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Former Chrysler Corp. CEO Lee Iacocca has lined up 90 dealers to sell his new electric bicycles and may take his company public in a year. He unveiled the first electric bikes from his company, EV Global Motors at the recent National Auto Dealers Association meeting. The bikes, which are being shipped now, will be sold at automobile dealerships and other locations in Arizona, California, Florida and Hawaii. The basic model costs $995; a deluxe version is $1,300. Next year, the company will produce an electric scooter, to be followed by a tandem bike and a small delivery EV. His “vision,” is to get EVs into families via the youth, then later sell them larger EVs, “maybe a minivan.” EV Global Motors: http://www.evglobal.com Source: Calstart News
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U.S.-based consulting firm HVS Eco Services has published the ECOTEL Resource Guide: The Hotel Industry’s Tool for Environmental Success. . It lists hundreds of environmental product vendors, a directory of and case studies on hotels that have earned the “Ecotel” certification, and an events calendar. The company plans to distribute it to hotels and resorts worldwide. [sorry this link is no longer available]
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Community investing is thriving thanks to big-hearted investors. The idea is to direct a portion of one’s portfolio, say five percent, to affordable housing, microenterprises, or social/environmental ventures that can’t get investment capital through conventional channels. Investors receive a “charitable” financial return, typically 0-4 percent, plus the knowledge they have lifted others in need. Many community investing options are structured to be very low risk – hard to beat when traditional markets are taking a pounding. The nonprofit Calvert Foundation offers pooled community investments to add convenience and further lessen risk. It also has a database of direct community investment opportunities. 800-248-0337 [sorry this link is no longer available]
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After eight years of organic industry advocacy, the USDA changed its meat labeling policy. Now, certified organic meat products – beef, poultry, eggs – may carry the word ‘organic’ on the label, along with all other food categories. Organic Trade Association:http://www.ota.com
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How do you encourage the use of “green power” in a state like Pennsylvania that has limited renewable energy resources? Green-e certified power products must derive at least 50 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. In California, Green-e certified products have won the lion’s share of the growing competitive power market. For states like Pennsylvania, Green-e is working on a mechanism to include energy efficiency as part of its certification program. The program would work like this: power marketers would obtain energy savings by investing in efficiency measures in a given service area and customer type. These “negawatts” could then be used as part of the marketer’s certification requirements. For example, if the marketer sells one million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in a year, 500,000 of them would have to be “green”. If the marketer can buy 400,000 kWh of wind power and 100,000 of energy efficiency savings, he would qualify under the Green-e program. Green-e Plus would allow marketers to offer energy efficiency above and beyond their 50 percent-green requirement through co-marketing agreements with Energy Star equipment manufacturers and other marketing innovations. Alliance to Save Energy:Bill Prindle: bprindle@ase.org[sorry this link is no longer available]Green-e: http://www.green-e.org
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The Environmental Finance Center – sponsored by EPA Region 9 and based at California State University/Haywood – serves as a resource center for environmental entrepreneurs, investors, financial managers, and small business owners. The Center’s latest publication is Financing Environmental Technology: A Funding Directory for the Environmental Entrepreneur. 510-749-6867 FROM Co-op America’s Connections
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The Environmental Finance Center – sponsored by EPA Region 9 and based at California State University/Haywood – serves as a resource center for environmental entrepreneurs, investors, financial managers, and small business owners. The Center’s latest publication is Financing Environmental Technology: A Funding Directory for the Environmental Entrepreneur. 510-749-6867 FROM Co-op America’s Connections
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U.S. DOE and EPA are sponsoring smart growth development at two model cities, Chattanooga, Tennessee and Mesa del Sol/Albuquerque, N. Mexico. Mesa del Sol was chosen as an opportunity to demonstrate to the nation how to successfully plan and design from the beginning and from the ground up – a large-scale new community with a projected population of 90,000 and more than 60,000 jobs. The 13,000-acre parcel is the largest tract of undeveloped land near an urban center in the U.S. The DOE grant will support the design of a set of tools which will guide cities and regions in their search for smart growth and sustainable economic development strategies. The computer tools will foster community participation in complex decision-making processes, and provide highly visual images of future growth scenarios. These scenarios can be linked to powerful software programs which help measure fiscal impacts to local government, desired land/use transportation linkages, positive impacts of compact urban form and planned/phased development, energy and resource conservation, and econometric models for sustained balanced economic growth. Cornell University’s Work and Environment Initiative Program is working under an EPA grant to integrate eco-industrial development there. Ed Cohen-Rosenthal, Director of WEI, sees Albuquerque as a case […]
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As evidence mounts that companies with strong environmental management practices also have higher financial performance, a number of mutual fund companies are creating new “Eco-Efficiency” funds. The new funds – which include Storebrand Scudder Environmental Value, Sustainable Performance Group, SBC Eco Performance Portfolio, and Swedbank’s Environmental Fund – have shown dramatic performance gains over their counterparts. To achieve the most financial benefit, several studies indicate a company must fundamentally rethink its environmental management systems, rather than simply add environmental initiatives onto current systems. Firms which implement systemic measures – such as organizational change initiatives and product redesign – show the most benefit. Not surprisingly, studies show that it is important for companies to report environmental successes to shareholders to fully benefit. Resources: Donald Reed, “Green Shareholder Value, Hype or Hit?” WRI, Sept. 1998. [sorry this link is no longer available] Linda Descano & Bradford S. Gentry, “Communicating Environmental Performance to the Capital Markets,” Corporate Environmental Strategy: The Journal of Environmental Leadership, Spring 1998. (See our Content Partner page, for contact info). Michael Russo & Paul Fouts, “A Resource-Based Perspective on Corporate environmental Performance & Profitability,” Academy of Management Journal, 40(3), 1997. [sorry this link is no longer available] FROM Co-op […]
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Commonwealth Energy Corporation, California’s largest Electric Service Provider, will convert its 38,000 residential and small business customers from system power to the company’s GreenSmart program, using California-based, renewable energy sources. Unlike most green power programs, which require people to pay a premium, the power will be provided at a discount from what they’re currently paying. Calpine Corporation supplies the power. About 60 percent comes from geothermal sources; the rest comes from forest waste biomass production. Commonwealth is one of the cheapest energy providers in the state and the company believes green electricity can be cost-competitive with traditional supplies. Commonwealth Energy: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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