Control Climate Change

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2007 -- Anticipating legislation that will boost required gas mileage for cars in the United States, the banking giant has released a report showing that the auto industry can improve mileage and improve profits at the same time.

BURLINGTON, Vt., Oct. 31, 2007 -- IBM has developed a new way of repurposing silicon semiconductor wafers so that the sought-after material can be reused within the company or sold to the solar energy industry.

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 31, 2007 -- General Electric Co. will introduce residential control panels in December to help homeowners control water and power usage.

Norway voiced confidence on Tuesday it would gain European Union support for plans to fund technology to capture carbon dioxide and store it underground, even if such projects breach the bloc's limits on public aid. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen as a way to cut emissions of greenhouse gasses blamed for global warming but projects are not economically viable without state aid.

LAKE LANIER, Georgia (Reuters) - A large, man-made lake in north Georgia is at the center of a political storm over how to distribute water resources between three states in the face of the region's worst drought in decades. Lake Lanier stands near the head of a watershed that feeds the booming city of Atlanta about 45 miles to the south, leading to accusations that the city is consuming more than its fair share of water.

NEW DELHI - German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged India, one of the world's biggest polluters, to do more to combat climate change on Tuesday, saying her country was willing to help New Delhi make progress. Merkel, a former environment minister who has pushed global warming to the top of her international agenda, said rich nations and emerging economies needed to strike a balance over the amount of responsibility they need to shoulder to prevent climate change and not fight over it. "We have to prove that we are willing to strike a balance," Merkel told business leaders in New Delhi during a four-day visit to India. "Multilateral agreements are of the essence."

HAVANA (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Noel weakened as it moved across northeastern Cuba on Tuesday and the storm that killed more than a dozen people in the Dominican Republic was not expected to become a hurricane as it neared the Bahamas.

Torrential rains drenched eastern Cuba, where double the average rainfall in October had reservoirs already filled to the brim and authorities worried about flooding. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damages.

"There's lots of rain but no really strong winds like a hurricane," said Chantal Rivas, owner of a bed and breakfast in the port of Gibara, 470 miles east of Havana.

LONDON (Reuters) - A surge in investment in solar power is bringing down costs of the alternative energy source, but affordability problems still dog hopes for the 1.6 billion people worldwide without electricity.

The sun supplies only a tiny fraction -- less than one tenth of 1 percent -- of mankind's energy needs. But its supporters believe a solar era may be dawning, boosted by western funding to combat oil "addiction" and climate change.

Governments from Japan to Germany and the United States are helping the public wean themselves off fossil fuels.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned businesses in Ireland not to supply waste material to groups collecting for Halloween bonfires.

SHANGHAI, China, Oct. 30, 2007 -- The U.S. automaker will team with the Chinese government, automotive industry and academic institutions to research alternative fuels, alternative energy propulsion systems, and energy efficiency.

ATLANTA, Oct. 30, 2007 -- Nearly 80 percent of industry leaders say sustainability is a major issue for today's businesses, and are willing to pay a premium to achieve it, according to a survey from CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle.

LISBON, Oct. 30, 2007 -- U.S. states such as California and New York joined forces with New Zealand, Norway and a slew of European countries and Canadian provinces to promote a global cap-and-trade carbon market.

HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Imposing a standard speed limit of 130 kph (80 mph) on German motorways would have scant impact on the environment and only hurt domestic carmakers, the country's VDA auto industry group said on Monday.

"Such fixed speed limits would be an ecological zero-sum game and would damage the German auto sector," VDA President Matthias Wissmann said in a statement to Reuters.

Germany is unusual in that stretches of its motorways still have no speed limit, and the country's influential car industry has lobbied hard against any national rules.

HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Imposing a standard speed limit of 130 kph (80 mph) on German motorways would have scant impact on the environment and only hurt domestic carmakers, the country's VDA auto industry group said on Monday.

"Such fixed speed limits would be an ecological zero-sum game and would damage the German auto sector," VDA President Matthias Wissmann said in a statement to Reuters.

Germany is unusual in that stretches of its motorways still have no speed limit, and the country's influential car industry has lobbied hard against any national rules.

SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - More than a dozen people died in the Dominican Republic on Monday after Tropical Storm Noel dumped torrential rain on the Caribbean country, sending thigh-high water surging through streets and cutting power to thousands.

Hundreds of families were left homeless after the 14th named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season poured 10 to 30 inches of rain on the Dominican Republic and over the treeless hillsides of Haiti, its neighbor on the island of Hispaniola.

The head of the Dominican National Emergency Committee, retired Gen. Luis Luna Paulino, said 13 deaths had been confirmed.

He said there was a report of a family buried when their house collapsed on them and another of a family in a car killed by a falling wall. "If those two accidents are confirmed then the deaths climb to 18," he said.

SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - More than a dozen people died in the Dominican Republic on Monday after Tropical Storm Noel dumped torrential rain on the Caribbean country, sending thigh-high water surging through streets and cutting power to thousands.

Hundreds of families were left homeless after the 14th named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season poured 10 to 30 inches of rain on the Dominican Republic and over the treeless hillsides of Haiti, its neighbor on the island of Hispaniola.

The head of the Dominican National Emergency Committee, retired Gen. Luis Luna Paulino, said 13 deaths had been confirmed.

