A group of timber and paper supply companies and environmental organizations announced Thursday a pilot project to allow landowners who selectively log their forests to earn carbon credits they can trade on the open market. Such a trading system is part of legislation before Congress that would cap greenhouse gases nationwide.

A coalition that includes Staples, Home Depot and the Dogwood Alliance, an environmental advocacy organization that once crusaded against Staples, said it aims to test how landowners in the U.S. South can receive economic benefits from expanding carbon stores in their working forests. Ninety percent of forests in the South, which ranks as the largest paper and wood-producing region in the world, is privately owned. Some farmers in the region still clear cut their forests, or convert them to pine plantations that are fast-growing but less environmentally beneficial.

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One of the nation’s more influential business groups is calling on Congress to focus on the development of renewable and traditional energy sources, while shaping a policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Business Roundtable, in a report released Oct. 21, cites the need to protect the nation’s energy security and economic growth, while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases thought to contribute to global warming.

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In a Sunday Washington Post op-ed, climate crusader Bill McKibben told a tale of two presidents: Barack Obama, who the week before conceded with other world leaders that a new, legally-binding climate treaty won’t emerge from COP15 in Copenhagen; and Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, who held a cabinet meeting underwater to demonstrate the need for climate action. The difference between these two leaders defines the “climate divide.” That’s what separates those willing to act boldly to divert us from climate chaos, and everyone else - ranging from those actively working against climate action, to those like Obama who fall short of their potential to lead.

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November 10, 2009 - A study released by the NYU School of Law finds a near unanimous consensus among the nation’s top economists that cap-and-trade carbon regulation will benefit the economy, spurring energy efficiency and private sector innovation.

According to the NY Times Green Inc. Blog, 84% of the study’s 144 respondents agreed that “the environmental effects of greenhouse-gas emissions, as described by leading scientific experts, create significant risks to important sectors of the United States and global economy.” That number dwarfs those economists that disagreed with the statement (5.6%), those remaining neutral (7.6%) and those with no opinion (2.8%). The survey was sent by the University’s Institute for Policy Integrity to 289 economists who have published at least one article relating to climate change in peer-reviewed journals over the last 15 years.

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The South is lagging behind other areas of the country in energy efficiency, which could save the region millions of dollars in the next decade, according to industry experts and recent reports.

“It’s not just because we have cheap energy that leads to our high consumption. It’s also that we don’t have that culture of efficiency,” said Marilyn Brown, a professor in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech and co-author of a report that analyzed studies about energy-efficiency potential in states from Delaware to Texas.

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The Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation was awarded $1.25 million by the U.S. Department of Labor to be used to support job training for expanding green industries and related occupations.

Florida’s training grant is part of $55 million in green job grants announced Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. The funds were authorized as part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009.4

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For half a century, the Gannon power plant near Tampa Bay burned coal to churn out the electricity that keeps lights burning and air conditioners humming in the Tampa Bay area. But by 1999, Gannon presented both a business and regulatory problem for its owner, Tampa Electric.

Tampa Electric wanted to expand its power generation. But Gannon was under EPA regulatory scrutiny for non-compliance with the federal Clean Air Act, stemming from the plant’s emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. So the utility decided to spend $700 million to shut down the coal burners and power Gannon with cleaner-burning natural gas.

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CSIRO has established the Renewable Energy Integration Facility to develop new grid management technologies that will allow greater penetration of renewable, low-emission energy resources into electricity networks.

The facility will also be used to develop automatic fault detection techniques to help improve electricity supply reliability and reduce blackouts.

The official opening was attended by Ms Sharon Grierson MP Federal Member for Newcastle, representing Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon. Kim Carr.

“This project is yet another example of the important and valuable work happening at the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle to help Australia reduce its greenhouse gas emissions,” Ms Grierson said.

CSIRO scientist Dr David Cornforth said the $1 million facility represents a major upgrade of CSIRO’s experimental capability in energy management, and electricity grid operation and planning.

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As Republican Senators attempt to delay proposed climate change legislation on the grounds that it could harm the country’s economy, a major study from three influential universities suggests that a robust climate bill would have the exact opposite effect and would boost GDP by $111bn (£66bn) by 2020.

The study, which was undertaken by research teams at the University of California Berkeley, Yale and Illinois, also indicates that action to roll out an emissions cap-and-trade scheme and accelerate the adoption of clean technologies could create between 918,000 and 1.9 million US jobs.

Meanwhile, the average household income could grow by between $488 and $1,176 as year as a result of the bill.

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When Rodney Strong Wine Estates announced last month that it had gone “carbon neutral,” it became only the second winery in the nation and one of a handful in the world to lay claim to such green ground.

But consumers may one day see the wine aisle brimming with bottles making similar carbon claims as wineries strive to show shoppers their products aren’t contributing to the destruction of the planet.

“It’s going to be increasingly important for consumers to know that the wines they choose are participating in the green revolution that our planet is going to have to go through to survive,” said Robert Nicholson, principal of Healdsburg wine consulting firm International Wine Associates.

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