With climate policy paralyzed in Washington, a number of leading U.S.
corporations are going it alone, squeezing big reductions of
climate-changing emissions from their operations and supply chains, reports InsideClimate News.

And that’s not all.

“With stakeholder criticism and other pressures building, more and more
are also releasing rigorous climate data in their financial reports and
enlisting third-party firms to make sure it is accurate, clean economy reporter Maria Gallucci writes.

Why would a corporation implement pro-environment measures when it knows Congress will protect those who don’t?   

“We do it because it makes good business sense—whether it’s top of
the fold [politically] or not,” said Wayne Balta, vice president of
corporate environmental affairs and product safety at IBM.
The world’s biggest computer services provider is on track to slash
its electricity use by 20 percent by the end of this year from 2008
levels. It will also cut its energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by
16 percent from 2005 levels—four percent above its original goal.
Earlier this year, the firm won one of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s first-ever Climate Leadership Awards.

Balta said that key to those reductions were efficiency upgrades in
more than 360 buildings and data centers, which were achieved with the
help of 40 full-time energy management professionals. He would not say
how much the climate initiatives cost.

See who else is cutting pollution–and the role that climate change is playing on corporate thinking at: Major Corporations Quietly Reducing Emissions—and Saving Money 


Recent posts:
DEP chief answers critics of NJ’s Barnegat Bay strategy
Saving NJ baby turtles from an unpleasant awakening
NJ preserving 544 acres in Barnegat Bay watershed
Are Barnegat Bay fixes ignoring an overriding problem?
PADEP: You take our numbers, you take your chances 
Breaking News: Federal court strikes EPA smog rule 
 

***********************************************************************************************************
For  thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
*********************************************************************************************************** 

Frank Jacobs III photo -The (Trenton) Times

The Administration of Gov.Chris Christie is taking a science-based approach to restoring Barnegat Bay–a strategy that will produce benefits lasting well beyond the governor’s term
in office, writes NJDEP Commissioner Bob Martin in an op-ed in today’s Trenton Times.

“The governor laid out a clear course of action to reverse decades of ecological decline — a decline that began long before he was elected but that he is committed to ameliorating.We have taken the governor’s directive very seriously at the DEP,” Martin writes.

“Teams of DEP scientists and staff, in collaboration with universities and colleges, educators, scientists and Barnegat Bay area students and residents, local and county officials, legislators, environmentalists and business interests, are working hard on all facets of the governor’s 10-point Comprehensive Barnegat Bay Restoration Plan.

***********************************************************************************************************
For  thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
*********************************************************************************************************** 

Martin details actions already taken–and in progress–in his response to environmental critics who are pressing for more immediate steps, including the imposition of maximum pollutant runoff standards and perhaps even a building moratorium in the bay’s watershed.


Finding such criticisms “a bit hysterical,” Martin argues: “Taking the next steps aimlessly, minus key science, will not benefit the bay.”


Check out the commissioner’s Apologia Pro Barnegat Sua and then let us know what you think in the comment box below. If one is not visible, activate it by clicking on the tiny ‘comments’ link.

Related Barnegat Bay posts:
NJ preserving 544 acres in Barnegat Bay watershed  
Are Barnegat Bay fixes ignoring an overriding problem?  
NJ’s largest paper wants more action on Barnegat Bay  
Rutgers prof warns: Action needed to save Barnegat Bay

Other recent posts:
PADEP: You take our numbers, you take your chances 
Breaking News: Federal court strikes EPA smog rule 
CBS says NY will approve fracking after Labor Day  

This from the Facebook page of The Wetlands Institute:

In two recent trips to East Point Lighthouse (at the mouth of the Maurice River, where it empties into Delaware Bay), staff and volunteers from the Wetlands Institute and US Army Corps Engineers rescued 324 terrapin hatchlings from a beach front road stabilization project site. With construction set to begin in mid-September, we rescued hatchlings from what would have been an unpleasant awakening. Diamondback terrapin hatchlings remain in underground nest chambers until they emerge in the fall or spring. We carefully used rakes, shovels, hoes, and our hands to excavate the 300-foot section of Delaware Bay beach and delicately remove the fragile hatchlings from their nest chambers. All hatchlings were released in a nearby salt marsh.  

— EastPoint Light hatchling rescue (8 photos) 

A few of our recent posts: 
NJ preserving 544 acres in Barnegat Bay watershed 
Are Barnegat Bay fixes ignoring an overriding problem? 
PADEP: You take our numbers, you take your chances 
Breaking News: Federal court strikes EPA smog rule 
CBS says NY will approve fracking after Labor Day 



***********************************************************************************************************
For  thorough coverage of environmental news, issues, legislation and regulation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, try a FREE subscription to EnviroPolitics, our daily newsletter that also tracks environment/energy bills–from introduction to enactment
*********************************************************************************************************** 

In Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection is the public source for information on how much natural gas is being extracted from the Marcellus Shale. Their biannual reports are eagerly anticipated by market investors and drilling companies.

Which is why the agency’s latest report has created somewhat of an uproar. 


It turns out that the state failed to include any production numbers from Chesapeake Energy, a large producer.

Worse, the DEP report failed to note the absence.


 “This is totally unprofessional. Fadel Gheit, an oil and gas analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. in New York City, told the Associated Press.