ICYMI: Greener cattle, greener taxes and adios Earth Day

ICYMI -- "In Case You Missed It" -- is a regular Friday feature recapping the news of the week.

Greetings, readers -- and happy Post-Earth Day! We are slowly recovering from another annual deluge (in case you missed ICYMI on Monday, you candive back into the madness here), and looking ahead to what the other 364 days of the year will bring for sustainability. But first, a recap of a few notable Earth Week announcements and just one last terrible Earth Day news release...

Steps to Greener Cities

Cleaner buses make for stronger cities:The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group this week released a report highlighting thepositive impacts of hybrid buseson cities in Latin America. Unsurprisingly, hybrid and electric buses are good for air quality in these cities, but they also reduce noise pollution, are more fuel-efficient, and are significantly cheaper than buying conventional diesel buses.

From "Sin City" to "Sustainable City":Speaking of cities, The Guardian has an in-depth look from Sadhbh Walshe about howLas Vegas is betting on sustainabilityin everything from green buildings to water conservation. We've coveredmanyof thecity's绿色effortsover the years, but Walshe is right to ask the big question: "can a city visible from space ever be truly green?"

Sustainability Report Digest

•Walmart: As promised on Earth Day, Walmart this week released its2013年全球责任报告，并为炒作的成就清单，包括20％的温室气体排放量，自2005年以来的舰队效率的提高80％，使用其总能源法案的可再生能力，以及更多。

•kohl的：虽然只有一个沃尔玛，但Kohl是当然noslouch谈到可持续发展，公司竞彩足球app怎么下载2012年CSR报告[PDF] backs that up: Last year, Kohl's added 75 more Energy Star-certified locations, purchased more than 1.5 billion kWh of renewable energy, added solar arrays to 16 more stores, recycled 83 percent of its waste, and more.

•Unilever：在地球日，联合利华发布了second annual progress reporton its Sustainable Living Plan, highlighting the fact that it has reduced emissions by one-third and cut its manufacturing waste in half between 2008 and 2010; at the same time, Unilever owned up to the fact that it's still struggling to get its customers to use its products in more sustainable ways, and that most of the emissions in its supply chain fall outside of the company's control.

Odds 'n' Sods

Putting cattle emissions out to pasture:Livestock -- and particularly cattle -- havelongbeentargetedas big emitters, but this week brings a whole herd of news about how to reduce emissions from beef and dairy. First, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy released three new resources:its environmental footprint[PDF], aa scientific overviewof 10 dairy lifecycle analyses, andFarmSmart, an online tool for farmers to quickly gauge their carbon footprint.

And if that weren't enough, the U.S. dairy industry has签署了“沼气路线图”, an ongoing effort to turn high-carbon farm waste into clean energy as part of a goal to cut emissions by 25 percent by 2020.

And finally, the Guardian has a look at what牛肉农民可以从汽车工业中学到: how cow-makers can achieve quick and significant emissions reductions, just as automakers have.

Taxes for the greater good:鉴于华盛顿的持续腹部腹部，这令人惊讶：anew report from KPMG发现美国引领世界using taxes to drive more sustainable corporate behavior.

One word: BatteriesThere's a great future in batteries, and San Jose State University and CalCharge are teaming up to train the first class of "Battery Masters" this fall: In an effort to speed the low-carbon economy, the school is launching a new two-year degree program totrain engineers to build the next generation of batteries.

Shoring up North America's Carbon Markets:Amid theongoing bad news about Europe's carbon markets本周,加利福尼亚和魁北克政府会议irmed that they are set tomerge their cap-and-trade systems starting January 1.

The Final Earth Day Fail:在结束时，即使我已经准备好了一年的地球日，即使是在那一年的地球日，也在地球早期的凌晨越过我的桌子，越过了我的办公室：广告专业研究所的列表top Earth Day freebies. That's right, a USB drive with biodegradable packaging, a 55 percent organic cotton hoodie, and a bowl made of recycled bicycle spokes are among the "best" Earth Day-themed giveaways of products that people don't want and will end up in landfills before you can say "¡Adios, Earth Day!" Sigh...

_{Cow photo在Shutterstock.com上的Dhohax。}