With Earth Day only a few days away, the EPA is kicking off the 2009 “Change the World, Start with Energy Star” campaign to educate kids and their families about how to save money and fight climate change through energy efficiency.
On April 18–20, 2009, EPA will hold the 5th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo, which will display new sustainable or green technologies. More than 40 college teams and other exhibitors from across the country will show their innovative solutions for an environmentally sustainable future, including generating ethanol from coffee production wastewater, embedding small glass spheres in house paint to deflect heat in the summer, and the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to maximize prairie switch grass ethanol yield.
EPA and Dell Inc. will join together to encourage greater-Washington, D.C. area residents and businesses to recycle unwanted computer equipment and cell phones at the 3rd annual EPA eCycling Event on Saturday, April 18 at the National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Maryland, according to an EPA press release.. The eCycling event will be held at the Plateau from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Despite the recession and recent cutbacks in some benefit programs, companies continue to add wellness and health management programs to promote healthier behaviors among their workers, according to a survey by Watson Wyatt, a leading global consulting firm, and the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), an association of more than 300 mostly large employers.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the national greenhouse gas inventory, which finds that overall emissions during 2007 increased by 1.4 percent from the previous year, according to an EPA press release.
EPA has issued the first list of pesticides to be screened for possibly disrupting the endocrine system, the agency announced in a recent press release.
EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced in a press statement $600 million in new funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the cleanup of hazardous waste (Superfund) sites across the nation. In most cases, this recovery act funding will accelerate the hazardous waste cleanup already underway at the sites and fund new cleanup projects. It will also jumpstart the local economy by creating jobs in the site areas.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched a $1 million television ad campaign in five states to oppose the “Employee Free Choice Act,” also known as “Card Check.” The bill before Congress would effectively eliminate workers’ private vote when deciding whether or not to form a union, allow the federal government to set wages and working conditions, and impose one-sided penalties on employers, according to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce press release.
OSHA has cited Concept Packaging Inc. of Newburgh, N.Y., for 37 alleged violations of safety and health standards at its Dupont Avenue plant. The enamel bottling and packaging company faces $61,000 in proposed fines following OSHA inspections initiated in October 2008 in response to a complaint about unsafe conditions.