Publisher's Watch

Last week the EPA released its second annual list of the top twenty-five cities with the most buildings with its Energy Star rating. And for the second year in a row, Los Angeles topped the list with a total of 293 buildings, followed by Washington, DC at 204 buildings, and San Francisco in third position with 173(for the full list, see http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/downloads /2009_Top_25_cities_chart.pdf). If you want to have a little fun, tell your friends and associates who are not very proficient in green and sustainable information which city topped the list. Most likely you'll get responses that range from "no way" to "no effing way". Either way, whatever city leads the pack, most important is that every year the amount of buildings continues to grow.

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There aren't many people with Internet access who don't use Google's search engine. If you enter "Google" into Google's search field, approximately two billion items come up within .17 seconds and the first bit says Google "Enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images." This is Google's service in a nutshell. Of course, Google has grown beyond a simple search engine and is one of the most powerful corporations of the digital era. With annual revenues reaching over $20 billion, it has expanded into everything from smart phones to mapping software. Basically, if you use any part of the Internet, there is a good chance Google will find a way to be there.

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This week I had the opportunity to moderate and co-produce a panel with Paul McGinniss, writer and green advocate and the SUNY New Paltz Environmental Task Force at SUNY New Paltz, "The Future of Gas Drilling in New York State," primarily focusing on the process of hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale formation, including parts that lay in the New York City watershed. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as "fracking," uses massive amounts of water and chemicals to access oil and gas trapped in hard-to-reach shale formations. The EPA has urged state regulators to further study the environmental impact of such techniques primarily because the federal government has no oversight in this matter.

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Darden Restaurants, Inc., owner of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and LongHorn Steakhouse, is taking the first steps in going green. The Orlando-based food purveyor, with over 1400 company-owned restaurants, is implementing a sustainable design program for its facilities with eight slated to complete the transition in 2011. The company's headquarters has already applied for a USGBC LEED Gold certification, and all new restaurants will be built green.

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