• TRENDS Section: an overview and comprehensive synopsis of Sustainability Reporting and Sustainability Investment Trends and Key Drivers, including key global legislative and regulatory developments.


• METRICS Section: an in-depth analysis of metrics used by Dow Jones and Standard & Poors in their sustainability investment indices, including detailed charts.


• REGULATION Section: an overview of the SEC regulatory regime, and a comprehensive synopsis and analysis of U.S. securities regulation relevant to Sustainability Disclosure, including detailed charts.


• CSR Insight™ Viewpoint: a presentation of key Message Points for Policymakers and Regulators, including specific public policy proposals pertaining to global and U.S. leadership on Sustainability Regulation.

• The CSR Insight™ Regulatory Report provides a concise executive-level briefing on sustainability-related legislation and regulation, including financial, securities, and environmental regulation, accounting standards, and stock exchange requirements.


• The CSR Insight™ Metrics Report provides a detailed examination of non-regulatory (voluntary) sustainability-related metric and reporting frameworks that have a global impact, developed by the private, public, and NGO sectors.


• The CSR Insight™ Reference Guide provides concise information about legislative and regulatory bodies, intergovernmental and quasi-governmental bodies, and NGOs, organized into three convenient sections: Governmental Bodies and Sustainability Initiatives; U.N. Agencies and Sustainability Initiatives; and NGOs and Sustainability Initiatives.

• Require producers of hormonal meat to label it with an explicit warning such as "Produced with the use of sex hormones, and poses increased risks of breast, prostate, and testis cancers.


• Prohibit the routine implantation of sex hormone pellets under the ear skin of cattle on entry into feedlots 100 days prior to slaughter. The object of the implants is to increase meat production by about 50 pounds per animal, and profitability by about 10%.


• Ban hormonal meat. The hormones in past and current use include the natural: testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone; and the synthetic: trenbolone, zeranol, and melengesterol.

• Recognize that hormonal meat poses "imminent hazards" to the total U.S. population.


• Take prompt, and decades overdue, regulatory action to eliminate the use of sex hormones in meat production.

• 1971 The ACS refused to testify at Congressional hearings requiring FDA to ban the intramuscular injection of diethylstilbestrol, a synthetic estrogenic hormone, to fatten cattle, despite unequivocal evidence of its carcinogenicity, and the cancer risks of eating hormonal meat. Not surprisingly, U.S. meat is banned by other nations worldwide.


• 1977 The ACS opposed regulating black or dark brown hair dyes, based on paraphenylenediamine in spite of clear evidence of its risks of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, besides other cancers.


• 1978 Tony Mazzocchi, then senior international union labor representative, protested that "Occupational safety standards have received no support from the ACS." This has resulted in the increasing incidence of a wide range of avoidable cancers.


• 1978 Cong. Paul Rogers censured ACS for its failure to support the Clean Air Act in order to protect interests of the automobile industry


• 1982 The ACS adopted restrictive cancer policies, rejecting evidence based on standard rodent tests, which are widely accepted by governmental agencies worldwide and also by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.


• 1984 The ACS created the industry-funded October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to falsely assure women that "early (mammography) detection results in a cure nearly 100 percent of the time." Responding to question, ACS admitted: "Mammography today is a lucrative [and] highly competitive business." Also, the Awareness Month ignores substantial information on avoidable causes of breast cancer.


• 1992 The ACS supported the Chlorine Institute in defending the continued use of carcinogenic chlorinated pesticides, despite their environmental persistence and carcinogenicity.


• 1993 Anticipating the Public Broadcast Service (PBS) Frontline special "In Our Children's Food," the ACS trivialized pesticides as a cause of childhood cancer and charged PBS with "junk science." The ACS went further by questioning, "Can we afford the PBS?"


• 1994 The ACS published a highly flawed study designed to trivialize cancer risks from the use of dark hair dyes.


• 1998 The ACS allocated $330,000, under 1 percent of its then $680 million budget, to claimed research on environmental cancer.


• 1999 The ACS trivialized risks of breast, colon and prostate cancers from consumption of rBGH genetically modified milk. Not surprisingly, U.S. milk is banned by other nations worldwide.


