Green Counsel

Help Push GreenMap to Top 10 in Parade Mag Contest

I just received this email from Wendy Brawer -- one of my favorite people who runs one of the most exciting local green non-profits, Greenmap, that promotes the environment and sustainability in communities all over the world. I strongly encourage you to check them out, then click on the link, and give $10 or more.

"Uh-oh - this is totally tacky!

Please forgive me, but I am resending this request because this is a really good way to extend the concept of community sustainability to new audiences, especially in Parade magazine's not-so-green middle America.

Here's a chance to give to one

Green Map System - the nonprofit I direct - now supports locally-led Green Map projects in 445 communities in 50 countries. Green Maps connect everyone with local green living, nature, social and cultural resources, guiding people to better choices for shopping, dining, getting around, working, etc, and a more sustainable, climate- and biodiversity-protecting future for all, as seen at GreenMap.org. You may have used our own NYC Green Apple Maps - 350,000 free copies are in use - or some of the other 330 wonderful published Green Maps on your travels around the world.

Right now, our movement is in the Top 11 for America's Giving Challenge - we compete by getting the most people to donate $10 online by 3pm (EST) on January 31. There's all kinds of prizes (including a special one for the most donations in the last 72 hours, which is now!) and the winners will get big press in several national newspapers & magazines, including Parade (co-sponsors with Case Foundation, Global Giving & Newtork for Good). We'd really like to see that coverage highlight sustainability & local leadership in all communities, something no other contestant near the top offers.

You can make a great investment in our common future (and in the open interactive Global Green Map we're building with this income) by donating $10 today online at this specific webpage:

http://tinyurl.com/2j9eym

or by clicking the big Give Now at GreenMap.org

Donate $10 today. Each $10 must be unique, given by a different person & credit card to count.

All donors will receive an invitation to our party in Spring, and your donation is even tax-deductible.

Please forward this message and ask your family, friends and co-workers to donate, too, and help put more green on the map!

thank you so much from Wendy and everyone at Green Map System

"

3 Major Energy Trade Associations Groups Now Support Carbon Reductions

In a major shift in policy, three major energy lobbying groups -- the Edison Electric Institute, the American Gas Association, and the Electric Power Supply Association -- have reversed their position and now support compulsory controls on their carbon emissions. Members of the largest group, the Edison Institute, are responsible for 60 percent of the nation's electricity.

The good news is that this is a sure sign that there will soon be global warming legislation passed by Congress. The bad news is that there will be enormous pressure for a watered down bill that will preempt more meaningful state action.

An article in the Wall Street Journal indicates that the groups' shift in policy was a pragmatic decision to ensure they have places at the table when inevitable national policy on climate change is developed. The American Gas Association, which was publicly against any federal climate change legislation and that represents 200 utilities that distribute natural gas, reportedly "reversed itself because of growing signs that Congress could pass mandatory controls."

Let's see -- if I was one of Dick Cheney's duck hunting buddies would I want a law that I could control now, or take a chance with a unknown Democrat or Republican like John McCain?

TXU to Replace Coal with Wind and Energy Efficiency

Fred Krupp from Environmental Defense was interviewed on NPR on the TXU deal. As part of the deal, TXU's prospective purchasers agreed to reduce the number new coal plant applications from eleven to three, and to reduce their C02 emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

When asked how purchasers would meet the increased energy demand that the new coal plants were supposed to meet, Krupp said that they would go a long way toward meeting this demand by doubling its investment in wind power and doubling its investment in energy efficiency. Krupp said this "is becoming a new model, where utilities are understanding that they can make money by helping customers save energy."

An Inconvenient Tax

It's basic economics that the price of goods and services should reflect (or “internalize”) all the societal costs of those goods and services. Yet the price of many products -- including electricity, gasoline and other fossil fuels -- frequently does not include all costs, particularly those related to global warming. This is not suprising given that most of us had no idea that there was any external “cost” to greenhouse gas emissions until the late 80's.

One proposal often floated to “internalize” the costs of greenhouse gases is a carbon tax, but because of American’s great aversion to taxes, the proposal is usually discarded even before it is considered. Now comes the Carbon Tax Center -- a much needed forum for discussion about carbon taxes.

In addition to providing reports and information about a carbon tax, the Center will “provide intellectual and practical support, as well as a sense of community, to help carbon tax proponents . . . across the political spectrum coalesce into an irresistible civic force."

The Center is founded by Dan Rosenblum and Charles Komanoff, who bring a combined six decades of experience in economics, law, public policy and social change. It includes a blog, a monthly newsletter (titled "An Inconvenient Tax"), and compares a carbon tax with cap-and-trade solutions. They also provide an excellent slideshow concerning the carbon tax:

Toolkit to Fight Big Boxes

No -- it's not a new children's toy, but rather a whole arsenal keep large box retail stores out of your community. The Institute for Local Self Reliance has just launched a valuable new website, www.bigboxtoolkit.com, designed for people who want to stop big-box proposals -- whether because of their adverse effect on local economic development and small businesses, traffic congestion, environmental issues, community impacts, or low-paying jobs.

The site explains how to navigate local land use policies, how to organize a citizen-based campaign, and how to enact local policies that put citizens in control of community development. It even includes a model store size cap ordinance, and an interactive map showing communities that are fighting big box stores.

The website notes that more than 200 big boxes have been blocked since 2001 through the local land use laws -- many of them through the help of the Institute for Local Self Reliance.

Sicking the IRS on Greenpeace

Anyone who's taken on corporate interests in an environmental battle knows that the corporate arsenal includes litigation, advertising, public relations, "non-profit" front groups, disinformation and lobbying, among other strategies.  ExxonMobil combined tactics, with a front-group/lobbying one-two punch, in an effort to challenge Greenpeace's tax exempt status.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a non-profit "watchdog" group known as Public Interest Watch (PIW) successfully lobbied for an IRS tax audit of Greenpeace.  PIW's tax filing from August 2003 to July 2004 states that $120k of $124k of income came from ExxonMobil and, according to Greenpeace, the IRS acknowledged that their investigation arose from PIW's complaint.  Greenpeace was notified in March that it retained its tax exempt status, but the three month audit procedure surely cut into Greenpeace's other work.

Source: http://www.prwatch.org/node/4619