2012 NCSE Conference: Environment and Security - The National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) will present its 12th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Environment and Security, January 18-20, 2012 in Washington, DC at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

This year, GEMI launched a new enhanced web site as well as the Guided Discovery of its GEMI Solution Tools Matrix™, an interactive, question/answer based system to help users who are unfamiliar with the more than 30 GEMI solution tools find useful information and the most relevant tool for their need. In addition, GEMI has been developing ideas for future environmental sustainability solution tools and identifying collaborations for GEMI’s future.

GEMI gained four new member companies in 2011:

In 2012, GEMI will be launching the new GEMI Local Water Tool™ (LWT) and GEMI LWT™ for Oil & Gas. Unique to this new GEMI project is the fact that for the first time, non-member companies were able to participate in the development of a GEMI solution tool. They were not GEMI members and were not able to participate in any of GEMI’s activities except the LWT project. The GEMI LWT™ Project Participant companies include: AkzoNobel; BP; Chesapeake Energy; Chevron; ExxonMobil; Greif; Intel; ITT; Maersk Oil & Gas; Nexen Inc.; Repsol; Shell; Statoil; Suncor Energy Inc.; Talisman Energy Inc.; and TOTAL.

The GEMI LWT™ will encourage businesses to conduct a systematic assessment of their relationship to water, identify specific opportunities and risks associated with this relationship and report key indicators to stakeholders. We anticipate this new solution tool to be available to the public in Spring 2012.

GEMI’s other Networks – Climate Change, Communications Professionals, Health & Safety, Supply Chain and Sustainable Development – will be continuing to meet, conduct webinars and develop fact sheets and other solution tools on these and other value based topics to members.

On behalf of GEMI, we wish you and your families Happy Holidays and we look forward to working with you in 2012 to continue to address and develop innovative environmental sustainability solutions for business.

Keith Miller, 3M
2011 GEMI Chair

• GEMI LWT™ final review meeting: January 11-12, 2012 in West Palm Beach, FL hosted by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
• Meeting #1: February 21-23, 2012 in Tampa, FL
• Meeting #2: May 15-17, 2012 in Omaha, NE co-hosted by ConAgra Foods and Union Pacific Railroad
• Meeting #3: November 13-15, 2012 in Houston, TX hosted by Halliburton
• The GEMI Annual SAC meeting will be held the week of June 18 (exact date TBD)

The Johnson Controls Institute for Building Efficiency announced the release of a new report “Driving Transformation to Energy Efficient Buildings: Policies and Actions” – the result of a collaborative partnership with the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, the Center for Clean Air Policy, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the World Green Building Council. More Information.

Kraft Foods shared results of a pioneering survey that measured its impact on climate change, land and water use. The multi-year footprinting project -- in partnership with Quantis Inc. and reviewed and analyzed by World Wildlife Fund and notable academics at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment – goes far beyond the company's walls. More Information.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) awarded Kraft Foods a perfect score of 100 on its 2012 Corporate Equality Index and naming Kraft to its "Best Places to Work" list. Since 2002, the HRC's Corporate Equality Index has benchmarked U.S. businesses, highlighting companies with the best practices that improve the experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees. The CEI evaluates equal employment policies, employment benefits, organizational LGBT competencies, public engagement and corporate citizenship. More Information.

Legrand joined President Obama and Department of Energy officials in Washington, D.C. to announce that the company has joined the Better Building, Better Plants Presidential Leadership initiative to create American jobs through energy efficiency. The company is one of just nine U.S. industrial organizations that have joined the initiative as Challenge Partners, pledging to the most aggressive energy savings, management and reporting practices outlined in a U.S. Department of Energy agreement. More Information.

Perdue AgriBusiness, Inc., in partnership with Fibrowatt LLC, has submitted a proposal to the state of Maryland in response to the State’s Clean Bay Power Request for Proposal. The Fibrowatt/Perdue AgriBusiness proposal calls for a combined heat and power biomass boiler operation to be located at the Perdue AgriBusiness Zion Church Road complex near Salisbury, Md. The proposed facility will provide 10 megawatts of electricity to the state as well as up to 70,000 pounds per hour of steam to the Perdue AgriBusiness complex. The renewable fuel source will be a combination of poultry litter, layer hen manure, wood chips and other locally sourced biomass. More Information.

Southern Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced a total of 18 environmental stewardship grants to continue the partnership’s mission of conserving natural resources and habitats in the Southeast. More Information.

Southern Company was named "Power Company of the Year" at the Platts 2011 Global Energy Awards ceremony in New York Thursday night. The recognition honors Southern Company as the leading power company in the world for 2011. More Information.

If you have news and notes you would like to share with the GEMI members, please email them to Kellen Mahoney.

• On December 2, GEMI’s Director, Amy Goldman met with a Brazilian delegation from the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The delegation was in the U.S. on professional exchange program and represented BM&F/BOVESPA and SOCIALCARBON Standard.

Pictured: GEMI’s Director, Amy Goldman with Sonia Favatretto of BM&F Bovespa and Cecilia Michaellis of SocialCarbon

• On December 7, GEMI’s Director, Amy Goldman attended the ACORE conference: Phase II National Policy Forum in Washington, DC. Speakers included: Congressmen and representatives from Recurrent Energy, Green Strategies, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Deutsche Asset Management, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the Bipartisan Policy Center, Securing America's Energy Future (SAFE), U.S. Energy Council and others.

• On December 14, GEMI’s Director, Amy Goldman attended in Washington, DC “Innovation and the Global Marketplace: A Discussion on American Innovation, Trade and the Next 10 Million Jobs”, which was co-sponsored by The Aspen Institute, PBS News Hour and Intel Corporation. The discussions focused: on the intersections among innovation, economic growth, job creation and global trade, expanding global markets and insights on the policies that will enhance American technological innovation and facilitate job creation. The keynote speaker was Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State and other speakers included: Tom Connelly, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer, DuPont; Jim Rogers, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Duke Energy; Lael Brainard, Under Secretary for International Affairs, U.S. Department of Treasury; Karen Mills, Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration, as well as others.