On the heels of President Obama’s Oval Office speech marrying the BP oil spill with American’s fossil fuel dependency, energy cognoscenti gathered in Washington to discuss the state of play on the most near-term, cost-effective step the country can take to cut that dependence -- energy efficiency.

From smoking cessation to wearing seat belts, behavior change theories and experiences point to three key conditions needed for people, organizations or society to change -- having a sense of tension, efficacy and benefits.

A new Burger King restaurant in Germany features wind, solar, lighting, heating and cooling systems that are expected to produce whopping cuts in energy use and costs.

A group of America's most powerful capitalists -- including Bill Gates, Jeff Immelt, John Doerr and others -- is calling for $16 billion a year in government investments on new energy technologies.

Fresh from their training, the EDF Climate Corps fellows head out to their summer assignments, and the fellow sent to CSX Corporation finds himself in a meeting with the company's environmental and facilities teams soon after reporting for duty. 

The value of the voluntary carbon market shrunk 47 percent to $387 million in 2009 as the recession shrank the amount of offsets purchased for corporate social responsibility purposes.

 U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer has made significant strides on its energy, emissions and waste goals while falling behind on travel emissions, water tracking and organic food sales.

 Marks & Spencer's annual sustainability report gives a detailed update on the 100 commitments that are part of its Plan A program.

After spending three years closely following the campaign to get climate and energy legislation through Congress, author Eric Pooley says: "The missing ingredient here has been presidential leadership."

The U.S. General Services Administration has tapped the sustainability director at Cushman & Wakefield to become the first chief greening officer for the agency and lead efforts to make government buildings greener.

 Dr Pepper Snapple Group released its first corporate social responsibility report since becoming a public company in 2008, setting energy, carbon dioxide, water, recycling and packaging goals.

Car rental giant Enterprise Holdings unveiled a new sustainability initiative Thursday aimed at reducing energy consumption and cost by 20 percent over the next five years at the companies vast network of neighborhood car rental branches and airport facilities. The initiative, called 20/20 Vision, began as a pilot in 2009 in select markets and is now being rolled out companywide.

Levi Strauss & Co. is looking for innovative ideas for air drying clothing in an effort to slash the amount of energy used around the country to dry clothing.
 

Energy efficiency investments around the world have remained strong despite the global recession, commercial building executives told Johnson Controls in the company's first international energy efficiency survey.

As the healthcare industry strives to reduce its environmental footprint, the makers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices are working to curb their use of energy and water and run their facilities more responsibly. Thera Kalmijn examines their efforts in Part 2 of her series on green initiatives in the healthcare industry.

This survey of 300 global executives shows business leaders are pursuing climate change initiatives because they can make and save money, meet stakeholder expectations and manage risk.

Can the U.S. surpass China in the solar PV market? The challenges are many, but the Green Race isn't over yet.
 

Data is beginning to roll in for the pilot test of an eagerly anticipated new standard for supply chain greenhouse gas accounting from the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Innovation, costs, and regulation now drive leading firms to increasingly embrace carbon management and sustainability, but within the next few years, companies will move in greater numbers from a tactical to strategic approach as factors such as emissions and resource scarcity take on greater importance in C-suite decisionmaking,

With the help of its local utility, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will launch a three-year energy efficiency project that will trim electricity use 15 percent and save the university $50 million.