This is a great example of how clean energy investment creates jobs. Unfortunately, with investment of all kinds down, experts don't expect 2009 to be quite as rosy for the wind industry. But the long-term outlook is good for people seeking jobs in this sector — once Congress puts a cap on carbon pollution, the investment dollars will start flowing again, and the hiring will kick back into high gear.

(Hat tip to Green Wombat.)

Environmental Defense Fund has been working with some of the largest commercial fleets – including Fortune 500 titans Abbott, DuPont and Owens Corning – to identify ways to reduce fuel consumption, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Our efforts have delivered results. Fleets that fully implemented the program outlined below reduced their emissions by an average of 14 percent, and reduced lifecycle operating costs by 4 percent.

We first started working with commercial passenger vehicle fleets in 2005 when we partnered with PHH Arval, one of the world's largest fleet management service providers. At the time, most fleets were focusing their environmental efforts on a technological approach. They included a limited number of alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles, but made no changes in most of their operation. Together with PHH, we came up with a more effective plan that consists of five simple steps:

1. Measure emissions.
2. Consider projected emissions when selecting new vehicles.
3. Work with drivers to optimize fuel-economy.
4. Offset emissions that aren't reduced.
5. Report on the progress of reduction efforts.

Using this process, our partners are demonstrating that small improvements in a large number of vehicles can make a significant difference. Plus their initiative is causing ripple effects.

At two recent fleet events – American Fleet Leasing Conference in Phoenix, and the first ever GreenFleet conference in Chicago – nearly every speaker emphasized that fleets need to quantify and reduce their emissions. Fleet managers shared many innovative stories on ways they've been able to do this. Pepsico, for example, changed some delivery routes to avoid loading-dock congestion. Abbott Laboratories encouraged its sales staff to choose more efficient vehicles by up-fitting those vehicles with popular – and usually driver-paid – options.

The greatest sign of progress has been the response of other fleet management companies. PHH Arval, with our help, became the first company in North America to offer a comprehensive greenhouse gas management service. Now their largest competitors, including ARI, LeasePlan, Wheels, and Donlen, are following suit with programs that measure and reduce fleet emissions.

With 7 million passenger vehicles in commercial operations, there's a huge opportunity to reduce emissions. The current efforts are just a beginning. Company fleets can cut their global warming pollution and fuel expenditures even more. In these days of $4/gallon gas, that's a big win-win.

This post is by Jason Mathers, a project manager in the Corporate Partnerships Program at Environmental Defense Fund.

Our Corporate Partnerships team placed MBA students from top business schools at five California companies: Intuit, NVIDIA, Cisco, Yahoo! and Salesforce.com, and at Crescent Real Estate in Houston, Texas. The interns spent the summer making the business case for increasing energy efficiency in company facilities. One intern found that Cisco could reduce its carbon footprint by nearly 300 million pounds and save $24 million over five years by installing smart power distribution units in their labs. For more, check out our "What We Did This Summer" page.

This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

The June 2008 issue of Treasury and Risk lists Gwen Ruta, vice president for Corporate Partnerships at Environmental Defense Fund, as one of the year's 100 most influential people in finance, along with movers and shakers like Al Gore and Carl Icahn:

Gwen Ruta, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Environmental Defense Fund
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts put the nonprofit group on the corporate map when it asked EDF to assess the environmental performance of its U.S. companies. It's Ruta's job to help business partners create best practices when it comes to protecting the earth.

The collaboration between EDF and private equity firm KKR builds on the relationship forged in 2007 when KKR bought out TXU – one of the largest (and dirtiest) power companies in the country. EDF and KKR worked together to develop aggressive environmental goals as part of the buyout deal.

Now EDF and KKR are creating a process to drive environmental improvement across KKR's portfolio of companies, similar to the way KKR drives financial improvement. KKR's $39 billion portfolio includes over 40 companies, and spans such diverse industries as retail (Toys "R" Us, U.S. Foodservice), energy (TXU), consumer products (Sealy) and health care (Jazz Pharmaceuticals).

Ideas for businesses, and hope for everyone concerned about global warming – that's what you get with our just-published, first annual Innovations Review. This new report highlights innovative processes, products, and technologies in a range of different industries.

Green business practices can drive cost savings and create new markets, giving companies a competitive advantage. But what's next after the basics, like switching to energy-saving light bulbs and printing double-sided?

Here's one example that caught my eye – a southern California Web hosting company powered entirely by the Sun.

