In 1988, a group of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill placed a small message in Greenpeace’s magazine asking if anyone would be interested in forming a student-based environmental coalition. Students from more than 200 U.S. campuses replied.
Today, the Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) has more than 30,000 members on 1,500 campuses.
“With a little more outreach after that first message, the interest just flooded in,” said Eric Odell, editor of SEAC’s newsletter, Threshold. “At the time, there was a growing surge of interest in environmental activism on campuses. SEAC began at just the right time to harness that surge.”
The organization serves as a source of communication — linking different student environmental groups around the country to create a more integrated movement. SEAC gives students a sense of connection to a national environmental movement, Odell said.
SEAC is now calling for a new American environmental agenda that includes the issues of race, class and poverty — along with the traditional goals of conservation and preservation.
“SEAC challenges its members to see the connections between social and environmental problems,” Odell said. “Our environment is dying not just because humans abuse the earth, but because we abuse each other. To be strong, our movement must cross lines of gender, race and class.”
One of the organization’s latest campaigns is aimed at trying to stop a huge hydroelectric project in Quebec called James Bay II. SEAC chapters have been working with labor groups to fight the project, which will displace thousands of native Indians and flood Canadian wilderness.
To finance the project, Quebec has been signing power contracts with U.S. utilities. However, SEAC recently helped win a battle when the New York state government decided not to sign a $13 billion contract to buy power from the project. Instead, the state will support a campaign to reduce energy use and promote economic development in the state, Odell said.
“It was clear that this victory came partly as a result of SEAC’s efforts on this issue,” he said. “We worked to build coalitions with labor groups to show that billions of dollars flowing out of New York would hurt the state and cost jobs. Getting the support of organized labor was a key in changing the state’s mind.”
In the future, SEAC will continue to try and broaden the definition of the environment to include social factors along with conservation issues, Odell said. And by doing so, the largest student-run environmental organization on American campuses today should continue to grow.
Earth Fact: SEAC operates with a paid staff of 12 and a $500,000 annual budget, raised through grants from various foundations.
Rhino Chasers, a new environmentally conscious brew, is quenching the thirsts of beer lovers across the country while raising money for the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).
An agreement between the brewer and AWF is sending 51 percent of the beer maker’s profits to the organization for its efforts to protect African wildlife.
The idea started when Scott Griffiths, president of a Los Angeles-based advertising agency, entered his firm in the city’s Advertising Softball League. He named the team Rhino Chasers after a group of tough surfers who chased down huge waves in Hawaii.
Griffiths had a Rhino Chasers logo designed for the team. Soon after, the logo was transformed into a beer label and placed on bottles of imported Mexican beer for team members to enjoy.
The concept of a full-fledged beer eventually blossomed. Griffiths formed a new company, called William & Scott, and a portion of a local micro-brewery was purchased to produce the beer.
At first, however, the name caused some confusion.
“Some customers said, ‘What are you doing, urging people to attack an endangered species? It sounds like you guys are rhino bashers,’” explained Michael Riley, president of William & Scott. “Of course, that wasn’t our intention at all. So we contacted the African Wildlife Foundation and the more we learned, the more we liked it.”
“The name ‘Rhino Chasers’ comes from an old surfing term,” said Griffiths. “But instead of trying to sell the world another macho beer full of sports images, we wanted to find a way to contribute something valuable to the planet, which is what enjoying the outdoors is really about anyway.”
To date, several thousand dollars have been donated to the AWF — although the beer company has yet to make a profit, Riley said. The company now ships 4,000 cases of beer a month to its various distributors.
The AWF has been assisting African governments in their struggle to conserve natural resources for nearly 30 years. AWF projects include the purchase of equipment for anti-poaching patrols, a scholarship program for African students at a Tanzanian wildlife college, and coordination of the Elephant Awareness Campaign, aimed at slashing the demand for ivory.
