Rezachek & Associates'
Energy & Environmental Resources

Environmental Issues - Page 6

Global Warming - The Transportation Sector The transportation sector is the largest source category for carbon dioxide emissions, resulting in approximately 46 million tons in 1990 and projected at 66 million tons in 2010. An effective greenhouse gas control program must achieve substantial reductions in this sector. However, it will be difficult. Americans highly value the attributes of owning and operating motor cars.

Green Guide to Cars and Trucks: Model Year 1998 The Green Guide to Cars and Trucks: Model Year 1998 ranks cars and trucks according to environmental friendliness. Using this first-ever guide, buyers can compare cars, vans, pickups, and sport utility vehicles by their environmental impacts, including air pollution, global warming, and fuel efficiency.

Greenhouse Gas Balances of Bioenergy Systems Each country is expected to have greater interest in specific biomass production and utilization schemes and hence selection of case studies should account for that. For instance in some countries the most important short-term source for biomass is seen to be wood chips from the timber industry, pulp and paper industry, precommercial thinning and logging residues. By contrast, other countries put more emphasis on liquid biofuels from herbaceous crops.

Greenhouse Gas Reduction: A Goal or an Objective? Greenhouse gas reduction is a critical component of energy sustainability. The energy economy relies heavily on fossil fuels, which generate greenhouse gases. Therefore greenhouse gas policies affect all aspects of an energy strategy. In Section 2, the council makes an important distinction between the meanings of goal and objective. The following question is fundamental to any energy strategy: Should the energy sector's contribution to stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions be a goal or an objective?

Green Map System The Green Map System is assisting local teams as they design and produce their own community's Green Map of environmentally significant places. Each of the resulting Maps introduces the city's "green sites" -- outstanding places of natural beauty, farmers markets and green businesses, ecologically-designed buildings, environmental centers, bike paths and solar sites, and more, even the infrastructure and the toxic hot spots. Each of these green sites and other eco-resources is indicated by the Green Map Icons, our shared "language" of 100 different symbols. The Icons make it easier to find these important places, and help us understand the interconnection between nature and the built environment in our communities.

GreenNet News views and comment on environmental issues at home and abroad.

Green Scissors 98 Campaign The Green Scissors campaign is a joint effort between organizations representing taxpayers, deficit hawks and the environment. The campaign is led by Friends of the Earth, Taxpayers for Common Sense and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. It also involves national organizations with expertise in certain issue areas, as well as many grassroots organizations fighting wasteful projects in their own back yards. Not every organization has expertise or a position on every issue, but all agree with the Green Scissors goal of cutting wasteful spending and subsidies in order to save money or protect the environment.

Green Taxes An excellent article on "pollution" taxes, or as I like to call them, "environmental abuser fees."

Green Taxes Project - Ecological Tax Reform The project's goal is to determine the economic implications of restructuring Minnesota's tax revenue system to one based in part on environmental taxes. The plan would not be to raise additional revenue but to employ "tax shifting".

Harvard Environmental Resources Online Serving the information needs of Harvard University's environmental research, education, and outreach communities.

Hawaii Ecotourism Association Information about ecotourism in Hawaii, a directory of members with activities and attractions that promote the conservation of Hawaii's natural and cultural heritage, and information on joining the Hawaii Ecotourism Association. Ecotourism is nature- and cultural- based tourism that is ecologically sustainable and supports the well-being of local communities.

Indicators of Environmental Impact of Transport This downloadable document (in PDF format) addresses all primary modes of transportation (highway,rail, aviation, and maritime transport) and all environmental media (air, water, and land resources),and covers the full "life-cycle" of transportation).

Information Center for the Environment The Information Center for the Environment is a cooperative effort of environmental scientists at the University of California, Davis and collaborators at over thirty private, state, federal, and international organizations interested in environmental protection.

Improving Auto Efficiency--The Single Biggest Step to Slowing Global Warming The biggest single step the Clinton administration and Congress can take right now to curb global warming and ensure a safe energy future for America is to enact strong fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks. The Clinton administration is now considering whether and how to improve the efficiency of our cars.

Institute for Social Inventions Is yours a new, imaginative and feasible idea or project for improving the quality of life? If so (or if you know of such a scheme, or have a newspaper cutting about a likely project) please submit it, in less than 1,000 words, to our new online GLOBAL IDEAS BANK, created with the help of Flemming Funch and the New Civilization Network, which already contains several thousand best ideas submitted by members of the public worldwide, and which offers a total of 1,000 pounds (UK Sterling) in awards (annually, with a deadline of June 1st) for the best non-technological ideas or projects sent in.

International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is the international environmental agency for local governments. We know from concrete experience that local actions can have a global impact. Global consumption and waste production is increasingly concentrated in urban areas. The concentration of people in cities provides unparalleled opportunities to both meet human needs and reduce and manage wastes. Meanwhile, by strengthening rural communities we can reduce the pattern of ecological destruction and population migration which is often a result of rural poverty and desperation.

Inventory of Technologies, Methods, and Practices for Reducing Emissions of Greenhouse Gases Global energy and environmental concerns have become a frequent topic of international discussion and debate, particularly with regard to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the potential for related changes in climate. An increasingly important response to these concerns by all nations is development of more environmentally sensitive energy infrastructures. Sound energy planning and investment decisions regarding technology options for this purpose require access to technical and economic data that are current, consistent, accurate, and widely available. The inventory is designed to serve this purpose.

Island Cogeneration Project - Application for a Project Approval Certificate This assessment addresses the major greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). These are the only significant GHGs expected to be associated with the Project. Baseline emissions of GHGs are referenced to two different time periods, 1990 and current typical operations (based on 1996). The 1990 base year is chosen to coincide with the base year being used currently for assessing GHG emissions world-wide under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).