In the magical world of Winnie the Pooh, Piglet lives in a house signposted “TRESPASSERS W.” The golden silence that follows the W allows Pooh and his friends to wonder about the sign’s meaning, which Piglet insists honors his grandfather, Trespassers William. Piglet’s grandfather aside, silence in the law allows competing interpretations to arise and flourish in the realms of rhetoric, narrative, power, and politics.

Products, processes, and whole companies are voluntarily going green today, leading the way to a whole new approach to protecting the environment. Company claims of green products, processes, and philosophy are merely so much greenwash, with little or no real substance. Both of these sharply contrasting views of business  environmentalism command passionate support today. Three questions about business environmentalism become apparent: Why is business environmentalism  important? Second, what are companies doing today and are they getting better environmental performance?

On December 9, 2011, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions convened a broad range of stakeholders representing numerous viewpoints to explore  issues surrounding CAA §111(d), including options for states to demonstrate that existing GHG policies are equivalent to the §111(d) requirements. This Article builds upon the discussion during the December 9 workshop and considers some of the major challenges associated with categories of potentially “equivalent” state programs.

Supporters of EPA note that the Agency is responsible for only 0.06% of the U.S. national debt and 0.26% of the federal government’s budget, and argue that cutting environmental spending could make our economy worse by increasing medical costs if the Agency lacks the resources to enforce laws that protect public health.  Opponents argue that the EPA regulatory process has exploded, creating so much red tape for businesses that they are unable to hire workers and stimulate our economy. On December 9, 2011, ELI convened a seminar to examine the effect of EPA on the economy and jobs.