EcoDriving, a national initiative to promote green driving habits, has won the support of 10 more governors. The Southern Governors Association announced yesterday the latest states to join the EcoDriving movement that was launched a year ago by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO), the Environmental Defense Fund and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

“EcoDriving was introduced to empower consumers to take green driving into their own hands by adjusting their driving and vehicle maintenance habits,” Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said in a statement. “The educational program offers Americans a simple way to be more fuel efficient, and save at the pump.

The newest governors to endorse the program are Bob Riley (R- AL), Haley Barbour (R-MS), Jay Nixon (D-MO), Martin O’Malley (D – MD), Bev Perdue (D-NC), Luis Fortuno (R – PR), Mark Sanford (R- SC), John De-Jongh (D – USVI), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).

That group joins governors Sonny Perdue (R-GA), C.L. “Butch” Otter (R-ID), Steve Beshear (D- KY), Jennifer M. Granholm (D-MI), Brad Henry (D-OK) and Jon Huntsman (R-UT), along with governors Schwarzenegger and Ritter, in supporting for EcoDriving.

EcoDriving is focused on raising awareness of how subtle and easy-to-use driving and vehicle maintenance best practices can improve mileage by an average of 15 percent. The program helps improve the mileage of every single vehicle, regardless of vehicle size and age. The benefits are potentially huge:

• If just half of all drivers nationwide practiced moderate levels of EcoDriving, annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be reduced by about 100 million tons, or the equivalent of heating and powering 8.5 million households.
• If all Americans practiced EcoDriving, it would be equal to 450 billion miles traveled on our roadways without generating any CO2 emissions. That’s 1,500 CO2-free miles for every man, woman and child in the United States each year.

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Restaurant Associates have unveiled a guide to green dining best practices, which is aimed at helping corporate cafeterias, museums and restaurants cut costs and spare the environment.

The science-based recommendations have been tested by two Restaurant Associates clients, Random House and Hearst Corporation. The two companies combined will save over $85,000 each year, cut 275 tons of carbon pollution and reduce landfill waste by 60 tons annually, according to early test results.

An earlier survey by the National Restaurant Association found that environmentally friendly equipment and sustainable practices topped chefs’ lists of hot trends and top cost-savers for 2009.

The green dining best practices with the biggest environmental impacts include food purchasing (addressing specific products like meat, produce and seafood), facility operation (improvements in the use of energy, waste, and water), packaging, transportation of food, and the use of toxic cleaning chemicals.

“Consumers today know what they want: delicious food at affordable prices that’s good for them and for the planet. This is a tall order, but it’s one we can meet,” Ed Sirhal, president of Restaurant Associates, said in a statement. “Using these best practices as a guide, we unearthed opportunities for cost and environmental savings that were right there for the taking. We encourage companies throughout the food services industry to do the same.”

Restaurant Associates said it will roll out the green dining best practices in all 110 of its facilities nationwide, and has engaged the Green Restaurant Association to audit and certify those efforts by 2011. The company has also committed to increasing the amount of sustainable seafood on its menus, offering clients “bottleless” water dispensers as an alternative to bottled water, reducing the carbon footprint of the meats and proteins it serves 20 percent by July 2010 and also reducing energy use in its facilities.

Related video:
Environmental Defense Fund and Restaurant Associates officials explain the Green Dining Best Practices program:

Los Angeles County has more businesses than any other county in California that stand to benefit from the state’s leadership on climate change, according to a first-of-its-kind map of green businesses in California released today. The map was released in conjunction with an Environmental Defense Fund report outlining how the Los Angeles area can leverage its environmental leadership to create economic opportunities.

The California Green Economy map features more than 2,200 businesses statewide in four categories — energy generation, energy efficiency, green building and transportation — that are likely to grow as California transitions to a low-carbon economy.

Southern California alone has more than 1,000 green companies, according to the Los Angeles Greenprint report, which details how the implementation of Green LA and Solar LA initiatives proposed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are expected produce high-quality green jobs for people living in the Los Angeles area.

