Latest Trend in "Green" Movement - Eco-Lawn and Garden Care with SafeLawns.org

Washington, D.C. - www.SafeLawns.org

is a national non-profit dedicated to educating the public about eco-friendly lawn and gardening practices.

National Mall Organic Renovation- In 2007, SafeLawns teamed up with the National Park Service and EPA to do a four acre organic conversion renovation on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The organic treatment will not only be safer for both the environment and visitors, but the organic treatment will also allow some of the nation's most trampled and compacted grass to survive better. The area is open to the public as of March 28, 2008, just in time for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. SafeLawns will also take the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, MA organic in 2008.

Don't forget! April is National Lawn and Garden Month- Spring is a perfect time to educate consumers on how to "Go Green In Your Own Backyard," by using environmentally friendly techniques such as organic lawn care methods, electric and reel lawn mowers, smart watering, and planting for your region.

Waste Management Officially Opens Landfill Gas-To-Energy Facility At Austin Community Landfill

 “Green” Electricity to Power Dell, Inc. Corporate Headquarters

 

AUSTIN, Texas – April 2, 2007 – Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WMI) today officially opened its latest waste-based renewable energy facility at the company’s Austin Community Landfill, whose “green” power will be delivered to Dell corporate headquarters in Round Rock.  The electricity from the landfill gas will power more than 40 percent of Dell headquarters’ energy needs.

 

            The landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) facility at the Austin Community Landfill will produce 6 megawatts of green electricity, which will produce enough energy to power over 6000 homes.  The plant is the ninth such facility in Texas for Waste Management.  In Texas, the company’s landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) plants generate more than 55 megawatts of green electricity, enough to power more than 50,000 homes.

 

            The Austin Community Landfill LFGTE plant is part of Waste Management’s national initiative to build 60 new renewable energy facilities over the next five years, and is part of the company’s environmental sustainability initiative to increase its waste-based energy production.  Today, Waste Management creates enough energy for the equivalent of 1 million homes each year.  By 2020, it expects to double that output, producing enough energy for the equivalent of more than 2 million homes.

 

            “Taking landfill gas and converting it to green power is a buried treasure for the community,” says Don Smith, general manager for Waste Management Central Texas.  “We take a once-wasted commodity and turn it into a long-term, reliable source of renewable energy, which is a major environmental plus for the Austin community and one of its major employers, Dell.”

 

"Dell underscored its commitment to being the greenest technology company on the planet today by running our global headquarters campus on 100 green power.  Partnering with leading companies like Waste Management and TXU in efforts like this will make a difference in protecting the Earth we all share," said Dane Parker, director of environmental health and safety for Dell.

 

            The power plant, located in the center of the landfill property, is equipped with four large engine/generators.  Each of the Caterpillar units generates 1,148 horsepower.  Each weighs approximately 26,500 pounds and stands 7 feet in height, 7.5 feet in width, and 16 feet in length.

 

            The plant captures the landfill gas, primarily methane, through a network of pipes and wells drilled into the landfill.  A vacuum system draws the gas from the landfill and conveys it to the power plant where it fuels the engines driving the generators to produce electricity.  The landfill gas recovery system includes more than 100 vertical gas extraction wells and 2,100 feet of horizontal wells.  Previously, the landfill gas was safely destroyed at a central flare. 

 

            The landfill will produce gas for the power plant for the next several decades and continue even after the landfill no longer accepts waste.

 

            A pioneer in LFGTE projects, Waste Management designed and operated its first facility in the United States over 20 years ago. With 277 landfills, Waste Management is the country’s largest landfill operator and is in a unique position to expand waste-based renewable power generation across the country.  The company is also exploring partnerships to expand its landfill gas-to-energy technology to other private and municipal landfills.

 

            The Austin Community Landfill also provides free electronics recycling, uses recycled concrete to build landfill roads, and recycles 300 tons of tires each year.  All landfill equipment purchased since 2002 meets Federal air standards for non-attainment areas.  Waste Management has also worked with neighbors to design and build a 30-acre Wildlife Habitat Park, which is the only Waste Management park in Texas certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council. 

 

About Waste Management

Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. More information about how Waste Management Thinks Green® can be found at www.wm.com

 

About Dell

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell is a leading global systems and services company and No. 34 on the Fortune 500. For more information, visit www.dell.com, or to communicate directly with Dell via a variety of online channels, go to www.dell.com/conversations. To get Dell news direct, visit www.dell.com/RSS.

EPA Defies Supreme Court on Climate Change

States and Conservation Groups File Suit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tony Kreindler – 202-572-3378 or 202-210-5791 (cell) or akreindler@edf.org

Vickie Patton – (720) 837-6239-c or vpatton@edf.org

(Washington, D.C. – April 2, 2008) Today a dozen states and eleven non-profit organizations filed suit to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to comply with a Supreme Court ruling on the regulation of global warming pollution. The suit comes a year after the Court ruled that the EPA has the authority under existing law to regulate greenhouse gases and a week after the head of the EPA recanted his repeated commitment to respond to the decision on a firm and prompt time table.

The legal action asks a federal court in Washington, D.C. to direct the EPA to issue its determination whether global warming pollution endangers public health or welfare within 60 days.

"The EPA is defying the Supreme Court and endangering our economy, our environment, and our health," said Environmental Defense Fund Deputy General Counsel Vickie Patton. "The law and the science are clear: The EPA must act now." Environmental Defense Fund is a party to the suit.

The petitioning states are: Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Maryland and Minnesota. Three cities also joined the suit.

Background on the Issue

Supreme Court Decision and EPA's Broken Commitment to Respond

On April 2, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the EPA's refusal to address global warming pollution under the Clean Air Act, finding that the statute clearly empowered EPA to address greenhouse gas emissions. In an opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the High Court instructed EPA to determine whether global warming pollution endangers human health or welfare and, if so, to establish greenhouse gas emission standards for motor vehicles.

In the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court decision, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson repeatedly enunciated a public commitment to determine whether global warming pollution endangers human health or welfare and, if so, to issue proposed greenhouse emission standards for motor vehicles by the end of 2007 and final standards by the end of 2008. For example, EPA Administrator Johnson reasserted his firm commitment to act before a November 8, 2007 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing: "The EPA plans to address the issue of endangerment when we propose regulations on greenhouse gas emissions for motor vehicles and fuels later this year." "EPA is firmly committed to addressing the long-term challenge of global climate change."

On March 12th, Congressman Henry Waxman (CA) released the results of transcribed interviews with senior EPA staff on the status of EPA's response to the Supreme Court's decision. The interviews revealed that some 60 to 70 EPA officials were working on the endangerment determination and proposed greenhouse gas motor vehicle regulations. Work was completed on both. Administrator Johnson had approved an affirmative endangerment determination and the documents were transmitted to the White House in December.

But only a few days ago, on March 27^th, the EPA Administrator effectively recanted his public statements, and informed Congressional leaders that EPA will take no meaningful regulatory action in response to the high Court. The Supreme Court could not have been more clear in compelling EPA to base its decision on science and the law and rejecting EPA's "laundry list" of reasons for inaction. Nearly one year ago, the Supreme Court wrote: "EPA has refused to comply with this clear statutory command. Instead, it has offered a laundry list of reasons not to regulate."

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About Environmental Defense Fund

Environmental Defense Fund is at the forefront of an innovation revolution, developing new solutions that protect the natural world while growing the economy. Founded in 1967 and representing more than 500,000 members, the group creates powerful economic incentives by working with market leaders and relying on rigorous science. For more information, visit edf.org.