News
from the Nicholas Institute
Subject
line: News from the Nicholas Institute
NI Update July 25, 2006
A brief roundup of news and information about the Nicholas Institute
for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University
1. A Greener Outlook for Wal-Mart? Institute Director Tim Profeta took part in a July 12 conference on climate change sponsored by retailing giant Wal-Mart at its Bentonville, Ark., headquarters. Profeta briefed key Wal-Mart managers and suppliers about major regional, national and international policy initiatives now being proposed or put into action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, and how those initiatives might affect business operations. Materials from his presentation are online here >.
2. Waste Not. Brian Murray, Director for Economic Analysis, is coordinating the Institute’s participation in a new, $750,000 public-private partnership to develop value-added products from hog waste and evaluate their potential to generate extra income for North Carolina farmers. The project is funded with a grant to N.C. State University from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, and with matching funds from private and public partners. You can read more about it at http://www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/5311_hogs_FactSheet_CIG.pdf
3. Legal Hurdles To Expanding Regional CO2 Caps. In June, Institute Director Tim Profeta gave an invited presentation to a working group of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) charged with designing a C02 emissions cap for utilities in Northeastern states. Profeta’s talk focused on strategies the states could use to overcome constitutional challenges to their ability to expand the cap so it curbs emissions “leakage” caused by utilities that import electricity from outside the region – a challenge also faced by a similar initiative now pending in California. To read a news story about the RGGI workshop and Profeta’s presentation, click here >.
