The buildings in which we live and work account for a large part of the climate changing gases that are of great concern to citizens and scientists alike. What we do in our homes and offices translates into polluting emissions, wastewater and garbage.

Burlington, Vermont – recently recognized as the greenest city in the U.S. – shows us that smart policies and active citizens can go a long way towards tackling climate change.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, who has vowed to run a positive campaign, has made a deal with Green Party Leader Elizabeth May not to run a candidate against her in the next election, senior Liberals say. In return, Ms. May will not run a candidate against Mr. Dion in his Montreal riding. It appears that Ms. May has negotiated the better deal, because Mr. Dion’s decision considerably improves her chances of beating — and embarrassing — one of the Conservatives’ most high-profile ministers, Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

Fresh off last week’s surprise announcement of funding for Toronto’s struggling transit system, the Ontario government is once again flexing its green muscles in advance of the fall’s elections. Today they rolled put plans to make Ontario a centre for green automotive manufacturing with an investment of $600 million for GM’s plant in Oshawa.

“Action on climate change . . . means new green technologies to sell to the world and it means new green jobs, developing, producing and selling those technologies,” McGuinty told the Shared Air Summit in Toronto on Monday.

The National Post explains how the Conservatives ignored the advice of a consultant they had previously called “one of Canada’s pre-eminent policy advisers in the area of climate change and industrial policy.”

The consultant, Mark Jaccard, has said that the Conservative scheme does not do enough to reduce greenhouse gas.

The Globe and Mail reports today that the Conservatives are losing votes in British Columbia because of their green policies – or lack of them.

Grist names 2007’s top green stories: 15) Bees buzz off; 14) Climate skeptics step on rakes; 13) Lead-tainted toys scare parents; 12) Ethanol bubbles with contradictions; 11) Courts thwart Bush; 10) CFLs are all the rage; 9) Local food gets hip; 8) The year of Gore; 7) Scientists speak loud and clear; 6) Green is the new green; 5) Weather gets wacky; 4) Media goes green; 3) A movement gets moving; 2) U.S. politicians wake up; and 1) A backlash against coal.

Source: Marketing Profs

Political, environmental and economic concerns have provided a marketplace for environmentally friendly products. Here are the 5 rules by Jacquelyn Ottman for successful green marketing.

The study “Moving Consumers from Green Interest to Green Action” shows that Americans are doing more for the environment than they think.