Control Climate Change

A waste management firm that became the first in Ireland to be awarded the Peel Cup was subject to a protest at one of its landfill sites.

An EU research project has concluded that it is possible to build cars to order within five days - dramatically cutting waste and emissions from transporting the goods.

Irish organisations have sent over 7,000 computers to African nations instead of simply disposing of them.

Arctic sea ice is unlikely to shrink below a 2007 record low this year in a reprieve from the worst predictions of climate change even though new evidence confirms a long-term thaw is under way, experts said.

Jiri Skopek, the CEO for ECD Energy and Environment Canada, talks to GreenBiz Radio about the deal that brought his firm under the umbrella of real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle.

Beauty products company Aveda is taking its bottle cap recycling program nationwide, collecting plastic bottle caps to turn into new caps.

VANCOUVER, B.C., July 31, 2008 – Xantrex Technology Inc. (TSX:XTX) will be a partner in a 50-city solar technology tour across the United States from August to November 2008. City Tour for Solar consists of two educational exhibits about solar and renewable energy that will be presented to municipal leaders, community members and utility representatives. The tour will visit cities in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota and Colorado.

A bill introduced by Senate Tax Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) containing a one-year renewable energy production tax credit (PTC) extension and a small wind turbine investment tax credit has failed to move past a Cloture Vote in the U.S. Senate once again.

EnerWorks announced today the appointment of Tony Ali as VP, Sales & Customer Allegiance.

The government has given Staffordshire County Council £122.4m to build a hi-tech energy-from-waste plant to cut landfill levels and generate electricity.

The first ever “tree clause” in a book contract allows environmentally minded authors to symbolically replace the trees used in the printing of their works.

Harper & Row in San Francisco developed the clause at the request of Mickey Hart, drummer for the Grateful Dead music group, for his book, Drumming at the Edge of Magic. To research the book — a history of ancient musical and rhythmic customs — Hart traveled extensively and became concerned about the environment — rain forests in particular.

Hart approached Harper’s, asking if the publisher would be willing to plant as many trees as were felled to produce the paper for his book. Harper’s not only agreed, but also offered to double the number of trees.

The first printing of 50,000 copies of the book represented 45 tons of paper. Quick calculations revealed that 765 trees would meet their demise. With additional printings of the book, the number of trees planted is now well over 2,000.

Harper’s does not actually plant the trees, but donates the funds to the Rainforest Action Network, which has tree-planting programs in place in the rain forests of Central and South America.

“Although the paper used for book production obviously does not come from rain forest trees, we see this action as a powerful symbol of the responsibility we all share for replenishing resources for the sake of future generations,” said Clayton Carlson, senior vice president and publisher at Harper’s in San Francisco.

Since the publishing of Hart’s book last year, Harper’s has made an optional “tree clause” available to all authors entering into book contracts. The provision states the company will plant one tree in the rain forest for every tree the author agrees to fund, based on the number of trees used in the production of the book.

More than a dozen authors already have taken the publisher up on the offer. Hart’s next book, Planet Drum, due out this fall, also will take advantage of the new clause.

Carlson, calling the effort more of an earnest attempt to make a statement than an economic investment, said he hopes this author/publisher concept will catch on in the industry.

(Tip/Stat) Approximately one acre of healthy, fast-growing forest can absorb 1.4 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

Technorati Tags: book production, rainforest action, tree-planting programs, save the trees, eco-friendly business, green business, green writing

We mentioned RE:Fashion in last week’s TH Blog Love round up, but we think these upcoming ethical fashion awards also deserve a TreeHugger page of their own. The event, originally conceived as RE:Fashion by Cyndi Rhoades of Anti-Apathy, has now evolved from a showcase of ethical fashion to a full blown glittering awards ceremony celebrating all aspects of this rapidly growing indus…

Climate change-induced glacier melts have cost northern Peru’s mountains 26 per cent of their surface area in the last 33 years, satellite images have confirmed.

Unions are good for you. We improve pay, conditions and careers, and campaign on big issues like climate change and international development. www.prospect.org.uk

Author: ProspectUnion

Keywords: trade union specialists work career graduates

Added: July 30, 2008

The increasing cost of conventional energy and the rising carbon levels in the atmosphere have re-focused the energy agenda on to alternative energy sources. We make no secret at Photovoltaics International that we believe that PV offers the best opportunity to mitigate climate change and increase global renewable energy production dramatically over the next five years. If the PV manufacturing industry can achieve scale production, then the effect on system and operating costs will substantially lower the cost of energy.

