Top Stories
World's top firms cause $2.2tn of
environmental damage, report estimates.—reliability high.
"The cost of pollution and other damage to the natural environment
caused by the world's biggest companies would wipe out more than
one-third of their profits if they were held financially accountable, a
major unpublished study for the United Nations has found." The study,
due out later this year, will attempt to calculate the value of
environmental damage externalities of business operations. "The
UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment initiative and the
United Nations Environment Programme jointly ordered a report into the
activities of the 3,000 biggest public companies in the world". Story
in The
Guardian. [So
by using the environment as a toilet, these big companies are imposing
two trillion dollars of costs on others. It will be interesting to see
how that figure was arrived at. Greenhouse gas emissions were the
largest component. Businesses will eventually face having to absorb
some of those costs. How much would you spend to avoid having $2.2
trillion added to your costs, rather than continuing to shift those
costs to others? Lobbying budgets reveal part of the answer.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
EU biofuels significantly harming food
production in developing countries.—reliability high.
"EU companies have taken millions of acres of land out of food
production in Africa, central America and Asia to grow biofuels for
transport, according to development campaigners. The consequences of
European biofuel targets, said the report by ActionAid, could be up to
100 million more hungry people, increased food prices and landlessness.
. . . The report attributes the massive growth in biofuel production to
generous subsidies. It estimates that the EU biofuel industry has
already received €4.4bn (£3.82bn) in incentives, subsidies and tax
relief and that this could triple to over €13.7bn if the EU meets its
2020 target. . . . 'Biofuels are driving a global human tragedy. Local
food prices have already risen massively. As biofuel production gains
pace, this can only accelerate,' said report author Tim Rice." More in The
Guardian. PDF of ActionAid report here.
Walmart Creates Online Hub for Best
Practices in Green Business.—reliability high.
"Walmart Canada recently launched a website it hopes will eventually
become the go-to resource for green business best practices in the
country. Case studies from companies such as Nestle Water, Stonyfield
Farms, Tetra Pak, SC Johnson and Kimblerly-Clark can be found at
ShareGreen.ca, which invites visitors to share their own success
stories for energy, waste and material management, green products and
solution, and green employee engagement." More at GreenBiz.
Access ShareGreen site.
Sustainability Practices: Employees Are
Generally Disappointed.—reliability high.
Another take on the Brighter Planet survey results. "Although 86% of
respondents said their organization promotes employee sustainability in
some arena, only 16% said their employer collects data related to
employee sustainability and just 14% said their employer had an
official employee sustainability engagement policy." Other highlights.
More at Sustainable
Business. Access the report here.
New Association to Support, Promote Green
Building Products.—reliability high.
"The Green Roundtable/NEXUS has launched the Green Product Association
(GPA) to advance the sustainability of building products and help
manufacturers promote their products. The GPA's main aim is to bring
sustainability to all of the products used in buildings and make those
products' performance criteria and metrics transparent and available to
anyone. Founding members of the GPA include Xerox, CBC Flooring,
Jandris & Sons and Bostik, and UL Environment has teamed up with
the GPA to bring in its trusted third-party product certification
services." See GreenBiz.
Access association here.
Government and
Regulation
Pacts Signed to Help River and Salmon.—reliability
high.
"formal agreements were signed to remove four dams and revise how
water is shared in the Klamath River basin in southern Oregon and
Northern California. The dams, which have provided hydroelectric power
and water for farm irrigation for decades, have caused severe
depletions in salmon populations in the 250-mile river, hurting Indian
tribes in the area and helping force shutdowns of some West Coast
commercial fishing. . . . Describing the long standoff over the Klamath
as 'an intractable water war,' Mr. Salazar said in a conference call
with reporters that the agreements 'can become a template' for other
water and environmental disputes. He said he was optimistic Congress
would act this year. . . . The expected cost of dam removal and basin
restoration is about $1.5 billion." From The New
York Times. [And not a shot
fired. We won't always be so lucky.]
Canada looks to China to exploit oil sands
rejected by US.—reliability high.
"Canada, faced with growing political pressure over the extraction of
oil from its highly polluting tar sands, has begun courting China and
other Asian countries to exploit the resource. The move comes as
American firms are turning away from tar sands because of its heavy
carbon footprint and damage to the landscape." Read the Guardian
story. [Where do you count the
emissions? Does China have to absorb them into its accounts (as a
developing country it has refused to commit to emission reductions
anyway) or should they count against Canada, which makes insignificant
emission-reduction commitments and then just ignores them and who cares
because, after all, it's just Canada. Canada joins Iran and Sudan as
supplier of last resort? And will the Dalai Lama be visiting Mr.
Harper?]
Proposal calls for emissions study with new
government-approved projects.—reliability high.
"The Obama administration proposed rules Thursday that could affect
construction of coal-fired power plants and other government-approved
projects that produce large amounts of greenhouse gases. The guidelines
for the first time set uniform standards on how federal agencies
consider the causes and effects of climate change during their
environmental analyses. They would require study of the greenhouse gas
emissions of any project expected to emit at least 25,000 metric tons
of carbon dioxide a year . . . The types of projects that could be
affected include large-scale landfills, coal-fired power plants and
coal mines that give off methane. The guidelines instruct federal
agencies to 'consider opportunities to reduce [greenhouse gas]
emissions caused by proposed federal actions' and 'use the NEPA
[National Environmental Policy Act] process to reduce vulnerability to
climate change impacts.'" See story in The
Los Angeles Times.
Not So Green
Department
Vehicle Tests on Emissions Were Faked.—reliability
high.
Dozens of auto repair shops and service stations in New York City,
Long Island and Westchester County faked the results of emissions
tests, giving nearly 21,000 cars and light trucks passing grades, state
environmental officials said Thursday. . . . Investigators for the
Department of Motor Vehicles flagged 20,773 cases of fraudulent
inspections from March 2008 to September 2009 at 27 sites in the Bronx,
4 in Manhattan, 4 in Suffolk County, 3 in Nassau County and 1 each in
Westchester County and Brooklyn. The stations face potential fines of
$375 to $15,000 for the first offense and up to $22,500 for each
ensuing offense. Read more in The
New York Times. [We are shocked,
Shocked! that there is corruption in the system.]
Japan Calls Hummer H3 Fuel-Efficient.—reliability
high.
"anyone in Japan who buys the Hummer H3 model — with its 5.3-liter,
300-horsepower engine — can receive a 250,000 yen ($2,779) subsidy
under the country’s recently eased fuel-efficiency standards for
imported cars. The change stems in part from criticism, particularly
from Detroit automakers, that recent tax breaks and subsidies intended
to spur sales of fuel-efficient cars in Japan unfairly excluded foreign
brands." See New
York Times story. [Sigh . . . ]
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
