George Soros Pledges $1.1 Billion to Fund Climate Change Initiatives
| Press Release: EDFs Climate Corps Identifies $54 Million in Savings at Leading Corporations (Washington, DC – October 14, 2009) This past summer, 26 MBA students from across the country joined Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) Climate Corps program to help Fortune 500 and other leading companies uncover energy efficiencies that represent net operating savings of more than $54 million over the lifetime of the projects. These projects could also reduce energy use by more than 160 million kilowatt hours (khW) a year – enough to power 14,000 homes – and avoid more than 100,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year.”Our Climate Corps fellows bring to life the powerful business case for energy efficiency,” said Gwen Ruta, vice president, corporate partnerships at EDF. “As the next generation of business leaders, they are demonstrating first-hand that cutting costs while cutting carbon is a win-win proposition.”Launched in 2008, EDF’s Climate Corps trains business students to analyze energy efficiency opportunities at their host companies. The inaugural class of Climate Corps fellows identified projects that could save 120 million kWh per year of energy – to date, projects that account for 97% of that potential energy savings have either been completed or are in implementation at the 2008 host companies.This year’s cohort of fellows from top-tier universities including Duke, Stanford, Cornell and Yale spent their summer fellowships working at leading companies such as Cisco Systems, Dell, eBay Inc., EMC, Genzyme, HP, Sodexo and Sony Pictures Entertainment. With support from EDF, the fellows developed detailed energy efficiency investment and implementation plans for each host company.”The Climate Corps program provided 10 months of value to eBay in 10 weeks,” said Bence Oliver, senior manager, operational sustainability, eBay. “Our fellow Cindy Chen was crucial to eBay’s effort to articulate its carbon emissions reduction target and chart a course to meet it.”The fellows found efficiency gains from improving lighting, computer equipment and heating and cooling systems. Some highlights include:
“Our Climate Corps fellow provided excellent analysis of our sustainability programs that has allowed us to focus on energy efficiency enhancements that are both strategic and financially advantageous,” said Jeff Hargleroad, executive vice president of corporate operations for Sony Pictures Entertainment.To identify and select exceptional fellows, EDF partners with Net Impact, the preeminent network of students and professionals using the power of business to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world.”In addition to helping companies cut costs through energy efficiency, Climate Corps is creating a new generation of ‘green’ business leaders to spearhead corporate environmental innovation in the years to come,” said Liz Maw, executive director, Net Impact. “The strong student interest in the program is a promising trend for the future of responsible business.”For more information on Climate Corps and details on how to host a fellow in 2010, visit www.edf.org/climatecorps. ###2009 Climate Corps program hosts include: Accenture, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), Ahold USA, Biltmore Farms, Cisco Systems, Dell, eBay Inc., EMC Corporation, Genzyme, Grubb Properties, Houston Rockets/Toyota Center, HP, Inuit Inc., National Instruments, North Carolina Central University, Raytheon Company, salesforce.com, Savvis, Shorenstein Realty Services L.P., Sodexo, Sony Pictures Entertainment, SunGard and TXU Energy. All trademarks, including company names, are the property of their respective owners. |
| George Soros Pledges $1.1 Billion to Fund Climate Change Initiatives Philanthropist and businessman George Soros announced this week that he would be the next in a line of wealthy front-runners to fund initiatives in clean technology. Soros is the founder of hedge fund Soros Fund Management LLC, and has been known for making monetary contributions to other charitable efforts that effect the well-being of society, such as health care and eduction; now hes shifting his focus to play a part in reducing the impact of climate change. |
| Getting Greener May Cost Us Less Than We Think Cutting greenhouse gases along the lines of a climate bill pending in Congress would modestly impact the US economy over the next few decades, the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Wednesday in a report. |
| Scientists Suggest New Arctic Study May Oversate Sea Ice Melting Cambridge professor Peter Wadhams made headlines yesterday when he said that data gathered from British explorer Pen Hadlow’s Arctic trek, called the Catlin Ice Survey, shows that Arctic summers will be entirely ice-free by 2020. Today, many experts fear the Wadhams may be overstating just how fast the Arctic will be open ocean in summer. |
| Energy Star appliances may not all be efficient, audit finds. The Energy Department has concluded in an internal audit that it does not properly track whether manufacturers giving their appliances an Energy Star label have met the required specifications for energy efficiency. |
| Global Warming Threatens to Upset Arctic Carbon Trapping The US Geological Survey, in partnership with the Ecological Society of America, University of Alaska Fairbanks published the results of a study on the changing climate and the important role that the Arctic plays in sequestering carbon. The study shows that the arctic could potentially alter the Earths climate by becoming a possible source of global atmospheric carbon dioxide. |
150mpg Algae-Powered Toyota Prius First algae fuel-powered vehicle in the world was officially launched in San Francisco. The car, called Algaeus is a modified Toyota Prius, which derives power from green crude, from Sapphire Energy. The car runs on an astonishing 150 miles per gallon of green fuel. But they are aspiring to cross the US on approximately [.]Posted in: Biofuels, Hybrid Cars, Transportation |
| In for the long haul on climate change. In late September, Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency moved a little further along on a long trek that might lead to a requirement that U.S. industries reduce their carbon dioxide emissions to limit their contributions to global climate change. |
| LessCarbonMoreJobs Welcomes Texas By Sharyn SteinOur groundbreaking web site, www.LessCarbonMoreJobs.org, now has 22 states on it.A new map of clean energy companies in Texas was unveiled yesterday. It shows about 150 businesses working in energy efficiency or renewable energy in the Lone Star State, most of them clustered around the Dallas/Fort Worth/Austin area.That brings the site to a total of [.] |
| Sperm whales as a carbon sink. Sperm whales in the Southern Ocean deserve credit for their fine work pumping iron for climate change, researchers say. |