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Study Finds Current US Law Cuts More Pollution Than 'Clear Skies

Changes to clean-air law proposed by the Bush administration – known as the “Clear Skies” initiative – would reduce less power plant pollution than aggressive enforcement of the current law, according to a new study by the National Academy of Sciences. The utility industry supports the Bush legislation because it would replace a plant-by-plant cleanup strategy favored by the Clinton administration with a broad emissions trading program that industry officials say would give companies flexibility while achieving at least comparable environmental benefits. Democrats and environmentalists, however, contend the bill would weaken the existing Clean Air Act, and they favor other bills such as the Clean Power Act, drafted by Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., which would reduce twice as much pollution as Clear Skies and limit greenhouse gas emissions. The Clinton administration in 1998 had begun an aggressive enforcement initiative against the utility industry, suing individual utilities for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review provisions, which prohibit plants from making certain changes without installing clean-air technology. The Bush administration, however, has largely rejected this approach. Bush officials have instead pushed a new interpretation of New Source Review that would allow companies more latitude to modify their plants without […]

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Nature Conservancy Receives $12 Million From Caterpiller

The Caterpillar Foundation of Caterpillar Inc. has donated $12 million to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) – the largest corporate gift TNC has received to date, to guide protection of the world’s vanishing freshwater supply and transform the way large working river systems are preserved and protected. The Great Rivers Partnership will create integrated models for sustaining great river systems of the world. “Freshwater systems in the 21st century will be one of the most important issues for conservation organizations and governments to address. As the world’s population grows, people will need continued access to freshwater to thrive,” said Steve McCormick, the Conservancy’s president and chief executive officer. “Business leaders must work together to achieve lasting results that allow commerce and natural places to thrive side-by-side,” said Caterpillar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens. A central component of this new project, the Great Rivers Center for Conservation and Learning, will be at the heart of transforming how these magnificent and critical systems are protected. As the intellectual cornerstone for the Great Rivers Partnership, the center will identify cross-cutting issues and activities that threaten large rivers globally; it will develop and support project work that will inform and demonstrate ways to […]

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Chiquita's Latin America Farms All Certified

SA8000 Certification in Guatemala and Honduras Achieved One Year Ahead of Target Chiquita Brands International, Inc. (NYSE: CQB) announced that independent auditors have certified its banana farms in Guatemala and Honduras to the Social Accountability 8000 labor and human rights standard. This means that 100 percent of Chiquita’s owned banana farms in Latin America are now certified to the SA8000 international labor standard in addition to the stringent environmental standards of the Rainforest Alliance. These farms cover approximately 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) in total area and provide employment to more than 14,000 people. In 2002, Chiquita’s banana division in Costa Rica earned SA8000 certification, and the company’s owned farms in Panama and Colombia were certified in 2003. (The company’s banana operations in Colombia were sold in June 2004, and the new owner has agreed to maintain SA8000 certification on these farms.) Intertek Testing Services completed inspections of Chiquita’s banana production, harvesting and packaging operations in the Maya division (Guatemala and Honduras) in October 2004 and issued the compliance certificate for this division early this year. In each of these countries, Chiquita’s farms were the first major agricultural operations to achieve SA8000 certification. Chiquita Brands International is a leading international marketer, […]

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Tokuyama Develops Low-Cost Fuel Cell Component

Japan’s Tokuyama Corp. has developed a low-cost electrolyte membrane for high- efficiency direct-methanol fuel cells. The chemical- maker is supplying sample products to automakers and consumer electronics manufacturers, aiming for commercialization in 2006. Its new electrolyte membrane is based on hydrocarbon, instead of fluorine, which is currently the mainstream material for such membranes. While fuel cells using fluorine-based membranes are costly and have low power-generation efficiency because the methanol penetrates the membranes, Tokuyama’s product cuts the cost to between a fifth and a tenth that of fluorine-based products and reduces the amount of methanol penetration to one-tenth. For the time being, Tokuyama will concentrate on electrolyte membranes for fuel cells for cellular phone handsets. It targets revenue of 4 billion to 5 billion yen from the whole fuel cell business in 2010.

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Caraustar Expects to Raise $325 Million

Caraustar Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: CSAR) has filed a Form S-3 shelf registration statement with the US SEC. When declared effective by the SEC, the registration statement will permit Caraustar to issue from time to time up to an aggregate of $325 million in common stock, preferred stock, depositary shares, debt securities, including convertible debt, warrants and guarantees of debt securities. The net proceeds of any sale of securities by Caraustar may be used for general corporate purposes, including, without limitation, repayment or repurchases of indebtedness, strategic investments or acquisitions. Caraustar, a recycled packaging company, is one of the world’s largest integrated manufacturers of converted recycled paperboard. Caraustar serves the four principal recycled boxboard product end-use markets: tubes, cores and composite cans; folding cartons; gypsum facing paper; and miscellaneous “other specialty” products.

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