Citing fears of rising costs from climate change, insurance companies have begun changing the terms of their policies to encourage customers to act more green.
One change came last month, as California's Insurance Department approved a plan to let insurers adjust their fees to encourage customers to drive less, which could result in a decline in greenhouse gases.
Another recent initiative includes reimbursing property owners when they install energy-saving devices or use environmentally friendly materials as they rebuild damaged homes or commercial buildings.
Insurers say they want to do as much as they can to address the risk of climate change because they fear that environmental disasters, which are projected to keep rising as the climate changes, could expose them to larger losses.
This week, the Willis Research Network — an arm of one of the world's largest insurers, the Willis Group — partnered with San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography to measure the risks posed from climate change.
Peter Moraga, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute of California, said the insurers' green policies are “a direct result of looking at climate change as an issue. Reducing our (climate-related) risk is a big part of this.”
Critics say that some of the moves are little more than marketing ploys, designed to capitalize on growing public demand for greener goods and services.
A poll of insurers this summer by Celent — a Boston research and consulting firm — found that 56 percent of respondents said they intended to use their green policies in their marketing.
“Insurance companies realize they can get some mileage if they paint themselves as a bit greener,” said Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica group that has long been critical of the industry.
Government regulators are also prodding the insurers.
Starting in May, the nation's biggest insurers will be required to submit annual filings telling regulators and investors how much risk they face because of climate change and what steps they plan to take to mitigate the risks, under a rule adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Among other things, the rule requires each insurer to “summarize steps (it) has taken to encourage policyholders to reduce the losses caused by climate change-influenced events.”
One of the biggest initiatives is a nationwide campaign to introduce “pay-as-you-drive” auto coverage, tying auto insurance rates to mileage data collected from the odometer or other devices.
Last month, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner approved one of the nation's first pay-as-you-drive programs, citing a 2008 report by the Environmental Defense Fund that said if 30 percent of Californians used such coverage over the next 10 years, the state could avoid 55 million tons of CO 2 emissions, the equivalent of taking 10 million cars off the road.
If is approved by the Office of Administrative Law, it could go into effect as early as this month.
Although insurers have long used mileage as a factor in determining rates, the rules have often involved broad categories. For instance, State Farm, one of California's biggest auto insurers, provides a lower rate for people who drive below 7,500 miles per year and a higher rate if they exceed that level.
“How does a rule like that incentivize anybody who drives, say, 12,000 miles per year to reduce their driving,” Heller said. “They'll never get down to 7,500, so why try?”
Although low-mileage drivers stand to get lower insurance rates thanks to pay-as-you-drive, some of the biggest benefits may go to the insurers, who will be able to use more comprehensive mileage data when setting rates.
In fact, insurers see a number of benefits from climate change. A report last month by the Insurance Information Institute of New York — an affiliate of the California institute — found that “opportunities exist on several fronts” from climate change, including the creation of whole new industries, such as alternative fuel facilities, that will need new forms of insurance.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
African lawmakers seek common position ahead of Copenhagen climate meeting
African lawmakers are meeting Nairobi to discuss best ways to handle the harsh environmental conditions brought by climate change ahead of the UN meeting on global warming in Denmark.
Lawmakers attending the two-day meeting said Africa must be fully prepared to justify its requests at the Copenhagen meeting to allow financial flows to the continent.
Kenya's Environment Minister John Michuki said that there was need to make a firm decision on the amount required to address climate change issues in Africa.
"We should spend the remaining time on projects and numbers because it is in Copenhagen that projects and numbers will meet the financial gurus of this world," Michuki said at the start of the meeting on Tuesday.
"If we shall be told to go back home and work out on our programs and projects, we shall have wasted our meager resources for two weeks and come out there with nothing," he added.
The conference is also expected to rally African countries to demand for an equitable post in the 2012 Climate Change Agreement.
The lawmakers will show their commitment in conserving the environment by planting trees in Karura Forest. Five hectares has been set aside for the exercise.
Swedish ambassador Ann Dismorr said the European Union (EU) pledged to cut the emission of greenhouse gasses by 30 percent by next year and scale up financial support to developing countries.
"This is providing that other developed countries make comparable reduction commitments, and providing that advanced developing countries contribute adequately according to their responsibilities and capabilities," Dismorr said.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai said Africa should stop over dependence on donor funds and implement environment conservation measures that do not require much funding.