All server farms must be kept cool. In fact, the average data center is 40 times more energy intensive than an office building. For Affordable Internet Services Online (AISO) , which is in the desert, cooling is a particular challenge. But AISO is able to meet 100 percent of its power needs – for both its office and server farm – from 120 solar panels.

How is this possible? The answer lies in a combination of efficient design and innovative technology. For example, the AISO facility features:

• A unique air cooling system blows in cool air from outside when the temperature drops below 50°F (as often happens at night).
• Twelve-inch walls with high-grade insulation.
• Servers running at 75 percent capacity – compared to the usual 10 percent – thanks to virtualization software that lets one server host multiple applications.

The data center cost 60 percent more to build than a standard site. But AISO saves $3,000 a month in utility bills, and its environmentally responsible business practices have attracted a fast-growing client base.

In short, the company's investment is rapidly paying off.

Check out the full report for examples of other innovative business practices in real estate, manufacturing, fleet management, finance, and more.

A little over a year ago, Environmental Defense, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Ceres sent a letter to the three lead banks financing the TXU deal we helped broker. We said the banks no longer could ignore CO₂ in their investment decisions.

Today we are seeing the culmination of this effort. The three banks – Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley – have announced that they will require utilities seeking financing to prove the new plants would be economically viable under an expected federal cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

This will make it much harder for utilities to build conventional coal plants.

The banks, in consultation with Environmental Defense, NRDC, and some leading power companies, developed three Carbon Principles to manage the risk in financing utilities:

The Carbon Principles:

• Energy efficiency. The banks will encourage clients to invest in cost-effective demand reduction through energy efficiency. Demand reduction will be considered in financing new fossil fuel generation.
• Renewable and low-carbon energy technologies. The banks will encourage clients to invest in cost-effective renewable energy and distributed technologies. Production increases from renewable and low-carbon energy generation will be considered in financing new fossil fuel generation.
• Risks in fossil fuel generation. Due to evolving climate policy, investing in CO₂-emitting fossil fuel generation entails uncertain financial, regulatory, and environmental liability risks – for example, the cost of purchasing carbon credits. Banks will assess and reflect these risks in financing new fossil fuel generation.

In addition to the Principles, the consortium has developed an Enhanced Due Diligence framework to help lenders better understand and evaluate the carbon risks associated with coal plant investments.

The Carbon Principles and Enhanced Due Diligence framework are a good first step in assessing electric generation options in light of the pressing need to substantially reduce national greenhouse gas pollution. But they are only a first step.

If the banks thoroughly implement the Enhanced Due Diligence process and act on their findings, we will see a change in the direction of investments. In fact, all financial institutions should be using these Carbon Principles and Enhanced Due Diligence framework.

But even if the Principles and framework become business-as-usual, we will not have gotten where we need to go. To stop global climate change, we must have federal legislation that caps carbon emissions.

Climate Vote 2007

Part of a series on the work of the Environmental Defense Action Fund to enact an effective climate law. You can help by writing to Congress.

The US Climate Action Partnership (US-CAP) ran its first newspaper ad [PDF] last week in the widely read Capitol Hill newspapers Roll Call and the Politico. The ad urges Congress to "take prompt action" to reduce America's global warming pollution and recommends a "cap-and-trade program that achieves emission reductions at the lowest possible cost."

The ad is a clear signal that the partnership of 27 major corporations and 6 leading environmental organizations is eager to assert itself in the political debate and to push the global warming solutions agenda forward.

Environmental Defense co-founded US-CAP earlier this year to bring environmentalists and businesses from a variety of industries together around a common set of principles for effective global warming action. Since its launch, the number of companies and organizations involved in US-CAP has more than doubled.

The businesses involved in US-CAP have combined annual revenue of more than $2 trillion. The participation of this diverse group of successful businesses willing to promote meaningful global warming legislation directly challenges the tired argument that there is an inevitable trade off between the environment and the economy.

Smart global warming policy can cut emissions without significantly harming the economy. In fact, there is tremendous potential for economic growth as America transforms and adopts new energy and efficiency technologies.

There is no greater proof of this than the participation of so many Fortune 500 companies in US-CAP.

Why should your company take action to fight global warming? Shareholders want progress, investors are calling for transparency, national policy is coming, and waiting to act will be costly.

To help you get started, Environmental Defense has developed a hierarchy of effective actions called the "Four Cs" – conserve energy, convert to lower carbon energy, choose quality offsets, and call for action.

Here are the details.

