Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

State and local leaders announced Monday a bill that would ban polystyrene food containers, such as styrofoam cups, in California by 2020. State Sen. Ben Allen, whose district includes UCLA, introduced Senate bill 705, or the Ocean Pollution Reduction Act, at the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center. Allen said he wanted to introduce this bill at UCLA to highlight the fact that a major institution like UCLA could make the change with positive results. UCLA eliminated polystyrene containers from its campus dining facilities in 2009 as part of a plan to have zero waste to landfill by 2020.

The Senate voted 63-30 last week to pass a federal bill requiring food manufacturers to label products made with genetically modified ingredients, using either wording on packaging, a logo or a website link. The bill is expected to be considered on the House floor this week.

Four representatives recently introduced a bill called the Food Donation Act of 2017 (H.R. 952), which addresses some of the greatest barriers that restaurants and food service companies face when they want to give away their excess edible food. This bill clarifies and enhances the coverage areas of the bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, the legislation that made the donation of excess food from businesses to people in need legally protected.

Washington DC enacted a law committing the district to 50% renewable energy by 2032. In addition, the bill lays out a program to cut electricity bills in half for about 100,000 district residents by 2032 through the use of renewables.

Brazil's conservative National Congress has rushed to pass a wave of legislative initiatives, which taken all together, would dismantle much of the nation's body of law protecting the environment and indigenous people - an effort likely to escalate in 2017. The latest attempt occurred last week, just before the parliamentary recess. The agricultural lobby unexpectedly put forward three bills, known as Decretos Legislativos (PDCs), which are laws promulgated by the President of the Senate over which the country's President does not have the right of veto. If eventually passed, as seems likely, the bills will allow industrial waterways (requiring many dozens of new dams) to be built without the proper assessment of environmental and social impacts. The waterways would be used by agribusiness as a cheap means of exporting soy and other commodities.

The District of Columbia now sources a third of its electricity from a Pennsylvania wind farm, which is expected to save the city up to $45 million in electricity bills over the next two decades. Iberdrola Renewables supplies the city with 125,000 megawatt hours of electricity annually. The Washington Post (tiered subscription model) (8/12) 

Ben & Jerry's, eBay, Gap, Levi Strauss & Co., and The North Face are among 24 companies that announced support of SB-350-a California bill to set benchmarks for increasing renewable energy and energy efficiency, while decreasing petroleum use by 2030.

The House passed legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline. President Barack Obama has vowed to veto the bill.The legislation, approved 270-152 by the GOP-controlled House, authorizes TransCanada Corp. , to construct the 1,179-mile pipeline, which has been under review by the Obama administration for more than six years. The Senate, also in Republicans' hands, passed the legislation late last month.

A cap-and-trade bill proposed last month by California state Sen. Bob Wieckowski also would set aside hundreds of millions of dollars for the California Climate and Clean Energy Research Fund. The bill is headed to a Senate committee hearing, which hasn't yet been scheduled.

Lawmakers in Hawaii passed a bill Tuesday prohibiting the sale of sunscreens that are harmful to ocean ecosystems, including coral reefs. The bill now heads to Governor David Ige for his signature. If signed, Hawaii will ban these sunscreens starting Jan. 1, 2021 and become the first state in the nation to enact such a law.

Net zero energy (NZE) buildings-responsible for the production of as much (or more) clean energy as they use annually-have been gaining global momentum. In our newly released Insight Brief, RMI presents an innovative business model for developing net zero energy or ultra-low energy districts in a way that creates significant business value. Net zero energy business models are financially attractive to investors because the large capital investments in solar PV, district heating and cooling, and energy efficiency are repaid over time on utility bills, generating a steady return that benefits from enhanced credit because of the utility-customer relationship.

The Secure E-waste Export and Recycling Act recently introduced in Congress would prohibit exporting electronic waste to other countries. Although 27 states and the District of Columbia have e-waste recycling laws, there are no federal laws governing the practice.

Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey is ending more than a century where elephant acts were a defining mark of the circus. It is a smart business and political move, one that reflects a deeper change in cultural preferences. Even if animal rights activists motivated the change, in the long run it will likely attract more people more frequently to the circus, and reduce political and reputational risks to the company.

The U.S. Senate rejected by a one-vote margin a bill passed by the House to allow construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to Gulf of Mexico refineries. The measure needed 60 votes to go forward but received 59. White House advisers have suggested that President Barack Obama might eventually let the project proceed.

President Obama signed a bill on Monday that will phase out the manufacturing of face wash, toothpaste and shampoo containing plastic microbeads by July 1, 2017, and the sale of such beauty products by July 1, 2018.

Anheuser Busch, the Walt Disney Company's ABC, and Whole Foods Market are among more than 30 New York City businesses that have pledged to halve the amount of waste they send to landfills by June 2016. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio aims to reduce the city's waste output by 90% by 2030.

Thirty-one New York City businesses, including ABC Disney, Whole Foods and Anheuser-Busch, have committed to divert at least 50 percent of their waste from landfill and incineration by mid-June, as part of mayor Bill de Blasio's Zero Waste Challenge.

South Korea has been using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and a 'pay-as-you-waste' system to help cut back on food waste. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Mayor's Zero Waste Challenge as part of the city's plan to send zero waste to landfill by 2030. Thirty-one businesses, including Disney, Anheuser-Busch, Citi Field, Etsy, Whole Foods, and more, have committed to divert at least 50 percent of their waste from landfill and incineration.

The California Assembly has passed a bill that would require the state to curb its greenhouse gas emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. "With S.B. 32 we continue California's leadership on climate change," Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said.

We may suspect that low-flow toilets and showerheads and thermostats that let the room get a little chilly or stuffy while you're gone are really just ways to reduce the hotel's utility bills.We may believe it's always and forever about the bottom line. Snyder's title is vice president of corporate responsibility at IHG, whose hotel brands include Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Hotel Indigo, Kimpton and more. His unofficial title is chief sustainability officer for the company. Whatever title he may go by, he is committed to being green, noting that saving money and saving the environment do not have to be mutually exclusive.