By ClimateBiz Staff View the article on Climate Biz here. The advocacy group Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy -- also known as BICEP -- flexed its muscle Thursday with a new crop of members to help push for aggressive climate change policies. Gap Inc., eBay and Symantec joined the four-month-old coalition whose founding members include corporate heavyweights Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Sun Microsystems, Starbucks and The Timberland Co. The group, organized by nonprofit Ceres, subscribes to a set of climate change principles that are, in some ways, more progressive those of President Barack Obama. For instance, BICEP (more...)

Reposted with permisson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. The original article can be viewed at Denmark's COP15 website. By Marie Sauer-Johansen First priority is security – especially if Heads of States and Governments are going to participate. Unfortunately, there just aren't that many armoured limousines that are environmentally friendly. If, for example, Obama is here, it simply isn't safe enough to drive him around in a car like the Toyota Prius – although it's a great hybrid car. Secondly, practicalities must not stand in the way of achieving a good conference result. For example, some delegates prefer (more...)

From the Economist ~ The president directs the EPA to reconsider standards AS A senator, during his campaign for the presidency and in his inaugural address, Barack Obama repeatedly pledged to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil and to tackle global warming. On January 26th he made what he called “a down-payment” on those pledges, signing two executive orders concerning greenhouse-gas emissions. The move signalled a break with George Bush’s foot-dragging and hinted at grander things to come. The first order instructed officials to come up with a federal fuel-economy target for 2011. Mr Bush had signed a bill in (more...)

By JOHN M. BRODER, New York Times WASHINGTON — President Obama is moving quickly to act on the environmental promises that were a centerpiece of his campaign. But tackling global warming will be far more difficult — and more costly — than the new emissions standards for automobiles he ordered with the stroke of a pen on Monday. Already, the Congressional Democrats Mr. Obama will need to carry out his mandate are feuding with one another. By coincidence or design, most of the policy makers on Capitol Hill and in the administration charged with shaping legislation to address global warming (more...)

As supporters of Barack Obama celebrated around the world on November 4, climate activists were particularly moved to hear him declare that helping a "planet in peril" would be one of his administration's top priorities. Since then he has restated his commitment to renewing America's leadership in international climate negotiations, and he has pledged to pioneer a "hybrid economy" where protecting health and the environment is not at odds with prosperity. But as the election elation fades, recession deepens, and the transition team plows through its roster of appointments, Obama is missing the bus on an obvious upgrade in U.S. (more...)