Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

Greenhouse gas emissions in the US totaled 6,501,000 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2012, a 3.3 percent reduction from the previous year, according to an annual draft report by the EPA.

Costa Rica's left-wing opposition looks set to win next month's national elections, and party leaders say one of their first moves would be to cancel the country's pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2021. That goal, which is markedly more ambitious than any other country's carbon-reduction target, is no longer attainable, officials say. "We don't think it would be possible to reach carbon neutrality by 2021, because the most important tasks to reduce emissions in the country are yet to be done," said opposition environmental adviser Patricia Madrigal.

Facebook and eBay are among companies spending to make their data centers more eco-friendly and energy efficient. New software tools helped Facebook reduce energy use at one server farm by 38%, yielding cost reductions of about 24%.

HP became the first high-tech company to set specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals across its suppliers and business partners and an aggressive one at that: 20 percent by 2020, compared with 2010 levels.

Disney Cruise Line earned an A grade from the group, which examined sewage treatment, air pollution reduction and water quality compliance.

At plants in Wisconsin and Holland, SC Johnson -- maker of cleaning products such as Mr Muscle and Pledge -- is using on-site wind turbines and advanced waste-reduction strategies to reduce its footprint. The aim is to develop a network of zero-waste, 100%-renewable facilities around the world. "Every place should be a better place because we are there," says CEO Sam Johnson.

The airline expects that across the lifetime of the new trays, they will see a 45% reduction in greenhouse gasses (and associated fuel costs) compared with the old trays

A new poll from Bloomberg shows that by nearly a two-to-one margin, 62 percent to 33 percent, Americans are willing to pay more for their energy to achieve reductions in carbon pollution, and a majority who plan to vote are more likely to support candidates who endorse policies to fight climate change.

exceeded our Better Buildings, Better Plants goal within the first four years of joining - seven years ahead of schedule. We achieved a 32 percent reduction in energy intensity across 14 U.S. industrial, commercial and mixed-use sites. At our 100-year-old headquarters building in West Hartford, Conn., we were able to reduce our energy use intensity by 10 percent in just two years, leading to a $233,000 savings in 2013. And those savings will show up in every budget going forward, too.

Mountaintop-removal mining is changing water chemistry and harming fish stocks in the Appalachians, federal researchers say. "We're seeing significant reductions in the number of fish species and total abundance of fish downstream from mining operations," says biologist Nathaniel Hitt.

The world needs "immediate and substantial" reductions in carbon emissions to avoid huge and irreversible damage to the planet's oceans and fisheries, researchers say. "The oceans are closely tied to human systems, and we're putting communities at high risk," said fisheries researcher Rashid Sumaila

The Environmental Protection Agency's power plant emissions rules would save about 3,500 lives a year and have many other positive health effects, according to researchers at Syracuse and Harvard universities. The emissions reductions mandated by the rules would lead to 1,000 fewer heart attacks and other hospitalizations from air-pollution-related illness annually, the study found. 

Rio de Janeiro became the first city in the world to fully comply with the Compact of Mayors. City leaders can achieve compliance by registering a commitment, identifying their municipality's current emissions, creating GHG reduction and adaptation targets, and establishing an action plan.

Outdoor retailer REI retrofitted its Seattle data center, resulting in a 93 percent reduction in the cooling energy used

UPS has launched its route optimization software called ORION - this stands for on-road integrated optimization and navigation - which the company expects to save more than 1.5 million gallons of fuel and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 14,000 metric tons by the end of the year. A reduction of just one mile each day per driver over the course of a year saves UPS up to $50 million annually.

ClearSign Combustion says it has successfully demonstrated an 80 percent to 90 percent reduction in NOx emissions by retrofitting a conventional off-the-shelf commercial burner in a system designed to closely resemble a standard commercial firetube boiler.

Delta Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines have all banned big-game trophies from their cargo holds after the public outcry regarding the illegal killing of Cecil, a beloved lion, at the hands of a Minnesota man. Hunting advocates say their pastime is needed to fund conservation in Africa and warn that the backlash could lead to a sharp reduction in lion populations. "Through the sales of hunting licenses, equipment, tags, and so on, sportsmen contribute $2.9 billion every year for conservation," according to Olivia Nalos Opre, co-host of a hunting-themed TV show. BBC (8/4), FoxNews.com (8/4) 

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....

NRG Energy, Inc. has announced ambitious sustainability goals as part of its continued corporate growth strategy. NRG says it estimates that its new carbon-reduction goals will avoid approximately 3 billion tons of CO2 emissions by 2050.

Procter & Gamble has met its 2020 waste-reduction goals six years ahead of schedule, with just 0.4% of its raw materials now finding their way into landfills, according to the company's annual sustainability report. The company has now set new goals including an effort to double its use of recycled plastics in packaging and to ensure that 90% of the company's packaging is recyclable