Community/Politics

Best Green School Innovators For 2011 Ranked by the U.S. Green Buildings Council

2012-01-20T17:09:41Z

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools has released its first ever Best of Green Schools 2011 list, recognizing school administrators and government leaders in 10 categories for their efforts to create sustainable learning environments.

The cafeteria in Lake Mills Middle School. Photo from miron-constructionnews.com.

Recipient schools and regions from across America – from the elementary to the university level – were recognized for a variety of sustainable, cost-cutting measures, including energy conservation, record numbers of LEED certified buildings, and collaborative platforms and policies to green U.S. school infrastructures.

Lake Mills Middle School (Lake Mills, Wis.) was recognized for the “School” category for being the first public school in the nation to achieve a LEED Platinum certification.

The middle school features a geothermal heating and cooling system, which contributes to the school saving $85,000 annually in energy costs, said the Green Building Council.

The school’s use of a geothermal system benefits the city as well. By using a geothermal system, the school has shifted its energy usage from gas to electric, and because the city owns its own electric company, the energy dollars stay within the city.

Moving up to the category of “Higher Ed Innovator,” the University of Texas at Dallas received recognition for its new LEED Platinum student services building.

U.S. Cities Increasing Use of Clean Energy Technologies Despite Lagging Economy

2011-10-18T19:09:18Z

Despite current difficulties in the national economy, most cities surveyed in a new report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said that they have been expanding their clean energy technologies and would continue to grow them over the next five years.

Image courtesy of Earth Infrastructure Ltd.

Cities in the Northeast and South are expecting some of the fastest growth, but nearly all of the 396 cities that participated in the survey are expecting to be “deploying more clean technology in five years than they do currently,” said the report.

The top three most promising choices for energy saving clean technologies by mayors were:

LED/efficient lighting technologies. The substantial majority of cities (85 percent) already deploy LED lighting, with plans to increase their use in the future.

Approximately 68 percent of cities reported using energy saving building technologies, such as solar technologies; energy-efficient appliances; and pumps.

Hybrid vehicles were found by about 40 percent of the cities surveyed as a favorable way of saving energy and carbon emissions.

Mayors in U.S. Central States Receive Honors for Implementing Green Sustainability Practices

2011-07-19T19:40:33Z

U.S. Department of Energy partnering with the University of Houston to research wind power technology. Photo courtesy of cleantechnica.com.

In working to make the U.S. a more sustainably green country, the way that seems to be producing the most visible and effective results is by doing it at the city level.

In recognition, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Walmart jointly honor two cities every year – both large and small, with populations over and under 100,000 – for their green sustainability achievements.

This year’s newly announced honors go to Houston, Texas and Evanston, Ill. with both receiving the 2011 Mayors’ Climate Protection Award.

Houston received its award because of achievements in both the public and private sector, largely through working with the city’s green office challenge, which works in conjunction with the city’s energy efficiency incentive program and municipal energy efficiency program.

These programs also incorporate free technology, software training, environmental, and energy efficiency consulting from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

There are currently about 330 private companies that have already taken part in the challenge. As part of this green challenge, the city offers eligible businesses and building owners the ability to apply for funding to make permanent energy efficiency improvements to reduce utility expenses and greenhouse gases.

UK Community Group Spreading Outreaching: Donating Unused Paints To More In Need

2011-03-18T21:17:00Z

It’s always a great feeling when you can donate things you don’t need anymore and make a difference in the lives of others. Community RePaint is helping people do this in the UK and is now expanding too!

Photo courtesy of dexknows.com.

Community RePaint is a non-profit network that collects unused paints from individuals, groups, and companies, and then donates them to those in need such as individuals with economic hardships, community organizations, charities, and public establishments (i.e. schools, hospitals, nursing homes, etc.).

Community RePaint has now launched a new chapter in Cambridgeshire, adding to its current network of over 50 community-based chapters, including locations in Cornwall, Belfast, and Inverness.

It’s the first new chapter in the network this year. The Cambridgeshire chapter will collect residents’ unwanted paints through six household waste recycling centers run in partnership with the Cambridgeshire County Council and Donarbon, a waste management company.

The Cambridgeshire chapter will then distribute the paints to local charities, community groups, and people in need, according to Nikki DiGiovanni, the chapter’s program manager, who said, “We already have a waiting list of people wanting paint – from schools to play groups, to people who are unemployed and just want to do up their house.”

Californians Vote Down Prop. 23, Saving the State’s Upcoming Global Warming Law

2010-11-09T21:50:45Z

Despite scare tactics from oil and chemical companies, by an overwhelming margin on Election Day the people of California voted against Proposition 23, also called the “California Jobs Initiative,” which would have killed the state’s global warming law scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2012.

Now secure, California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, more commonly known as AB 32, will require California’s State Air Resource Board to design and implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to their 1990 levels in the next eight years (by 2020).