Author: photovoltaicsint

Keywords: applied materials solar

Added: July 30, 2008

Looking out to 2017, the Institute for the Future has compiled what it envisions will be the main outside forces affecting business sustainability, including changing cities, how people interact, where our energy comes from and more.

The last ten years of environmental regulation have seen dramatic falls in pollution and a cut in the amount of waste produced - but there is still a lot of work to do.

Reuters - Democratic senators called on
Tuesday for the resignation of Stephen Johnson, head of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying he sided with
polluters instead of fighting global warming and other
ecological problems.

AFP - The failure of key powers to agree a new pact on global trade does not bode well for international cooperation in other areas such as climate change, top delegates warned Tuesday.

AFP - Japan’s cabinet on Tuesday adopted a plan to slash carbon emissions up to 80 percent by 2050 by starting carbon trading and stepping up research on carbon-capture technologies.

photo by Lou Gold

New research done at Ohio State University and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that if wealthy nations spent collectively $1 billion annually to pay landowners in tropical countries not to cut down forests half a billion tonnes of carbon emissions could be avoided annually and deforestation reduced by one-tenth. Science Daily has the complete story, but this is the gist of it:
…

The Canadian city of Toronto is paying citizens for going green. What’s been named the ‘Live Green Toronto program’, launched recently, has $20 million available over the next five years for citizen-driven carbon savings projects. The funding, in the form of subsidies, will go to projects that will help the city make good on its target of reducing its carbon footprint by 6% by 2012. The city’s mayor, David Miller, indicated that Toronto needs all the help it can get to achieve its ambitious plans. The mayor was quoted in the Toronto Star commenting that “the plan’s success depends on residents creating change.”

Ever wondered why some people don’t believe that CO and other greenhouse gases attribute to climate change?

Ever wonder why some scientist are discredited for believing in climate change? Is there a motive to discredit them?

Do you think any country has used oil as a motive before? Would it shock you it it had?

Now you know.

Author: OurBraveNewWorld

Keywords: oil war gas news politics global warming political bbc glacier pole drill law

Added: July 29, 2008

A federal judge dealt a blow to California's quest to regulate tail pipe emissions last week by dismissing one of two lawsuits against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Following a 2 year period of study and preparation, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) subsidiary NexPower Technology Corporation has decided to establish a new solar cell manufacturing plant in Taiwan. They have signed an agreement today to use ULVAC’s full-scale thin film manufacturing line equipment which will include all solar cell manufacturing peripheral equipment such as plasma CVD equipment, laser scribing equipment, sputtering equipment, and sealing equipment, etc. In addition, ULVAC will provide all the actual production training and start-up of the manufacturing line which will handle 1.1m x 1.4m size substrates, suitable for main power electric generation.

A vote could come as early as this week in the U.S. Senate on a bill introduced by Senate Tax Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) containing a one-year renewable energy production tax credit (PTC) extension and a small wind turbine investment tax credit.

Pay-as-you-throw rubbish schemes could result in fly-tipping in the bottom of household wheelie bins, the Campaign for Real Recycling has claimed.

The number of households in Wales recycling is now almost nine in ten, according to a government report.

The amount of packaging used on everyday groceries has stopped growing despite a 1.8% increase in sales.

This morning I was interviewed by Evan Davis on BBC Radio 4’s prestigous Today Programme about the rising trend of volunteer travel.

There’s no doubt that volunteer holidays have become much more accessible for people from all walks of life. In the past you needed to give up six months or even up to two years to go and volunteer. That’s no longer the case as there are now shorter trips on offer. It’s fantastic to see more and more people wanting to make a difference whilst on holiday.

However, I also highlighted the importance for volunteer holidays to be borne out of a real local need and raised my concerns that some trips can be inspired more by marketing departments in an effort to exploit a growing trend rather than being rooted in a local cause. This approach can leave volunteers feeling like they haven’t made a positive difference and local communities are left wondering where the benefit is too.

We have over 350 volunteer trips in the UK and overseas - see www.responsibletravel.com/volunteering - all have been carefully screened. I urge potential volunteers to do as much research as possible and ask plenty of questions of any potential volunteering company.

Here’s a five-point checklist to help you on your way to making a real difference:
1. Has the project been inspired by a real local need?
2. Is the project run in joint partnership with the local people?
3. Can you see an independent report on the benefits of the project to local people/environments?
4. Is there transparent information around costs and where the money goes?
5. Does the organisation take steps to match your skills to the needs of the project?

Hear the full Today Programme interview with Justin here.