Camilla Cornell, Financialpost.com
December 19, 2011

When Tom Heintzman travels, he either uses a plug-in hybrid car or purchases carbon offsets for all of his flights, takes public transport from the airport where possible, and uses hotel chains that are powered at least partially by renewable energy. But you would expect that of the co-founder and president of Toronto-based Bullfrog Power Inc., a green electricity producer.

Mr. Heintzman argues there’s a business case to be made for all companies – whether they style themselves as “green” or not – to reduce their transportation footprint.

“We definitely have a lot of polling data that suggest consumers are increasingly aware of companies’ corporate social responsibility and environmental practices and they’re increasingly relevant,” he says.

Richard Black, BBC News
December 9, 2011

A tiny nation you may well have never heard of fears it may become an early casualty of climate change - and will almost be the first to make its entire energy supply carbon-free.

Reuters
November 24, 2011

Air pollution caused more than 100 billion euros ($134.95 billion) in health and environmental damage, highlighting the need for more renewables sources of energy, a report published on Thursday by the European Environment Agency found.

Europe’s 10,000 largest factories and energy facilities resulted in 102-169 billion euros in health issues, such as respiratory and cardiovascular problems, and environmental costs because of air pollution in 2009, the most recent available data.

Per citizen, the cost was between 200-300 euros.

BBC News
November 18, 2011

The risk from extreme weather events is likely to increase if the world continues to warm, say scientists.

A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said it was “very likely” that emissions had led to an increase in daily maximum temperatures.

BBC News
November 10, 2011

The Obama administration is to reassess the route of a controversial Canada-US oil pipeline, delaying a decision on the project by up to 18 months.

This blog post originally appeared in the Canadian edition of the Huffington Post. Get all the newest posts by signing up to Zerofootprint CEO Ron Dembo’s Huffington Post blog RSS feed.

Climate change is one of the most hotly debated issues of our time, both from an economic and a moral viewpoint. And whenever someone makes a case for action from a moral stance, most often they’ll justify it by invoking the future plight of the world and the children that will inherit it. It’s a delicate subject, after all, what’s more important than our children?

Rachel Nuwer
November 2, 2011

A new report from the United Nations Development Program warns that if drastic measures are not taken to prepare nations for the impacts of climate change, the economic progress of the world’s developing countries could stall or even be reversed by 2050.

EarthTechling.com
October 20, 2011

Ontario likes its eggs sunny-side up – literally. The province’s aggressive feed-in tariff (FIT) program has prompted Drouin Farms, a large family-owned organic egg producer, to install a 250-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system. Producing over 300,000 kilowatt-hours per year, the project will reduce CO2 emissions by 2,800 tons annually and produce enough electricity to power about 30 homes.

George Webster
October 14, 2011

What if buildings had lungs that could absorb carbon emissions from the city and convert them into something useful? What if they had skin that could control their temperature without the need for radiators or air-conditioning? What if buildings could come “alive?”

http://www.earthtechling.com

In Scotland, which has committed to generating 100 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020, communities are beginning to view renewable energy investment as potentially profitable. Case in point: Thornhill, a small village in Stirlingshire, which is seeking approval to put up a 500-kilowatt wind turbine at a farm overlooking the village.

The community-owned and -operated turbine would go beside three others that are privately owned. The four turbines together are expected to produce enough electricity to power 1,000 homes. With 640 residents in Thornhill, every home in the village could benefit from low-cost, clean electricity for up to 25 years, with the excess being sold on the commercial market.