• Notable: Abbott, Anvil Knitwear, Cisco/Verdiem, Cisco/Ericsson/IBM/HP, Citi, cotton industry, Dell/Intel/KPMG, GE/Nissan, Intel, J.R. Simplot, Otarian, Philips, ProLogis, Puma, Schneider Electric
• Members Only: Register your team, Members only call
• ROI Success Stories: ConAgra Foods, Diversey, federal agencies, Ford
• Government and Legal: Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Climate bill, Australia’s carbon plan, Cape Wind, EU green car strategy, DoE fundings, California diesel enforcement, EPA chemical database and National Building Competition, EU’s animal welfare concerns, European carbon trading raids, Catskill drilling ruling
• Tech Innovations: Lithium-air batteries
• Economic Indicators & Trends: Global carbon market, green confidence index, solar merger, higher-priced water, Vestas’ record turbine sale
• New Research & Tools: Greenwash guide, species and nature loss, EPA climate change report, regulatory pressures, forest carbon offsets

NOTABLE

Abbott leveraged renewable and low-carbon energy along with energy efficiency to reduce its manufacturing emissions, normalized by sales, by 36 percent compared to 2006 levels - achieving its goal of 30 percent by 2011 two years ahead of schedule.
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Anvil Knitwear became the first apparel company to receive manufacturing certification from third-party certifier Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP).
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Cisco will include capabilities from energy management technology vendor Verdiem in its EnergyWise Orchestrator to create a solution for managing energy usage of all networked devices.
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Cisco, Ericsson, IBM, and HP topped Greenpeace’s “Cool IT” ranking of technology companies ranked according to their climate solutions, carbon footprint and involvement in green advocacy.
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Citi announced it had invested $24 billion in green initiatives—half of its 10-year, $50 billion goal announced in 2007. Citi also set a series of environmental targets for 2015, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent, water usage by 20 percent, landfill waste by 40 percent and committing to LEED certification for at least 15 percent of its global real estate portfolio.
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US cotton industry organizations teamed up to create “Vision 21,” a year-long project to gather comprehensive lifecycle inventory data on cotton production and create a foundation for benchmarking sustainable textile operations.
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Dell, Intel, KPMG and a dozen others received InfoWorld’s 2010 Green 15 recognition, awarded to organizations using IT in innovative ways to reach their sustainability goals.
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GE and Nissan signed a three-year partnership to develop dynamic “smart-charging” technologies, including new ways to integrate vehicle-charging points into homes, buildings and the power grid.
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Intel is still the #1 green power buyers in the Fortune 500 according to EPA’s April 2010 ranking, with 51 percent of the company’s energy needs derived from renewable sources - over 1.4 billion kWh per year. Kohl’s, Whole Foods Market, Dell and Johnson & Johnson round out the top 5 spots on the list.
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J.R. Simplot’s sustainability report provided details on some of its closed-loop sustainability practices, including piping waste slurry from phosphate mines to a fertilizer plant 87 miles away, and capturing biogas from potato processing by-products and using it to power boiler systems.
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Otarian, a new fast-food vegetarian chain restaurant, says it is the world’s first restaurant to print the carbon footprint of each food offering on its menu.
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Philips’ reported approximately $927 million in LED lighting sales during the first quarter of 2010. LEDs accounted for 10 percent of the company’s total lighting sales over the last year.
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Distribution facility manager ProLogis announced it now offsets 100 percent of its carbon footprint via energy efficiency projects, green building standards and renewable energy projects.
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Puma unveiled a new shoebox design: The Clever Little Bag, which will cut the company’s paper use by 65 percent and lead to annual reductions of carbon emissions by 10,000 tons, electricity by 20 million megajoules, and fuel oil and water use by 1 million liters.
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Schneider Electric signed a $23 million contract with the city of Houston promising that its retrofits on 19 city buildings will save $1.8 million annually over the 15-year contract—or Schneider will pay the difference.
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CEF MEMBERS ONLY

• The CEF Annual Meeting is 5 weeks away: please register your team and reserve discounted hotel rooms as soon as possible. Each member may send three senior executives (VP-level or "rising stars") to the meeting.
• Members-only call: May 11, Noon-1:00 EST: “The Eco-Issues that Will Drive Tomorrow's NGO Campaigns.” Register yourself and your colleagues.

