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the Chicago-based aviation giant reported that it is stepping up efforts to expand the use of sustainable aviation biofuel by seeking U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval for its aircraft to fly on "green diesel." The proposed new source of aviation biofuel emits at least half the lifecycle carbon dioxide as traditional petroleum-based jet fuel, according to Boeing.

Chipotle is under pressure from shareholder activists who want the company to publish an annual report on its food sourcing, energy use, waste and labor standards. The proposal, due for a vote at Chipotle's shareholder meeting in May, is important given the brand's focus on green marketing, explains Adam Kanzer, managing director at Domini Social Investments. "They've really put their brand behind this message of sustainability and better farming techniques and cleaner agriculture," he says. "We want to understand: Is it true? How is it done? How do you manage it?"

The iPhone maker's master plan features extensive green space, aggressive water conservation and one of the largest corporate solar arrays in the world.

Mars has supported recommendations that suggest people should limit the consumption of added sugars to no more than 10% of their daily caloric intake. The company also voiced support of a government proposal to include an added sugars declaration in the Nutritional Facts on all applicable food packaging.

The proposed Pebble Mine in southwestern Alaska is a project of almost unfathomable scale. The Pebble Limited Partnership intends to excavate a thick layer of ore - nearly a mile deep in places - containing an estimated 81 billion pounds of copper, 5.6 billion pounds of molybdenum, and 107 million ounces of gold. The mine would cover 28 square miles and require the construction of the world's largest earthen dam - 700 feet high and several miles long - to hold back a 10-square-mile containment pond filled with up to 2.5 billion tons of sulfide-laden mine waste. All this would be built not only in an active seismic region, but also in one of the most unspoiled and breathtaking places on the planet - the headwaters of Bristol Bay, home to the world's most productive salmon fishery. Composed of tundra plain, mountain ranges, hundreds of rivers, and thousands of lakes, the greater Bristol Bay region encompasses five national parks and wildlife refuges, and one of the largest state parks in the U.S.

Public relations firm Edelman, in an internal note, says it will no longer do business with producers of coal or organizations that seek to discredit climate change. "When you are trying in some way to obfuscate the truth or use misinformation and half-truths, that is what we would consider getting into the work of greenwashing, and that is something we would never propose or work we would support our client doing," said Michael Stewart, president and CEO for Europe. 

Food and commodities giant ADM, which has reached over US$80 billion in revenues, says it will develop a no-deforestation policy in a move to source soy and palm oil more responsibly. The change occurred after a shareholder proposal, submitted by Green Century Capital Management and the New York State Common Retirement Fund, requested that ADM set quantitative goals for a reduction in supply chain impacts from deforestation....

A proposal to Mondelez International from As You Sow asking the snack food company to phase out unrecyclable packaging received 28.4 percent shareholder support representing $11.8 billion worth of shares at the food manufacturer's annual meeting.

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) proposed Monday to cut in half the gasoline and diesel fuel used by vehicles and get half the state's electricity from renewable sources.

The EPA proposed strengthening 2008 air quality standards to reduce smog. The new standards would drop the limit on pollution-forming ozone from the current 75 parts per billion (ppb) to within 60-70 ppb.

ConAgra Foods is the latest food giant to agree to eliminate any palm oil supplier engaged in deforestation. The company made the commitment in response to a shareholder proposal filed by Green Century Capital Management and the New York State Common Retirement Fund.

California is pushing to make computers and monitors more energy-efficient, with the California Energy Commission proposing minimum power-consumption standards that could save 2,702 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. It's estimated that the rules would save consumers $430 million a year in energy costs.

EU countries will face tougher recycling targets and a ban on burying recyclable waste in landfills under plans presented by the European Commission. The proposals are part of the Commission's Waste Targets Review, which includes updated recycling targets of 70 percent of household waste and 80 percent of packaging waste by 2030.

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose tightening limits on ozone, the lung-damaging ingredient in smog, to between 65 to 70 parts per billion. The current standard of 75 parts per billion has been in place since 2008.

Ocean Conservancy on Wednesday released a report that proposes a four-point solution to cutting ocean plastic waste by 45 percent by 2025 with the ultimate goal of eradicating the issue by 2035. Stemming the Tide: Land-based strategies for a plastic-free ocean is a first-of-its-kind, solutions-oriented report in partnership with the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment that outlines specific land-based solutions for plastic waste in the ocean.

The European parliament has overwhelmingly backed a wide-ranging ban on single-use plastics in an effort to tackle pollution in seas, fields and waterways. Under the proposed directive, items such as plastic straws, cotton swabs, disposable plastic plates and cutlery would be banned by 2021, and 90% of plastic bottle recycled by 2025.

An international team of scientists has proposed a series of deadlines by which humanity must take serious action to combat climate change if it is to meet the ambitious goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, and stave off potential disaster. The team behind the study hopes that these points of no return will help inform debate, and spur leaders to take action to mitigate the threat of climate change while there is still time.

ExxonMobil and other major oil companies, as well as several multinational firms in other sectors, are set to announce support for a tax on carbon emissions as a practical tool for fighting global warming. The firms argue that if energy produced from fossil fuels costs more, it will accelerate the market-driven transition to renewable energy and other sources that produce low carbon emissions.

Los Angeles County approves the start of the Newhall Ranch master-planned community north of the city of Los Angeles. The state has never seen a community quite like Newhall Ranch, proposed by California developer FivePoint. It will be a carbon-neutral development in the Santa Clarita Valley that tackles such critical challenges as climate change, water conservation, and the dire housing shortage that is severely threatening our economic competitiveness.