EC Environmental Policy

North American Electric Reliability Corp. reported that California's power generation from wind and solar energy sources will reach 18,700 megawatts by 2020. The state targets 33% renewable energy generation within the next seven years. NERC added that the state needs to keep gas-fired power facilities to fill the gap in energy availability.

New innovations from the tech giants will allow businesses to make their cloud computing more environmentally sound.

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), which counts more than 100 major companies among its members (including clothing brands such as Adidas and Hanes, as well as retail giants such as Target, H&M, and JCPenney), is working to create stronger standards for sustainable products

Palm oil shipments from Indonesia, the world's largest producer, climbed to the highest level in eight months in October as a decline in supplies of substitute oils in India and China spurred demand from the biggest buyers.

Looks like Fox News and Congress are becoming ever more intellectually isolated from the American people, perched together on a sinking island of climate denialism.

China may lead the renewable energy race and is projected to add more renewable energy facilities than the combined efforts from the U.S., EU and Japan through 2035, according to a report from the International Energy Agency. The report also projected that the share of hydropower, biomass, wind and solar energy in the world's supply will surpass 30% in two decades. Advances in solar and wind power technology will help increase output in these sectors by 45%.

Some amateur ranchers use free-ranging cattle as part of land management, and they are finding they can make money by selling grass-fed beef. TomKat Ranch aims to emulate the migratory patterns followed by wild herd animals, allowing land time to recover between grazings. "Ranches can be working landscapes if people understand how animals and land work together," says Wendy Millet, a ranch director who once worked at the Nature Conservancy.

IKEA soon will become the first major retail chain to offer electric-car charge points at all of its U.K. stores.

South Africa, where gas and oil company, Sasol, has partnered with GE Power & Water to develop a new system for providing a high level of treatment for industrial wastewater that also recovers biogas for power generation. The new system, called Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Technology (AnMBR), is transferrable to other industries

Look for Portland State University students climbing on the Walmart roof, the green roof, that is. Under a two-year research partnership between the Oregon school and the retail giant, PSU is building a green roof research site on Walmart's new North Portland store.

Patagonia will use 100 percent traceable down across its entire collection of down-insulated products starting in the Fall 2014 season, the outdoor apparel company says.

Many facilities are now implementing a number of programs to help reduce the amount of energy, water, fuel, and other resources that they use. If structural, mechanical, or similar changes must be made to decrease consumption, managers often turn to outside engineers and contractors to help with implementation.

H&M has negotiated agreements this year that make the Sweden-based fast-fashion retailer the sole customer of two factories in Bangladesh and a third in Cambodia, a move designed to give the retailer more control over working conditions and wages for the people who make its clothes. "We see these a little like test centers where we can try out different things that we can then push out on a larger scale in the entire supply chain," said social sustainability manager Anna Gedda

Unilever has pledged that by the end of 2014, all of the palm oil the company buys globally will be traceable to known sources.

Siemens Water Technologies magnetite ballasted CoMag System, which is already helping municipalities to increase water and wastewater treatment plant clarification performance in confined footprints, is now available for industrial water and wastewater treatment applications.

Levi Strauss & Co. has debuted a process for responsible sourcing that the company says combines sustainable design, environmental practices and apparel worker well-being.

The bond, launched by World Bank-backed International Finance Corporation, will fund climate smart projects.

The automaker uses climate science predictions to project production levels that will help meet its fuel efficiency targets.

The new Levi's Dockers Wellthread process creates a pattern for sustainability in clothing production