Strange but true: Our trash is going green. The nation's largest garbage hauler and landfill operator, Waste Management Inc., has announced plans to make its operations more eco-friendly. The company hopes to double its landfill methane-to-electricity production by 2020, boost the fuel efficiency of its fleet by 15 percent by 2020, process more recyclables, and set aside more land for wildlife habitat. Now we almost feel bad that our lifelong goal is to put them out of a job.

From the The Chicago Tribune: Police this morning arrested five people who scaled the Chicago Board of Trade building in the Loop and unfurled a banner to protest the destruction of the world's rain forests. The demonstrators, members of the Rainforest Action Network ... displayed a 50-foot banner protesting three U.S. agriculture companies. The protest was part of a campaign to "halt agribusiness expansion in the rain forests of South America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific," according to a statement by the group. The protest targeted agribusiness firms Archer Daniels Midland Co., Bunge and Cargill. Yes.

A dozen leading U.S. retailers are reducing profit forecasts and blaming warmer weather for contributing to slumping sales. Retailers plagued by lower-than-expected September earnings included Nordstrom, Target, American Eagle Outfitters, Limited Brands, and JCPenney, all of which have had trouble moving autumn and winter clothing. Our suggestion: prove those reduced-profit predictions right by buying your winter shorts at that cute local place down the street.

The following is a guest essay by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, the latest in the ongoing conversation about their new book Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility. ----- This week saw a watershed moment for those of us committed to moving environmentalism from a politics of limits to a politics of possibility. Senator Barack Obama proposed a $150 billion investment to develop and deploy clean energy technology on a scale approaching the challenge we face. In doing so, he has become the most recent of several national political leaders to go beyond the …

Earlier this week brought news of a settlement agreement between utility giant American Electric Power and the U.S. EPA in which the company agreed to install some $4.6 billion in pollution controls at some of its power plants and pay over $70 million in penalties and cleanup costs. Today, The Washington Post reported that the agreement contained language exempting the company from enforcement for the next 10 years under the same rule it was sued for allegedly not obeying. The new-source review rule mandates that utilities upgrade pollution controls when building or significantly renovating a power plant. "It just shows …

I just finished reading Shellenberger & Nordhaus' latest, and while I realize I am a bit late to the party, I think they say some fascinating things -- perhaps not for the reasons they intended. S&N manage to succinctly distill an awful lot of the ideas that are core not only to policy debates on carbon, but to policy discussions of any major change to the economy. Understanding these biases is critical to understanding why S&N write what they write, but also why they are so deeply wrong. I recently joked to an economist friend that economics is the only …

International yogurt giant Dannon has agreed to pay a fine of $71,350 and install a multimillion-dollar automated wastewater control system as part of a settlement with the U.S. EPA. There have been some 10 illegal discharges over the past few years at the company's 3-million-cup-a-day yogurt plant in Ohio -- and it's not just spilled yogurt. In February 2005, the company spilled 15,000 gallons of water and milk waste into the storm sewer and a canal, and a September 2005 spill dumped about 1,800 gallons of harsh chemicals and a few hundred thousand gallons of wastewater into the sanitary sewer, …

Eco-friendly investment funds are sssssssssssmokin'!

Coming soon to a hotel room near you: the first green Bible, expected to hit the scene later this month from publisher Thomas Nelson. The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Daily Bible -- which perhaps includes the 11th commandment "Thou shalt be principled"? -- will be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and contain recycled fiber. Says Tyson Miller of the Green Press Initiative, which is working with Thomas Nelson to green the Holy Book: "The Bible is the most widely circulated book on the planet and Thomas Nelson's leadership and use of environmentally responsible paper is a living legacy …

At least six of the world's largest companies have banded together to urge their suppliers to report and mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions. Joining together as the Supply Chain Leadership Coalition and partnering with the Carbon Disclosure Project -- which is also working with Wal-Mart -- companies including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Tesco, Nestlé, Imperial Tobacco, and Cadbury Schweppes will pressure thousands of vendors and factories to be up front about their emissions.