1. Conserve energy. Energy use in buildings – heating, cooling, lighting, etc. – is responsible for nearly 40 percent of U.S. global warming pollution. Simple changes such as occupancy sensors to control lighting and Energy Star office equipment can substantially reduce emissions and energy costs. You can save even more by improving efficiencies in manufacturing and corporate fleets.
2. Convert to lower carbon energy. State and utility incentives can make it cost-effective for companies to install renewable power systems like solar panels or wind turbines. The benefits are long-term emissions reductions, a hedge against fluctuations in energy prices, and a visible commitment to clean energy.
3. Choose quality offsets. Offsets support reductions in greenhouse gas emissions outside company walls. They don't replace reducing your own emissions, but they're a helpful additional step. We recommend purchasing offsets after making all the on-site reductions you can. Offsets have to be purchased each year, and must be carefully assessed to ensure they truly reduce emissions. Since evaluating offsets can be complicated, we list several credible, high quality offsets on our Web site.
4. Call for action. Corporations are well positioned to influence others – government officials, suppliers, customers, and others. Leadership brings a variety of advantages. A national climate policy would create a single set of rules to play by, and reward those who act first. Encouraging suppliers to be more efficient can reduce a company's own costs. Finally, getting out ahead on fighting climate change helps a business improve its reputation in the marketplace.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is good business. It can cut costs, drive corporate innovation, improve public relations, and help prepare for federal regulations. The Four Cs can get you started.

Climate change can have a significant impact on a company's bottom line – just ask any insurance company. But as the Washington Post points out, it's not only insurance companies that are affected. Climate change can cause physical damage to facilities, increase costs of regulatory compliance, and (on the plus side) create new markets for climate-friendly products – to give just a few examples.

So today, Environmental Defense and a broad coalition of investors, state treasurers, and other environmental groups petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to clarify that existing regulations require publicly traded companies to assess and disclose their financial risk from climate change. Altogether, the 22 petitioners manage more than $1.5 trillion in assets. You can find full documentation, including the petition, on our Web site.

Current federal securities law mandates disclosure of trends that are likely to have a material effect on a company's financial performance. Climate change clearly falls under this umbrella, yet many companies fail to disclose the risks and opportunities that global warming poses to their operations.

A January 2007 study published by Ceres and the Calvert Group, an asset management firm, found that more than half the companies in the S&P 500 Index do a poor job of disclosing climate change risks to their investors.  Exxon Mobil, for example, has only one cursory mention of climate change in its entire 2006 annual filing with the SEC.  Companies in sectors with low greenhouse gas emissions, including insurance companies and banks, have especially poor disclosure.

Investors need full disclosure of climate risks to make informed investment decisions. Our petition asks the SEC to clarify that companies must disclose any material risks from climate change, including:

• physical risks to business operations and profits,
• exposure to present and probable greenhouse gas regulations, and
• legal proceedings relating to climate change.

We also asked that the Commission take immediate action on corporate climate disclosure as it develops the new guidance. Because the obligation to disclose climate-related risks and opportunities exists under current law, the SEC Division of Corporation Finance "need not and should not wait" in "scrutinizing the adequacy of registrants' climate disclosures".

Today the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) announced it has doubled its membership. This was no small feat for a coalition comprised of busy corporate CEOs.

USCAP is a coalition of businesses and environmental organizations advocating national legislation for mandatory reduction of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. New members such as General Motors (the coalition's first automaker) and The Nature Conversancy speak to how mainstream the issue of global warming has become.

I act as co-chair of USCAP's Communications committee with Peter O'Toole of GE. We worked with the Membership committee to set the goal of doubling the coalition's size, and to create a sense of urgency around it. Mark Brownstein, Managing Director of Business Partnerships at Environmental Defense, was a major source of outreach on the Membership committee. John DeCicco, Environmental Defense's Michigan-based car expert, played a vital role in discussions to welcome General Motors into the coalition.

Our goal in recruiting new members was to broaden economic actors and interests, diversified by industry and geography. A given: members agree to support all the recommendations and principles of the partnership's Call For Action [PDF]. Support at the CEO level aids us in working with Congress; there can be no doubt about the company's commitment when the CEO is involved.

We met our goal. The new members – all leaders in their industry sectors – include AIG, Alcan, Boston Scientific, ConocoPhillips, Deere & Company, The Dow Chemical Company, General Motors Corp., Johnson & Johnson, Marsh, PepsiCo, Shell Oil, and Siemens, plus The Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation. USCAP companies now have total revenues of $1.7 trillion, a collective workforce of more than 2 million people, and operations in all 50 states.

Our new broader membership base will spark richer and deeper discussions as we work out policy details. And most importantly, it will send an even stronger signal to Congress that wide support exists for enacting comprehensive legislation to protect the climate. For more analysis, see our expanded article on the news.