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Tuesday, October 04, 2005
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It is much easier to remove the olive from a martini than the vermouth, once it has been added....We must rely on prevention rather than decontamination. -- Ivan L. Bennett, Jr., testimony, U.S. Senate Public Works subcommittee, 8 February 1967
[Source: Rodes, Barbara K. and Rice Odell, compilers. A Dictionary of Environmental Quotations. Baltimore, MD : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.]
4:42:25 PM Google It! 
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EPA's Superfund program has released its Fiscal Year 2004 Annual Report. The report outlines the current progress of the Superfund program as the EPA works to increase community participation, strengthen public and private partnerships, enhance cleanup effectiveness and consistency in program implementation, streamline the enforcement process and optimize the use of fairness initiatives, encourage beneficial reuse and revitalization of sites following cleanup and ensure that remedies continue to protect human health.
Report highlights:
- The Superfund program spent $507 million to perform construction and post-construction activities and to conduct and oversee emergency response actions.
- EPA obligated $104 million of appropriated funds, state cost share, and responsible party settlement resources for 27 new construction projects.
Superfund accomplishments include:
- Completing construction at 40 sites across the country for a total of 926 sites or 61 percent of the sites on the National Priorities List;
- Conducting 678 long-term, ongoing cleanup projects at 428 sites;
- Securing $680 million in cleanup commitments and cost recoveries from the private parties responsible for toxic waste sites;
- Listing 11 new sites on the National Priorities List, and proposing 26 sites to be listed;
- Spending $228 million to conduct and oversee site assessments and investigations, selection and design of cleanup plans, support for state, tribal, community involvement activities, and other activities;
- Selecting final cleanup plans at 30 sites, bringing the cumulative total of sites with final cleanup plans to approximately 66 percent of the 1,529 NPL sites.
As the Superfund program matures, the size, complexity and cost of sites that are under or ready to begin construction continue to grow. In fiscal year 2004, more than 52 percent of the Superfund obligations for long-term, ongoing cleanup work were committed to nine sites.
4:32:02 PM Google It!
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Staples, the world's largest office products company, teamed up with teachers and students from Prairie View Middle School in Illinois and Earth Force's Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN) program in an effort to build the next generation of environmental stewards. [ENN Business Headlines]
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The EPA has recently described its approach for selecting the first group of chemicals to be screened in the Agency's Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP).
In December 2002, EPA sought comment on its approach for selecting the initial list of chemicals for which testing will be required under the EDSP. Following review and revision based on the public comments, EPA is now describing the approach that it intends to use for selecting the chemicals for the initial list.
For this initial approach, as recommended by scientific advisory committees, EPA will select 50 to 100 chemicals. The chemicals will be selected based on their relatively high potential for human exposure rather than using a combination of exposure- and effects- related factors. The scope of this first group of chemicals to be tested includes pesticide active ingredients and High Production Volume (HPV) chemicals used as pesticide inerts. This will allow EPA to focus its initial screening efforts on a smaller and more manageable universe of chemicals that emphasizes the early attention to the pesticide chemicals that Congress specifically mandated EPA to test for possible endocrine effects.
EPA has not announced the initial chemical list or the details of the EDSP process that will apply yet. This information will be addressed in subsequent notices published in the Federal Register.
For general information contact: Colby Lintner at (202) 554-1404; e-mail address: TSCA-Hotline@epa.gov. For technical information contact Mary Belefski at (202) 564-8461; e-mail address: belefski.mary@epa.gov. [ChemAlliance Environmental News]
4:23:37 PM Google It!