Companies on the map can be sorted by city, county and congressional district. The top five counties are:

1. Los Angeles County, 398 companies
2. San Diego County, 208 companies
3. Orange County, 202 companies
4. Santa Clara County, 173 companies
5. Alameda County, 131 companies

“To our knowledge, this is the first time that a map of California’s green companies has been published online, creating a visual dynamic resource for people to better understand what a green economy looks like,” Tim O’Connor, an attorney and California climate change analyst at EDF, said in a statement. “As Congress considers a federal climate bill modeled after California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, this map gives local members of Congress a preview of the footprint of the green economy, both statewide and in each district.”

Implementation of Green LA will be overseen by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest public power utility in the country and the utility that uses the most solar energy nationwide. The plan calls for fighting global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions 35 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 through the use of renewable energy, conservation, new green building standards and strategic land use planning. Solar LA calls for growing the region’s green economy by adding 1.3 gigawatts of solar power by 2020, enough to meet 10 percent of L.A.’s energy needs and more than is currently available nationwide.

“Los Angeles and Southern California are uniquely vulnerable to climate change because of existing pollution problems, our coastal setting and overstretched water supplies,” said Erica Fick, an EDF clean energy fellow based in Los Angeles, who co-authored the report. “Green LA and Solar LA will be a shot in the arm for the entire Southern California economy, creating a lasting upswing in the manufacturing, construction, technology, and ‘green’ service sectors.”

One success story cited in the LA Greenprint report is Suntrek Industries, a company in neighboring Ventura County that specializes in solar pool heating, solar heating and electricity. Suntrek has six offices located in California. Today, Suntrek serves more than 200,000 customers, employs nearly 80 people, and has increased its sales by 300% since 2007, according to its President and CEO Roy Heine. Even in these challenging economic times, Heine has been able to expand his business and hire new employees. Suntrek employees attribute the company’s growth to large rebates available for solar energy through the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the newly extended federal tax credit for residential solar and the progressive initiatives laid out by Mayor Villaraigosa in his Green LA plan.

In addition to describing the economic and environmental benefits of Green LA and Solar LA, the Los Angeles Greenprint urges the city to establish a dedicated climate team to implement the plans and measure progress towards the 35% greenhouse gas emission reduction goal. The Greenprint also calls on the city to maintain a high level of transparency and accountability as it proceeds with all 50+ Green LA measures and all three components of Solar LA.

For most of us, walking into a seafood store is an exercise in both ignorance and hope: we’re ignorant of what’s available but we hope we’ll leave with what we want. We all know fish come in two colors: the red one is salmon and the rest are white. Here is what you should know about fish:

Mark Musatto, a partner at Airline Seafood in Houston, says “There are three basic feelings I want every customer to have when they enter my store: they should feel, smell and see the freshness; notice that fresh fish has a sheen and a translucency and I want customers to tell me how they plan to cook their fish and we can talk about the best fish for that method.

“Some fish are better for grilling, others for sautéing, and others for frying.”

There are some basics to consider and ask about when you shop for fish:

• Do you know the store to be safe and reputable?

• Is the seafood fresh or “previously frozen”?

• Where was it caught — Is it local or shipped in from afar?

• How was it caught — is it from open waters or farm-raised?

• And, the increasingly vital question: Is the store selling varieties of seafood that are endangered?

A seafood store must have some basics that make it a good, safe place to shop. The smell should be clean, not too “fishy”; there should be constant filleting of fish so the fish is always fresh, not dry or brown from exposure to the air; fish must be left on the bone as long as possible and those handling the fish should be able to answer any questions you have.

A question to help separate the average shop from the superior one: Is this a store where restaurants buy their seafood? The answer must be “yes.”

How to tread lightly when dining on seafood

The word “seafood” doesn’t define only fish. Seafood includes scallops, lobster, oysters, clams, mussels, crawfish, crab, shrimp and other non-fish creatures. And among these are endangered varieties.

The Environmental Defense Fund has put together a Seafood Selector (available as a pocket guide) that will tell you everything you want or need to know about the status of fish and seafood stocks around the world. They have grouped seafood into three categories: Eco-Best, Eco-OK and Eco-Worst. But there is always a dispute among fishermen, governments and private organizations about which varieties of seafood fall into which category. And restaurants don’t always abide by the warnings about over-fished species.

