the successful practices, examples, and information highlighted in this scorecard can serve as a roadmap for getting started with energy efficiency.

The database is searchable by state or by policy, and documents state activities in the energy efficiency policy areas covered in the scorecard. For detailed information about energy efficiency initiatives at the state level, visit ACEEE’s State Energy Efficiency Policy Database on the Web at http://www.aceee.org/energy/state/index.htm.

The 2009 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard is available for free download at http://www.aceee.org/pubs/e097.htm; hard copies may be ordered through a link on the download page.

2010 Environmental Monitoring and Data Quality Workshop
April 12-16, 2010, Louisville, KY • The Brown Hotel
www.regonline.com/2010emdqworkshop to register or for more information
EMDQworkshop@geologics.com

The DoD Environmental Data Quality Workgroup is pleased to announce the 7th annual DoD Environmental Monitoring & Data Quality Workshop, which includes technical training sessions, technical presentations, a plenary session featuring distinguished speakers, a Q&A forum, component meetings, a poster session, an update on the DoD ELAP, and networking opportunities with members of the environmental community. This workshop is open to all interested environmental professionals involved with DoD sites or projects including representatives from the DoD services, other federal agencies, state, local, and tribal governments, academia, and the private sector.

Possible training categories for this workshop include:

• Streamlining of UFP-QAPP
• Systematic Project Planning
• Best Practices for DoD QSM
• IS (Incremental Sampling)
• LOD/LOQ/LCS: Determining and Understanding

Call for Papers
Abstracts for technical presentations and posters are being solicited in the following areas (Deadline January 15, 2010):

• DoD Emerging Contaminants
• Indoor Air Vapor Intrusion
• Military Munitions Response Program (MMRP)
• Laboratory Analysis and Performance; Data Management and Sharing
• Project Planning / Implementing UFP-QAPP
• Data Quality and Usability
• Field Sampling and Analysis
• Quality Systems Implementation
• Environmental Monitoring for Remedial Technologies

Read the full story at Ars Technica.

A collection of scientific societies has sent an open letter to all US Senators, reiterating their individual statements on climate change, and offering to provide more information as legislation to limit carbon emissions moves forward.

Read the full story at Ars Technica.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is telling the US Chamber of Commerce to get over a parody site that turns the trade group’s opposition to greenhouse gas legislation on its head. It might make the chamber look foolish, but the site is described as classic “fair use.”

Via Docuticker.

Fewer Americans See Solid Evidence of Global Warming
Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. And fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem – 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 2008.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 4 among 1,500 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, finds that 57% think there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer over the past few decades. In April 2008, 71% said there was solid evidence of rising global temperatures.

Over the same period, there has been a comparable decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. Just 36% say that currently, down from 47% last year.

The decline in the belief in solid evidence of global warming has come across the political spectrum, but has been particularly pronounced among independents. Just 53% of independents now see solid evidence of global warming, compared with 75% who did so in April 2008. Republicans, who already were highly skeptical of the evidence of global warming, have become even more so: just 35% of Republicans now see solid evidence of rising global temperatures, down from 49% in 2008 and 62% in 2007. Fewer Democrats also express this view – 75% today compared with 83% last year.

Via Docuticker.

Maker of Rayon Clothes Barred from Deceptive “Bamboo” Claims
Source: Federal Trade Commission

Just because bamboo is green does not mean that companies who purport to make clothing and other textiles from processed bamboo can make unsupported “green” claims. The Federal Trade Commission today announced a settlement with a company that allegedly falsely claimed its rayon products are made of bamboo fiber, retain bamboo’s antimicrobial properties, and are biodegradable.

Under the settlement, the company has agreed that it will not make any future bamboo claims unless they are true and backed by reliable evidence, and that it will no longer claim that the clothing and bath products it sells are made of bamboo fiber – when they actually are made of rayon processed from bamboo plants.

+ In the Matter of The M Group, Inc., also doing business as Bamboosa…
+ Have You Been Bamboozled by Bamboo Fabrics?
+ How to Avoid Bamboozling Your Customers

Read the full story at Ars Technica.

The Green Grid, which helps the IT industry manage its energy use, has analyzed current and pending energy regulations in Europe, and concluded that datacenter managers need to be proactive about limiting their energy use and plan expansion carefully.

Via Resource Shelf.

From the Article:

The University of Florida, Cornell University and a handful of other schools have been awarded $12.2 million to build a social/collaborative network for scientists and researchers. The idea is to make it easier to find research and like-minded researchers in an effort to speed new discoveries.

The project, funded via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will initially take of the form of networks within each of the 7 founding schools but within two years could expand across the country. Eventually, the network will go worldwide, grant recipients hope.

[Snip]

Technologies used to support the effort will include VIVO, an open source discovery tool out of Cornell used to search for research information. It will also exploit concepts of the Semantic Web, Tim-Berners Lee’s vision for an even more useful Web that enables better sharing of data.

In addition to the University of Florida and Cornell, also involved in the project are Indiana University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Washington University in St. Louis, the Scripps Research Institute and the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico.

Source: CIO

Via Docuticker.

Energy Trends; Highlights on Consumer Energy usage (PDF; 325 KB)
Source: Nielsen
From Nielsen Wire blog:

While there are many motivating factors behind the green energy movement, for the average American “saving money” topped the list according The Nielsen Company’s latest Energy Trends report. Eighty percent of the 32,000 respondents polled cited cutting costs as their main motivation for conserving energy.

