‘Green’ marketing schemes face tighter scrutiny: The competition watchdog is to clamp down on marketing schemes that claim all sorts of “green” benefits, including those associated with carbon credits. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will check the authenticity of several green marketing products after receiving a growing number of complaints. ACCC commissioner John Martin said the consumer protection provisions of the Trade Practices Act still applied to green marketing claims, irrespective of whether business was promoting “green” motor vehicles, “green” flights or “green” toilet paper. The Age

Biofuels ‘crime against humanity’: A United Nations expert has condemned the growing use of crops to produce biofuels as a replacement for petrol as a crime against humanity. The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said he feared biofuels would bring more hunger. The growth in the production of biofuels has helped to push the price of some crops to record levels. BBC

Kevin Rudd’s reef plan keeps green heat on Coalition: A Labor government would offer $200 million to farmers and landowners to help them clean up their act to protect the Great Barrier Reef from climate change and declining water quality, as Kevin Rudd seeks to maintain the pressure on the Coalition on environmental issues. Mr Rudd’s announcement comes on top of a $1 billion water scheme outlined yesterday.  The Labor Leader has said today’s plan is the largest ever single financial contribution to saving the reef. News.com.au

Clam, 405, is oldest animal ever: It has been christened Ming and it’s officially the oldest animal to have ever lived. A British scientific team discovered the 405-year-old clam, named after the Chinese dynasty and not the former Liberal Democrat leader, at the bottom of the ocean, and hope its longevity will reveal the secrets of ageing. So significant is the find that Help The Aged have awarded a £40,000 grant to the team to investigate how the molusc, born when Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and William Shakespeare was writing The Merry Wives of Windsor, has survived over the centuries. Telegraph

An environmental warning proposed for cars in Europe: The advertising business has jumped on the environmental bandwagon, finding ways to give all sorts of industries a “green” tuneup and profiting in the process. But is it about to backfire? The European Parliament proposed last Wednesday that car advertisements in the European Union carry tobacco-style labels, warning of the environmental impact they cause. Under the plan, 20 percent of the space or time of any auto ad would have to be set aside for information on a car’s fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, cited as a contributor to global climate change. International Herald Tribune