Maathai told the lawmakers that governments should encourage planting of more trees, harvesting rain water, curbing soil erosion and protection of wetlands instead of just looking up to the West for aid.
She told African MPs attending the conference to forge the continent's collective position ahead of the global climate talks in Copenhagen in December to ensure the forum was not another talking shop.
In June, the African Parliamentarians Summit on Climate change said it would demand at the talks that the Annex 1 countries (developed countries) committed a minimum 200 billion U.S. dollars annually for adaptation and mitigation of climate change in developing countries.
Among issues to be deliberated on by the lawmakers, university dons and environmental experts include the role of lawmakers on climate change, legislative approaches, disputes and actions, economic impact of climate change and its implication on development.
"Because we could talk about degradation, adaptation, we can talk about mitigation but that will not take us anywhere in Copenhagen," Michuki said. He said the industrialized nations should leave the developing countries to come up with their own solutions to the climate change problem.
The Copenhagen talks are expected to come up with a new climate deal to replace the Kyoto protocol which was adopted in December 1997 and entered into force in February 2005.
The Kyoto Protocol which sets binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has been signed and ratified by 184 parties of the UN Climate Convention with the United States as a notable exception.
Lawmakers attending the two-day meeting said Africa must be fully prepared to justify its requests at the Copenhagen meeting to allow financial flows to the continent.
Kenya's Environment Minister John Michuki said that there was need to make a firm decision on the amount required to address climate change issues in Africa.
"We should spend the remaining time on projects and numbers because it is in Copenhagen that projects and numbers will meet the financial gurus of this world," Michuki said at the start of the meeting on Tuesday.
"If we shall be told to go back home and work out on our programs and projects, we shall have wasted our meager resources for two weeks and come out there with nothing," he added.
The conference is also expected to rally African countries to demand for an equitable post in the 2012 Climate Change Agreement.
The lawmakers will show their commitment in conserving the environment by planting trees in Karura Forest. Five hectares has been set aside for the exercise.
Swedish ambassador Ann Dismorr said the European Union (EU) pledged to cut the emission of greenhouse gasses by 30 percent by next year and scale up financial support to developing countries.
"This is providing that other developed countries make comparable reduction commitments, and providing that advanced developing countries contribute adequately according to their responsibilities and capabilities," Dismorr said.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai said Africa should stop over dependence on donor funds and implement environment conservation measures that do not require much funding.
Maathai told the lawmakers that governments should encourage planting of more trees, harvesting rain water, curbing soil erosion and protection of wetlands instead of just looking up to the West for aid.
She told African MPs attending the conference to forge the continent's collective position ahead of the global climate talks in Copenhagen in December to ensure the forum was not another talking shop.
In June, the African Parliamentarians Summit on Climate change said it would demand at the talks that the Annex 1 countries (developed countries) committed a minimum 200 billion U.S. dollars annually for adaptation and mitigation of climate change in developing countries.
Among issues to be deliberated on by the lawmakers, university dons and environmental experts include the role of lawmakers on climate change, legislative approaches, disputes and actions, economic impact of climate change and its implication on development.
"Because we could talk about degradation, adaptation, we can talk about mitigation but that will not take us anywhere in Copenhagen," Michuki said. He said the industrialized nations should leave the developing countries to come up with their own solutions to the climate change problem.
The Copenhagen talks are expected to come up with a new climate deal to replace the Kyoto protocol which was adopted in December 1997 and entered into force in February 2005.
The Kyoto Protocol which sets binding targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has been signed and ratified by 184 parties of the UN Climate Convention with the United States as a notable exception.
California passes bill to encourage stormwater reuse
During the wet season, the city of L.A. sends 100 million gallons of stormwater into the Pacific each day. That water had, for many years, been handled as pollution, since the water produced in rainstorms picks up various effluents that then flush into the ocean.
But a new California bill seeks to expand the role of stormwater management to incorporate strategies that will use it as a resource. The Stormwater Resource Planning Act, SB 790, allows municipalities to tap funds from two of the state’s existing bond funds and use the money for projects that reduce or reuse stormwater, recharge the groundwater supply, create green spaces and enhance wildlife habitats. SB 790 was signed into law Sunday and takes effect Jan. 1, 2010.
"I was proud to carry 790," said Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), who wrote the bill. "It uses existing funds to create new water supplies out of water that in the past was simply treated and dumped. This bill helps create a significant new source of water for our always water-short state."
