Environmental News

It is a miniscule slice of the state's $27 billion budget - less than $1.5 million to fund an obscure environmental agency at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. But the Toxics Use Reduction Institute is part of a state-mandated program that has reduced the use of hazardous substances by local manufacturers 41 percent in its 20-year history. That funding has been eliminated, and the institute's 18 employees do not know where their next paycheck will come from - or whether it will come at all. Source: Boston Globe, 7/1/09

So does eliminating toll booths really cut down on emissions? The answer appears to be a qualified "yes." Source: Wall Street Journal, 7/1/09

Greenpeace International today released the 12th edition of its quarterly Guide to Greener Electronics scorecard, ranking the 17 manufacturers on their achievement of environmental goals. Source: Greener Computing, 7/01/09

Retailers that put green practices to work at their facilities can save tens of millions of dollars a year by managing resources and waste more aggressively, according to SSA & Company. Source: GreenBiz, 7/1/09

Wisconsin businesses, institutions, local governments and organizations involved in recycling and refurbishing unwanted electronics have new tools to help them comply with state and federal regulations and plan successful electronics collection events. Source: Wisconsin DNR, 6/30/09

Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) Clean Air Indiana campaign staff spent the month of June at businesses, festivals, and bus and train stations educating Hoosiers about ground-level ozone pollution. The Clean Air Indiana campaign asks Hoosiers to make small changes to their daily habits in order to improve air quality. Source: IDEM, 7/1/09

The U.S. Interior Department Monday designated about 670,000 acres of land on Monday to be "fast-tracked" as potential areas for solar energy production. Source: SustainableBusiness.com, 6/30/09

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has announced the release of AASHE Digest 2008, which documents the continued rapid growth of campus sustainability in the U.S. and Canada. Source: AASHE, 6/25/09

Yahoo! today said it will no longer purchase carbon offsets for its operations, focusing its climate strategy on reducing the energy used by its data centers. Source: Greener Computing, 6/30/09

Headlines abound with stories of branded technology being fished out of rivers and landfills in developing nations leaking toxic metals into the water supply. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates roughly 400,000 tons of e-waste goes to recyclers every year, and that up to 80 percent of the materials sorted for recycling end up in operations in China, India, Southeast Asia and West Africa where it is disassembled and burned or dumped. Source: Greener Computing, 7/1/09

Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven E. Chester welcomed Yazaki North America of Canton as the 160th member of Michigan's Clean Corporate Citizen (C3) Program, a voluntary environmental program that recognizes environmental stewardship at Michigan's facilities. Source: Michigan DEQ, 6/30/09

President Barack Obama signed into law last week a measure that directs $1 billion toward rebates for U.S. residents who trade in their cars or trucks for new, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Source: EERE Network News

The House narrowly passed landmark climate change legislation (H.R. 2454) with a 219-212 vote, delivering a major victory for President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). The cap-and-trade bill, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which mandates reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and sets a national standard for renewable electricity, now heads to the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain. Source: Environmental Leader 6/28/09

President Barack Obama's administration on Monday laid out new efficiency standards for lighting used in homes and businesses, hastening measures to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, an official said. Source:

Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) staff talked to Hoosiers Saturday as they came inside the Nu-Yale Cleaners in Floyds Knobs and thanked them for doing their part to keep Indiana's air clean. Source: Indiana Department of Environmental Management, 6/29/09

The Dow Chemical Co. will partner with a Florida-based company to turn carbon dioxide -- the most prevalent greenhouse gas -- into ethanol. Dow and Naples-based Algenol Biofuels Inc. could produce 100,000 gallons of ethanol per year for use in making plastics. The algae-based biorefinery will be built on 24 acres at Dow's site in Freeport, Texas, where it will use carbon dioxide produced at a nearby Dow manufacturing facility. Source: GreenBiz, 6/30/09