• 2002 The ACS announced its active participation in the "Look Good...Feel Better Program," launched in 1989 by the Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association, to "help women cancer patients restore their appearance and self-image during chemotherapy and radiation treatment." This program was partnered by a wide range of leading cosmetics industries, which failed to disclose information on the carcinogenic, and other toxic ingredients in their products donated to unsuspecting women.


• 2002 The ACS reassured the nation that carcinogenicity exposures from dietary pesticides, "toxic waste in dump sites, "ionizing radiation from "closely controlled" nuclear power plants, and non-ionizing radiation, are all "at such low levels that cancer risks are negligible." ACS indifference to cancer prevention became embedded in national cancer policy, following the appointment of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, ACS Past President-Elect, as National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director.


• 2005 The ACS indifference to cancer prevention other than smoking, remains unchanged, despite the escalating incidence of cancer, and its $ billion budget.

• Malignant melanoma of the skin in adults has increased by 168 percent due to the use of sunscreens in childhood that fail to block long wave ultraviolet light;


• Thyroid cancer has increased by 124 percent due in large part to ionizing radiation;


• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has increased 76 percent due mostly to phenoxy herbicides; and phenylenediamine hair dyes;


• Testicular cancer has increased by 49 percent due to pesticides; hormonal ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products; and estrogen residues in meat;


• Childhood leukemia has increased by 55 percent due to ionizing radiation; domestic pesticides; nitrite preservatives in meats, particularly hot dogs; and parental exposures to occupational carcinogens;


• Ovary cancer (mortality) for women over the age of 65 has increased by 47 percent in African American women and 13 percent in Caucasian women due to genital use of talc powder;


• Breast cancer has increased 17 percent due to a wide range of factors. These include: birth control pills; estrogen replacement therapy; toxic hormonal ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products; diagnostic radiation; and routine premenopausal mammography, with a cumulative breast dose exposure of up to about five rads over ten years.

• 1998-2000: PR for the ACS was handled by Shandwick International, whose major clients included R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings.


• 2000-2002: PR for the ACS was handled by Edelman Public Relations, whose major clients included Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company, and the Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris, Kraft, and fast food and soft drink beverage companies.

• Petrochemical companies (DuPont; BP; and Pennzoil)


• Industrial waste companies (BFI Waste Systems)


• Junk food companies (Wendy's International; McDonalds's; Unilever/Best Foods; and Coca-Cola)


• Big Pharma (AstraZenceca; Bristol Myers Squibb; GlaxoSmithKline; Merck & Company; and Novartis)


• Biotech companies (Amgen; and Genentech)


• Cosmetic companies (Christian Dior; Avon; Revlon; Elizabeth Arden; and Estee Lauder)


• Auto companies (Nissan; General Motors)

• 20% lower emissions by 2020 with traffic growth included
• 50% lower emissions per unit produced by 2020.

• SAS aims to: -be seen as the most environment-conscious airline in Europe
• have certified environmental management systems in accordance with ISO 14001
• have the industry’s most effective fuel saving program
• be among the first airlines to use alternative fuel once they are approved and commercially available
• have a long-term plan for its aircraft fleet that leads to a significant reduction of greenhouse emissions

• Join the Earthbark Movement and commit to the Top 10 Actions to Be an Eco Friendly Dog Owner


• Show their commitment and inspire others with the Earthbark Movement ID Tag to identify pets (and their owners) as members of the eco-friendly campaign


• Help recruit all types of businesses to be dog-friendly through giving Earthbark Companion Store Stickers to dog-friendly businesses for their storefronts announcing that well-behaved dogs are welcome


• Check out the leading eco pet products that have been tested, researched and rated on their safety, quality and earth friendliness


• Read about the latest events and developments in eco-friendly dog ownership and pet friendly businesses on the Earthbark blog


• Connect, share and inspire on Earthbark’s social media sites

• Vault MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) / SDS management solution will be the central repository for Vopak’s safety information. Vault is a dynamic web-based solution that enables employees to search for the relevant product safety data and find supplier and internal safety documents.