For example, Chilean Sea Bass is on just about every Eco-Worst list but it’s still on many menus. Bluefin Tuna, the staple of sushi, is also on that list but every sushi bar in the world serves it.

Some Salmon are endangered, some not. Some trout are threatened, others not. Ask your fish-seller and your restaurant waiter if you have any doubts or questions. Don’t fall for something that is out of season (”wild” Alaska Salmon in winter) or is a substitute for the real deal (farmed White Bass or Catfish for Grouper).

(Note: Chilean Sea Bass, Bluefin Tuna and Atlantic Salmon are all considered in jeopardy, and they’re fish that tend to carry high mercury concentrations, so staying away from these varieties provides a double benefit.)

Get ready for a new ad campaign pushing for a carbon cap. This one, though, comes not from policy wonks in D.C., but is a direct appeal from the steel belt. And it will yank at your heart strings.

The United Steelworkers and the Blue Green Alliance, in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund, have assembled four video spots featuring steel workers appealing for a carbon cap. Yes you heard that right.

The cap, these workers say, will free their industries to pursue clean energy and thereby put people back to work, this time making wind turbines, which require a lot of steel, as well as solar panels.

It’s certainly true that wind is fueling huge job growth. The latest figures from the American Wind Energy Association report that the field now employs some 85,000 Americans.

As for the carbon cap and the sticky question of how to place a price on carbon emissions — through cap and trade, which critics argue is complex and unwieldy, or through a carbon tax, which could be so unpopular as to be untenable — look for much continued debate as lawmakers inch closer to taking action.  Global warming legislation has a history of freezing up Congress.

These new ads, however, argue that we can’t afford a stalmate — individually or collectively.

Here’s one of the spots. There are three others on You Tube.

Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, by the way, is a Harvard-educated native of the area.

The TV spots and print ads will run in “swing” states, including Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Missouri, New Hampshire, Virginia and in Washington D.C.

For a discussion on the debate over cap-and-trade vs. a carbon tax, see the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

President George W. Bush smiles after delivering his remarks on U.S. Ocean Action Plan last September at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. President Bush has now protected more of the ocean than any other president.

Green Right Now reports

President George W. Bush today announced the establishment of three underwater monuments that will protect a vast area of the central Pacific Ocean that spans nine tropical coral islands and their surrounding waters.

The action was cheered by conservationists and environmental groups, including the Marine Conservation Biology Institute and Environmental Defense Fund, which each worked with the administration to establish the protections.

The Marianas Marine National Monument, Pacific Remote Island National Monument, and Rose Atoll National Monument, at approximately 195,000 square miles, represent an area larger than California.

“Today’s announcement marks an enormous step in conserving the biodiversity of our planet. These new marine monuments rank right up there with our nation’s greatest national parks,” David Yarnold, executive director of Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement.

The action adds complexity and new shades to the portrait of President Bush, whose administration has often been at odd with environmentalists. But after creating the first U.S. marine national monument in 2006 with 139,797 square miles in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, President Bush has now protected more of the ocean than any other president.

Marine Conservation Biology Institute and the Environmental Defense Fund worked with the Bush administration to nominate and develop scientific and public support for two of the three areas. The Pew Charitable Trusts developed the case for the areas off the Northern Mariana Islands.

Yarnold said that 200 leading scientists from EDF and other organizations identified the islands and their surrounding ocean waters as some of the few remaining, relatively pristine islands left on Earth.

“President Bush has laid the foundation for a national system of ocean reserves just as Theodore Roosevelt laid the foundation for our national park system,” said MCBI vice president for government affairs, William Chandler. “The islands will be havens for all kinds of marine life, and a bulwark against the degradation and decline of the tropical Pacific.”

“President Bush is giving the world a Texas-sized gift,” Diane Regas, associated vice-president for oceans at Environmental Defense Fund, said in a press statement. “These are places time forgot. They still look as they did hundreds and even thousands of years ago.”

More from GRN

Read the official White House briefing

Now that you’ve worn off the magnetic strip on the credit card buying presents for everyone, gotten the letter that your health insurance premiums are doubling and your job is being “redefined,” it’s time to think about those year-end donations. Sigh.

