http://www.environmentalleader.com Environmental Leader Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:49:07 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/10/policy-enforcement-briefing-csapr-signed-adjusted-new-nukes-keystone-xl-fracking-tax/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/10/policy-enforcement-briefing-csapr-signed-adjusted-new-nukes-keystone-xl-fracking-tax/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:12:34 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69755 The EPA has made a few adjustments to its cross-state air pollution rules (CSAPR) that were signed Tuesday. The adjustments increase budgets in 17 states and ease limits on market-based compliance options. These state-level adjustments vary, and the total budget increases by about 2 percent, Clean Air Watch said. CSAPR is still under a stay, [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/10/policy-enforcement-briefing-csapr-signed-adjusted-new-nukes-keystone-xl-fracking-tax/feed/ 0 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/08/policy-enforcement-briefing-bank-of-england-considers-carbon-bubble-diesel-health-study-delayed/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/08/policy-enforcement-briefing-bank-of-england-considers-carbon-bubble-diesel-health-study-delayed/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:51:38 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69619 The governor of the Bank of England has acknowledged that there is a need for evaluation of the financial system’s exposure to high carbon and environmentally unsustainable investments, and the bank is willing to consider the levels of fossil fuel exposure as a potential risk to financial stability, The Guardian reports. The discussion stems from [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/08/policy-enforcement-briefing-bank-of-england-considers-carbon-bubble-diesel-health-study-delayed/feed/ 0 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/07/national-center-for-policy-analysis-describes-hidden-costs-of-bag-bans/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/07/national-center-for-policy-analysis-describes-hidden-costs-of-bag-bans/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:30:08 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69568 Plastic bag bans incur hidden economic and environmental costs that are “virtually ignored,” according to conservative think tank the National Center for Policy Analysis. More than two dozen cities – including Seattle and San Francisco – have enacted bans or imposed fees for using such bags, but anecdotal evidence suggests that curbs on plastic bags [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/07/national-center-for-policy-analysis-describes-hidden-costs-of-bag-bans/feed/ 15 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/06/ameren-asks-for-15-rate-hike-efficiency-spend-to-double/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/06/ameren-asks-for-15-rate-hike-efficiency-spend-to-double/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:07:09 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69466 Utility Ameren Missouri is planning a 14.6 percent rate hike next year to reimburse investments in renewable energy, efficiency and reliability. The subsidiary of Ameren Corporation filed an electric rate increase request with the Missouri Public Service Commission, saying the $376 million increase is needed to cover investments as well as operating costs. The company [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/06/ameren-asks-for-15-rate-hike-efficiency-spend-to-double/feed/ 0 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/06/policy-enforcement-briefing-carb-diesel-vehicles-china-vs-eu-ets-mexico-climate-law/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/06/policy-enforcement-briefing-carb-diesel-vehicles-china-vs-eu-ets-mexico-climate-law/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:50:49 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69458 California’s On-Road Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles (In-Use) Regulation has shifted the reporting date to March 30, 2012, for most privately and federally owned diesel fueled trucks and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 14,000 pounds. The regulation requires installation of PM retrofits for heavier trucks beginning January 2012, and replacement of older [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/06/policy-enforcement-briefing-carb-diesel-vehicles-china-vs-eu-ets-mexico-climate-law/feed/ 0 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/03/policy-enforcement-briefing-disaster-risk-solyndra/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/03/policy-enforcement-briefing-disaster-risk-solyndra/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:01:27 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69396 Insurance commissioners in California, New York and the state of Washington said that insurance companies must disclose disaster response and risk management plans for increasingly severe storms and wildfires, rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change. The new state regulations reveal the insurance industry’s role in mediating the country’s response to climate change, [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/03/policy-enforcement-briefing-disaster-risk-solyndra/feed/ 0 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/01/policy-enforcement-briefing-case-report-solyndra-probe-keystone-xl-halliburton/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/01/policy-enforcement-briefing-case-report-solyndra-probe-keystone-xl-halliburton/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:00:41 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69250 The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy (CASE) has found that levying 100-percent import duties on Chinese-made solar cells and modules may cost more than 60,000 U.S. solar industry and other jobs. Petitioners SolarWorld Industries America have requested tariffs up to 250 percent on Chinese-manufactured products in response to allegations of government subsidies and below-cost pricing, [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/02/01/policy-enforcement-briefing-case-report-solyndra-probe-keystone-xl-halliburton/feed/ 0 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/01/31/un-documents-propose-mandatory-sustainability-reporting/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/01/31/un-documents-propose-mandatory-sustainability-reporting/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:30:19 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69216 Two influential documents – the Rio+20 negotiating text and the recommendations of the U.N. secretary general’s High Level Panel on Global Sustainability – both propose tighter sustainability reporting requirements for businesses, according to Chatham House fellow Paul Hohnen, writing in the Guardian. In “Resilient People, Resilient Planet – A Future Worth Choosing,” published yesterday, the [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/01/31/un-documents-propose-mandatory-sustainability-reporting/feed/ 2 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/01/31/trusting-science-to-help-create-environmental-policy/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/01/31/trusting-science-to-help-create-environmental-policy/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:53:24 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69164 Public policy should be based on solid scientific research and it is often presumed that when policy decisions are made, decision-makers have utilized the available scientific resources and evaluated the significant potential impacts.  According to the World Health Organization, impact assessments are the vital links in the chain between evidence and decision-making, strategic policy decisions [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/01/31/trusting-science-to-help-create-environmental-policy/feed/ 0 http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/01/30/unfccc-launches-business-climate-change-strategy-guide/ http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/01/30/unfccc-launches-business-climate-change-strategy-guide/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:30:30 +0000 Environmental Leader http://www.environmentalleader.com/?p=69115 Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Levi’s, Nestle and Starbucks are among a slew of multinational companies listed in an online database just launched by the U.N. that details how the world’s major firms plan to address global warming. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Adaptation Private Sector Initiative contains details both on how companies can make [...]]]> http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/01/30/unfccc-launches-business-climate-change-strategy-guide/feed/ 0