Tons, it turns out. The United States is the world’s second-largest emitter of global warming pollution, currently pumping approximately 7 billion tons of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere every year. Yet, if Americans adopted a series of simple and inexpensive emissions-reducing measures, the U.S. could avoid 1 billion tons of emissions annually and save money. The biggest opportunity for reducing emissions is by addressing household energy, followed by transportation, diet, food waste, recycling and responsible consumption.

The proposed increases would ensure that the Department of Water and Power meets the goal of securing 20% of its energy from renewable sources by Dec. 31.

The increased revenue would help pay for new environmental initiatives, including more aggressive conservation programs and a solar initiative designed to create 16,000 jobs.

The rate hike would address the Department of Water and Power’s failure to collect enough money to cover the cost of existing renewable energy initiatives and the fluctuating price of coal and natural gas.

All allowances would be auctioned with 75% of the proceeds rebated to consumers through a per-capita dividend.  AARP said the bill offers a pro-consumer approach for addressing climate change on an economy-wide basis.

the AARP’s primary interest in supporting the legislation is protecting consumers from having to pay an excessive share of the cost of any approach Congress determines will best limit carbon emissions.

The savings to the company on power cost alone is expected to top $1.2 million annually when the system is fully implemented. By reducing PC power consumption, Ford also stands to reduce its carbon footprint by an estimated 16,000 to 25,000 metric tons annually.

“In the past, as many as 60 percent of Ford’s PC users haven’t shut their PCs off at the end of the business day.

In the U.S. alone, over $2.8 billion of PC power is being wasted every year, by employees who do not power down at the end of the working day.

The three source categories that would be newly subject to the reporting rule include emissions from oil and gas facilities; geologic sequestration sites; and fluorinated Greenhouse Gas.  OMB’s completion of its review suggests that the proposed rule will be released shortly.

OMB has also begun its review of the final version of EPA’s first-ever tailpipe Greenhouse Gas standards for passenger cars and light duty trucks. These standards would fulfill an agreement negotiated last spring between the Obama Administration, the major automakers, and the State of California. 

The automotive manufacturers warned that the resolution would interfere with EPA’s plans to issue tailpipe Greenhouse Gas standards for passenger vehicles, which would in turn prompt California and other states to use their own authority to set Greenhouse Gas standards at the state level.  Last May, California agreed not to enforce its own tailpipe Greenhouse Gas standards in exchange for a promise by the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to promulgate new and more stringent Greenhouse Gas and fuel economy standards. 

The United Auto Workers (UAW) sounded a similar note in its letter, calling the Murkowski resolution a “misguided effort” that would “unravel the historic agreement on one national standard for fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions for light duty vehicles that was negotiated by the Obama administration last year.” 

The fuel regulation requires that all ocean-going vessels within 24 nautical miles of the California coastline use a cleaner-burning diesel fuel rather than heavy-fuel oil.

The board estimated that complying with the regulation would typically add $30,000 to a California port visit. It is believed this added cost – as well as concerns that the cleaner fuel may increase wear and tear on ship engines – is behind the change in route.

Just after the regulations went into effect last July, ships that normally would have approached the harbor along the coast, inside the Santa Barbara Channel began traveling south of the Channel Islands.

The alternative route allows the ships to log fewer miles within the 24-mile zone where the more expensive fuel is required.

This was of minor consequence when just 7 percent of the traffic entering the harbor chose this route, Mr. McKenna said. But now, with up to 50 percent of the ships doing so, the risk of collision is far greater.

The 2009 decline will likely be even steeper. The federal Energy Information Administration reported this month that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels fell more than 6% from 2008 to 2009.

Still, annual U.S. emissions remain 14% higher than they were in 1990. The E.P.A analysis suggests emissions growth will slow in the future as low-emissions energy sources such as wind and solar power continue to grow and share the national electric mix.

The crisis was triggered after the emergence of a number of CERs that were controversially “recycled” by the Hungarian government and sold on to a trading firm last week were discovered on an exchange in France.

The Hungarian government sold two million CER offset credits to an undisclosed energy trading firm, despite the fact they had already been surrendered to the government by Hungarian companies as part of their obligations under the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS).

However, a handful of credits quickly found their way back on to European exchanges, torpedoing confidence in CERs among carbon traders and resulting in a collapse in the price of CERs.

The International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) warned only last week that the Hungarian government’s “recycling” of CERs could dangerously undermine confidence in the market. It also advised that any government that recycles credits should attach a letter of “due diligence” confirming they have been recycled and cannot be surrendered in the EU.

They will spend $565 million to replace more than 15,000 fleet vehicles with more fuel-efficient models through 2018. This represents the largest initiative to CNG to date by a U.S. company. They are expected to save 49 million gallons of gasoline over the 10-year period and reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons. It’s estimated to create or save on average approximately 1,000 jobs per year over the first five years of the initiative.

Source: PR News Wire

Google.org has funded technology start-ups in solar, enhanced geothermal, and wind. It also developed PowerMeter, a Web-based home electricity monitoring application offered primarily through utilities.

According to reports, Google could get involved in financing large-scale renewable energy projects.

Many countries are leading the way for consumer labeling, but each country’s program differs in scope of products, how the footprint is measured, and overall program goals.

Here’s a breakdown in what each country is doing:

Taiwan: will at first apply to PET-bottled beverages, candles, CDs and cookies.

UK: Supermarket food labels will reflect: carbon footprint, country of origin, and animal welfare standards.

Sweden: labels show carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of foods.

Japan: about 30 companies said they would voluntarily start carrying carbon footprint labels on food packaging and other products beginning in April 2009.

The question is, will these programs simplify or complicate consumer acceptance and understanding of the products’ carbon footprint?