“We’re very grateful that Mr. Griffiths chose to work with us,” said Diana McMeekin, AWF vice president. “Whether they learn it from billboards or beer bottles, the public needs to know what’s happening to the wildlife of Africa. The only way change can come about is through increased public awareness.”
One of the company’s ads is a parody of a traditional beer advertisement. Its slogan is “Tastes Great, Less Killing,” and features a close-up of a rhinoceros.
“Some folks have complained about our product being alcoholic, but our view is that beer is a part of the American culture,” Riley said. “We’re all for temperate enjoyment of alcohol — along with giving people the additional plus of doing a good thing while they’re at it.”
Earth Fact: Due to poaching, Africa’s black rhino population has dropped from 65,000 just 20 years ago to only 3,500 today.
Wanted: Volunteers to invest time and energy in the future of the planet by serving in an environmental EarthCorps.
Since 1971, EarthWatch has sent more than 32,000 of its EarthCorps volunteers to assist scientists and scholars who are researching critical environmental issues. For travelers looking for more than just a regular vacation, an eco-trip such as this might be just the thing.
This year alone, the nonprofit organization will send more than 600 teams into the field to address environmental and scientific problems in 30 states and 50 countries, said EarthWatch President Brian Rosborough.
“EarthWatch is about fixing environmental problems,” he said. “It’s a way of giving people ownership over issues that would otherwise be left to governments and authorities — over which they have little control.”
Projects range from monitoring black bears in Minnesota to creating management plans for Brazil’s endangered rainforests. More than 100 projects are listed in each issue of the EarthWatch magazine, sent to the organization’s 60,000-plus members six times a year.
One project is under way on the Indonesian island of Krakatua. When its volcano erupted in 1883, the eruption killed 36,000 people and scoured all life from the island. Yet within a decade, tree saplings appeared, and today the rainforest-covered island boasts trees three feet in diameter, along with 400 other plant species.
Because Krakatua is a perfect setting to study how a rainforest ecosystem rebuilds itself, the project will provide results to help people worldwide restore seriously damaged ecosystems.
EarthWatch volunteers make a tax-deductible contribution to help fund the expedition they join. Contributions range from $800 to $2,000, and cover food, accommodations, field support and equipment, but not airfare. Volunteers need no special skills to join a project team.
“It’s a wonderful way to accomplish a number of different objectives. Apart from assisting scientists who need the volunteer talent to help them do their work, we also do a lot of training of teachers and young people from the host countries,” Rosborough said. “By assigning them to expeditions, they can bring back knowledge and understanding to share with their native communities.”
EarthWatch also runs a Planet Management Program involving corporations. Through this effort, employees are given time off to assist project teams with their specific talents. Typically, these employee volunteers are deployed to assist with environmental impact assessment.
“In our view, there is no better chemistry than getting, say, people in the oil business to go out and work on the problems of coastal pollution,” he said. “Since there is no ownership to many of these environmental problems, they are hard to deal with because no one has accountability for solving them. We find capital and manpower to go out and address as many of these issues as we can.”
Earth Tip: For information on upcoming projects and membership, write to EarthWatch, 680 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown, MA 02272, or call (617) 926-8200.
Earth News Media is a pioneer in the field of environmental news and information. The company was founded in 1991 as an international news service. Its efforts have led to a syndicated environmental news column being published around the world.
“In the Garden,” an album by the acoustic duo of Nancy Rumbel and Eric Tingstad, raises a musical voice for a healthy environment while celebrating the art of gardening.
The album also will raise money for three nonprofit environmental organizations. A portion of the proceeds from sales of
“In the Garden,” distributed nationally by Narada Productions, will go to the Center for Plant Conservation, the National Gardening Association and the Seed Savers Exchange.
“I like the idea of putting a certain amount of income toward groups working to make a difference,” said Rumbel. “And we helped decide which organizations would receive donations.”
Started in 1984, the Center for Plant Conservation helps preserve rare and endangered plants throughout the United States through its network of participating botanical gardens. For example, seeds from a nearly extinct plant will be grown in a botanical garden, then the resulting plants transplanted in their native areas.