• Gatekeeper™ will provide Vopak an integrated workflow environment where products are requested and automatically routed to the appropriate departments and individuals for pre-screening, authorization and purchase. The platform also provides a collaborative product/project lifecycle management environment for aggregating chemical and non-chemical components.


• Atrion’s trusted and up-to-date Managed Regulatory Content that consists of data on over 300,000 chemical substances, 15,000 regulatory phrases in over 44 languages, 7,500 proprietary rules, and 100 templates spanning 50 plus countries.

• rBGH makes cows sick. Monsanto has been forced to admit to about 20 toxic effects, including mastitis, on its Posilac label.


• rBGH milk is contaminated by pus, due to the mastitis commonly induced by rBGH, and antibiotics used to treat the mastitis.


• rBGH milk is chemically, and nutritionally different than natural milk.


• Milk from cows injected with rBGH is contaminated with the hormone, traces of which are absorbed through the gut into the blood.


• rBGH milk is supercharged with high levels of the natural growth factor, IGF-1, which is readily absorbed through the gut.


• Excess levels of IGF-1 have been incriminated as a cause of breast, colon, and prostate cancers.


• IGF-1 blocks natural defense mechanisms against early submicroscopic cancers.


• rBGH factory farms pose a major threat to the viability of small dairy farms.


• rBGH enriches Monsanto, while posing dangers, without any benefits, to consumers, especially in view of the current national surplus of milk.

• Saving $3 million and nearly 100 million kilowatts in an agency-wide energy challenge
• 
  
• Avoiding $1.05 million in costs via green information technology initiatives


• Helping customers divert 24,000 tons of paper from landfills with a recycling initiative in 6,000 Post Office Box lobbies around the country


• Increasing alternative fuel use 61 percent since 2005


• Testing electric, propane and natural gas mail delivery vehicles


• Retiring 10,000 non-energy efficient vehicles from its fleet

• New seed varieties and management practices are upping soybean yields.


• Farmers have minimized cultivation of the soil. These reduced tillage practices have cut how much fuel they need to grow soybeans.


• Modern soybean varieties have reduced the need for pesticides.


• Today's soybean processing and biodiesel plants are more energy-efficient.

FUND PERFORMANCE as of 9/30/09                                     Since

                                                                 inception

                 3rd Qtr   1 Year   3 Years   5 Years  10 Years  (9/30/99)

                   2009              (avg      (avg     (avg      (avg

                                    annual)   annual)  annual)    annual)

                 --------  ------   -------   -------  -------   --------

Portfolio 21       16.35%   4.85%   -0.43%    6.26%     3.89%     3.89%

------------       -----    ----     -----     ----      ----      ----

MSCI World Index   17.57%  -1.64%   -3.80%    4.07%     1.40%     1.40%

----------------   -----    -----    -----     ----      ----      ----

S&P 500 Index      15.61%  -6.91%   -5.43%    1.01%    -0.16%    -0.16%

----------------   -----    -----    -----     ----     -----     -----

Expense Ratio: 1.51%

United GREEN - UnitedGREEN.org
United GREEN is the, Grassroots Environment and Energy Network. The primary mission of United GREEN is to speed the transition to a sustainable by sparking collaborations between key public and private entities and to nurture shared leadership and solutions toward the sustainability challenges ahead.

UnitedGREEN.org facilitates grassroots movements that engage and unite the community for a truly sustainable future. The group fosters projects and initiatives that generate a green economy and accelerate the establishment of green enterprises employing a green-collar workforce.

World Wire - World-Wire.com
World-Wire provides distribution of press releases from environmentally relevant organizations and corporations. World-Wire transmits announcements from organizations and companies to millions of readers in the green marketplace.

World-Wire is the key media channel between GreenEnergyTalk.org and the international sustainable business community.



Heartland Foundation - Heartlandfdn.org
The Heartland Foundation offers crucial information about the availability of government grants for residential and commercial energy improvements. The Heartland Foundation has entered a wide menu of grants information into the GreenEnergyTalk.org system.

