• Gap Inc. Sets GHG Reductions, Water Quality Targets: In its forthcoming CSR report, Gap has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its U.S. operations 20 percent over 2008 levels by 2015. The as-yet-unreleased report also lays out the company's goal of reaching 100 percent compliance with the company's water quality standards for its branded denim. GreenBiz.com's Maya Albanese got a sneak peek at the report as part of her profile of Kindley Walsh Lawlor, Gap's VP of Social and Environmental Responsibility.

• Deutsche Bahn to Run Its Trains on Renewables: Driven by demand from the German people, the head of the country's train lines has announced that the agency is aiming to source 28 percent of the energy for its train lines from renewables by 2014 -- up from 20 percent today -- and will be 100 percent green powered by 2050. The shift comes in the wake of the Japanese nuclear disaster, when the country turned its back on nuclear power, embracing renewables even more vigorously than it already had.

• Jon Huntsman Becomes GOP Outlier by Embracing Global Warming, Evolution: In a tweet that launched a firestorm of controversy, former Utah governor and current GOP presidential hopeful announced that he "believe[s] in evolution and trust[s] scientists on global warming." The rare admission was part of a larger discussion of the dangers the GOP faces from embracing its anti-science wing in the run-up to the 2012 election.

• Genomatica Makes a Bio-Based Alternative for Core Chemical Industry Material: Startup Genomatic (previously profiled by Marc Gunther here) has developed a bio-based method for creating butadiene, one of "seven basic chemicals at the core of the chemical industry," according to an announcement today. The chemical industry faces shortages of its petroleum-derived feedstocks in part because of increased demand and increased use of natural gas.

• Portland Says Its Grid is Prepared for 10% EVs: By 2020, as many as 10 percent of cars on the road will be electric vehicles, according to some predictions. That rate of adoption will have significant impacts on the electric grid, as thousands of electric vehicles return home from work and plug in to charge. Solving that infrastructural challenge is one of the big initiatives as part of the VERGE revolution. But the head of Portland Gas and Electric in Oregon says the city can handle a boom in EVs "no sweat," and that the additional load from 10 percent EVs on the city's grid would make no difference to demand.

• Tar Sands Action Underway at Capitol: Tar Sands Action, the large-scale public protest against the Keystone XL pipeline, is underway in Washington, with 70 people arrested on Saturday during the first day of protest. Earlier this month, Bill McKibben issued a call to action for cleantech companies to join in the fight against the pipeline, which in addition to polluting the air, land and water would keep costs of oil artificially low for years to come, slowing the adoption of clean technologies.

• A New Fear from Climate Change — 'Bugnadoes': NPR reports on how the dramatic and unstable weather in the Midwest this summer -- floods, tornadoes, cold snaps and heat waves -- are unleashing clouds of insects the size of tornadoes, dubbed "bugnadoes." Although the concept is enough to get entomophobes all hot and bothered, the bugnadoes don't actually pose much threat to people or the planet, and could be seen as "quite beautiful."

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