IN FOCUS --- Metafore's Weekly Newsletter
January 28, 2010, Issue 291 |
How eco-friendly is Apple's tablet?
From Reuters: Displacing printing media with an electronic device like the Amazon Kindle can reduce the amount of energy associated with cutting down trees and making physical periodicals and books, according to some studies.
But without electronics recycling, the environmental footprint is not good. After all, tossing an old newspaper into the recycling bin is a lot easier and common than recycling electronics, for which the U.S. rate is estimated at about 10 percent.
Climate, Energy Programs Could See Boosts Despite Budget Freeze
From The New York Times: Climate change and clean energy programs, which the Obama administration has championed, are expected to remain priorities at U.S. EPA and the Energy Department in the president's fiscal 2011 budget request despite a request to freeze non-military discretionary spending for the next three years.
Nike details sustainability strategy
From the Portland Business Journal: Nike released a two-year report on corporate responsibility Friday outlining the next phase of the sportswear giant’s corporate sustainability strategy.
In a statement, Nike officials said that the corporate responsibility effort encompasses “risk management, philanthropic and compliance model to a long-term strategy focused on innovation, collaboration, transparency and advocacy to prepare the company to thrive in a sustainable economy.”
Mutual Fund Lists Top 10 Green Companies
From SustainableBusiness.com: Portfolio 21 says it has reviewed more than 2,000 companies worldwide over the last decade. It currently invests $323 million in 105 companies across 20 countries. The fund said the following Top 10 Green Companies were selected based on their "environmental performance characteristics."
Global Warming: 'Cooling' Forests Can Heat Too
From ScienceDaily: The simple formula we've learned in recent years -- forests remove the greenhouse gas CO2 from the atmosphere; therefore forests prevent global warming -- may not be quite as simple as we thought. Forests can directly absorb and retain heat, and, in at least one type of forest, these effects may be strong enough to cancel out a good part of the benefit in lowered CO2. This is a conclusion of a paper that will be published on January 22 in Science by scientists in the Weizmann Institute's Faculty of Chemistry.
Forest Carbon Offsets in the Ozarks
From The New York Times: CE2 Carbon Capital, an investor in carbon emissions reduction projects, and Dogwood Carbon Solutions, an agency that helps private landowners gain access to the carbon credits market, announced last week that they have joined forces to develop carbon offsets on 300,000 acres of forest land in the Ozark mountain region of Missouri and Arkansas.
Graft Threatens Indonesia's Carbon Offset Billions
From Reuters: Billions of dollars set to flood into Indonesia under a U.N.-backed forest protection scheme are at risk because of graft unless the country puts strong oversight mechanisms in place, a report released on Tuesday warned.
Indonesia has the world's third largest area of tropical forest and stands to gain billions of dollars every year from a proposed greenhouse gas offset scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) that was formalized at recent global climate talks in Copenhagen.
Madagascar sanctions logging of national parks
From Mongabay: Madagascar has legalized the export of rosewood logs, possibly ushering in renewed logging of the country's embattled rainforest parks.
The transitional authority led by president Andry Rajoelina, who seized power during a military coup last March, today released a decree that allows the export of rosewood logs harvested from the Indian Ocean island's national parks. The move comes despite international outcry over the destruction of Madagascar's rainforests for the rosewood trade.
Demand Picks Up for Voluntary Carbon Credits
From Environmental Leader: Demand is picking up in the voluntary carbon credit market particularly from the United States, according to carbon offset retailers and brokers, reports Reuters.
Quad/Graphics to buy Canadian printing rival
From the Associated Press: The U.S. commercial printing company Quad/Graphics Inc. plans to buy Canadian rival World Color Press Inc., which prints magazines such as Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone.
Quad/Graphics Inc., which is based in Sussex, Wis., is the largest privately held printer in the U.S. but would go public in connection with the takeover announced Tuesday. The combined company will have 30,000 employees. World Color is based in Montreal.