Overall, the study shows that many consumers have adopted more environmentally friendly habits, while others have not acted as quickly. “The current momentum surrounding green initiatives and reduced energy consumption presents utilities and home improvement companies with a golden opportunity,” says Jonathan Drost, Account Executive, Energy for The Nielsen Company. “When going green is cost effective, such as opting for Energy Star appliances or government incentive programs, customers migrate in that direction. The biggest hurdle for energy companies is educating the consumer on things like Smart Grids, Energy Efficiency programs and Renewable Green Energy.”

The GLOBE Scientists Blog is an online journal where the Dr. Peggy LeMone, GLOBE Chief Scientist, posts her thoughts, comments, and philosophies about a variety of science topics. The blog provides students the opportunity to share comments and discuss the topics with each other. The most recent post, entitled The Vocabulary of Science, discusses scientific vocabulary within the context of climate change.

The Energy Savers blog provides a place for consumers to learn about and discuss energy efficiency and renewable technologies at home, on the road, and in the workplace. This blog supports the Energy Savers site of the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Web site. The most recent post, entitled What Is Your Energy-Saving Success Story?, asks readers to share their energy conservation accomplishments. Energy Savers is also on Facebook.

Via Docuticker.

Vice President Biden Unveils Report Focused on Expanding Green Jobs And Energy Savings For Middle Class Families
Source: Office of the Vice President

Vice President Biden today unveiled Recovery Through Retrofit, a report that builds on the foundation laid in the Recovery Act to expand green job opportunities and boost energy savings by making homes more energy efficient. Joining the Vice President today were Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality; Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy; Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor; Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; and Karen Mills, Administrator of the Small Business Administration.

At a Middle Class Task Force meeting earlier this year, the Vice President asked the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to develop a proposal for Federal action to lay the groundwork for a self-sustaining home energy efficiency retrofit industry. In response, CEQ facilitated a broad interagency process with the Office of the Vice President, eleven Departments and Agencies and six White House Offices to develop recommendations for how to use existing authority and funding to accomplish this goal. These recommendations are described in detail in the Recovery Through Retrofit Report.

+ Full Report (PDF; 496 KB)

Via Docuticker.

Report Examines Hidden Health and Environmental Costs Of Energy Production and Consumption In U.S.
Source: National Research Council

A new report from the National Research Council examines and, when possible, estimates “hidden” costs of energy production and use — such as the damage air pollution imposes on human health — that are not reflected in market prices of coal, oil, other energy sources, or the electricity and gasoline produced from them. The report estimates dollar values for several major components of these costs. The damages the committee was able to quantify were an estimated $120 billion in the U.S. in 2005, a number that reflects primarily health damages from air pollution associated with electricity generation and motor vehicle transportation. The figure does not include damages from climate change, harm to ecosystems, effects of some air pollutants such as mercury, and risks to national security, which the report examines but does not monetize.

Read full report for free online. (National Academies Press)

Via Docuticker.

Strengthening U.S. International Energy Assistance to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improve Energy Security
Source: RAND Corporation

This study provides information on U.S. international energy-assistance programs, a potentially important tool for addressing the challenges of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and increasing U.S. energy security. International energy assistance may provide a low-cost, effective opportunity to reduce future growth in greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption before current development patterns become increasingly locked in throughout the developing world. The report reviews U.S. government energy-assistance trends and strategies, along with similar data for Germany, which has a different, highly coordinated approach to planning and implementing energy assistance. Recent studies that address U.S. energy and climate policy are also reviewed to gain insights that can inform efforts to improve U.S. energy assistance. Recommendations for further investigation include assessing the effectiveness of U.S. and other approaches to providing energy assistance to determine the reasons for any differences in effectiveness; comparing the longer-term benefits of supporting energy-sector policy reform with the shorter-term benefits of supporting more-specific technical assistance or investment projects; and assessing the advantages and disadvantages of focusing more U.S. energy assistance on fewer recipients.

Via Docuticker.

Audit Report: The Department’s Management of the ENERGY STAR Program (PDF; 263 KB)
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Inspector General

As evidenced by the commitment of $300 million in Recovery Act funds, the ENERGY STAR Program plays an important role in the U.S. efforts to reduce energy consumption. We initiated this audit to determine whether the Department had implemented the actions it announced in 2007 to strengthen the Program.

Results of Audit
The Department had not implemented planned improvements in the ENERGY STAR Program. Our audit revealed that officials had not:

• Developed a formal quality assurance program to help ensure that product specifications were adhered to;
• Effectively monitored the use of the ENERGY STAR label to ensure that only qualifying products were labeled as compliant; and,
• Formalized procedures for establishing and revising product specifications and for documenting decisions regarding those specifications.

In our judgment, the delay in the Department’s planned improvements in its management of the ENERGY STAR Program could reduce consumer confidence in the integrity of the ENERGY STAR label. Such loss of credibility could reduce energy savings, increase consumer risk, and diminish the value of the recent infusion of $300 million for ENERGY STAR rebates under the Recovery Act.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a survey to help strengthen stormwater regulations and reduce stormwater discharges from newly developed and redeveloped sites.  Stormwater discharges can harm water quality through increases in stormwater volume and pollutant loadings into nearby waterways.

Generally, as sites are developed, less ground area is available for rain to soak into, which increases stormwater volume.  This stormwater flows across roads, rooftops and other surfaces, picking up pollutants that then flow into waterways. The draft survey would require detailed information about stormwater management and control practices, local regulations, and baseline financial information.

EPA plans to propose a rule to control stormwater from newly developed and redeveloped sites and to take final action no later than November 2012.  In support of this rulemaking, EPA is proposing to require three different groups to complete questionnaires about current stormwater management practices: 1) the owners, operators, developers, and contractors of newly and redeveloped sites; 2) the owners and operators of municipal separate storm sewer systems; and 3) states and territories.

The proposed survey will be open for public comment for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.

More information: http://www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/rulemaking