Green Counsel

Shop Locally, Share Locally

For the past four years, the Interra Project has developed an ingenious model for people to use financial networks to support their local communities and sustainability. Recently, Interra rolled out its first project -- Boston Community Change - in partnership with Boston Main Streets.

Boston residents can get a free (at least for now) Boston Community Change card that they present to participating local merchants. Every time the card is swiped on the merchant’s credit card terminal, portions of the transaction are returned to the user as a cash rebate, donated to a local community based non-profit or school of the user’s choice, and donated to the local Main Streets organization. Merchants sign up for free, and decide how much of a rebate to grant to users.

The Boston Community Change card is not a payment card, and users can pay for their purchase with any payment form accepted by the business. Users receive monthly electronic statements detailing total rebates and donations.

As Paul Ray, author of the “The Cultural Creatives,” has said: "The Interra model is a brilliant social and financial invention that can help bring a green economy into greater practicality. This is hot stuff, and needs all our support. It functions rather like an alternative currency or an airline miles program, to help encourage mutual loyalty among green/socially responsible consumers. In particular, it does a better job of incentivizing a mutual loyalty of businesses and customers who share the same values."

Interra has identified more than 100 cities for possible roll-out over the next 3-5 years.

Solar Panels Should Be Exempt from Property Tax Assessments

A Trenton Times editorial today discusses NJ homeowners who placed solar panels on their home only to find that the Town Tax Assessor slapped them with a $12,000 increase on the value of their home, leading to a $400 increase in property taxes.

At one time, New Jersey exempted solar panels from property taxes, but the exemption was not renewed in 1988. The Times argues that the exemption should be reenacted and that the tax assessment undermines the state's tax credits that are designed to create an incentive for solar. "Given what we now know about mankind's role in global warming," says the Times, "there shouldn't be disincentives to going green."

Christian Science Monitor Story on Climate Change Litigation

Story today in Christian Science Monitor provides nice list of recent climate change litigation.

The list includes a law suit commenced this month under the Endangered Species Act by Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Environment claiming that the US Fish and Wildlife Service failed to consider global warming when drafting rules for oil and gas exploration in Alaska's Beaufort Sea. The suit cites studies showing that shrinking Arctic ice disrupts polar bear and walrus populations, that some bears are drowning because of melting ice shelves, and claims that these deaths are a taking under the Endangered Species Act.

Polar bears can suffer harm from activities such as drilling, seismic work and transportation which disturb feeding, cause abandonment of maternity dens and generally disrupt polar bear life cycles. According to the lawsuit, the US Fish and Wildlife Service didn't assess these impacts in the context of a warming Arctic, and failed to demand that appropriate protective measures be taken by those engaged in exploration.

For more information on this litigation, see the Earthjustice site.

Spitzer Proposes Climage Change Office

Excellent news from Albany. New York Governor Spitzer's first budget includes a proposal to hire 12 climate experts as part of the Department of Environmental Conservation -- two economists, one climatologist and nine environmental program specialists. If approved by the legislature, New York would follow California to become only the second state to have a state-wide climate office. The employees would initially focus on implementing and expanding the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a seven-state initiative to reduce carbon-dioxide releases from power plants and other sources by 2009.

Australia to Ban Incandescent Bulbs

The BBC reported today that Australia would become the first country to ban incandescent bulbs with a complete phase out by 2010.

Since compact flourescents use only 20% of the electricity of traditional bulbs, the move could cut the Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 4 million tons by 2012. According to Australia's environmental minister, if the whole world switched to compact flourescent bulbs today, we could reduce worldwide consumption of electricity by an amount equal to five times Australia's annual consumption.

There sure is elegance in mandatory actions.

A Computer for the Planet

If computers are going to help solve the sustainability crises, then they must stop being part of the problem. A study last week, for example, indicated that computer servers alone use about 1.2% of the country's electricity -- more electricity used than in the entire state of Mississippi and 19 other states.

A small Boston company, Tech Networks of Boston, is doing something about it. Last year, Tech Networks released it’s Earth-PC and Earth-Serve machines that use at least 25 percent less power than standard computers, and can save between $20-$45 in electricity costs per year. For a business, school district or organization with many computers, annual savings can easily be in the thousands.

