2015 will pass by soon. While we live our day-to-day lives and careers, it’s easy to miss trends that establish themselves in a small number of years or even in a single year. Yet this is happening with energy. Some new “realities” that are likely unstoppable, even by those who prefer the status quo or
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A lot of attention has been spent explaining the impacts of the 16-day U.S. federal government shutdown, which ended on October 17th. Although the shutdown did slow rulemaking efforts at the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as federal employees were furloughed, the shutdown has now ended and these activities are proceeding as scheduled. This article
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In April 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its 17th annual U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory, The Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2010. The report shows overall GHG emissions in 2010 increased by 213 million metric tons or 3.2 percent from the previous year, despite the sluggish economy. According
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In January 2012, for the first time, the EPA released greenhouse gas (GHG) data collected under the GHG Reporting Program. The data set shows 2010 U.S. GHG emissions from large industrial facilities and from suppliers of certain fossil fuels and industrial gases. The data confirm that among large, direct GHG emitters, the sector with the largest emissions is power plants, followed by petroleum refineries. The data can be dowloaded from the USEPA’s web site using the following links . . .

For years, those of us in the environmental and sustainability (E&S) profession have sought credible metrics to quantify the economic value of our efforts. Studies dating back to the late 1980s attempted to demonstrate “E&S value.” Most of these studies either showed rather tenuous links between E&S initiatives and valuation or used pseudofinancial metrics not
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From Environment Canada. Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent announced in August that the Canadian government is moving forward with regulations for the coal-fired electricity sector. “Our strategy to lower our emissions is based on making improvements sector by sector to sustain our economy and protect our environment,” said Minister Kent. “We are taking action in the
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How much greenhouse gas a company produces has a significant effect on the value of the company’s stock, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California (UC), Davis; UC, Berkeley; and University of Otago in New Zealand. The greater the carbon emissions, the lower a company’s stock, all other factors being
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The aviation industry has long proclaimed that it has a relatively insignificant impact on global climate change, accounting for less than 3 percent of CO2 emissions. The industry also asserts that because of the high cost of fuel, there is tremendous incentive to reduce fuel usage through more efficient engine technology. In fact, some analysts argue that the industry’s engines have become up to 70 percent more fuel efficient since the 1960s. This article examines the validity of the aviation industry’s climate change claims. […]

On July 27th, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) released a comprehensive blueprint for reducing regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The centerpiece will be a series of integrated, market-based cap-and-trade systems scheduled to begin operation on January 1, 2012. This will eventually address up to 90 percent of
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Are you leasing office, warehouse or manufacturing space and frustrated by your inability to reduce energy consumption and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions emitted by that consumption? This article provides ten tips compiled by the United Nations for reducing energy use in leased buildings.