They don’t know what the 1990 levels are yet, so the law has given the board the job of evaluating “the best available scientific, technological, and economic information on greenhouse gas emissions to determine the 1990 levels.”

Election Day Giving California Voters Choice Over Global Warming Law Through Ballot Prop. 23

2010-10-29T20:57:37Z

Graphic courtesy of climateactionmoreland.org.

Californians will have a very important decision to make this Election Day beyond who will represent them over the next term. On the ballot, voters will find something called the “California Jobs Initiative,” also commonly known as Proposition 23.

The ballot will inform voters that if they vote ‘yes’ and the proposition passes, that it will suspend the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (also known as AB 32), which is scheduled to become operative on Jan. 1, 2012.

The goal of the proposition is to suspend law - which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions - until California’s unemployment rate drops to 5.5 percent or below for four consecutive quarters (a 12-month span).

If the global warming law goes into effect, it will require California’s State Air Resource Board to design and implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to their 1990 levels in the next eight years (by 2020).

Climate Change Expected to Give Rise to Major Economic Challenges as the Century Progresses

2010-07-21T17:55:54Z

Climate will potentially cause major shifts in the global economy if the world continues with its current “business-as-usual” approach to manufacturing and trade policies, according to reports from this year’s Conference on Climate Change, Trade, and Competitiveness held by the World Trade Organization.

Image courtesy of the phoenixprojectfoundation.us.

The major areas expected to be effected, include:

Rises in sea levels.
Water availability.
Agricultural outputs.
Tourist travel.
Energy demands.

The rise in mean temperature of 2.3º C could induce an overall economic decline of 1.8 percent, translating into a loss of some $2.4 trillion by the year 2050, according to calculations from the conference report - Climate, Trade, and Development.

The predictive model also expects that, “Overall the developing countries would bear the brunt of the negative impacts with an average net loss of 3.7 percent in 2050. Russia would be the only developing region (of the model) with positive gains. The high-income countries on average would see little loss, if any, though there are regional variations as well among them.”

Part of the forecasted economic impacts are attributed to changes in sea levels and water distributions. Among the projected effects, a significant portion of the loss in Southeast Asia would be related to sea-level rise as well as loss in tourism revenues, according to the report.

May Bike Month - A Great Time For Beginners to Peddle Their Way to Better Health

2010-05-11T01:37:22Z

May is a great time to start up an exercise plan that includes getting outdoors. It’s the first full month of spring. The weather is warming up, but not quite hot yet, and it’s American Bike Month.

For those who have never been on a bike, consider this - it’s a low cost financial investment compared to a gym membership, and the health benefits are huge. Besides the obvious benefit of losing weight, cycling also helps improve:

back pain

knee joints

the heart and cardiovascular system

muscle tone in the lower body (legs, thighs, hips, and buttocks)

Improving back pain might sound surprising to some, but according to Cycling and Health - a website of the Center for Health of the German Sports Academy of Cologne - increasing circulation can have three main benefits:

The large muscles in the back strengthen and develop.

Increased blood flow strengthens the disks in the spinal column.

Cycling also helps stabilize the position of the disks in the spine in relation to each other.

Countries Hedging Emissions Reduction Promises As Climate Leaders Shift Positions

2010-02-22T20:32:19Z

The fallout from Copenhagen’s disastrous Climate Change Conference continues. Countries are now formally sending the United Nations their hedged promises to limit greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, new meetings are being planned for the Spring, and there are plenty of climate leaders changing jobs.

All are hedging their promises to some extent, with the largest and most powerful among them being the United States, European Union, China, and India.

Source: http://blogs.fortlewis.edu/greenfreedom/2009/11/04/copenhagen-protocol

Among the developed countries, the U.S. plans to work to reduce emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels in 2020, “in conformity with anticipated U.S. energy and climate legislation,” according to the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Special Envoy for Climate Change.

The European Union, as part of its own formal statement to the U.N., said that, “As part of a global and comprehensive agreement for the period beyond 2012, the EU reiterates its conditional offer to move to a 30 percent reduction by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, provided that other developed countries commit themselves to comparable emission(s) reductions and that developing countries contribute adequately according to their responsibilities and respective capabilities.”

New Russian River Water Limits May Leave California Growers in the Freeze

2010-01-29T21:47:26Z

Researchers document brown bear/people interactions on the Russian River. Photo by T. DeBruyn, National Park Service.

After a number of unseasonable cold snaps during last year’s growing season, and the pressure put on the California river systems to accommodate crop frost protection measures, the California State Water Resource Control Board has drafted a new preliminary proposed regulation that would severely limit growers access to the Russian River stream system during annual growing periods.

The regulation proposes that any diversion of water from the Russian River stream system, including the pumping of closely connected groundwater for purposes of frost protection between March 15 and June 1 must be under a board approved water demand management program.

It also proposes that any management program ensure that “cumulative diversion rates” don’t result in reductions in stream flow to the point that they endanger anadromous fish, which migrate from salt water to spawn in fresh water, as such as salmon.