Nebraska businesses big and small can join the fight for strong climate legislation!
       • American Businesses for Clean Energy (ABCE) is a new initiative to support action on clean energy and climate change policies, by offering a platform for U.S. businesses to express their support for meaningful and effective solutions that will drive clean technology innovation, create jobs, and address the threat of global climate change.
       • ABCE shows the breadth of support among businesses of all sizes, from all states, for moving America forward with clean energy that will strengthen our economy, make us more secure and reduce pollution.
       • ABCE supports strong, comprehensive clean energy and climate policies will drive investment in cost-lowering and energy-saving technologies, create a new wave of industrial growth that is supported by millions of new business opportunities and jobs here in the United States, restore our technological edge and increase security here at home by reducing our dependence on energy sources from overseas.
       It doesn't matter what kind of business you have -- big, small, or sole proprietor -- or what business you are in -- doctor, lawyer, clean energy, chimney sweep, whatever -- you can add your name to the list of businesses supporting strong climate change legislation.
       Tell Duane Hovorka you are interested (HovorkaD@NWF.org) and he will send you the sign-on letter to review, and pdf of a poster you can put in your window showing your support for good legislation. The National Wildlife Federation is collecting names for the business sign-on to demonstrate support from the Nebraska business community for strong legislation -- add your business's name today!

            USEPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) program crafted changes to "EPA's DfE Criteria for Safer Cleaning Products (CSCP) in the Form of a Standard" ("DfE Criteria"). DfE initiated the changes in response to comments and suggestions from a broad spectrum of stakeholders who support these new provisions. The changes are intended to enhance the DfE Criteria and DfE Safer Product Labeling Program, which prevents pollution at its source by guiding and encouraging the replacement of chemicals of concern with safer alternatives in a variety of chemical-based products.
         The comment solicitation is here: http://www.epa.gov/dfe/enhancements_to_dfe_criteria.html
         The full criteria document (31 pp, 175K) that contains the changes in context and highlighted is here: http://www.epa.gov/dfe/pubs/projects/formulat/dfe_criteria_for_cleaning_products_10_09.pdf
         To make it easy to get your comments included, you should send them directly to David Difiore (difiori.david@epa.gov) as the government site is virtually impossible to figure out… DfE has made it known that sending comments to David will be considered "officially" included in the public comments.

        From a posting by ENS:  "Just since Labor Day, greener hotel operations are being stimulated by new programs in five states and one city that have joined the growing movement to environmentally friendly accommodations. New certifications for green hotels are now available in Indiana, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and the city of Buffalo, New York. On October 6, the State of Indiana became the first state in the USA to adopt the Green Key Eco-Rating Program as its official statewide environmental initiative for the lodging industry....
        The Green Key Eco-Rating Program expanded its operations to the United States from its Canadian roots on September 21, 2009. The program was originally developed for the Hotel Association of Canada.
        The Green Key evaluation is a comprehensive 140-question audit that is self-administered by the staff at the participating property. The answers are tabulated and the property is awarded a ranking of 1 to 5 Keys and a display plaque. The property receives a report with recommendations, best practices and potential areas for improvement and savings. Green Key includes random, on-site verification of audit results. [emphasis added]"
        Full story here: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/nov2009/2009-11-09-092.asp

Nearly 70% of U.S. office workers would be willing to sacrifice their preferred ideal office temperature to help their company conserve energy, according to a new survey. Almost all respondents to the Johnson Controls survey of around 800 office workers said their office has been too hot or too cold at some point, and when that occurs, nearly 80% said they are less productive. However, respondents cited numerous ways in which they affect their own comfort, such as using fans and space heaters, adjusting their clothing, or briefly leaving their work area. Forty-five percent of respondents think their employer is not doing enough to make their office environments energy efficient.
- Energy Daily, Nov 4, 2009, http://bit.ly/f4WNa

        Wal-Mart and the U.S. government have announced plans to start tracking the sustainability profile of their suppliers as well as their products and services. As two of the largest buyers in the world, the directives from these companies have the potential to impact many companies in the U.S. and around the globe.
        The U.S. government buys more than $500 billion worth of products and services each year from roughly 230,000 different companies, according to USAspending.gov. It is the world's largest buyer of goods and services. Wal-Mart, as the largest consumer products retailer in the world, buys roughly $300 billion each year in products that it sells in its retail stores from more than 100,000 different companies.
        If your company sells products and services to one or both of them, expect that you will soon be required to provide more information about your environmental impact.
        The full story by Robert Harris is here: http://bit.ly/3lUKK2