While environmental groups will likely have an easier time on Capitol Hill next year talking policy with a new Administration that sees global warming as a real threat, they paradoxically could be facing headwinds with donors.

Consider first that some of their large contributors may have been dragged down in the Bernard Madoff securities/Ponzi scheme, which savaged many charitable foundations. While the extent of that damage is being assessed, it’s safe to assume that even nonprofits that escaped that five-alarm fire, have been singed by the economic meltdown.

This holiday season, their biggest time to collect donations, finds them pressing for money from corporations and individuals who may be more flushed with worry than flush with cash.

Will a public that’s financially fragile have anything left over to help feed Pandas? Preserve forests? Save tigers? Support Darfur refugees? Buy back rainforests? Rescue polar bears? Stop mountain top mining?

Let’s hope so. The work list is long. The causes are legit. And climate change demands urgent attention.

Should you be making donations this season, here are links to some of the top environmental organizations. They all have worthy projects.

Defenders of Wildlife
I fell in love with this group when I heard about how they organize volunteers to ride Western ranges as part of an effort to help ranchers and the gray wolves live side by side in, if not harmony, détente. It’s just one of many innovative projects they support.

EarthJustice
Lawyers are the front lines when it comes to assuring everyone follows the rules under the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts and other protections that only work if they’re enforced. Earthjustice provides free legal counsel to environmental groups large and small, because, as their motto goes, “the earth needs a good lawyer.”

Environmental Defense Fund
An alliance-building group that lobbies for protections for nature and we human inhabitants, from coordinating a drive to clean up school bus emissions to advocating for wind and solar energy projects. (If you can’t donate, consider buying EDF President Fred Krupp’s book, Earth: The Sequel, an informative primer full of real life anecdotes that examines our green energy options.)

Environmental Working Group
Scientists working with EWG have screened our water, food, furniture and cosmetics for toxins, creating valuable tools like the Dirty Dozen list of fruits and veggies most doused with pesticides, and Skin Deep, a database where you can check your body lotion for harmful additives. Their reporting helps us show us how to clean up our home and natural environment.

Greenpeace
A strong advocacy that works on behalf of endangered wildlife, marine life and forests around the globe. Known for their visual stunts, boycotts and blockades, Greenpeace takes action and makes news, helping raise the profile of many enviro causes.

Nature Canada
This group is working to save our Northern wildlife such as the caribou (Santa’s reindeer), as well as one of earth’s largest land carbon sinks, the Boreal Forest. It may be in Canada, but it is of global importance.

The Nature Conservancy
The conservancy works to protect land, rivers and marshes around the world, relying on a staff of 700 scientists to steer work in the right direction. They’ve also begun a campaign to Plant A Billion Trees in the Atlantic rainforest in South America.

Natural Resources Defense Council
They’re also covering the planet, working to mitigate climate change and preserve habitats. A new fund drive invites people to donate $10 to plant a tree to help Revive the Rainforest in Costa Rica.

National Wildlife Federation
The producer of Ranger Rick and Your Big Backyard magazines focuses on AMerican wildlife and nurturing a love of wildlife and the outdoors in children. One way to donate is through their “adoption” programs.

Sierra Club
The oldest and largest American environmental group has a membership of more than 1 million and works to save natural spaces. Want to see the national parks protected? Look to Sierra Club. But they also have their hands in the urban environment, working with the Cool Cities project to tamp down carbon emissions and make cities greener and cleaner. Read about founder John Muir, who started Sierra in 1892 to “make the mountains glad.”

World Wildlife Fund
Where to begin? WWF has wildlife saving projects in place from the Congo to the Arctic to the Galapagos Islands. They also have a wealth of information on their website, and adopt-an-animal donor programs. (Big givers can adopt whole acreages of imperiled habitat through the Partners in Conservation program.

Union of Concerned Scientists
At the forefront of energy and climate science, this venerable group helps link the latest scientific thinking on energy, climate change and invasive species into policies that makes sense and preserve our world.

Worldwatch Institute
Someone’s got to study, analyze and explain the problems facing the globe so we can find the right solutions. That’s Worldwatch, helping dissect the issues that stand between us and a just, sustainable and less-toxic environment.

Copyright © 2008 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media