We’re very proud to sponsor the upcoming Economist event: The Carbon Economy: New Opportunities for Green Business. The event will be in Washington D.C. from November 17-18.

Timed with the publication of a special report in The Economist, The Carbon Economy Summit will examine how the political environment has changed since Kyoto and how committed regions and industries are to a sustainable carbon strategy.  Some speakers include:

· Jason Grumet, Founder and President, Bipartisan Policy Center

· James Rogers, President and Chief Executive Officer , Duke Energy

· Eileen Claussen, President, Pew Center on Global Climate Change

· Matt Kistler, SVP Sustainability, Wal-Mart

· Larry Goldenhersh, CEO, Enviance

The Economist has put together a great video that distills some very interesting and impactful statistics driving the need for a sustainable carbon strategy. You can check out that video on the event’s microsite.

HarvardBusiness.org recently published a very interesting article from William Sarni,founder and CEO of DOMANI, an integrated sustainability consulting firm, on water use being a critical supply chain issue. He outlines how organizations are now determining the water footprint for their entire supply chains in order to address business challenges. To support his argument, Mr. Sarni discusses how global brewer, SABMiller, collaborated with the World Wildlife Fund to study the entire water footprint of SABMiller's beers in South Africa and the Czech Republic. The study evaluated direct and indirect water usage ranging from crop cultivation to distribution. The full report titled, Water Footprinting: Identifying & Addressing Water Risks in the Value Chain, can be accessed here. If your business is looking to learn more about current and emerging water and management issues, check out Enviance’s complimentary Web seminar on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 11:00 AM Pacific Time / 2:00 PM Eastern Time. This one hour seminar will cover topics such as:

- Water consumption and climate change and how they may redefine business processes and processing costs

- The potential impact of increased regulatory enforcement

- The need for greater transparency on industrial use of water and the quality of wastewater and storm water discharges

- National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit compliance challenges

- How to reduce your compliance risk and manage and report your water inventory concurrently with your greenhouse gas inventory/carbon footprint.

As many of our readers know, we regularly write about environmental compliance issues focused on a number of areas, including air, carbon, waste and water. But with increased oversight by EPA on water regulations, this is a quickly growing concern for many.

EPA is intending to step up enforcement of the Clean Water Act as Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator, reported in a memo issued last month. She stated “A level playing field for enforcement and compliance is important for fair treatment of industrial facilities across the country.” Is it possible water will become the next CO2?

To help our readers and customers fully understand how water compliance is evolving, we’re holding a special complimentary webinar that will focus on how water management will redefine business processes. We’ll look at the potential impact of increased regulatory enforcement and the need for greater transparency on industrial use of water and the quality of wastewater and storm water discharges.

During this one-hour webinar, you will hear from Greg Pulliam, Senior Manager Industrial Systems, Water & Process from CH2M Hill, who will discuss the current and emerging water and wastewater management issues.  In addition, Doug Hatler from Enviance will talk about what it takes to manage water and wastewater data in light of potentially increasing enforcement activities.  Finally, industry regulatory compliance specialists from Georgia Pacific and Entergy will share their experiences.

If you’re interested in learning how to reduce your compliance risk and manage and report your water inventory concurrently with your greenhouse gas inventory and carbon footprint, then join us on September 29 for an interesting and insightful discussion.

Click here to register for this complimentary webinar.

Date: Tuesday, October 6^th 2009
Time: 11:00 AM Pacific Time, 2:00 PM Eastern Time
Duration: 1 hour

(Photo courtesy of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University California Santa Cruz)