In a time when federal public policy is crippled to deal with climate change, organizations, states, and municipalities are stepping up. Andrea Robinson is the Director of Greening for the Democratic National Convention in Denver this August. Her goal is to reuse, recycle or compost at least 85% of all waste generated during the convention. She has made the risky move of making some pretty strong statements on the conservation and sustainability efforts of the Convention.

From the Wall St Journal:

To test whether celebratory balloons advertised as biodegradable
actually will decompose, Ms. Robinson buried samples in a steaming
compost heap. She hired an Official Carbon Adviser, who will measure
the greenhouse-gas emissions of every placard, every plane trip, every
appetizer prepared and every coffee cup tossed. The Democrats hope to
pay penance for those emissions by investing in renewable energy
projects.

To police the four-day event Aug. 25-28, she's assembling (via
paperless online signup) a trash brigade. Decked out in green shirts,
900 volunteers will hover at waste-disposal stations to make sure
delegates put each scrap of trash in the proper bin. Lest a fork slip
into the wrong container unnoticed, volunteers will paw through every
bag before it is hauled away.

Of course the DNCC is going to come under fire for its efforts but I have to applaud them. They're sticking their neck out in a major way, and how often can you say this for a political unit?

Today I learned of a new trend in municipalities: a four day work week. Says one staffer in Birmingham, AL: "The move, allowing employees to work four 10-hour days, may save
500,000 to one million dollars annually in fuel costs alone for the
employees, according to April Odom, director of communications for the
mayor's office in the city of 242,000 people."

L. Brooks Patterson, the Executive of Oakland Country Michigan talked about new options for county employees. On June 12, the County approved a plan to give its more than 4,000 employees the option to work four 10-hour days per week. It would be ironic indeed if it took high gas prices to make the American workplace more flexible, but there you are.

The Oil Drum has an excellent post on reasons why the four day work week could impact oil prices for the good. The five day week is a relic of times past, argue many. Here's the math from Aaron Newton:

The math, as I see it, goes as thus (I welcome a discussion of these numbers, by the way...):

133,000,000 workers X 80% who drive alone = 106,400,000 single driver commuter cars each day.

106,400,000 X 32 miles round trip = 3,404,800,000 miles driven to work each day

3,404,800,000 / 21 mpg (average fuel efficiency) = 162,133,333 gallons of gasoline each day

Each barrel of crude oil produces, on average, 19.5 gallons of gas.
(It is important to note that other products like kerosene and asphalt
are produced from that same barrel.)

162,133,333 / 19.5 = 8,314,530 barrels of oil each day.

What this shows is Reason #1; the impact a 4 day work week could have on crude oil imports.
I'm talking about a 10-20% and even perhaps a 40% reduction in the
amount of oil we need Monday through Friday simply by rearranging our
work week. No wonder this idea was utilized in the 70's.

If our government and national politicians refuse to talk about conservation, it's up to other sectors to get creative and move to problem solve. Any examples that you find notable?