With California in the throes of a budget crisis and a water crisis – the state is currently enduring a third year of drought – the competition will likely be fierce among the many government agencies that manage the state’s stormwater. SB 790 allows agencies to apply for and, if approved, draw on remaining funds from Prop. 50, the $3.44-billion water security bond passed by California voters in 2002, and Prop. 84, the $5.4-billion safe drinking water bond passed in 2006. Exactly how much money is left over from those bonds is unclear.
L.A.’s Bureau of Sanitation, which has already received $22 million in bond funds from the state for various stormwater projects, is likely to apply for even more funds through SB 790. According to Wing Tam, assistant division manager for the bureau’s watershed protection division, the money will fund an expansion of the city's rainwater harvesting projects and green infrastructure, including large cisterns, stream restoration, biofiltration and downspout disconnections.
"It's important for us to capture stormwater and use it as a resource," said Tam, who noted that the city's paradigm shift from viewing stormwater as pollution to stormwater as a resource has been a gradual process born through 10 years of pilot projects. "Not only does that help us with water quality but quality of life. A wetland park deals with water quality
Bush-era EPA document on climate change released
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday released a long-suppressed report by George W. Bush administration officials who had concluded -- based on science -- that the government should begin regulating greenhouse gas emissions because global warming posed serious risks to the country.
The report, known as an "endangerment finding," was done in 2007. The Bush White House refused to make it public because it opposed new government efforts to regulate the gases most scientists see as the major cause of global warming.
The existence of the finding -- and the refusal of the Bush administration to make it public -- were already known. But no copy of the document had been released until Tuesday.
The document "demonstrates that in 2007 the science was as clear as it is today," said Adora Andy, EPA spokeswoman. "The conclusions reached then by EPA scientists should have been made public and should have been considered."
The Bush administration EPA draft was released in response to a public records request under the Freedom of Information Act by the environmental trade publication Greenwire.
A finding that greenhouse gases and global warming pose serious risks to the nation is a necessary step in instituting government regulation. President Obama and congressional Democrats are seeking major climate legislation, but the administration has indicated that if Congress fails to act, it might use an EPA finding to move toward regulation on its own.
In April, the administration released its proposal for an endangerment finding. The newly released document from the Bush EPA shows that much of the Obama document embraces the earlier, suppressed finding word for word.
"Both reach the same conclusion -- that the public is endangered and regulation is required," said Jason Burnett, a former associate deputy administrator who resigned from the EPA in June 2008 amid frustration over the Bush administration's inaction on climate change. "Science and the law transcend politics."
The 2007 draft offers an unequivocal endorsement of the prevailing views among climate scientists. It includes a declaration that the "U.S. and the rest of the world are experiencing the effects of climate change now" and warns that in the U.S., those effects could lead to drought, more frequent hurricanes and other extreme weather events, increased respiratory disease and a rise in heat-related deaths.
The Obama version of the finding has gone through the necessary hearings and public comments. A final EPA version is expected to be released soon.
Although the 2007 and 2009 findings are nearly identical in their conclusions about climate change, the Bush version is far less detailed.
A current EPA official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said the sparse descriptions in the 2007 version suggested that EPA officials were worried about how the White House would respond.
"They honed it down to the essential language to explain an endangerment finding," the official said. "In 2009, those constraints are removed. . . . You don't see those same linguistic gymnastics."
The report, known as an "endangerment finding," was done in 2007. The Bush White House refused to make it public because it opposed new government efforts to regulate the gases most scientists see as the major cause of global warming.
The existence of the finding -- and the refusal of the Bush administration to make it public -- were already known. But no copy of the document had been released until Tuesday.
The document "demonstrates that in 2007 the science was as clear as it is today," said Adora Andy, EPA spokeswoman. "The conclusions reached then by EPA scientists should have been made public and should have been considered."
The Bush administration EPA draft was released in response to a public records request under the Freedom of Information Act by the environmental trade publication Greenwire.
A finding that greenhouse gases and global warming pose serious risks to the nation is a necessary step in instituting government regulation. President Obama and congressional Democrats are seeking major climate legislation, but the administration has indicated that if Congress fails to act, it might use an EPA finding to move toward regulation on its own.
In April, the administration released its proposal for an endangerment finding. The newly released document from the Bush EPA shows that much of the Obama document embraces the earlier, suppressed finding word for word.
"Both reach the same conclusion -- that the public is endangered and regulation is required," said Jason Burnett, a former associate deputy administrator who resigned from the EPA in June 2008 amid frustration over the Bush administration's inaction on climate change. "Science and the law transcend politics."