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The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reports that ridership of mass transit in the US is increasing in a number of metropolitan areas. [Green Car Congress]
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As one of the very few women leaders in a male-dominated industry, Judith Hackitt has learnt the hard way about changing mindsets. Now she's determined to help lead the industry down the road to a sustainable future. By Maria Burke [GreenBiz.com]
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LOS ANGELES, Calif., Oct. 3, 2005 - The CEO of South Cone, a sustainable furniture maker, has issued a plea to some 50 raw materials suppliers, retailers, and other furniture manufacturers urging environmentally and socially responsible business practices. [GreenBiz.com]
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The nonprofit Alliance to Save Energy has powered up an online database of U.S. state policies on energy efficiency. The new State Energy Efficiency Policy Index allows policy makers, state officials, advocates, and citizens to search for energy-efficiency laws by state or policy topic. [Source: GreenBiz.com]
4:18:42 PM Google It!
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(Washington, DC - September 29, 2005) (Contact: Eryn Witcher, 202-564-4355/ witcher.eryn@epa.gov)Following an evaluation of the current program to minimize the impact of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions and prevent significant declines in air quality, EPA has found that the program is working and that no change is necessary.
The program, known as Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD), addresses the need to allow growth while maintaining air quality in areas that are already clean. Presently, the national ambient air quality standards for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are being attained throughout the U.S.
"Significant deterioration" is defined as the maximum allowable pollutant concentration increase - also known as an "increment" - above an existing baseline concentration for an area. An increment is established for areas (e.g., counties) that states designate as attaining national air quality standards. Emissions increases that cause the increment to be exceeded for a given pollutant are not permitted.
While the final rule does not modify the existing increment system for NO2, it does recognize that states may continue to choose an alternative approach. The state must demonstrate that an alternative program satisfies Clean Air Act requirements and prevents significant deterioration from emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx).
In February 2005, EPA proposed to allow states that choose to implement a federally administered cap and trade program for sources of NOx - such as the Clean Air Interstate Rule - to rely on those emissions reductions to prevent significant deterioration of NOx air quality. EPA is not taking final action on that proposal in this rule.
Interested parties can download this final rule from EPA's New Source Review website. [ChemAlliance Environmental News]
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Official remarks of Alliance to Save Energy's Kateri Callahan at October 3,2005 press conference with Energy Secretary Bodman.
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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Today marks the start of International Walk to School Week, a global effort to encourage children, parents, teachers, and community leaders to celebrate the benefits of walking and the need to create communities that are safe for pedestrians. [Reuters: Health]
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Tired of bake sales, magazine subscription drives and soup label collections for school fund-raisers? Motorola has a new option. The Schaumburg, Ill.-based handset maker is launching a new phone recycling initiative aimed at improving the environment and education.
"Race to Recycle" encourages K-12 schools to collect old mobile phones and exchange them for $3 each. Schools can earn up to $21,000 per year and spend the money as they see fit. For more information, see http://recycling.motorola.young-america.com/index.html. [Source: InternetNews.com]
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New European environmental restrictions that aim to get the lead out of electronics products have the potential to hit some Canadian companies harder than the Y2K computer scare. [Environmental Health News]
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Old cell phones, TVs and computers are beginning to pile up faster than all that "e-waste" can be dumped or recycled across the nation. [Environmental Health News]
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The brush-covered landscape of buttes and desert just west of the Rockies, already dotted with oil and gas rigs, could be in store for another resource boom as the energy industry turns a fresh eye toward developing oil shale. [Environmental Health News]
3:47:24 PM Google It!
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Academic Libraries--Bicycles
Source: St. Lawrence University
'Green Bikes' Program Under Way At SLU
"The phrase 'check out that bike' has a whole new meaning on the St. Lawrence University campus. Beginning this fall, anyone with an I.D. that allows them to check books out of the University's libraries can also check out a bicycle." [ResourceShelf]
3:45:36 PM Google It!
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Via sustainablog:
From the Phoenix Business Journal, an article on Organic Ventures, a new firm that assists sustainable businesses in attracting investors:
Owners of a young firm in Phoenix want to capitalize on the escalating interest in sustainable businesses by becoming an asset for "organic entrepreneurs" who are in search of funding to expand their ventures.
Rochelle and Stephanie Lebhar have formed Organic Ventures in Scottsdale. The mother-daughter duo helps socially responsible companies find financing.