“Sometimes it’s easier for people to relate to endangered animals,” Rumbel said. “But as more and more medicinal uses are discovered from plants, more emphasis will need to be placed on saving endangered plants, as well.”
The National Gardening Association works to develop and fund education programs for children, helping them learn about plants and how they grow. Chief among its projects is GrowLab, a science-based indoor gardening program for elementary and middle school students. The organization also helps teachers share ideas and methods that are working in their classrooms.
“The garden is a beautiful, almost magical workshop to help children learn to appreciate the land,” she said. “Parents should feel a sense of obligation to provide opportunities that allow their children to fall in love with the land. Gardening, I believe, is the perfect choice.”
And finally, the Seed Savers Exchange is a network of people who offer a wide variety of seeds for sale in a 300-page directory produced by the group. Seeds handed down through generations are available to help preserve different species of plants. For instance, the directory includes seven pages of seeds for different apple trees.
“In the Garden,” the duo’s sixth album, was released last fall and has received great response so far, Rumbel said. A woodwind instrumentalist, Rumbel joins guitarist Tingstad to create music that has been called contemporary chamber music.
“When we spend so much time in our offices, cars and homes, it’s important that we remember to get out and relate to plants, the environment and the Earth itself,” Rumbel said. “Hopefully, through our music, listeners will be inspired to do just that.”
Earth Fact: Nearly 15 percent of the world’s flora is now in danger of extinction.
Earth News Media is a nationally syndicated environmental news service profiling the positive environmental efforts of individuals, organizations and corporations around the world.
A herd of cows in Maine is letting its hooves do the walking through the yellow pages in a unique new use for old phone books.
More than five tons of discarded directories are shredded up every week and used as cow bedding on Ronald Webb’s dairy farm. The phone books are delivered free of charge to the farm by Nynex Corp., the local telephone company.
The soiled bedding is later mixed with food scraps provided by Hannaford Brothers, a local grocery-store chain, in a composting project that eventually returns all the garbage to the earth and completes the cycle.
Tests have shown that ink from the shredded phone books has no adverse effect on the cows, said Ted Brown, environmental affairs manager with Hannaford Brothers. Also, udder infections have decreased since the phone books were introduced, and bacteria levels in the cows’ milk have dropped, resulting in less milk spoilage.
The phone books are used instead of sawdust or hay, creating less dust and better protecting the cows from slipping on manure in their stalls.
“The material has good absorption qualities,” Brown said. “Mr. Webb has not lost a cow to slippage since the project started two years ago. Usually, an average of two cows a year are lost when they slip and break a pelvis or leg.”
For the composting portion of the process, Hannaford Brothers supplies roughly two tons of food scraps a week. The waste is composed of trimmings from produce and unsaleable products.
Because the grocery-store chain separates its trash and provides Webb only organic material, the dairy farmer simply adds it to the compost mixture, Brown said. Currently, Hannaford Brothers is providing food wastes generated from 13 of its 91 stores to two farmers.
“This is a local effort that is providing a solution,” he said. “Our interest is high because this does good things for the grocery industry. It takes about 40 percent of our waste stream and gets it back into the ground naturally.”
Across the nation, food merchants typically have sent their wastes to landfills. But Hannaford Brothers believes separating wastes for composting or recycling is a better alternative, Brown said. The company is currently looking for more small agricultural businesses willing to take wastes into their operations.
“We don’t view the stuff as waste, but as a commodity,” he said. “A black banana should not go to a landfill or incinerator.”
Earth Fact: By hauling the old phone books to Ronald Webb’s farm, the Nynex Corp. saves thousands of dollars a year in landfill charges.
It’s not easy to find a bright side to America’s current economic downturn, but the environment may be one beneficiary.
“The recession is only going to accelerate the trend toward environmental consumerism,” said Jacquelyn Ottman, a New York City-based environmental marketing consultant. “Many environmental business issues deal with managing resources more efficiently. If a company builds that philosophy into their product, it will have a product that both costs less and has less of an environmental impact.”