The 2007 draft offers an unequivocal endorsement of the prevailing views among climate scientists. It includes a declaration that the "U.S. and the rest of the world are experiencing the effects of climate change now" and warns that in the U.S., those effects could lead to drought, more frequent hurricanes and other extreme weather events, increased respiratory disease and a rise in heat-related deaths.
The Obama version of the finding has gone through the necessary hearings and public comments. A final EPA version is expected to be released soon.
Although the 2007 and 2009 findings are nearly identical in their conclusions about climate change, the Bush version is far less detailed.
A current EPA official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said the sparse descriptions in the 2007 version suggested that EPA officials were worried about how the White House would respond.
"They honed it down to the essential language to explain an endangerment finding," the official said. "In 2009, those constraints are removed. . . . You don't see those same linguistic gymnastics."
Colour blindness corrected by gene therapy
Researchers have used gene therapy to restore colour vision in two adult monkeys that have been unable to distinguish between red and green hues since birth — raising the hope of curing colour blindness and other visual disorders in humans.
"This is a truly amazing study," says András Komáromy, a vision researcher and veterinary ophthalmologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who was not involved in the research.
Providing green jobs & reducing carbon footprint
The E-Hanger company is proud to announce their entry into the 2009 annual waste minimization awards slated for Thursday, October 22, 2009 at Atlantis Pavilions - Ontario Place. The event is organized by the Recycling Council of Ontario.
The 25-year-old contest rewards achievements in environmental sustainability and waste reduction innovations — two areas that E-Hanger excels in. This year’s event special guest speaker is the Hon. John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment
First launched in Toronto, but now available all across Canada, the E-Hanger is manufactured from post consumer waste board and is printed with eco vegetable oil based inks. Its durability and eco-friendly properties have made the product an ideal replacement for the millions of non-recyclable wire clothes hangers that are dumped into Canadian landfills each year.
Through the replacement of wire and plastic hangers for eco-friendly clothing hangers, E-Hanger will substantially reduce the carbon footprint of dry cleaners by eliminating their large contribution of wire hangers to landfills. In turn, consumers who use dry cleaning services will also be reducing their carbon footprints, by bringing their clean clothes home on 100% recyclable hangers instead of wire or plastic ones.
The addition of green jobs is also a stimulus attribute to the local economy that E-Hanger provides. Green jobs are provided in the field for sales professionals, graphic designers, public relation officers and web designers.
About E-Hanger
E-Hanger In-Home Media delivers marketing solutions such as direct response campaigns, coupons, sampling or branded messaging throughout Canada directly into consumers homes via its eco-friendly clothing hangers. We guarantee 100% view rate and in-home reach of your advertising message. Advertising programs are delivered to mature individuals who are career driven, command high disposable income, and are determined to know about the latest trends and products.
The 25-year-old contest rewards achievements in environmental sustainability and waste reduction innovations — two areas that E-Hanger excels in. This year’s event special guest speaker is the Hon. John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment
First launched in Toronto, but now available all across Canada, the E-Hanger is manufactured from post consumer waste board and is printed with eco vegetable oil based inks. Its durability and eco-friendly properties have made the product an ideal replacement for the millions of non-recyclable wire clothes hangers that are dumped into Canadian landfills each year.
Through the replacement of wire and plastic hangers for eco-friendly clothing hangers, E-Hanger will substantially reduce the carbon footprint of dry cleaners by eliminating their large contribution of wire hangers to landfills. In turn, consumers who use dry cleaning services will also be reducing their carbon footprints, by bringing their clean clothes home on 100% recyclable hangers instead of wire or plastic ones.
The addition of green jobs is also a stimulus attribute to the local economy that E-Hanger provides. Green jobs are provided in the field for sales professionals, graphic designers, public relation officers and web designers.
About E-Hanger
E-Hanger In-Home Media delivers marketing solutions such as direct response campaigns, coupons, sampling or branded messaging throughout Canada directly into consumers homes via its eco-friendly clothing hangers. We guarantee 100% view rate and in-home reach of your advertising message. Advertising programs are delivered to mature individuals who are career driven, command high disposable income, and are determined to know about the latest trends and products.
China Finds More Cases of Lead in Children
Lead poisoning continues to emerge among children in China despite growing public protests, with officials revealing Tuesday that tests showed nearly 1,000 children had excessive lead in their blood, and a factory owner acknowledging some responsibility.