The pair analyzes a client's business, writes a free business plan and then works to match it with interested investors. The Lebhars earn a fee if a client gets a funding deal.
With the organic and natural products industry climbing 20 percent a year and sales exploding into the billions of dollars, their timing is perfect. This article is interesting not only for the overview of this new company, but also for its bullish attitude towards sustainable business. While most of us know that organics, renewable energy and other green business sectors have seen double-digit growth in recent years, it's rare to see this news published in the traditional business press. Time to call your broker...?
3:40:38 PM Google It!
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Via sustainablog:
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, news of "pioneering efforts at collaborative regulation" between Wisconsin's scrap recyclers, builders and the state's Department of Natural Resources: Green Tier.
The heart of the deals is that the industries agree to more ambitious environmental programs and goals in return for more flexible regulation.
In the case of the scrap companies, each of 71 facilities in the state will move to an environmental management system. They will accomplish that through a new corporation set up to provide the training and programs on the new system.
Best management practices will attack levels of mercury, lead, fluids and what's called shredder fluff. The scrap will be looked at as an asset rather than a waste.
In return, the industries will be able to satisfy storm water prevention requirements in a more flexible manner and will have a single point of contact with the DNR.
Green Tier companies that discover and report violations will be given time to correct the problem. It's called "deferred civil enforcement."
The builders will also get a single point of DNR contact and 90 days to fix reported problems.
In return, the builders have promised to do a better job with such issues as erosion on construction sites, post-construction storm water runoff, with green building techniques and siting.
It is important to repeat over and over that no standards are lowered for either industry. Green Tier isn't stopping with these two industries, either -- the printing industry is also negotiating a similar agreement. While the liberal in me immediately questions "flexible regulation," this seems like a win-win situation: government sets standards, but allows the private sector to engage its ingenuity to meet the standards. Paul Hawken describes such a relationship between government and business in The Ecology of Commerce (affiliate link); perhaps these ideas are catching on.
3:39:24 PM Google It!
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An article from Saturday's Gainesville Sun details green building projects on-campus at the University of Florida, and how the idea is spreading to other building projects in Gainesville. (Thanks to sustainablog for the link.)
3:34:48 PM Google It!
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Via sustainablog:
From Treehugger, a report on an emerging development out of the MIT Media Lab: a $100 laptop computer that can be powered by a hand crank. Designer Nicholas Negroponte has bigger ideas than simply offering this as a consumer product:
Negroponte, the co-founder of the Lab, said MIT and his non-profit, One Laptop Per Child, is in discussions with five countries -- Brazil, China, Thailand, Egypt and South Africa -- to distribute up to 15 million test systems to children. The idea is that governments will pay roughly $100 US for each laptop, and distribute them for free. The laptops will largely be powered by a side-mounted hand-crank, and can be juiced up with convential electric current or batteries, when they're available. The proposed design of the machines calls for a 500MHz processor, 1GB of memory and an innovative dual-mode display that can be used in full-color mode, or in a black-and-white sunlight-readable mode. One display design being considered would also consume unconventionally low amounts of power and money; Negroponte said the technology can be used to produce displays that cost roughly 10 cents per square inch Additionally, these laptops are wi-fi and cell phone enabled. While this is a very cool green development (Negroponte is shooting "near-zero power consumption" displays), the idea of providing such technology to children in poverty-stricken nations is truly revolutionary. Imagine being able to read blogs by these kids rather than counting on Sally Struthers commercials for information about third-world poverty...
3:29:09 PM Google It!
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Via sustainablog:
While sustainability is a concept rooted in global thinking, we all know that the actual implementation of the concept has to happen locally. Found a couple of items on Google News today that demonstrate more localities are adopting or advocating for models of sustainability to address a variety of issues:
- From Minnesota's This Week Online, news that Dakota County, MN, has adopted a new environmental and resource management plan based on sustainable development.
