Top Stories
Buying carbon offsets may ease eco-guilt but
not global warming.—reliability high.
"An investigation by The Christian Science Monitor and the New England
Center for Investigative Reporting has found that individuals and
businesses who are feeding a $700 million global market in offsets are
often buying vague promises instead of the reductions in greenhouse
gases they expect. They are buying into projects that are never
completed, or paying for ones that would have been done anyhow, the
investigation found. Their purchases are feeding middlemen and
promoters seeking profits from green schemes that range from selling
protection for existing trees to the promise of planting new ones that
never thrive. In some cases, the offsets have consequences that their
purchasers never foresaw, such as erecting windmills that force poor
people off their farms." More on problems of offsetting with voluntary
carbon credits. In-depth feature article. In The
Christian Science Monitor. [Sobering reading.
Accompanied by other articles.]
Report Signals Rebound in Energy Efficiency
Spending.—reliability high.
"Investment in energy efficiency may be rebounding in 2010, according
to the fourth annual Energy Efficiency Indicator released on Monday by
Johnson Controls and the International Facility Management Association.
The EEI report surveyed more than 1,400 executives and managers in
North America who are responsible for making investments and managing
energy in commercial buildings. Despite limited capital, 60 percent
said they were planning operating expenditures in efficiency programs
over the next year, up from 55 percent in 2009." Other highlights. See Greentech
Media. [Cost
savings is still really the only thing driving efficiency spending.
Only "Fourteen percent of respondents said they had a publicly stated
greenhouse gas reduction goal." And "Forty percent of those surveyed
don't know or have not yet prioritized their strategies for reducing
their organization's greenhouse gas emissions."]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Zipcar Snaps Up UK Car Sharing Network
Streetcar.—reliability high.
"Zipcar has bought London-based car sharing firm Streetcar in its
latest bid to expand across Europe, the companies announced this
morning. The acquisition, valued at about $50 mln, expands the size of
Zipcar's UK fleet more than four-fold, to 1,770 vehicles." See earth2tech.
Tuvalu v. ExxonMobil?—reliability
high.
"The coming tide of transnational climate lawsuits. ... In
international law, there's an established principle called
transboundary harm, which means that if a Canadian factory belches
toxic chemicals into a river, fouling a reservoir in Vermont, sooner or
later the people at the Canadian factory will be hearing from some
American lawyers. For the first time, Micronesia applied this tenet to
climate change—arguing that its survival is jeopardized by any large
power plant that doesn't curb its carbon footprint. ... Pawa compares
this nascent field to the epic court battles over tobacco and asbestos.
'It's a process of learning by doing,' said Pawa. 'Just by bringing
these cases over and over again, the judiciary [and] the public get
used to the idea of liability.'" See story in Mother
Jones.
Hilton Worldwide Unveils LightStay
Sustainability Measurement System.—reliability high.
Hilton's proprietary system developed to calculate and analyze
environmental impact is called LightStay. "Reductions in water and
energy use also translated into dollars saved for hotel owners, with
estimated savings of more than $29 million in utility costs in 2009.
... LightStay helped Hilton Worldwide properties using the system
reduce energy use by 5 percent, carbon output by 6 percent, waste
output by 10 percent and water use by 2.4 percent in 2009 versus 2008.
These results have been independently audited and are adjusted for any
differences in occupancy levels and major weather events year over
year." From Green
Lodging News.
Tuna sushi in US busts recommended levels for
mercury: study.—reliability high.
"One hundred sushi samples were collected from 54 restaurants and 15
supermarkets in New York, New Jersey and Colorado, comprising "akami"
(lean red tuna) as well as "toro" (fatty tuna). ... Calculated on the
basis of a 60-kilo (132-pound) adult woman consuming a single order,
samples of Bigeye tuna toro were found to have average mercury
levels of 0.351 microgrammes per kilo, while Bigeye tuna akami had
0.344 microgrammes. ... 'The mean mercury concentrations of all samples
exceed the concentration permitted by Japan and the maximum daily
consumption considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency,'
said the paper." See item in Space
Daily from AP.
Will the Electric Car Put Money in Your
Pocket?—reliability medium.
"Fueling our cars with electricity instead of gasoline – this one
change – could avert a lot of economic pain, according to the 'Economic
Impact of the Electrification Roadmap' report by the Electrification
Council. The council, which includes NRG Energy, CISCO, PG&E,
Nissan Motor, Fedex and other major companies, wants to see us drive
electric cars by 2040 for 75 percent of the miles we travel. In pursing
this target, we could reduce our federal debt by $336 million, increase
cumulative household income $4.6 trillion, improve our trade balance by
$127 billion and add 1.9 million jobs by 2030, says the report." See Clean
Techies blog. Access report here.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