A standard desktop computer, excluding the monitor, uses electricity roughly equivalent to a 100 watt light bulb. However, substantial waste occurs when the AC power from your outlet is converted to the DC power required for a computer. Inexpensive power supplies in most computers not only waste up to 40% of input electricity, but they also generate heat that requires additional energy for cooling. The Earth-PC uses an 80 Plus Certified power supply, guaranteed be at least 80% efficient, wasting not more than 20%.

Inefficiencies in servers are even greater, and Tech Network’s Earth Server can save $1,500 over a five-year period (see comparison here).

Tech Network not only provides a good product, but it’s a good corporate citizen. It gives discounts to non-profits and donated over $12,000 to charities in 2005. Tech Networks is also a co-founder in January 2006 of the Business Summit for a Sustainable Boston -- a network of business leaders and city officials actively working to make Boston a more livable, environmentally-friendly city.

Do Carbon Emissions Have Significant Environmental Impacts?

What kind of question is that? Isn't the public finally convinced that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are causing global warming and coal is one of the biggest culprits? Unfortunately, the legal system has still not resolved this issue -- proving Dickens' point that the "law's an ass," and a particularly stubborn one at that.

One of our most venerable environmental statutes, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), requires that the federal government assess and publicly disclose the environmental impact of its actions. If the impact might be significant, the government must investigate, respond to public comments and compare alternatives. Many states, and other countries, have similar laws.

U.S courts have been mixed on whether, and to what extent, greenhouse gas emissions must be considered in the assessment. (For some cases involving the question of whether NEPA applies to greenhouse gas emissions, see "Global Warming and the Courts" (PDF)(p. 11-14)). A court in Austrialia, however, recently ruled that the impact that large projects have on global warming -- such as the coal mine planned for Anvil Hill (viewed above) -- must be considered.

The decision involved the Anvil Hill open-cut coal mine -- the last significant area of bush land on the floor of the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, home many endangered species, including the koala and 14 varieties of birds. If approved, Anvil Hill will be another huge mine in Australia, already the world's largest coal exporter. (Like the U.S., Australia has failed to join Kyoto.)

A group of citizens challenged the mine, arguing that government had to consider both the direct consequences of the mining, as well as the "downstream" impacts -- particularly the burning of the coal, even though much of it would be burned overseas.

Although the judge refused to interfere with the approval process for the mine, she ruled that the downstream impacts must be considered. The decision may not stop the Anvil mine itself, but climate activists believe it will have significant consequence on future developments.

As Nikki Williams, Chief Executive of the New South Wales Minerals Council, stated, New South Wales has "300 thousand business owners and each one of those is going to be dramatically affected potentially, if this decision is taken to its logical conclusions because all of our activities, all of our business, produce greenhouse gases. So where do you draw the line? Is it just coal exports or are we going right down the chain to the building of your suburban home?"

We can only hope.

For more information, go to Anvil Hill Alliance, hear the Living On Earth podcast or watch the following video:

The Machine is Us/ing Us

One of reasons why I'm optimistic:

Energy: The Greatest Challenge to the Human Condition in the 21st Century

Science Magazine devotes its entire February 9 issue (fee for download) to "Science and Technology for Sustainable Well-Being." The issue examines the need to move toward new sustainable sources of energy in the face of human-induced climate change, increasing worldwide energy demand, and dwindling supplies of fossil fuels. According to John P. Holdren, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the magazine's publisher, "[n]othing is more important to the human condition in the 21st century than rising to this set of challenges."

The website also features a free podcast on the issue.

Hybrid Vehicles Can Use HOV Lanes in Arizona

Arizona just announced that hybrid vehicles including Honda Insight, Honda Civic Hybrid and Toyota Prius will be permitted to use 73 miles of high-occupancy vehicle lanes if their owners get new plates and special permits from the AZ Motor Vehicle Division.

According to Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, "We're using a variety of strategies to begin to clear the air in Arizona. Drivers who make the commitment to clean air and energy efficiency will get an easier commute. That seems like a good trade to me."

The plan will also ban some alternative-fuel vehicles such as SUV's and pick-ups that can now use the special lanes.