2Sustain

The Obama administration wants to promote clean energy and cut waste and pollution in the federal supply chain, and so last week it announced the launch of the GreenGov Supply Chain Partnership and Small Business Pilot.

The program is voluntary, and federal suppliers that join the GreenGov Supply Chain Partnership agree to measure and report their organization’s greenhouse gas emissions. Participating companies will share their experiences to help GSA develop a phased, incentive-based approach to developing contracting advantages to companies that track and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.

According to White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, the federal supplier network presents a unique opportunity to explore the benefits and challenges of measuring greenhouse gas emissions with small businesses.

“The federal government is the single largest energy consumer in the US economy and purchases more than $500 billion in goods and services every year,” Chair Sutley said. “It is our responsibility to lead by example to improve efficiency, eliminate waste, and promote clean energy in our supply chain.” (more…)

by Jason Busch

Founder and Managing Director of Azul Partners and Editor of spend matters

Note from Tim:  Jason is guest blogging today and tomorrow on 2Sustain, and offers his own viewpoint on the intersection of sustainability and politics.  Welcome, Jason!

There are an awful lot of people like me in the world. I hope to meet more of them soon. Still, I find myself in a vocal minority at the moment in the United States – at least a public minority. You see, most people like me won’t speak up given the Pelosobama-esque Santa Ana winds which have swept left to right (with an emphasis on the former) across the entire country. People like us fear that if we voice our opinion (or take a forced TARP handout) that the government might try and attach a 90% marginal tax rate to our bonuses or give a tax break to bus companies that want to transport protesters to our front doors.

(more…)

This is the season for wish lists, so it seems like the perfect time to ask: What would you like to see President-elect Obama’s newly-appointed “green dream team” accomplish in 2009? Cap-and-trade legislation? Green business incentives? Water quality initiatives?

(more…)

America is an amazing country. Yes we have our share of problems, but by and large we have a good thing going and a lot to be proud of, particularly in terms of our political process. There are few times where the unique qualities of our democratic system are more front and center than during Presidential election season. Now I am a self-confessed political junkie, and TIVO has enabled me to watch up to 5-6 different news programs a night sans ads (bless you TIVO) to get all sides of the day’s events: NBC for big national headlines, BBC for global perspective, Chris Matthews for political commentary, Jim Lehrer to dive deeper into policy issues, Bill O’Reilly to see what the right wingers are saying, etc. The media is in full swing now covering an election that may be the most important in many generations in terms of the myriad serious issues we face ranging from global warming to terrorism to health care to immigration. As the ancient Chinese proverb goes “May you live in interesting times.” We certainly do. 

(more…)