Wachovia goes beyond holding your green

According to an article in GreenerBuildings, Wachovia plans to build at least 300 LEED-certified green financial centers by the year 2010. It will begin opening its new California offices in 2007, and by the end of 2008 every new Wachovia financial center opened throughout the U.S. will be built to LEED specifications.

Doesn’t sound like something a banker would do? Consider this:

“Wachovia expects to save up to $80,000 in construction costs for each of the new financial centers over a traditionally constructed branch, in addition to a reduction in operating costs of about 20 percent in the first year. “

Save money and reap the PR benefits of ‘going green’? Even in the slow-to-change world of banking, this could launch a trend.

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Top court’s dredge/wetlands decision clarified

Last year, the Supreme Court issued its so-called “Rapanos” decision on the scope of federal jurisdiction, under the Clean Water Act’s section 404 program, for discharges of dredged and fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands.

The split decision left a good deal of uncertainty in its wake among environmental attorneys and others. Now, a year later, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have jointly issued a long-awaited legal memorandum interpreting the top court’s split decision.

K&L/Gates environmental attorneys Craig P. Wilson and Christopher R. Nestor examined the guidance document and break it all down for their clients (and you) in a recently released Environmental, Land Use and Natural Resources Alert

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States should press ahead on emissions

Yesterday, we asked: “Should states control the tailpipe?”

Today, New Jersey’s largest newspaper, The Star-Ledger, carried an editorial noting President Bush’s “recalcitrance” on binding standards to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The editorial concluded:

It is imperative for New Jersey and other states to forge ahead. California already has passed tough greenhouse gas emissions targets, and New Jersey should follow suit by adopting bills now being considered in the Legislature that would set firm pollution limits, including cutting warming emissions in the state to 1990 levels or below over the next 13 years. As states act alone, industry will pressure Washington to come around because business would prefer a national system over a confusing patchwork of local laws.

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Should states control the tailpipe?

The federal government has traditionally set vehicle emissions limits through EPA rules. But 10 states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, want to follow California’s lead and impose tighter state standards on CO2 and other greenhouse gases emitted from autos and other light-weight trucks.

California can’t impose its tougher standards, however, until it receives a “waiver” from the EPA. It’s been working for two years to get that green light but some members of Congress–Democrats of all people–are considering legislation to slam on the brakes.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a Democrat, didn’t miss his opportunity to use the issue to take a swipe at the Bush EPA. In a news release issued Friday, he says:

“When the federal government fails to protect the environment and the health of our citizens, as it has done when it comes to limiting greenhouse gas emissions, then the states must be allowed act.”

New Jersey State Senator Tom Kean Jr., a Republican, agrees with Rendell on the waiver issue but employs a different spin in his own news release

“The legislation being considered by top House Democrats represents a shocking reversal of their position on this issue given the torrent of criticism they have leveled against the Environmental Protection Agency.”

Isn’t it great when opposing parties come together on an important issue?

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As Bush fiddles, states take action on warming

The states aren’t waiting around for President Bush to take action on greenhouse gas reductions. While the President was preaching a vague “goal-setting” solution at the G8 summit this week, numerous states, including New Jersey, were moving ahead on legislation that would require specific reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

On Wednesday, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed into law a requirement that 25 percent of power delivered by the state’s biggest utilities be made from renewable sources by 2025. Sources that will count toward the target include wind, solar, wave, geothermal, biomass, new hydro projects or efficiency upgrades to existing hydro projects.
Next Thursday, the NJ Assembly’s Telecommunications and Utilities Committee will consider A-3301 which would limit emissions of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020 (roughly a 20 percent cut from current levels).

Meanwhile, coal industry lobbyists are pushing hard on Capitol Hill for legislation to provide federal support for liquid coal research, development and subsidies. They say the technology would offer the nation an energy alternative to Middle East petroleum. Critics, however, argue that the technology is unproven and financially risky. They point to an MIT study estimating it would cost $70 billion to replace just 10 percent of current gasoline use.
Moreover, a recent NY Times story, Lawmakers Push for Big Subsidies for Coal Process used the graph (below) to illustrate how liquid coal, as a fuel source, would increase greenhouse gases emissions substantially more than other fuel alternatives.

Care to add your two-cent’s worth? You can by clicking on the “comments” link below. We prefer that you use your real name and organization, but you also can create a label that offers you the protection of anonymity, i.e. “Bayonne Bob or “Punxsutawney Phil.”

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