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Your Comments Needed: World Bank Latin America/Caribbean Environmental Strategy

A draft of the World Bank’s five year environmental strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean is open for your comments through early October. The draft emphasizes: protecting health from indoor and outdoor air pollutants, dirty water and toxic substances; enhancing livelihoods of the poor through sustainable natural resource management; and reducing the poor’s vulnerability to natural disasters. [sorry this link is no longer available]

Local Illinois Governments Purchase Green Power

The City of Chicago and 47 other local governments will be buying its energy as a group from a single supplier. The bulk purchase of about 400 megawatts (enough to power 65,000 homes) of electric power will save millions of dollars; about half the energy is used by the City of Chicago and a fourth by the Chicago Transit Authority. Other members of the Government Power Alliance are Chicago Park District and City Colleges. Last year the group reduced their electric bills by over $10.6 million, or about 10 percent. For a company to win the group’s business, it must lower costs for each member of the purchasing group and generate 20 percent of the power from renewable sources. It must also submit plans to reduce pollution from its conventional power generation. This will be the largest renewable energy contract in the U.S. by a non-utility customer. It will reduce the region’s reliance on coal-fired plants, another step elected officials expect will improve regional air quality.

A new manual explains PROPER and why it is so powerful. PROPER (Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation, and Rating) is an environmental rating tool that was initiated by Indonesia’s environmental ministry, BAPEDAL, in 1995. Companies receive a color-coded rating signifying whether their environmental performance is acceptable or poor. A “gold” rating indicates world class environmental performance while a “black” rating points to a polluter that violates regulations. When ratings are supplied to the news media, PROPER proves to be a very effective mechanism for improving performance. PROPER has been adopted in the Philippines, China and South America. [sorry this link is no longer available]

Polluters Get Slapped With Record Fines

Although the U.S. EPA has reduced its resources for environmental prosecutions and the U.S. Department of Justice reports the total number of environmental convictions is down for the second year (from 511 to 446), there have been recent landmark penalties. Portland-based Willamette Industries Inc., a plywood manufacturer with 13 factories in four states, settled its air violation charges for $93.2 million. In the largest settlement to date with a single company, it was charged with failing to install proper pollution controls and failing to obtain permits at 13 facilities. Penalties will be used for Willamette to install upgraded pollution control equipment, improve municipal sewer systems, acquire parkland and build ethanol fueling stations for alternative fuel vehicle fleets. Over the last few years, the EPA has settled with companies comprising half the wood products industry – Louisiana-Pacific, Georgia-Pacific and Weyerhaeuser – and is still pursuing Boise-Cascade. Chevron USA, the second largest U.S. oil company, agreed to pay a $6 million fine and spend $1 million on environmental improvements to settle a federal lawsuit over Clean Air Act violations at a California offshore oil terminal. The settlement is the largest ever imposed against one facility. EPA’s criminal investigations are almost evenly divided […]

Virtual Master's Degree in Environmental Management & Planning

The Universidad Virtual del Sistema Tecnologico de Monterrey just started a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management and Planning. Its goal is to develop professionals that can make decisions for environmental prevention, protection and management, and to develop education and communication programs within the framework of sustainable development and globalization of the economies. The program employs telecommunications, electronic networks and multimedia information technologies. Students can study at any campus or sites that is registered with the Virtual University system. pgit@campus.ruv.itesm.mx http://www.ruv.itesm.mx

Native Americans Go For Wind Power

The Blackfeet Tribe of Montana, U.S., and the Peigan Nation in Alberta, Canada are constructing the first utility scale wind energy projects on tribal lands to generate energy for their peoples and for sale. SeaWest WindPower, Inc signed a development agreement for the 22 megawatt Blackfeet project, scheduled to begin operating in October, 2001. It will provide enough energy to electrify over 6,000 homes. “Gaining electricity from the winds here on the Reservation has been talked about for many years.” says Earl Old Person, chairman of the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council. The project provides highly skilled employment opportunities on the Blackfeet Reservation and a commercially viable export business. The Peigan Nation is gearing up for a $200 million, 101 MW grid-connected wind farm. Peigan Utilities Inc. and Advanced Thermodynamics Corporation – which holds the exclusive licence to market Nordex turbines in Canada – formed a joint venture called Weather-Dancer Wind Power. They plan to serve the 3000 Peigan Nation residents and then sell the rest to the Alberta Power Pool, as well as many other potential customers.

New Website Spotlights African Ecopreneurs

African environmental businesses now have a home on the Internet to show off their products, at Ecobe.com. You’ll find a company that converts tires to shoes, renewable energy providers, eco-tour providers, waste solutions, and more. Ecobe EMS provides environmental management consulting off-line. Contact Lynton Burger and visit [sorry this link is no longer available]

Anchorage U.S. Postal Service Runs on Fuel Cells

The largest commercial fuel cell system in the U.S. now provides energy for the U.S. Postal Service in Anchorage, Alaska. This is the first time a fuel cell system has been integrated into an electric utility’s grid, with the ability to sell excess energy back to the grid. Chugach Electric Association, Alaska’s largest utility, installed the $5.5 million, one-megawatt system, which was manufactured by International Fuel Cells. 425 employees work at the Anchorage Mail Processing Center, the main sorting and distribution point for mail going into and out of Alaska, which operates 24 hours a day. It is located next to Anchorage International Airport. Heat recovery from the fuel cells will help provide space heating to the facility, increasing the overall fuel efficiency of the Postal Service Center. As a result, less fuel will be needed for conventional systems.

Environmental Leadership Fellowship Deadline Approaches

The Environmental Leadership Program offers three-year fellowships for future environmental leaders; students receive intensive leadership and skills training, mentoring, project seed money and technical assistance. Students have 3-10 years environmental experience and come from a broad spectrum of disciplines, professions, educational experiences, and cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Applications for the next class are due October 2nd. Contact: elpnet@mindspring.com or visit [sorry this link is no longer available].

What Do Lowe's, Bell Canada and Anderson Windows Have in Common?

“Lowe’s is setting the global standard for responsible wood policy.” This was Michael Brune’s reaction to Lowe’s Companies, Inc.’s sweeping policy announcements last month. He is the Old Growth Campaign Director for Rainforest Action Network, the non-profit group that convinced Home Depot, Menard’s, HomeBase, Lanoga, and Wickes Lumber to stop selling products made from remaining old growth forests. He said, “The end of old growth logging may soon be within our grasp, thanks in part to leadership from Lowe’s.” Lowe’s is the second largest U.S. home improvement retailer (the 15th largest U.S. retailer and 34th largest retailer worldwide) with over $4 billion in annual wood sales, and $15.9 billion in total sales for 1999. The company crafted its landmark lumber and wood product procurement policy in concert with environmental groups, scientists and suppliers. Mark Kauffman, Lowe’s senior vice president of Merchandising comments that some of these meetings represented the first time these groups were in the same room. “The result,” he says, “is a more balanced policy and what we hope will be a turning point for environmental discussions in the U.S.” Its “Healthy Forests Advisory Board” consists of environmental groups, environmental scientists, suppliers, certifiers and buyer groups and will […]

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