May 29

To any and all of my readers who live in or near (or are visiting) the Columbus, Ohio / Central Ohio area:

It’s time! Please come out to see After the Afterglow - Raconteur Theatre’s debut production!

More info is below. Thank you to all of you who have already purchased tickets- see you at the show!

After the Afterglow consists of two short plays that explore love when it seems to be past its prime. Roulette by Douglas Hill is about embracing the past when you can’t escape it while Aster, Holger Gunn by Justin Toomey is about learning how to let go.Tickets are $8. We are performing at Kafé Kerouac in the North Campus area of Columbus. It’s an intimate setting where you can buy a cup of coffee and enjoy good theatre. Address: 2250 N. High St., 2 blocks North of Lane Ave. The show runs May 29 - June 14.Roulette
by Douglas Hill
Directed by Tricia Jones
Cast:
Janine: Jill Ceneskie
Matt: JT WalkerAster, Holger Gunn
by Justin Toomey
Directed by Aaron Einhorn
Cast:
Holger: Andrew Cronacher
Aster: Molly St Cyr
Duck: Sam Blythe

Performance Dates:
8 p.m. - Thursday, May 29
8 p.m. - Friday, May 30
8 p.m. - Saturday, May 31
2 p.m. - Sunday, June 1
8 p.m. - Thursday, June 5
8 p.m. - Friday, June 6
8 p.m. - Saturday, June 7
2 p.m. - Sunday, June 8
8 p.m. - Thursday, June 12
8 p.m. - Friday, June 13
8 p.m. - Saturday, June 14

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Keep up with Raconteur Theatre Company at http://raconteurtheatre.com

May 29
Earthlings, there is one thing you can do to help save planet Earth, be green like us and not lift more than your little finger. Even I have learned to do it, and I only have two fingers and one thumb.

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May 29

If you keep any kind of website or blog, here is a simple way you can help by offsetting your carbon footprint.

CO2Stats monitors the usage of your web site’s server and based on its location, and loactions of your visitors they estimate the carbon footprint and then purchase Renewable Energy Certificates equal to the amount your site uses. The certificates help fund solar and wind electrical generation. 

Setting this up on your site is very simple. Just visit CO2Stats, copy a very short script, and include it on your site. That’s all there is to it. You can opt to use a paid version also which will provide some detailed stats, but the free option is great start. 

You can see how much EasyGreensy has offset since I included the script here just the other day on the lower left sidebar.

May 29
US companies and State governments are not the only ones trying to get ahead of the curve on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Industries in developing countries like Brazil and India are also getting in the game.

WRI announced today that it is launching a new program in India to help companies from a range of industries, including cement, pharmaceuticals, and engineering, address greenhouse gas emissions.

"The India Greenhouse Gas Inventory Program will allow our companies to consistently and credibly monitor their emissions," said Mr. K P Nyati, Principal Advisor, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in a press release today.

The India GHG Inventory Program will be implemented by the Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Center (GBC) of CII.

"This new program will help India establish a national model of emissions accounting," said Manish Bapna, executive vice president of the World Resources Institute (WRI). "You can't manage what you don't measure."

WRI partnered with CII-GBC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish the program, which is modeled after EPA's Climate Leaders.

"By adopting greenhouse gas management strategies that make business sense, India's industry leaders are demonstrating that a healthy environment and a healthy economy can, in fact, go hand-in-hand," Jim Sullivan, director of the EPA's Climate Leaders program, said in a press release issued by WRI.

India ranks seventh in the world in terms of annual GHG emissions and is responsible for nearly 3.6 percent of world emissions. That doesn't sound like a heck of alot, but it is growing with the country's economic expansion.

"A GHG inventory will improve the company's understanding of its GHG emissions profile and thereby its potential GHG liability or exposure in a carbon constrained economy," noted Mr. A. K. Kaul, Ex-Chairperson, CII Delhi State Council.

Mind you, as a developing country, India has no GHG reduction obligation under the Kyoto Protocol. Corporate GHG reporting is also voluntary, but is becoming almost de rigeur as industry tries to grapple with the potential impacts of climate change on their businesses.

Smart companies are choosing to inventory their emissions and areas of possible efficiencies, which may also improve their bottom line.

India's program is similar to one recently launched in Brazil and is based on the standardized framework of the GHG Protocol.

The GHG Protocol was created by WRI and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and is considered the global standard for accounting of GHG emissions by governments, businesses, and other organizations.

WRI reports on a new study by the Corporate Register, which found that sixty-three percent of Fortune 500 companies use the GHG protocol to disclose their emissions.

The roster of member companies of the India GHG Inventory Program sports some big names in Indian businessn including Ashok Leyland, Bosch Ltd, Capricon Food Products, Century Rayon, Control Techniques India, Godrej Industries, HIRCO, Infosys Technologies, NICCO Corporation, Tata Power, Tata Iron & Steel, and Wipro.

Funding for the program is provided by the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate and the U.S. EPA, according to WRI.

A move like this from India, which recognizes that growth doesn't have to come at the cost of the environment, sends a strong message to the rest of the world. India wants to lead.


(Blogging via BlackBerry; links to come.)

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