Five leading companies joined Ceres today to announce a business coalition demanding stronger U.S. climate and energy legislation as early as 2009. The team includes Nike, Starbucks, Levi Strauss, Sun Microsystems, Timberland And Ceres and is going by the moniker BICEP - I am thinking Nike had something to do with that one.

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Even when you get a panel of so-called experts, there tends to be disagreements. In fact, when asked about all the controversy among what to do about the energy crisis and sustainability and alt energy Adam Werbach blurted, “First thing that we need to do is to kill all the experts,” which got a laugh but also made a good point. Lovins showed some lovin’ for her case that innovation comes with healing. In her case, she argued that investing in sustainability rather than armies would work in places like Afghanistan where she’s off to teach, not how to shoot an M-16 but of course, sustainability. Like political pundits, the talk shifted to taxes (like a carbon tax) versus subsidies. We, like most of the crowd pondered the thought of adding a “carbon tax” to various products and services. But we all know how much this country loves its taxes. But then what about subsidies? It’s no shock that dirty energy like coal and oil look relatively cheap because of the subsidies. Green foodie Michael Pollen of Omnivore’s Dilemma fame, dedicated numerous book pages talking about corn and soy subsidies, and here the group and audience did the same. That subsidized corn ends up as high fructose corn syrup in so many cheap processed foods. We don’t see any spinach subsidies. Balance the energy scale. We think that it’s time for more Green energy subsidies (not just solar). People don’t want their dirty energy taxed so we need to make clean energy cheap.

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Today, at UC-San Francisco’s Conference Center, Sun Microsystems will be hosting OpenEco.org’s “Energy Camp,” a free one-day event that focuses on bringing together environmental leaders and software developers to discuss “coding for the environment.” Speakers will include L. Hunter Lovins, Adam Werbach, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger. The event begins at 9 am PST.

Now, you may be thinking, “Wow, Jeff, that’s kind of lame to announce an event on the day it’s happening.” I agree… but, you don’t need to move your schedule around (if you’re in the Bay Area), or even catch a quick flight (if you’re not): you can participate from anywhere through a Ustream webcast at either sun.com or OpenEco.org/energycamp. There’s also a wiki that will be available at http://www.openeco.org/wiki/Energy_Camp_2008.

This looks like it will be a great time, and we will have a GO Media writer there covering it. Additionally, we’ve heard there may be some video clips available of some of the speakers; if so, we’ll share those with you at Ecoscraps. If you go, please let us know how it went (or, how it’s going, if you’d like to comment during the Camp).

A recent survey found that 73% of people believe it is important that their employer be an environmentally and socially responsible company. However, energy saving measures people take in their own home don’t always carry over in to office. Ninety-two percent of those surveyed said they turned off lights in unoccupied rooms in their own homes, yet only 52% admitted to following the same practice at work.

The survey was sponsored by Sun Microsystems, whose Vice President of Eco Responsibility, Dave Douglas says:

Businesses don’t cut power consumption — people do. If you’re an employee, these survey results show that you have an enormous opportunity to make a difference for our planet and to help America’s business make better use of their economic resources. If you’re an employer, bridge this gap by communicating about the issue and how everyone can benefit by taking small steps. The good news is that your employees care about the environment, but they may need your help in realizing how much they can actually make a difference.

Some small steps you can take:

• Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms such as kitchens, break rooms, and conference rooms. To help remind others to do the same, create a small sign to post on the door or above the light switch. If there is plenty daylight is coming in, keep the lights off until needed.
• Turn off your computer at the end of the day, and set it to go into energy saving mode (sleep, or hibernation) after a period of inactivity. Unplugging it at the end of the day will also save energy. Likewise, turn off the monitor when you’re away from your desk.
• When printing or photocopying use both sides of the paper. If possible, set the default settings on printers and photocopiers to double-sided.
• If your workplace offers recycling, do your part and recycle.
• Cut back on paper cups and use your own mug for coffee/tea and water.

These are just a few small things, but if you do them every day, and you can get your co-workers to do the same, these little things will add up to have a noticeable impact.

The survey, released on Wednesday, was commissioned by Sun Microsystems, Inc, and conducted by Harris Interactive.