He said there was a report of a family buried when their house collapsed on them and another of a family in a car killed by a falling wall. "If those two accidents are confirmed then the deaths climb to 18," he said.

Date: 10/30/2007

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that Sacramento (CA) Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is receiving the 2007 Wind Power Pioneer Award. The municipal utility was cited for leadership, demonstrated success, innovation, and long history with wind power technologies.

SMUD was one of 14 public power utilities from across the United States that were nominated for the award this year. The DOE Wind Powering America program is presenting the award at the American Public Power Association's 2007 Customer Connections Conference in Seattle, WA, on October 30. The City of Palo Alto, CA, an award finalist, will also be recognized at that time.

SMUD has developed wind power since 1993 when the municipal utility launched the 5-MW Solano wind project. Gathering data from the first turbines, SMUD replaced older units and added more powerful ones, like the Vestas V-90 3-MW model, as they became available. The project now generates 39 MW, with an additional 63 MW planned for 2008, putting SMUD on track to achieve its ambitious goal of a 20% renewable energy portfolio by 2011.

To protect its investment in state-of-the-art turbines, SMUD worked with Vestas to develop the first 5-year, full-service operation and maintenance agreement in the United States, guaranteed by the manufacturer. To further mitigate the risk, SMUD split the Phase 2 project development contract, installing 24 MW in 2006 and scheduling 63 MW for 2008.

The American Public Power Association is the national service organization representing the nation's more than 2,000 community- and state-owned electric utilities and it cosponsors the Wind Pioneer Awards program. Previous winners have included municipal utilities in Hull, MA; Waverly, IA; and Fort Collins, CO.

Wind Powering America is a program of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The program is committed to dramatically increasing the use of wind energy in the United States. EERE through its Wind Powering America effort and other programs will help the nation achieve targeted regional economic development, enhanced power generation options, improved environmental conditions, increased domestic energy supply and national security. For more information, visit www.windpoweringamerica.gov.

With increased waste disposal costs, high energy prices and a new emphasis on corporate responsibility, waste producers, local authorities and policymakers face touch new challenges.

Work has begun on a new £8m plant to convert waste into electricity on the Isle of Wight.

Adler and Allan, a leading nationwide oil and environmental services management company, has won an award for its extraordinary response to a national crisis.

The Soil Association, who certify organic food, have undergone an extensive consultation into whether food flown here - with associated CO2 emissions - can be certified as organic. They concluded that provided it met strict ethical criteria it could still be certified organic, the main reason for this was to support farmers in developing countries.

Last Tuesday I joined 1500 others at Anita Roddicks memorial service. It was a remarkable event attended by a wonderfully motley crowd ranging from my old colleagues at The Body Shop to Bianca Jagger and Alan Rickman. Speakers included the heads of Amnesty, Greenpeace and Forum for the Future as well as one of the Angola 3 who had been released from decades of solitary confinement resulting from false imprisonment as a result of campaigns by Anita and others. We marched through London to the South Bank (pictured) wearing 'I am an activist' shirts.

All of the speakers talked about her campaigning work - and the theme of the day 'was just do something' to fight injustice. I think everyone in the room re-committed to that, and at responsibletravel.com we'll be continuing to campaign for positive change in tourism. Email me with any issues close to your hearts or visit I am an Activist for inspiration

Green buildings have obvious benefits to the environment, but research and case studies from corporations finds that making the green shift has a triple ripple effect on the bottom line: the environment, economics and employees all benefit from going green.

Public policy, innovative companies, breakthroughs in sustainable design and consumer demand are all converging to reimagine and reshape human habitat, starting in an unlikely place: Chinese gated communities.

LONDON, Oct. 29, 2007 -- A survey of opinion-makers found widespread cynicism about companies' motives -- only 1 percent believe big business is going green out of genuine concern for the environment, seeking instead only to protect its reputation.

TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2007 -- At the Cleantech Forum last week, the two corporate giants each introduced programs to highlight their own use of clean technologies, as well as ways to make it easier for companies to use cleantech in their own operations.

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 29, 2007 -- In January, it will launch the Virgin Climate Change Leaders Fund, a product that will support companies that either have a light environmental footprint or work toward environmental challenges.

CARAGABAL, Australia (Reuters) - In drought-hit lands of eastern Australia, the population of Caragabal is just 38, every shop is closed, water is trucked in, and a synthetic lawn at a bowling club is the last hope of survival for a dying town.

The town dam, which can store two years' supply, dried up years ago with the return of drought. As crops die for hundreds of miles around, the town's fate also seems doomed.

Last remaining locals have started to speak of the patch of plastic bowling green in reverential tones.

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Noel strengthened on Sunday as it crept over the Caribbean and threatened to lash impoverished Haiti with potentially deadly rains, U.S. forecasters said.

The storm, with top sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (95 km per hour), was moving slowly toward Haiti's southwestern peninsula and was expected to head toward southeastern Cuba, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

While the storm's track was highly uncertain, the hurricane center forecast it was likely to curve back to the northeast near the end of the week and head out over the Bahamas into the Atlantic rather than into the Gulf of Mexico and its important U.S. oil and gas facilities.

It was also unclear whether Noel, the 14th named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, would have an opportunity to strengthen into a hurricane with winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph) because that would depend on whether it stayed over warm water or spent more time over land.

Irish waste enforcement officials have released details of how businesses could do more to improve their waste management strategies.