Solar Energy & Efficiency Solutions - SolarEnergyEfficiencySolutions.com

Solar Energy & Efficiency Solutions offers Free information on qualified licensed professionals nationwide to meet the growing consumer interest in utilizing renewable energy: wind energy, solar energy, hydro energy and building green communities. Solar Energy & Efficiency Solutions' commitment is to provide the highest return on investment while minimizing the overall cost.

Visitors to the GreenEnergyTalk.org website can easily access the most recent government and utility companies incentives and rebates, categorized state by state. Exploring these offers, consumers can take advantage of the latest incentives that will help to reduce, or even eliminate, utility bills. Many of the grants available are offered with incentives of 50% or more.

In addition to nationwide information, GreenEnergyTalk.org opens channels to international green energy sources, allowing visitors to keep abreast of developments that are already available in countries around the world.

The GreenEnergyTalk.org forums dedicated to new products, encourages newly developed inventions, research discoveries and emerging products to be introduced to readers who visit the Green Consumer Products area.

GreenEnergyTalk.org topics include but are not limited to:

Alternative Power Appliances and Peripherals Auditors and Consultants Behavior and Lifestyle Building Materials Consumer Products Desalinization Emerging Green Technologies Energy Conservation Energy Efficiency and Conservation Environment Environmental Impact Fixtures and Toilets Geothermal Power Government Positions Gray Water Recovery Green Auto Consumer Products Green Building and Design Green Business Consumer Products

Green Camping-RVs Green Consumer Products Green Home Consumer Products Green International Green Grant Programs Green Living Green News & Press Releases Green Politics Green Transportation Green Social Events Heating and Air Conditioning Hydro Power Hydrogen Power Insulation Landscaping Mass Transit Passive Green Designs Personal Vehicles Photovoltaics

Policies and Pending Legislation Private consultants HERS/LEEDS Rain Water Capture School Systems Shipping Solar Power Solar Hot Water Solar Pool heating State and Federal Grant Programs Transportation Water Conservation Water Efficient Irrigation Water Filters Water Purification Waste and Recycling Weatherization & Building Envelope Wind Power Windows

GreenEnergyTalk.org invites industry experts to become moderators of topics including:


The Forum invites Green energy inventors, discoveries and new products to be introduced to readers within the Green Consumer Products area. Companies with successful consumer energy products, services, and how-to-books are encouraged to apply to become moderators.

What:
Showcase ultracapacitor minibus demonstration at American University
Wind turbine and mobile solar charging for the ultracapacitor-powered minibus
Panel discussion on renewable energy technology in transportation sector


When:
Wednesday, October 21st
10 AM - Ribbon-cutting and Press Conference
12:00 PM to 2PM -- Panel discussion -- "Powering Electric Vehicles Using Locally Generated Electricity"

Where:
American University, School of International Service (SIS) building just inside the Woods Gate on Nebraska Avenue, NW., in Washington, D.C.,
Press conference - lawn in front of the SIS building
Panel Discussion - lounge of the SIS building
Note: Demonstration of ultracapcitor bus and other technologies to be held on the main quad of American University in front of the SIS building all day.

Who:
Dr. Joel Schindall, MIT, Nanotube ultracapacitor specialist
Dr.Terrance Sankar, American University, Vertical wind turbine specialist
Scott Sklar, president of Stella Group, Solar technology expert
Dan Ye, Sinautec CEO
Dr. Paul Wapner, American University, panel discussion moderator

1. The 15-foot minibus showcased will be the first electric vehicle in the country powered completely by ultracapacitors. The minibus can be fully recharged in fifteen minutes, unlike battery vehicles, which typically takes hours to recharge.
   
2. Electricity used in this demonstration will be generated by a 5,000 watt mobile solar station and a vertical wind turbine, which will generate zero carbon footprints. Wind and solar used with ultracapacitors hold great potential as source of power for electric vehicles in the future.
   
3. Two dozen full-size ultracapacitor buses have been in commercial operation in Shanghai, China for the past three years.
   
4. The ultracapacitor vehicle demonstration is a combined effort of American University, Sinautec Automobile Technologies, The Stella Group, and Shanghai Aowei Technologies Corp.
   

