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Category Archives: Policies
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Cindy Hoots in Energy 2 days ago
The Los Angeles Times reported that Flint Hills Resources, a subsidiary of Kansas-based Koch Industries, donated one million dollars to the campaign for California Proposition 23. Proposition 23 would suspend California’s global-warming law, known as AB 32, until the state’s unemployment rate dropped below 5.5%, a level achieved only three times in the last three… Read More…
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Jonathan Banco in International 3 days ago
One thing you will notice walking the streets of any eastern Chinese city these days is the burgeoning consumer middle class. What might not be initially as evident is whether the Nike, Louis Vuitton or Polo they are sporting is real or counterfeit. According to a recent New York Times Magazine article, “Inside the Knockoff… Read More…
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Like many other aspects of international development (microfinance, I’m looking at you), there is a wealth of literature on the value and outcomes of fair trade and for the most part, the results have been inconclusive. That’s not to say that there haven’t been some positive impacts, but like microfinance there are some definite drawbacks… Read More…
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Emily DeMasi in Corporate Social Responsibility 16 days ago
The words “pharmaceutical company,” “sustainability” and “Corporate Social Responsibility” rarely go hand in hand, but a global Pharmaceutical Company boasting local impact in the Pittsburgh region might just be what the Doctor ordered. Bayer recently released it’s 2009 Sustainability Report and with it some lofty goals for Bayer’s operations in the Pittsburgh region, among them a… Read More…
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Whether you are a social enterprise, NGO (non-governmental organization), non-profit, policy-maker or an investor interested in a quantifiable social return on your investment, measuring social value remains an elusive goal. A new article by Geoff Mulgan suggests a new approach in measuring social value that calls for collaboration across sectors. In a recent collaborative project… Read More…
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Lane Jost in Corporate Social Responsibility 24 days ago
Last Sunday’s New York Times Week in Review section took a look at burgeoning cage-free regulations for egg-laying hens in California, Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and Maine. Currently only 2% of America’s hens are raised outside of battery cages (8 x 8 inches allotted to each bird; 6 birds to a cage). After… Read More…
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So the US government decided to sneak a rider into the Financial Reform Bill in an attempt to address the issue of conflict minerals coming out of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The goal is to dry up revenue that fuels rebel fighting in the region. As I mentioned in Part I last… Read More…
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I recently watched FUEL and thought: Why have I not seen this before??? FUEL is a 2008 documentary on America’s dependence on foreign oil which explored a possible solution to the looming energy crisis. I had three overwhelmingly strong and immediate responses from watching this film. First, we have some extremely intelligent and passionate people… Read More…
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Mining in DRC There has been a whole lot of chatter in recent days about a little provision tucked into the newly adopted Financial Reform Bill. That provision is the Conflict Minerals mandate, which basically states that companies using “columbite-tantalite (coltan), cassiterite, gold, wolframite or their derivatives” (and others at the discretion of the Secretary… Read More…
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Heidi Tolliver-Nigro in Inspiring Ideas 46 days ago
If Print Buyers Online (PBO) has its way, you’ll soon get a tax break for making sustainable choices in your printing. This week, PBO is introducing legislation that would amend the Internal Revenue Code “to allow print buyers a credit against income tax for the completion of sustainable print projects.” To be declared “qualified sustainable… Read More…
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Piggy-backing on my recent post regarding Pittsburgh’s # 6 spot in a sustainability ranking of most sustainable metros conducted by Site Selection magazine, I wanted to point out that the United States is not to be found on the “top ten list” of its sustainable nations. This news is not surprising. A similar ranking regarding global… Read More…
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“Perfect is the enemy of the good.” – Voltaire [Dictionnaire Philosophique -- 1764] Yesterday’s news from the Gulf was better than it has been: BP has begun to make consequential strides at plugging the deep-water oil leak. Since the explosion, we’ve seen dramatic responses from the left (no more oil and gas exploration), the right… Read More…
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Oil companies and shareholders most likely to benefit from lifting the ban on new offshore exploration and deepwater drilling not the “little guy”. As I watch the news, I’m hearing both sides of debate regarding the deepwater, offshore drilling moratorium, which was sparked by the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The Obama Administration… Read More…
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Join David Roberts and other environmental experts as they discuss President Obama’s Oval Office speech tonight. Yes, the transcript of the live chat is available if you missed it during the president’s Oval Office address. Click on the link below. If you’ve seen or read the news today, you know President Barack Obama will deliver… Read More…
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A free webinar explains California’s new mandatory commercial recycling law… will you be in compliance? If you run a business in California, then you are aware of California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB32). The act requires California to develop regulations that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. It is… Read More…
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In the last 24 hours, I’ve experienced The Tale of Two Communications Philosophies. The contrast between the two drives home, to me, the challenge facing the green industry. First, a conversation I had with a client — a new business start-up — about its website copy (which I’m writing). Sure, they wanted to let people… Read More…
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Fred Etcheverry in Jobs 367 days ago
The Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT) cites the case of a widowed public school teacher that retired with a $900 monthly pension. She would have been eligible to receive $600 survivor benefits based on her husband’s Social Security contribution, but the windfall elimination provision (WEP) eliminated all of her survivor benefits.
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Lisa Wojnovich in News 376 days ago
In an effort to curb solid waste pollution, China banned the import of scrap polysilicon at the beginning of August, an effort supported by its current environmental laws according to its Environmental Protection Ministry. Scrap polysilicon is a low-grade form of silicon not pure enough to use in microchips. However, it can be used as… Read More…
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It’s no surprise that the United States Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufactures oppose the American Clean Air and Security Act, but so does Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Dow Chemical and Ford Motors support it.
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US oil, natural gas and coal (fossil energy) companies perpetuate the “energy independence” myth. According to this myth, importation of oil is our energy problem. Buying foreign oil is “the greatest transfer of wealth in history,” and “It sends money to governments that hate us.”
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Three more car companies received sizeable loans from the federal government yesterday, but don’t worry; it’s not another bailout. In fact, the$8 billion is just the start of a larger $25 billion project called the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM for short) that was thought up back in 2007 and funded by Congress… Read More…
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Failing to register with the Selective Service through negligence or intention can ban men from government jobs, college loans and even college. What is really amazing is that this life sentence is irrevocable.
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Swarzenegger is now considering releasing prisoners, shortening the school year, and legalizing marajuana.
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Isa Cann in Conservation 523 days ago
Legacy electricity grids, the current distribution systems used for a century in the US, are highly inefficient…7%, never makes it to the user, lost at the transmission and distribution levels…..Environmentalists and others have been pushing for smart-grid technology for over a decade because it will enable consumers to use less electricity and benefit the environment.
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The US State Department has warned students not to go to Mexico during spring break since drug gangs threaten violence. Drug cartels are threatening the stability of nations around the globe, assassinating police and government officials. A record opium crop is providing funding for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Can decriminalization of narcotics be a solution? Neuroscience offers new hope to cure addition.
