WWF Releases Ecosystem Services Report

A recent study by researchers at Yale University revealed that there are more than 3 trillion trees now growing on the planet, seven times more than scientists previously thought. Using a combination of satellite imagery, forest inventories, and supercomputer technologies, the international team of researchers was able to map tree populations worldwide at the square-kilometer level. Their results, published in the journal Nature, provide the most comprehensive assessment of tree populations ever produced and offer new insights into a class of organism that helps shape most terrestrial biomes.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation announced it has won a 2018 Climate Leadership Award for Excellence in the Greenhouse Gas Management (Goal Setting) category, the company's second Climate Leadership Award in two years. The Climate Leadership Award is presented by the Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and The Climate Registry, and celebrates organizations that set and achieve aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals. In a separate event earlier this week, Kimberly-Clark also was honored with a Smart Energy Decisions Innovation Award for its programs focused on creating a culture of energy conservation at its manufacturing sites. The Smart Energy Decisions Innovation Award recognizes the use of innovative technologies and progressive practices among large electric power users. Click Read More below for additional information.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $1.5 million Diesel Emission Reduction Act grant to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) that ultimately will remove tons of air pollution from diesel-fueled activities at and near the Port of Portland. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy visited Portland to announce the grant at an event at Northwest Container Services with Oregon DEQ Administrator Dick Pedersen. Amongst other projects, the EPA-funded grant will assist local companies in replacing 23 heavy-duty short-haul diesel trucks, traveling more than 1.3 million miles in the Portland metro area each year. West Linn Paper Company will play a significant role in the project as the future owner of at least twelve of the new trucks. The company will take older, less efficient equipment out of use and replace it with new vehicles with improved energy efficiency and more effective filters to remove emissions. The positive impact to the environment will be significant – West Linn Paper anticipates that the project will result in a 20% improvement in fuel economy, and filters capable of removing as much as 90% of the tailpipe emissions.