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10 Fast, Easy Tips to Cool Your Company

Q & A: How Can We Ask People To Recycle When It Is So Difficult?

Remarkable: Recycled Office Products Made Cool

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Water cooling has existed for desktops for a while now, but has not been used in the server environment. As far as noise is concerned, they are great because they make almost little to no noise compared to the very loud fans that are often found in servers. According to a Gartner report, water can carry 3,500 times more heat than air at sea level which can significantly improve the temperature of datacenters with more cooling efficiency.

Cooling a server is the biggest concern for corporations and the energy necessary to cool the servers is one of the biggest costs. By having energy efficient cooling, it can save a significant amount of power and costs. Datacenters have become a topic of attention because of all the energy that is used to maintain these large environments. Big corporations such as IBM and Sun Microsystems have taken measures in increasing their environmental responsibility. It will be interesting to see the technology that these companies will come up with that other companies will take advantage of.

Sun Microsystems has a dedicated eco center website. The website describes the efforts that Sun Microsystems is making to help the environment, and their goals in cutting their carbon footprint. Sun is also working on strategies to use alternative energy, and greening their datacenters using smaller, more efficient servers that optimize energy, space, and performance. Sun is among many of the hi-tech companies that are making a difference and many more are also taking its lead. At the KGO Eco Live 2007 event that I attended in May at San Francisco, Sun had a huge booth area that showcased its energy saving efforts.

To get more individuals involved, the VP of Eco Responsibility at Sun Microsystems, Dave Douglas has released 10 tips that everyone can do to try to save some energy.

10 FAST, EASY TIPS TO COOL YOUR COMPANY

• Try using natural light. If your office is too dark, try a reading light. The average reading light consumes about 60 watts – much less than overhead lighting.
• Don’t depend on the sensors. Even if your office is equipped with sensors that switch lights on and off automatically, there is still a lag in the time the sensor takes to turn off lights. Also, motion in hallways or from other activity can reactivate your lights. Both can add up to real dollars and greenhouse gas pollution.
• Shut the blinds first thing in the morning before you feel the need to. Doing this early on in the day reduces the overall heat gain of the building and reduces the need to use air conditioning. You can enjoy that view again once the heat wave subsides.
• Dump your screensaver. If you still have one of those screensavers that move – whether the psychedelic or a tamer variety – these can consume as much energy as when your computer is in use.
• Put your computer to sleep. Most computers come with an energy saving feature that automatically puts your computer into “sleep” mode after a set amount of time if you’re not using it. Studies show that 50-80% computers are not set to go into “sleep” mode. With a few clicks, you can set up your computer to go to sleep, or just ask your IT department to help you.
• Better yet, click off the power button. Your monitor is using energy even while it sleeps. Turn off the power button when you’re not using it, and power down any other hardware you’re not using, whether in your office, or elsewhere. Unplugging your equipment at the end of the day can bring the energy from 150 watts down to 0.
• Pull the plugs. Believe it or not, your electronic devices may still use energy when they are turned off because some use “standby power.” The US EPA estimates that 40% of the energy used by home electronics like Digital Video Recorders (DVRs), big screen televisions and cable decoder boxes is consumed when the devices are turned off or in standby mode.
• Kill the space heater. Despite the sweltering heat outside, many offices are over-air conditioned and cause workers to run space heaters. Space heaters can consume as much as 1500 watts per hour. During an energy crunch, try working in a common area such as a cafeteria or sitting outside. You should also contact your office manager or facilities to get to the root of the problem. It could be an easy fix or a sign of a larger problem that needs addressing.
• Get a free consult from your local utility. Many electric utilities offer free evaluation services. They will walk you through the power drains in your facility and help you conserve— both energy and money.
• Participate in a "demand response" program. Your local utility probably offers a demand response program, in which your company can be alerted when hot weather is straining the local power grid and threatening a black out. Your utility will call you during those peak times and ask you to turn down any non-essential lights or equipment. Some will ask that you simply reduce your usage by 5%, and that small amount across hundreds of local businesses can actually prevent a black out. Participating in a demand response program can save your business money since electricity is generally most expensive during these peak times.