regulations

Guest Post by: Dan Harris

Yesterday I attended the Internet Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) How to be Safe and Social event.

Of particular interest was the presentation by Malcolm Phillips, the Code Policy Manager at the Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP), on updating the digital remit of the CAP code and the new Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) guidelines for online advertising that come into effect from 1 March 2011.

A bill introduced in California’s state Senate last week holds enormous potential to give sustainable business a push by making it — well, legal.

Under current law in California and most other states, companies can be sued by their shareholders or investors for taking environmental or social measures that negatively affect shareholders’ financial returns. The proposed bill would enable a new form of for-profit corporation, encouraging and expressly permitting companies to pursue other things besides simply making money.

Today marks another significant milestone in the development of ULE 880 – Sustainability for Manufacturing Organizations, the company-level standard we’ve been developing in partnership with UL Environment. Indeed, a great deal has been going on behind the scenes the past few months, so it’s time for an update.

As America enters the next chapter of its political history, with a newly minted Congress and a hobbled presidency, national leadership on climate and energy issues continues to remain a pipe dream. One side wants to accelerate business as usual: more oil drilling, “clean” coal and nuclear plants, letting “the market” determine which technologies win or lose.