Health officials in the city of Jiyuan in central China's Henan province tested 2,743 children living in a region with some three dozen smelters.
This followed wide-scale lead poisoning in an industrial cluster in neighboring Shaanxi province. Henan officials found signs of lead poisoning in 968 children under the age of 14, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Xinhua reported on the local government's efforts to move the children living closest to the factories, and cited a top executive acknowledging responsibility.
Yang Anguo, chairman of Yuguang Gold & Lead Group, the largest lead smelter in China, was quoted by Xinhua as saying, "We do bear responsibility for the pollution. Some pollution has accumulated over the past 20 years or more, and the plant is too near homes."
Cases of lead poisoning and other pollution have become a distressingly familiar byproduct of China's unchecked economic growth.
But, increasingly, parents are trying to fight back, and the state-controlled press has begun to shine a spotlight on the worst violations as the central government, wanting to be seen as fighting to clean up and shut down the dirtiest factories, seeks to maintain stability in the face of growing anger at the abuses.
In recent months, thousands of children from areas near smelters have been found to have excessive levels of lead in their blood, resulting in occasionally violent protests.
Demonstrations by villagers upset over the lead poisoning of 851 children in northwest China's Shaanxi province led authorities to close the smelting plant responsible for the lead discharges in August.
Soon after, a larger case of lead poisoning was reported in Hunan, in which more than 1,300 children were found to have excessive lead levels, and more than 200 children in southwestern Yunnan province were found to have signs of lead poisoning.
The official acknowledgment of responsibility in Xinhua's report Tuesday is a marked change from a similar case in 2006, where a smaller-scale lead-poisoning incident in the remote western China province of Gansu was met with official stonewalling as the victims fought for compensation and medical attention for their children.
Last month, China's environment minister, Zhou Shengxian, urged new methods to deal with heavy-metal poisoning, calling for "powerful measures" to prevent pollution by materials like lead. But the government has had little success in past efforts to clean up the industry and faces significant obstacles, such as weak enforcement mechanisms.
Lead poisoning can cause permanent learning disabilities in children, and in high concentrations can cause organ failure or death.
But lead is an important component of China's economic boom, used in the production of trinkets and increasingly in the batteries of electric bicycles and cars. China has emerged as the world's biggest car market.
Health officials in the city of Jiyuan in central China's Henan province tested 2,743 children living in a region with some three dozen smelters.
Reuters
A man wipes tears off the face of his grandson, who was diagnosed with having excessive lead in his blood.
Xinhua reported on the local government's efforts to move the children living closest to the factories, and cited a top executive acknowledging responsibility.
Yang Anguo, chairman of Yuguang Gold & Lead Group, the largest lead smelter in China, was quoted by Xinhua as saying, "We do bear responsibility for the pollution. Some pollution has accumulated over the past 20 years or more, and the plant is too near homes."
Cases of lead poisoning and other pollution have become a distressingly familiar byproduct of China's unchecked economic growth.
But, increasingly, parents are trying to fight back, and the state-controlled press has begun to shine a spotlight on the worst violations as the central government, wanting to be seen as fighting to clean up and shut down the dirtiest factories, seeks to maintain stability in the face of growing anger at the abuses.
In recent months, thousands of children from areas near smelters have been found to have excessive levels of lead in their blood, resulting in occasionally violent protests.
Demonstrations by villagers upset over the lead poisoning of 851 children in northwest China's Shaanxi province led authorities to close the smelting plant responsible for the lead discharges in August.
Soon after, a larger case of lead poisoning was reported in Hunan, in which more than 1,300 children were found to have excessive lead levels, and more than 200 children in southwestern Yunnan province were found to have signs of lead poisoning.
The official acknowledgment of responsibility in Xinhua's report Tuesday is a marked change from a similar case in 2006, where a smaller-scale lead-poisoning incident in the remote western China province of Gansu was met with official stonewalling as the victims fought for compensation and medical attention for their children.
Last month, China's environment minister, Zhou Shengxian, urged new methods to deal with heavy-metal poisoning, calling for "powerful measures" to prevent pollution by materials like lead. But the government has had little success in past efforts to clean up the industry and faces significant obstacles, such as weak enforcement mechanisms.
Lead poisoning can cause permanent learning disabilities in children, and in high concentrations can cause organ failure or death.
But lead is an important component of China's economic boom, used in the production of trinkets and increasingly in the batteries of electric bicycles and cars. China has emerged as the world's biggest car market.
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