Read the full story in Pacific Standard.
A new report estimates that remediating contaminated small water systems could cost up to $666 a year per person.
Day: October 4, 2018
McKinley Paper Co. Brings Sustainable Model to WA Mill
Read the full story at Environmental Leader.
The McKinley Paper Co., a subsidiary of Mexico-based Bio Pappel, will bring its model of producing paper without cutting trees to its new mill in Port Angeles, Washington. The mill will create containerboard using recycled cardboard.
Congress passes Save Our Seas Act
Read the full story in Recycling Today.
This week, the Senate and House by unanimous vote passed the Save Our Seas Act of 2018, which reauthorizes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program and calls for the U.S. government’s help in supporting international waste management solutions to reduce marine debris.
What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050
Download the document and data.
What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050 includes global, regional, and urban trends on solid waste management from technical and operational trends to environmental and social impacts. The topics covered in the publication include waste generation, waste collection, waste treatment and disposal, financing models, operational models, technologies, citizen engagement, environmental impact, and informal sector impact. The database linked with this website includes information on 217 countries and economies as well as more than 360 cities.
New Yale Study Warns of Costly Waste Problem
Read the full story at Planet Aid.
A new Yale study indicates that the amount of waste being dumped in America’s landfills is nearly double that of official government estimates.
Researchers at Yale University found that 230 million metric tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) or trash was dumped into landfills in the United States in 2015. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) had estimated that 124 million metric tons of waste were landfillled in 2015.
The Yale researchers have published the results of similar studies in the past, which have consistently shown that the EPA underestimates waste quantities.
Citizens put renewable energy on this year’s ballots
Read the full story in Grist.
The fossil fuel-friendly Trump administration has been busy rolling back environmental regulations and opening millions of acres of public land to oil and gas drilling. Just last week, the Interior Department announced plans to gut an Obama-era methane pollution rule, giving natural gas producers more leeway to emit the powerful greenhouse gas.
With the GOP controlling the executive branch and Congress, that means state-level ballot initiatives are one of the few tools progressives have left to advance their own energy agendas. Twenty-four states, including most Western ones, permit this type of “direct democracy,” which allows citizens who gather enough petition signatures to put new laws and regulations to a vote in general elections.
Fossils cheer, climate absent as Canada, Mexico, U.S. reach new trade deal
Read the full story at The Energy Mix.
North American fossils were cheering early this week and climate protection was out of the picture as Canada signed on to the United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the trade deal formerly known as NAFTA.
While dueling analyses dug into the implications for dairy and international trucking, steel tariffs and auto sales, critics were quick to point out that the agreement makes no mention of climate change. The fossil industry was looking ahead to a big bonanza. And the Council of Canadians was declaring at least one victory, with the elimination of a “proportionality” clause in NAFTA that was seen as a brake on Canada’s ability to rapidly reduce carbon-emitting fossil production and exports to meet its international climate commitments, if/when it ever decides to.
Sustainable Procurement Suffers, Leads to Increased Risk, Says EcoVadis Report
Read the full story from Environmental Leader.
When it comes to CSR performance over the last couple of years, sustainable procurement lags behind other environmentally responsible practices such as business ethics and human rights initiatives, posing risks for industries across the board, according to a new report from sustainability rating company EcoVadis. These risks include damages to reputation and disruption of business.
Stormy weather ahead: Federal agencies begin to roll back efficiency policy
Read the full post from ACEEE.
More than 600 days into the Trump administration, amid constant reports of regulatory rollbacks, there’s been surprisingly little damage to energy efficiency…yet. But now the administrative winds are starting to blow, rulemakings are under way—with a couple open comment periods—and we are working hard to hold onto the energy savings we have been helping to build.
The Obama administration had some remarkable successes on energy efficiency. We estimated that its appliance, vehicle, and power plant standards alone should save over 10 quadrillion Btu per year by 2030 (equivalent to about half of US home energy use), and should cumulatively save consumers over $2.5 trillion in energy bills by 2040.
How resilient are those policies and programs? Here are some local weather reports:
Green and inclusive? Paris builds a zero-carbon future with a social conscience
Read the full story from Reuters.
Arrayed between elegant stone buildings and run-down railway tracks in the northwest of Paris lie bustling playgrounds, plant-filled ponds and stretches of lush grass.
The Clichy-Batignolles area, a former industrial wasteland, has morphed into the French capital’s first “eco-neighborhood”, billed as a model of sustainable development for the rest of the city.
Clarisse Genton, project coordinator for the Clichy-Batignolles district, said it aims to be “environmentally responsible” – with solar panels on homes and clean geothermal energy for heating, for example.
But the eco-effort also has a social aim: to address the city’s affordable housing crisis and ensure green benefits reach the poor as well as the rich.