This 60-90 minute webinar (CLE and CPE credits available) will provide participants with a conceptual understanding and practical application of the following:


1. Overview of Available Tax Incentives

a. Tax Credits
b. Grants
c. Depreciation
d. Deductions

2. Eligibility of Taxpayers To Take Advantage of the Incentives
3. The Energy Production Tax Credit
4. The Energy Investment Tax Credit
5. Electing a Tax-Free Grants In Lieu of Tax Credits
6. Special Depreciation and Deductions

• Identify the availability of "green" tax incentives for commercial projects


• Recognize fundamental ideas and solutions available to plan for tax efficient usage or development of renewable energy products


• Evaluate which tax incentive may be optimal in a situation


• Recognize the various compliance requirements involved

• Worldwide consumer and professional display regulations and policy


• Corporate green strategies


• Display technologies that lower power use, reduce carbon footprints or impact recycling/environmental issues


• Recycling trends


• Business, branding and marketing advantages of green

• Business Leaders
  


• Display industry technologists


• Product planners at consumer electronics companies


• Policy and regulatory planners at government agencies and key consumer electronics companies


• Marketing executives


• Test agencies

• Understand the full scope of technology, regulatory and competitive forces shaping the green display industry


• Identify areas of opportunity


• Identify areas of concern


• Gain competitive intelligence


• Business development


• Network with all groups involved in the development, marketing, testing and standardizing of “green” displays

What:
Hurricane Katrina 4th anniversary (August 29) week news conference, airplane and van media tour during the peak of the hurricane season to show the lack of progress in restoring wetlands east of New Orleans along the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) to protect the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish, where Katrina did the most damage. The event sponsors, the MRGO Must Go Coalition, will call on the Army Corps of Engineers to honor President Obama's priority in his budget and campaign"to restore nature's barriers - the wetlands, marshes and barrier islands that can take the first blows and protect the people of the Gulf Coast."


Why:
Katrina devastated not only Louisiana and its residents -- but the U.S. economy -- destroying infrastructure and damaging critical refineries so severely that some were out of service for a year, leading to a spike in the price of gasoline. Coastal wetlands are a first line of defense for coastal Louisiana communities because they reduce storm surge and protect levees. MRGO has damaged almost 600,000 acres of wetlands and coastal ecosystem, including totally destroying more than 27,000 acres of wetlands. Congress has been unable to fund restoration of MRGO wetlands – and four other major coastal restoration projects it authorized in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act -- because the Corps has not completed the design and engineering of the projects. The Corps says the MRGO Ecosystem Restoration Plan -- which must be completed before rebuilding MRGO wetlands -- won't be completed until March 2011, nearly three years after the congressionally-mandated deadline of May 2008.


Who:
Charles Allen, Asst. Dir., Ctr. for Bioenvironmental Research, Tulane & Xavier Universities
Co-Dir., Lower 9th Ward Ctr. for Sustainable Engagement and Development
Pam Dashiell, Co-Dir., Lower 9th Ward Ctr. for Sustainable Engagement and Development
John Koeferl, Member, Holy Cross Neighborhood Assoc. (subdivision of Lower 9th Ward)
Craig Taffaro, Pres., St. Bernard Parish (invited)
John Taylor, Resident, Lower 9th Ward (invited)


When:
Wed., August 26, 2009, 9am-9:30am: News conference, 9:30am-12pm: airplane and van tour. Reservations for airplane tour requested ASAP because plane fits only three passengers at a time.


Where:
Bayou Bienvenue Platform (Caffin Ave. at Florida Ave.), Lower 9th Ward

• Benzophenone is a "hormone disrupter" which mimics natural hormones produced by the endocrine system. It is also an allergen, causing allergic reactions, and a "penetration enhancer," which penetrates the skin, and is absorbed into the bloodstream and invades body wide organs.
  


• Octyl-methoxycinnamate is also a hormone disrupter and penetration enhancer which has been detected in breast milk.



• Oxybenzone, another hormone disrupter, has also been detected in breast milk.
  


• Parabens are still other hormone disrupters.