Ottman has studied environmental consumerism since 1988. She recently published many of her findings in a report titled “Environmental Consumerism: What Every Marketer Needs to Know.” The report has been so popular that she now is under contract to write a more detailed book, due out this fall.
“We’re at the beginning of the environmental consumerism trend right now,” she said. “It’s going to change the way marketers do business.”
One of the more interesting trends Ottman has observed is the involvement of children.
“Young people have the single largest influence on adult purchases these days,” she said. “Especially the teenagers and college kids — they’re badgering their parents to buy environmentally responsible products.”
Characteristics of other consumer groups also have been studied by Ottman. There are the “deeply green” consumers that drastically change their lifestyle to help the environment, she said. And there is another group of people who are being conservative and resourceful, but primarily to save money rather than the environment.
A third group is too busy to worry about environmental concerns. They prefer to pay a premium for certain products to clear their environmental conscience.
“There’s a big opportunity out there for companies to sell products and services that will help people conserve resources,” Ottman said.
Environmental consumers can look forward to plenty of new products in the future, she added.
“The big news is what’s on the drawing boards today. For example, Teledyne just developed a new version of their Shower Massage that uses one-third less water,” she said. “And another company is developing a ‘dry’ washing machine that uses electro-static technology instead of water and detergents.
“People are definitely making a connection between our environmental problems and the products they buy. But the recession also has reminded everyone to just be more resourceful.”
Earth Fact: By removing the outer cartons from its Sure and Secret antiperspirants, Procter & Gamble reduced production costs by 20 percent and increased sales by 4 percent.
Returning natural resources like streams, ponds and parcels of over-grazed land to their original states after mankind has abused them for years is not always an easy task.
But Inter-Fluve, Inc., based in Bozeman, Mont., has tackled these type of challenges by the dozens since starting up in 1983. And the outcome is generally favorable for the fish and wildlife that inhabit these resources.
“Our goal is to create something that was always there before man stepped in,” said Bob O’Brien, one of the firm’s founders. “If you can tell we worked on a site, in our minds, we failed. Our techniques are based on natural processes, so in the end, a project should look like its been there all along.”
For example, Inter-Fluve is helping TBS and CNN founder Ted Turner return a Montana cattle ranch he bought to its original state. All fences crisscrossing the interior of the ranch have been removed and stream beds damaged by thousands of thirsty cattle repaired.
By shoring up banks and building natural spawning sites with clean gravel, trout are now once again thriving in the ranch’s streams, O’Brien said. And by encouraging the growth of natural grasses on the land, nature is taking its course.
“Our concern lies in trying to restore habitat that has been lost to urbanization or poor land-use decisions,” he said. “Our main focus is to provide nature with a start to its own recovery. We simply accelerate the recovery process by improving natural land forms and water bodies.”
In some cases, the company is hired to actually create a new environment. At Wade Lake, a popular fishing spot near Yellowstone National Park, overuse had hurt the fishing population. The lake was fed by a spring tumbling down a hill at one end of the water body, and the hillside limited upstream spawning potential.
So Inter-Fluve was hired to boost the fishery. By knocking down part of the hillside where the spring flowed into the lake and using the dirt to fill in a portion of the lake, the company created a meandering spawning channel. Now the lake’s trout population has a suitable place to reproduce.
Although a majority of Inter-Fluve’s work is done in the Rocky Mountain region, the firm does handle some international projects. Also, the company currently is working on a major project in New Jersey on the site of a centuries-old munitions plant now owned by a large corporation.
The project involves large-scale removal of contaminated earth. Once everything is removed, fresh dirt and vegetation are placed on the once-damaged land.
“We’re now getting into some of this full-scale environmental remediation — taking land that has been hammered and starting from scratch to rebuild it,” O’Brien said. “We try and make the land look like it’s been in fine shape forever.”
