Canadian forest-products giant Tembec has completed FSC certification of its 5-million-acre (2 million ha) Gordon Cosens Boreal Forest in northeastern Ontario. This forest, certified by SmartWood, is now the largest North American forest operation to carry FSC certification. By 2005, Tembec intends to certify all 32 million acres (13 million ha... Read more

The International Hotels Environment Initiative and Oceans Blue recently honored Meeting Strategies Worldwide with the first

Environmentally Responsible Meetings Award for its work on the 2002 Forest Leadership Forum. This event, showcasing ecological forest management certification programs, was held in April 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia.... Read more

A chemical used in food packaging and other plastics causes miscarriages and birth defects in laboratory mice, geneticists at Case Western Reserve University have found. Bisphenol A, used to manufacture the hard, clear plastic polycarbonate and a sealant to prevent cavities in teeth, mimics the hormone estrogen, according to the researchers,... Read more

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a list of 30 “Waste Minimization Priority Chemicals” to replace a draft list of chemicals that EPA identified in 1998 as persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic. Because of their resistance to deterioration and propensity to build up as they move through the food chain, these chemicals... Read more

Just in time for Earth Day, The American Institute of Architects announced the Top Ten Green Projects for 2003. Winning entries include residential, commercial, and educational projects. The awards program was cosponsored this year by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Building Museum, and hosted online by BuildingGreen, Inc. Full... Read more

outdoor air, while most consumer interest in these products has come from those looking to improve

indoor air... Read more

California diverted 48% of its waste stream from landfills in 2002, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board. A total of 34 million tons (31 million tonnes) of solid waste were diverted last year, a fourfold increase since 1990, when the Integrated Waste Management Act took effect in the state. This law requires every local... Read more

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has named the Energy Center of Wisconsin winner of its

2002 Continuing Education Award for Excellence. The private, nonprofit Energy Center has worked with more than one third of the state’s 1,500 architects through its continuing education programs in an effort to improve the energy... Read more

Environmentalists won an important victory on April 3, when the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted in favor of small-scale renewable-energy production. All net-metered solar and wind systems generating less than 1 MW of electricity, along with some hydrogen fuel cells, are exempt, according to CPUC’s decision, from paying a... Read more

The Bush Administration has rolled out the Integrated Sequestration and Hydrogen Research Initiative, a $1 billion partnership between government and industry to design, build, and operate a coal-fired electricity and hydrogen production plant. The 275-megawatt prototype plant, known as FutureGen, will rely on coal gasification to produce... Read more

Clearview Elementary School in Hanover,... Read more

San Mateo County Green... Read more

New U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) clean water regulations, demanding that construction sites larger than one acre (0.4 ha) obtain a

National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, became effective March 10. (The rule has applied to sites larger than 5 acres/2 ha since 1990.) The regulations were not enacted... Read more

Both the number and the severity of droughts and storms are on the rise, according to a new report by the World Water Council. These and other manifestations of global climate change have contributed to a

tenfold increase in economic losses from weather-related catastrophes over the past five decades. The 1990s saw more significant... Read more

BP Solar is directing a new marketing campaign toward California homeowners. To encourage demand for residential photovoltaic systems, BP Solar offers financing options; access to California Energy Commission rebates; a full planning, installation, and commissioning service; and an indoor display screen allowing customers to monitor energy... Read more

Ren Anderson of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory wins this month’s award for finding a hidden error in the water heating feature article in our October 2002 issue (

Vol. 11, No. 10). He astutely noted that in our text and graphic on page 9, explaining water-heating system efficiency losses, the percentages of heat loss and end-... Read more

The

Southface Energy Institute has announced that it will work with architectural consultant

Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates (TVS) in the design and construction of a new commercial addition to their Energy and Environmental Resource Center in Atlanta, Georgia. The new facility, which will include indoor and... Read more

Smithfield Foods, Inc.—America’s largest producer of hogs and leading processor and marketer of fresh pork and processed meats—plans to build a $20 million

facility to convert swine waste into biodiesel fuel as part of the BEST BioFuel partnership. The facility will convert manure into biomethanol, which can be used to produce biodiesel... Read more

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has announced its annual accolades for green power programs. Over 300 energy utilities in 32 states now sponsor green power programs, through which consumers opt to pay a premium price for electricity to support renewable energy. Relying on statistics provided by the utilities, NREL has developed... Read more

Whether or not Iraq’s mammoth oil reserves have anything to do with our war to oust Saddam Hussein, our dependence on foreign oil is indisputably bad for this country. We spend over $100 billion annually on petroleum imports, accounting for roughly 20% of our balance-of-trade deficit (2002). The entire U.S. economy shudders whenever temporary... Read more