Where has spring gone? It’s the last day of school already and more than a month has passed since my last post. The good news is that we’re busy here at Headwaters HQ. The bad news is that I haven’t had time until now to process and reflect on the major events of the last 8 weeks or so. A few notable happenings:

1. The City of San Francisco is once again on the bleeding edge of new environmental policy, and has instituted the first direct emissions-based “carbon tax” in the country. The City of Boulder passed its own carbon tax in 2006 on residential and commercial electrical use, the proceeds from which (about $800,000 per year) pay for programs to offset citywide emissions. The San Francisco law is the first to create a tax focused primarily on commercial/ industrial greenhouse gas emissions. From Environmental Leader:

“The San Francisco Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s board of directors voted overwhelmingly (15-1) to charge area companies 4.4 cents per ton of carbon dioxide they emit, a first for the U.S.,The Associated Press reports.

The new rules, which impose fees on businesses for emitting greenhouse gasses, are expected to generate $1.1 million in the first year to help pay for programs to measure the region’s emissions and develop ways to reduce them. They are set to take effect July 1.

Of the more than 2,500 businesses that will be required to pay the proposed fees, the biggest payers will be seven power plants and oil refineries that would have to pay more than $50,000 a year. The majority of businesses would pay less than $1, the district estimates.”

There’s additional interesting commentary on Steve Newcomb’s blog here.

2. The New York-based national environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has an innovative new resource available to businesses online, the Greening Advisor. It provides a useful basic overview of activities businesses can take to green their activities. It does not convey any particular marketing benefit or certification, but is a useful summary of the “universe” of greening actions applicable to many businesses.

3. GoogleEarth (a great free software application to try if you haven’t already) has, with help from the British government, added a climate layer that allows users to view global warming impacts over time. As reported in Google Earth Blog:

“Opening (the google climate file) will first show you an image overlay of the Earth which indicates temperature change over time from 1999 and forecasted through 2099. Use the time slider to watch the changes over time. Also in the file are placemarks with accounts from people around the world speaking about how climate change has effected them, as well as information from the Met Office about possible effects as temperatures continue to rise.”

4. Here in Denver things are gearing up for the Democratic National Convention, which was last hosted here in 1908! There is a great deal of excitement and anticipation, and wondering what the infusion of 35,000 delegates, reporters and hangers-on will mean for us as we go through our daily lives. The DNC greening effort is heating up (so to speak) and a small army of volunteers are organizing dozens of innovations in everything from bicycles available to all who want them (1,000 at last count) to carbon emissions calculations and offsets for the event, to training of hotels and restaurants in green business principles, and the use of green materials in building and operating the convention, to a full day of forums on Energy & Climate featuring major national policy and industry players. Now, if only we had a candidate….

Stay tuned for more news in the weeks to come.