Included within the county's 2020 Comprehensive Plan, the [Environmental and Natural Resource Management Policy Plan] establishes guidelines for the county's efforts to manage and preserve natural resources....
Sustainability will work as a synergy between the county’s other plans for waste, parks, stormwater and handling decisions for the Vermillion River Watershed.
Dakota County's sustainability plan will impact how local decisions are made through joint implementation between cities, schools and nonprofit organizations.
[The Devon Sustainable Building Initiative director Gareth Walton] said: "In Cranbrook we would like to see the developments be as sustainable as possible and make sure they are insulated properly.
"Solar panels to heat water on each house or at a town level could be considered.
"We want all communities to be beacons of sustainability for the county and region.
"We are concerned it will not be a sustainability beacon, which it should be."
Derek Spreckward of Taylor Woodrow, one of the new community developers, said: Cranbrook's developers will happily comply with the changes to the building regulations being introduced next year, which are aimed at improving the sustainability of building in the UK." While both of these items demonstrate "small steps" within "the big picture," I'm encouraged to see that local governments, planners and developers, as well as sustainability activists, are considering the environmental impact of their decisions. More importantly, it's great to see smaller communities wrestling with these concepts. Sustainability: it's not just for San Francisco anymore ;-)
3:26:57 PM Google It!
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In a dusty warehouse off Southeast Powell Boulevard, Lisa Grove, Stephen Becker and Tim Tracy have furniture dreams. Someday they'd like to deliver style and sustainability to the masses with a business like IKEA, only greener. [ENN Business Headlines]
3:21:28 PM Google It!
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A dozen years after Patagonia began using recycled soda bottles in its fleece clothing, the outdoor clothing manufacturer has found a way to use recycled Patagonia-wear in its signature Capilene fabric. [Recycled Markets]
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Entrepreneur James Brannaman wants to divert tons of burlap bags from landfills with his Java Tote products. [Recycled Markets]
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For most farmers, bad weather means bad news. For farmer Chris Wahlberg, however, weather has never been much of a concern. His crops rely simply on location. Wahlberg grows more than 30 varieties of sprouts and organic produce in the old Duquesne Brewery on the South Side. As owner of the sprout farm Mung Dynasty, he has taken the definition of urban agriculture literally by reusing an existing city structure and modifying it into a successful indoor farm. [Great Lakes Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) News]
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Via Metropolis Magazine:
One hundred new buildings will soon remake Miami. With this current building frenzy, the city needs to consider sustainable design principles urgently, and not only for environmental reasons, but also because such an earth-friendly approach is a smart business investment, offering long-term profits and, in many cases, higher selling prices.
Metropolis will explore the challenges of sustainable design and planning in warm climates at Tropical Green, a conference it will host February 9-10, 2006 in Miami. Featured speakers will include green guru William McDonough, engineer Guy Battle, and founding USBGC chairman Rick Fedrizzi; topics will range from green development policies to sustainable interiors to earth-friendly technologies.
3:16:04 PM Google It!
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Via Metropolis Magazine:
Hey, designers! Yes, we mean you! Enter the 2006 Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition and help make our world better, safer, and more sustainable! Students and professionals from all design disciplines who have been working for 10 years or less are eligible for the competition, which aims to kick-start an entrepreneurial project that will benefit people and the earth. The competition's grand-prize winner will receive $10,000 in cash and coverage in Metropolis and on metropolismag.com.
An application form for the Metropolis competition can be found here. All entries must be postmarked by December 15, 2005, although entries accompanied by a late fee will be accepted through January 15, 2006.
Also, in preparation for this year's competition, we've revamped the Next Generation section of metropolismag.com. Aside from sporting a cleaner design and cool graphics, the section contains extensive information about the 2006 Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition, as well as updates on the 2004 and 2005 winners, runners-up, and exhibitions. Plus there's an extensive case study area for those who want to see what the competition is about.
3:13:31 PM Google It!
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© Copyright
2005
Laura L. Barnes.
Last update:
11/1/2005; 1:07:31 PM.
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