Sure, trees are nice to look at, but they're also carbon-collecting powerhouses. Now Klaus Lackner, a professor of geophysics at Columbia University, is developing a synthetic tree that can collect carbon approximately 1,000 times faster than real trees. Source: Fast Company, 6/24/09

Random House and the Hearst Corporation have found that serving up a menu based on green dining practices can save their companies thousands of dollars while cutting down on waste and pollution. Source: GreenBiz, 6/24/09

On the outskirts of Ghana's biggest city sits a smoldering wasteland, a slum carved into the banks of the Korle Lagoon, one of the most polluted bodies of water on earth. The locals call it Sodom and Gomorrah. It has become one of the world's digital dumping grounds, where the West's electronic waste, or e-waste, piles up -- hundreds of millions of tons of it each year. Source: PBS Frontline, 6/23/09

After June 12, 2009 all full power television stations will only broadcast in digital, over-the-air signals. EPA encourages all U.S. citizens who own an analog TV set and who receive free broadcasts (via rabbit ears or a roof-top antenna) to extend the life of their TV by subscribing to a paid TV service or connecting it to a converter box. Energy Star-qualified digital converter boxes are available for purchase. Source: U.S. EPA, 6/11/09

Democrats in the House of Representatives on Tuesday said they had reached a deal on difficult agriculture issues in a climate change bill, clearing the way for a vote and probable passage in the chamber this week. Source: Environmental News Network, 6/24/09

An electronics waste bill that would make manufacturers responsible for recycling the products they sell passed the Wisconsin Senate last week and arrived in the Assembly Tuesday. Source: Greener Computing, 6/16/09

The Bloomington campus of Indiana University (IU) found it can save money -- and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions -- just by simply turning off computers not in use. Source: Greener Computing, 6/17/09

n the growing universe of green IT hardware, software and services, there are two kinds of technologies, according to a new report from Forrester Research: Green IT 1.0 and green IT 2.0. Source: Greener Computing, 6/18/09

The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, along with the 11 other federally recognized Indian tribes in Michigan, are working with the state to combat global warming. Source: Great Lakes Directory (Petoskey News-Review), 6/16/09

DOE announced $8 billion in conditional loan agreements on Tuesday for Ford Motor Company; Nissan North America, Inc.; and Tesla Motors, Inc. to fund the development of advanced vehicle technologies. Source: EERE Network News, 6/24/09

DOE announced on June 11 its selection of 24 projects to research, develop, and design new manufacturing and product improvements that could cut costs for a substantial segment of the solar photovoltaic industry in the near future. The competitively-selected projects will be eligible for a total of up to $22 million in Recovery Act funds, which will be matched by more than $50 million in cost-shared funding from private partners. Source: Environmental Resource Center, 6/22/09

The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed a new, consumer-friendly replacement tire label which would include, for the first time, information about the tire's impact on fuel economy and CO2 emission reductions. Tires with lower rolling resistance¬and proper inflation pressure¬can contribute to improved fuel economy. Source: Environmental Resource Center, 6/22/09

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the Clean Water Restoration Act (CRWA), a landmark bill that reinstates Clean Water Act protections for a host of water bodies jeopardized by a pair of Supreme Court decisions. The bill, which would give EPA and the Corps of Engineers jurisdiction over all ground water in the United States, may soon be headed to the Senate floor after its recent passage in the House committee. The CWRA (Senate Bill. 787) will allow federal regulation of all waters of the U.S., a revision of the Clean Water Act which currently grants the federal government jurisdiction over navigable waters or any water that flows into navigable waters. Source: Environmental Resource Center, 6/22/09

Throwing orange peels, coffee grounds and grease-stained pizza boxes in the trash will be against the law in San Francisco, and could even lead to a fine. The Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 to approve Mayor Gavin Newsom's proposal for the most comprehensive mandatory composting and recycling law in the country. It's an aggressive push to cut greenhouse gas emissions and have the city sending nothing to landfills or incinerators by 2020. Source: San Francisco Chronicle, 6/10/09