ROI SUCCESS STORIES

ConAgra Foods saved $28 million by cutting 27,000 metric tons of emissions, 18,000 tons of waste, and 128 million gallons of water from its operations. Projects included reusing water removed from tomatoes during the manufacturing process to supply boilers, cooling towers and tanks and redesigning packaging trays, which reduced shipments by 840 truckloads and packaging by 867 tons of paper.
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The Chairman of Diversey says that for every $1 invested in emissions reductions, the company gets $2 back because the company views CO2 as a waste byproduct to be eliminated.
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Federal agencies will save $4.2 million in the next five years through participation in a green IT program that allows IT departments to buy new servers and receive carbon offsets.
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Ford saved $4.5 million in 2009 by using recycled and environmentally friendly materials in its cars, including soy-based polyurethane foam in cushions and headliners, recycled yarn in fabrics, and recycled resin in underbody systems. The green materials yield cars that are now 85 percent recyclable by weight.
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GOVERNMENT AND LEGAL

Business and government leaders provided varying opinions on a timetable to stop the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, explained it could take 90 days before ultimately reaching a final solution to the well leak, while BP America President Lamar McKay said a dome to potentially cap the well could be deployed in 6 to 8 days.
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Senator Harry Reid said last week that he would push to introduce the U.S. climate bill ahead of immigration reform legislation in an effort to regain support of Republican co-author Lindsey Graham. In related developments: Senator John Kerry confirmed that the draft bill had been sent to the EPA for economic analysis. And more than 170 companies represented by the “We Can Lead” coalition sent another letter to senate leaders requesting that the climate bill get “back on track” for passage this year.
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Due to a lack of parliamentary votes and eroding public support, Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his country will postpone plans to enact a comprehensive carbon emissions reduction plan until after the Kyoto Treaty expires in 2012.
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After nine years of review and debate, the federal government approved the Cape Wind project, America’s first offshore wind project. Developers say the project will provide 75 percent of the power for Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard - the equivalent of a medium-sized coal power plant.
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The European Commission debuted an eight-point action plan for “green” cars aimed at bolstering the position of European automakers.
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The US Department of Energy will invest more than $200 million over the next five years to accelerate the development and commercialization of solar and water power in the U.S. The DoE also announced it will support the Masdar City project by sharing best practices and R&D resources in the areas of carbon capture, water and biofuel technologies.
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The California Air Resources Board may delay enforcement of its new diesel pollution rules to allow the trucking and construction industries more time to recover from the economic downturn.
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The EPA debuted an online database through which consumers can access toxicity information and testing results on hundreds of chemicals. Also, fourteen organizations will compete in the EPA’s National Building Competition, which challenges the contestants to compete to see which building can save the most energy over a year.
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The EU’s health and consumer affairs commissioner John Dalli said that he may propose a new animal welfare law, which would ensure that all imported products would be cruelty-free and not treated with chemicals deemed unacceptable by EU regulators.
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Authorities arrested four people and raided offices and homes in Germany, the U.K. and other European countries as part of an ongoing investigation into an estimated $240 million tax fraud associated with carbon trading.
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New York officials issued stiff regulations that essentially block a plan to use “hydraulic fracturing” to drill for natural gas in the Catskills Mountains, an area which provides much of the drinking water for New York City.
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TECH INNOVATIONS

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have achieved a scientific breakthrough in their development of lithium-air batteries, which may speed their commercialization - benefiting electronic and vehicle manufacturers with their lighter weight and higher energy density.
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ECONOMIC INDICATORS & TRENDS

GBI Research says the global market for carbon credit grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 89 percent from 2005 to 2009 - from $10.0 billion to $138.3 billion.
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Earthsense’s Green Confidence Index shows American consumers are 5 percent more positive about the green economy compared to nine months ago.
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World Bank and OECD officials are discussing the need for higher-priced water in order to encourage conservation and improve efficiencies.
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Vestas secured the largest wind energy deal in history to provide Portuguese wind power firm EDP Renovaveis with 1,500 MW worth of turbines and an option to purchase a further 600MW worth.
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NEW RESEARCH AND TOOLS

“From Greenwash to Great: A Practical Guide to Great Green Marketing (without the Greenwash)” from Ogilvy & Mather presents best practices for how to avoid exaggeration and miscommunication in sustainable marketing efforts.
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According to a new study in Science, governments will not meet their internationally-agreed target of curbing the loss of species and nature by 2010: virtually all species and ecosystems show continued decline.
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The EPA released a new report, “Climate Change Indicators in the United States,” aimed at helping American consumers understand the causes and impacts of climate change. A recent Yale study found that only 12 percent of Americans are “very worried” about global warming.
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A new AMR Research study of sustainability executives finds increased importance of regulatory issues as a driver of corporate sustainability strategy. It also identified an increased importance on reporting Scope 3 emissions.
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A report on forest carbon offsets finds that positive attitudes towards carbon offsets from forestry projects have jumped from 58 percent to 80 percent in the last year.
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