A Dispatch by SSC Intern Kang Chang

India is not under any obligation to cut emissions, but is making a move the U.S. is only begrudgingly starting to move towards.  Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said the country would seek to make “green accounting” part of governmental policy.  He goes on to say, “I think certainly by 2015 or thereabouts India should be in a position to provide alternative GDP estimate which account for the consumption of natural resources as well”. 

A Dispatch by SSC Intern Matt Logan

As a partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, & Byers (KPCB), former Vice President Al Gore helps make decisions about which prospective firms will receive funding to expand their business operations.  Gore believed that he saw a winner last year when approached by smart grid technology firm Silver Spring Networks, and as a result KPCB invested $75 million in the company.

Last week, the Department of Energy announced $3.4 billion in smart grid grants, $560 million of which went to utilities with which Silver Spring has contracts.  As a result, critics such as Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn have accused Gore of profiteering by urging government policies and investments that would benefit companies that he has a stake in. 

Want to add to your sustainability knowledge in 2010?  Eager to get cutting-edge insight from leading sustainability professionals?  Keen to network with others in the profession?  Then check out the International Society of Sustainability Professionals, and take a gander at their amazing roster of online training opportunities in 2010:

Dispatch from SSC Intern Nick Foster

Amongst the current political debate in the Senate over how to tackle climate change, a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press indicates that pervious perceptions about global warming are beginning to change within the American population.   

The study shows that 57% of those surveyed believe that there is solid evidence demonstrating that the earth is warming, a 14% decrease compared to the same study conducted in April of 2008.  The belief in climate change due to anthropogenic activities has also declined to 36%, down 11% from last year’s study.   
]]> 2009-11-16T20:29:14Z Blog http://www.sustainabilityconsulting.com/blog/2009/11/16/analysis-business-schools-focusing-on-corporate-social-respo.html Dispatch from SSC intern Matt Logan 

The global downturn has meant relatively hard times for business school graduates.  According to the MBA Career Services Council, half of the top 94 MBA programs in the United States, Canada, and Europe experienced a recruiting decrease of greater than 10 percent in the 2008-2009 school year. 

Dispatch by SSC Intern Lila Holzman

Sweden has long proven to be a world leader on climate change initiatives and plans to eliminate the use of fossil fuel for electricity by 2020 along with cars that run on gasoline by 2030.  Now, Sweden is attacking another less talked about yet highly impactful industry: food!

A Dispatch from SSC Intern Matt Logan

On Thursday a group of Chinese companies and US announced plans to construct a $1.5 billion wind farm in West Texas.  The farm will cover 36,000 acres with 240 2.5 MW turbines, for a total capacity of 600 MW.  Chinese financiers will largely finance the farm, with some help from the US government in the form of loan guarantees and grants offered through the stimulus package. 
]]> 2009-11-09T07:18:18Z Strategies for Sustainability http://strategiesforsustainability.blogspot.com/2009/11/senor-demelle-in-barcelona.html

By Mike Durkin, Aedi Construction

On October 27, the state of Massachusetts hosted the 15^th annual Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP) vendor fair at the DCU Center in Worcester.  The event brought together public sector purchasers from throughout the state to promote the purchase of environmentally preferable products and other sustainable practices.  With the help of their sponsors, Commonwealth Print Service, Dennis K. Burke, Inc., ROVIC, Inc., and WoodPellets.com, they were able to host 160 exhibitors of EEP’s along with ten different workshops.  All of these exhibitors and workshops offered attendees the latest information on performance, price, and the environmental benefits of purchasing these goods.

            An important element of the event was the promotion of innovative technologies that improve building operations, efficiency, and energy management.  Three of these innovative technologies were Millennial Net’s wireless HVAC Monitoring and control system which allows people to remotely monitor their HVAC system from a laptop or smartphone, KB Industries Flexi-Pave concrete alternative  whose extremely porous structure reduces stormwater runoff, and Bio-Cascade’s CAP compact air and water filtration system , that can efficiently filter polluted air in any room despite its compact size.  These and many others environmentally preferable products featured at the event are leading the way toward a responsible future for the state of Massachusetts. 

For more information on the event, please click here.