Wal-Mart looks into selling ethanol As part of its newfound determination to jump on the eco-bandwagon, Wal-Mart is considering selling E85, an ethanol/gasoline blend, at the gas stations it owns and operates. The mega-chain held an alternative-fuels summit for auto-industry reps, oil companies, government officials, and biofuel producers in Washington, D.C., this week. Still, Wal-Mart spokesflack Kevin Gardner stressed that Wal-Mart is not yet ready to commit to anything. Despite ethanol fanfare from federal lawmakers and steady manufacturing of flex-fuel cars that can run on E85, only about 600 of the nation's 170,000 retail gas stations sell the ethanol blend. …

Bush's voluntary emissions-reduction programs not amounting to much Are you sitting down? We've got some earth-shattering news: the Bush administration's voluntary programs to reduce industrial greenhouse-gas emissions aren't working. A report issued yesterday by the Government Accountability Office stated that many industry participants in the U.S. EPA's voluntary "Climate Leaders" program and the Department of Energy's voluntary "Climate VISION" program were not setting specific emissions-reduction goals or inventorying or reporting on their emissions. According to the report, as of November 2005, only 38 of the 74 participants in the EPA program had set reduction goals; an EPA spokesflack responded that …

We all know that planes, trains, and automobiles use gobs of fuel and spew mega-gobs of greenhouse gases and other pollutants into the atmosphere -- and that makes freight transport a particularly dirty business. Your new iPod is in there somewhere. Photo: iStockphoto. The environmental impacts of shipping goods hither and yon are significant but relatively obscure, the true costs hidden amid complex shipping tariffs and product price tags. Businesses that rely on products being moved from one place to another have been able to do little to change the performance of truck, rail, and marine cargo companies. Moreover, cargo …

Random House to bump up use of recycled paper For you fogies who still read books made of ... what do they call it? ... "paper," here's some good news: Leading U.S. publishing company Random House announced this week that it plans to increase the recycled-paper content of its books to 30 percent by 2010. It's an ambitious goal, as only about 3 percent of paper currently used in Random House books is recycled. The average recycled-paper content in the biz is about 5 percent. Random House, which buys about 120,000 tons of paper each year for book production, claims …

New York Times runs series on green biz The New York Times is running a ginormous series today on green business, creatively titled "The Business of Green." (Hey, NYT, if you need headline help for the next series, just let us know.) Read about green collaborations among businesses and enviro organizations; Chicago's success in combining environmental and economic goals, and meeting them; entrepreneurs in the carbon-trading market; the risks of nuclear power as a "clean" energy source; and environmental products like lead-free bullets that are popping up in government agencies. Take a video tour of a cutting-edge green building; learn …

European Union's fledgling carbon-trading market hits turbulence A hullabaloo has erupted in the European Union over its one-year-old carbon-trading market, established to help the E.U. meet its targets under the Kyoto Protocol. It turns out that 21 of the 25 countries involved have come in under their greenhouse-gas emissions targets, leaving a 70.5 million ton surplus. Good news, right? Not so much. Industry types are being accused of tricking governments into high-balling the targets, leaving companies awash in credits they didn't have to work for. Worse yet, news of the surplus was leaked early, leading to a spectacular market crash …

As director of program development at The Environmental Careers Organization, Kevin Doyle knows a thing or two about job searching. In this recurring column for Grist, he explores the green job market and offers advice to eco-job-seekers looking to jumpstart their careers. I have been working in the environmental consulting field for several years now. I must admit, I'm quite disillusioned due to clients who simply don't care about the environment. I turn away projects when I realize the goal is to use me to produce an assessment that removes their responsibility. When I explain that the data cannot be …

Can you work as an environmental consultant without losing your soul? Jacqueline is a 40-year-old environmental consultant who's disillusioned by all the pollutocrats asking her to fudge data. She wants to make a career change -- just one among many who are frustrated by their seemingly ineffectual eco-related jobs, says green-careers guru Kevin Doyle. In his latest column, Doyle weighs in on the concerns of many environmental professionals toiling in the for-profit world. Is his counsel on the mark? Join the discussion in Gristmill.

Melanie Warner at the NYT reports today that Wal-Mart is about to dramatically increase its organic food offerings. In very understated fashion, she says, "Wal-Mart's interest is expected to change organic food production in substantial ways." Um, yeah, it sure will. Wal-Mart's plan is to sell organics ~10% over the price of non-organics -- a much closer premium than you can get elsewhere. It's also getting brands like Pepsi, Rice Krispies, and Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese in the game. There's good back and forth in the article about the pros and cons of further industrializing organics -- availability and expansion …

The New York Times is running an interesting article called "The High Cost of Cheap Gas and Vice Versa." The author calculates the current average cost of driving at 15 cents a mile, up from 6.6 cents in 1998, and down from 20.1 cents in 1980 (in 2006 dollars). He also puts up a cost-per-mile calculator, in case your math skills have deteriorated since you last took the SAT. My colleague JP Ross tells me that a Toyota Prius in electric-only mode uses .26 kWh to go a mile. If you are filling up with peak electricity rates, say 12 …