EC Environmental Policy

Can't imagine what your city would look like with a sea-level rise? These maps show endangered coastlines and landmarks. 

MGM Resorts is making water conservation a top priority in developing its Park promenade in Las Vegas -- even though there's a relative paucity of water-conservation technologies compared with the number of energy-efficiency technologies now available, says Chief Sustainability Officer Cindy Ortega. MGM also launched a social app to raise employee awareness about water conservation.

Rocky Mountain Institute's Amory Lovins comments on the instability of oil prices and explains why efficiency and renewables are cheaper, cleaner, more reliable options. 

The USGBC recently released its 2015 Top Ten States for LEED list, naming the U.S. states that lead the nation in sustainable building design, construction, and transformation. For the third year in a row, Illinois topped the list of total square feet of LEED-certified space per resident. 

This 60-second video is intended to amp up fans for Super Bowl 50 "the Bay Area way." In promotion of the "Play Your Part" campaign, the ad encourages fans to take public transit to the big game, bring their own water bottle, conserve energy, reduce waste, and otherwise contribute to a socially- and environmentally-responsible event. The campaign is part of the San Francisco Bay Area Super Bowl 50 Host Committee's larger efforts to make this year's Super Bowl "Net Positive."

The food giant has pivoted to advocate a national policy that requires mandatory disclosure. 

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has introduced a plan to bolster energy efficiency. The plan, intended to save families and businesses about $70 billion annually, seeks to roll back energy waste by one-third within a decade. "Deploying more clean energy isn't enough -- we also need to cut energy consumption, which will save families and businesses money and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change," say informational materials on the program. The Hill (2/2)  

The total number of idle turbines in China more than doubled to 15% last year, according to the China's National Energy Administration. The report said that the country added a record-breaking 33 gigawatts of installed wind capacity last year, but its idle wind generation has climbed 69% since 2014. Observers say slowing consumption rates and more coal-fired power plants have contributed to the problem.

Spending on offshore wind energy development in Europe reached $14.45 billion last year. That was a record amount and double 2014's number. The rate is expected to decline this year but increase in the future. "Offshore wind power produces roughly one and a half times the energy of onshore wind power," said Toni Sulameri, who works for wind power production company Suomen Hyotytuuli Oy. Europe has 84 offshore wind farms.

Efforts are underway to develop plans for cleaning up the world's marine garbage patches, but the scale of the problem makes conventional cleanup technologies impractical. What's really needed is a change in attitude among the people producing the waste in the first place, writes Anja Krieger. "Redefining what kinds of plastic products we really need, and how to regulate, use and dispose of them, will be at the core of the answer," she argues.

While the focus of the NFL world this week-and thus our coverage-has been in San Francisco, with an estimated 1,000,000 people visiting Super Bowl City in the Embarcadero and Moscone Center for NFL Experience, today, finally, the whole show moves down the interstate to Santa Clara and Levi's (LEED Gold) Stadium, where the Panthers will take on the Broncos. Most of today's Green-Sports coverage is Levi's Stadium-based as well:

The interactive report, produced in partnership with Trucost, features: our ninth annual State of Green Business report, This year's report continues our tradition of taking the pulse of corporate progress in sustainability, in the United States and around the world.  * The top 10 trends for 2016 * Video interviews with key sustainability leaders * 30+ metrics assessing the environmental performance and progress of nearly 2,000 companies

France is moving forward with a "Positive Energy" initiative to add solar panels to 621 miles of road. The panels are glued onto the roadway and can handle the weight of six-axle vehicles. This stretch of road could collect enough energy for 5 million people. A Dutch company has already used solar panels on 328 feet of road in Holland.

Texas Wesleyan University has installed a co-generation system called the Combined Heat and Power Plant that can produce its own energy. Powered by natural gas, the system captures waste heat from the engine and exhaust and converts that to power. The project is projected to save the university $377,000 a year and is part of a $6.2 million energy project.

After almost two years of research and collaboration with a variety of partners, social enterprise Fairphone is pleased to announce it has successfully established the first pilot supply chain for Fairtrade-certified gold for the electronics industry. Fairphone is now the world's first Fairtrade-licensed consumer electronics manufacturer to support responsible gold mining in Peru with the production of the Fairphone 2.

A new shareowner coalition coordinated by Walden Asset Management has filed resolutions with 11 oil and gas companies, seeking to shine a light on the practice of energy companies to fund, through direct lobbying or trade association membership, efforts to derail regulatory efforts to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. 

The global paradox that a third of all food grown and produced never makes it into people's mouths - even as 800 million people suffer from hunger - finally may be getting the attention it deserves. Thirty leaders from business, government and foundations gathered in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum vowed Thursday to work to cut food waste in half in the next 15 years.

British Columbia's carbon tax has led the province to curb its emissions at a rate 3.5 times greater than that of the rest of Canada without hurting economic growth, writes Gina-Marie Cheeseman.

The Climate Trust released a list of 10 trends that could shape the carbon market in 2016. The trends were identified through interactions with large companies, utilities, governments, and others.

This UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO Study report reveals that the UN climate summit (COP21) is critical to supporting private sector investment and that executives see climate change action as an opportunity for growth and innovation. Among the world's largest companies, those with annual revenues in excess of US$1 billion, 70 percent see opportunities for growth within the next 5 years and 69 percent see investment in climate solutions as essential to competitive advantage.