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February 19, 2008 
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California's Global Warming Fee - Trend or Dead End?
Where are we headed? A carbon tax, cap and trade, or a "cost recovery fee?"
Once again, California is taking the lead. San Francisco's Bay Area Air Quality Management District last week proposed a levying a fee on the region's largest corporate carbon emitters. (It's considered a "cost recovery fee," not a carbon tax, because the money would go to pay for the air district's global warming reduction program.) Regional programs, as opposed to a consistent national policy, present a compliance challenge for businesses. If this proposed plan is implemented, and as other regional and state programs come online, businesses may be more inclined to embrace a national emissions-reduction program that will provide some consistency in compliance and associated costs. I don't know if we are headed for taxes, fees, or cap and trade. But one thing is clear to me: If U.S. carbon regulations are just around the corner (as they most certainly are), the most efficient overall approach for the regulated community is a single national program linked to existing international programs. ~Will Sarni, CEO, DOMANI, and SLM Advisor What do you think? Post Your Comment Here! Also This Week... TXU Subsidiary to Spend $1 Billion on Coal-Plant Emissions Cuts 
Energy firm Luminant has pledged to spend $1 billion on voluntary emissions reductions at its coal-fueled power plants. The plan includes new emissions control technologies to offset 100% of "key emissions" from new coal-fueled power plants and further reduce emissions from existing coal-fueled plants 20% below 2005 levels. Read more...
Sony, Other Top Companies to Pressure Suppliers on Emissions Reduction 
Sony is leading a dozen high-profile corporations, including HP, Nokia, and Nike, in calls for global business to take more of a leadership role in combating climate change. The so-called Tokyo Declaration, signed at the Climate Savers summit co-hosted by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Sony in Tokyo last week, targets a 50% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Read more...
Institutional Investors Pledge $10 Billion for Clean Tech 
Noting that climate change presents both material risks and significant opportunities, the Ceres investor coalition has pledged to collectively invest $10 billion in clean technology opportunities over the next two years and to incorporate green building standards into their investment decisions. Read more...
Spanish Winemaker Pilots Industry's First Carbon Capture Project 
Amid growing concern over global warming's impact on the winemaking industry, Spanish vintner Miguel Torres is attempting to capture and store the carbon dioxide emissions from his fermenting grapes. Speaking at a winemakers' summit in Barcelona, Spain, over the weekend, Torres said he had set up the industry's first emissions recovery process with the aim of storing the captured CO2 deep underground. Read more...
HP Joins Climate Savers, Pledges New GHG Reduction Targets 
Hewlett-Packard has joined the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Savers program, which works with leading corporations to reduce their carbon footprint. At a Climate Savers summit held this week in Tokyo, Hewlett-Packard officials pledged to reduce emissions from operations and the use of its products by six million tons below 2005 levels by 2010. Read more...
Virgin CEO Wants to Create a Climate Change "War Room" 
Virgin CEO and billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson thinks it's time to create a "war room" to address global warming. Speaking at a United Nations follow-up event to last year's climate talks in Bali, Indonesia, Branson outlined a kind of international command center to sift the best ideas on mitigating climate change, to be lead by a world-recognized expert in the field. Read more...
Climate Management Reporting Catches on Among Fortune 500 
Environmental and social performance is rating high on the corporate reporting agenda, with two-thirds of Global Fortune 500 companies issuing a standalone non-financial report in 2007, according to a new study from CorporateRegister.com. In addition, the report notes "a marked commitment to disclosing robust, credible climate change information." Read more...
Web Conferencing Gains Traction Amid Concern over Travel Emissions 
Emissions reduction is fast overtaking cost management as the primary motivator for companies to invest in web conferencing technology, according to a new survey by communications firm ICUGlobal. Seven of ten companies surveyed rated “reducing organizational carbon footprints” as a key driver in their organization’s move toward meeting online. Read more...
More Climate Management News & Tools... SLM Readers Speak Out! SLM reader rrinyai made this spot-on observation in response to our Feb. 12 article on corporate travel policies: "I have found that travel is slowly decreasing for corporations that are eco-friendly, since they prefer to use video conferencing...."Just a day later, we posted results of a new survey that shows teleconferencing is indeed gaining traction among climate-conscious companies. Read more, and post your own comments, here. 
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Top Headlines from Other SLM Channels Philips' Green Product Sales Spike 33% in 2007 Michelin to Invest Millions in R&D for Fuel-Saving Tires Dallas Cowboys to Build NFL's First EPA-Compliant Green Stadium For Eco-Marketers, Blue Is the New Green Half of All Consumers Ready to Give Up Convenience Packaging Nike's New "Trash Talk" Basketball Shoe Made from Garbage Nokia Previews Cellphone Made Entirely from Recycled Materials Companies Overlook CSR as Selling Point for Prospective Employees Find Peers and Partners If you haven’t already joined the fastest growing online sustainable business community, create a profile now and start connecting. Advertise on SLM! Become a Sustainable Life Media advertiser or sponsor and reach thousands of business leaders looking for product or service solutions to help them build their sustainability story. Click here to learn more. Have a story you want told? Send it to us! Solution Providers |
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