“UK Bans U.S. Cotton Ads Over Green Claims”
The Guardian reports that the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned a Cotton USA campaign that ends with the tag line “soft, sensual, and sustainable“.
Skeptical consumers — three complainants, apparently— argued that cotton is a “pesticide- and energy-intensive crop” that “depletes groundwater supplies”.
Responding to the decision, Cotton Council International — the export promotion arm of the National Cotton Council of America — contends that (1.) there is no universally accepted definition of the term sustainability and (2.) that modern U.S. cotton production meets the basic principles of sustainability defined by the U.N.:
Those principles are: economic viability, protection for the environment and social responsibility that together lead to improved quality of life for ourselves and also for future generations. (15 kb .pdf)
Shareholder resolutions requiring climate policies by leadership of publicly held companies have nearly doubled in the past two years. Story
“Many U.S. companies are confronting the risks and opportunities from climate change, but others are not responding adequately – and they may be compromising their long-term competitiveness as a result. Investors want all companies to understand the business impacts of climate change - and plan for it accordingly.” — ” Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres.
* All Zambonis are ice-resurfacers, except for The Zambonis , the all-hockey rock band. Not all ice-resurfacers are Zambonis.
This story concerns ice-resurfacers that enter sporting arenas filled with people three or four times per hockey match. While pale in comparison to the blood carboxyhemoglobin madness of Monster Truck Nights, Zamboni’s typically burn propane to get around the rinks. Burning propane emits carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides. Depending on how well particular arenas exchange air, how great can that be for players and fans and vendors?
The Zamboni Model 552 is electric powered.
The first-ever hydrogen fuel-cell powered ice-resurfacer, the ep-ICEBEAR, was developed by the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center’s National Center for Hydrogen Technology .
Perhaps a day of reckoning is dawning for the carbon offset industry. No wonder:
“It’s like the Wild West out there,” comments Anja Kollmuss, a member of the Climate Initiative team at Tufts University, which has studied the difference between the regulated and unregulated carbon markets.(Story from TheNation)
Jeff Reamer, assistant vice president for renewable energy at GE Energy Financial Services: “…Just about anyone can hang out a shingle and say I’m selling a ton of carbon.”
Derek Broekhoff, a senior associate at the World Resources Institute: “The vast majority of providers have a long way to go before they are up to speed and maintaining consistent levels of quality.”
(Story from GreenBiz)
“The police, the fraud squad and trading standards need to be looking at this,” Francis Sullivan, an environment adviser to (HSBC). (from UK Guardian)
And just last week Business Week says “Caveat Emptor”
In response:
- US Federal Trade Commission to begin hearings on “green advertising” and carbon offset and carbon credits, especially, in January of 08 according to the Washington Post.
- The Climate Trust, California Climate Action Registry, Environmental Resources Trust, Greenhouse Gas Experts Network, Pew Center on Global Climate Change and The Climate Group have created the Offset Quality Initiative.(Story form ClimateBiz)
- A new global carbon offset standard has been launched today at the London Stock Exchange boosting business, consumer and government confidence in the voluntary carbon market. The Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS) provides a new and much needed quality assurance for certification of credible voluntary offsets.(Story from The World Business Council on Sustainable Development)
Carbon offsets, in addition to being unregulated, are complicated, with terms like “additionalility” and “RECs” and “forward purchasing/forward crediting” tough for folks to get when “most consumers can’t tell the difference between energy conservation and energy efficiency” according to a recent survey from EcoAlign (Props to Joel Makower at GreenBuzz).
We all have a lot of work to do.
“This is another way for the Nets to beat the Knicks this year.”
The New Jersey Nets have announced six “green” nights to publicize their environmental efforts and show fans what they can do, exploring themes such as energy efficiency, waste reduction and water use.
“Every day you read in the paper about global warming and environmental problems,” said Nets spokesman Barry Baum. “We just felt that we had a responsibility as a franchise to take action as soon as possible.”
Story from NorthJersey.com