Earth Fact: Bob O’Brien’s background is in fluvial geomorphology, which is the study of river characteristics and surface land forms.
Aid to Artisans, a nonprofit group helping economically depressed artists generate sales from products created with local materials, also ensures the environment benefits from its endeavors.
The organization’s first project, started in Honduras more than a decade ago, involved recycling corn husks that even the pigs wouldn’t eat, said President Clare Smith. The husks were used to create wreaths and flowers that were then adorned with clay cherub figurines.
From these raw materials grew a thriving industry employing more than 600 villagers. Eventually, an export company owned by the local Hondurans was formed.
“The environment is a consideration in all our projects — it’s always a stipulation,” Smith said. “People are a part of the environment, so we try to integrate the two so everyone benefits.”
In Bangladesh, Aid to Artisans is developing a project to make paper products out the water hyacinth and another weed that clog many of the country’s rivers. However, the group must be careful not to create too large a demand for the paper.
“You have to be sensible,” Smith said. “While these plants now clog many rivers, if you had a big run on the paper, you could cause problems because a certain amount of the plants is needed to purify the water.”
Because of the delicate balance between creating economic opportunities and protecting the environment, Aid to Artisans develops relatively small-scale projects. Projects are currently under way in Jordan, Ghana, Mexico, Hungary, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Guatemala, Ecuador and Indonesia.
Aid to Artisans first sends designers to work with the local people in developing marketable products, then brings the products to the New York International Gift Fair, held twice a year, to take orders. The next step is to locate appropriate importers for the various product lines to create steady demand.
In 1990, the Mexican government created a reserve in a cloud forest along the Pacific coast, angering a local community which could no longer expand its coffee plantations by cutting down the forest. Ecologists who came to tell them about the law were threatened.
Aid to Artisans helped the community start painting T-shirts with images of birds and animals common to the cloud forests. A market for the shirts was created and now the community makes a living without continuing to destroy the cloud forest.
“We believe that what we do has to be suitable to both the people and their environment,” Smith said. “There’s an infinite number of things we can do to help save the planet — little by little.”
For more information about the group or to become a member, write to: Aid to Artisans, 80 Mountain Spring Rd., Farmington, CT 06032. Or call (203) 677-1649.
Earth Fact: Through the Aid to Artisans project in Honduras, more than 200 different products have been brought to the U.S. market.
To many children, pizza ranks as their favorite food on Earth. Now an environmentally correct pizza aimed at helping them save the Earth is available at natural food stores across the country.
Tree of Life, the nation’s largest distributor of organic foods to the natural food industry, introduced its new Pizza Power Pack in March. Pizza is the second product marketed under the company’s Small World brand, following the success of its Animal Grahams organic cookies.
Small World pizzas are made entirely with organic ingredients, said John Rowland, product development manager. Packaging used for the product is a recycled paperboard made from old newspapers and printed with soy-based inks. Also, the St. Augustine, Fla.-based firm donates 2 percent of all wholesale dollars to the Rainforest Action Network.
To help educate their young customers, as well as parents buying the product, the company includes an ecosystem card in each package of pizzas. Each fact-filled card features a color photo of an ecosystem and map of the world showing where it exists. Each card also explains what ecosystems are, how they work, why they’re in trouble and how kids can help.
“The idea is to educate children about Earth’s ecosystems. And the wonderful thing is the kids eat it up,” Rowland said. “They are very much in tune with the environment — much more so than adults. It has amazed us how ecologically minded they are.”
Small World Animal Graham cookies, introduced in 1990, set the tone for the pizza packaging. Each box of cookies contains an endangered-animal card instead of an ecosystem version. Each animal featured on a card matches one of the 10 cookie shapes. The cards also tell children and their parents how to learn more about organizations working to protect endangered animals.
Two percent of the wholesale dollars raised through the cookie sales is donated to environmental groups like the the African Wildlife Federation. And like the pizzas, Small World cookies also are made entirely with organic ingredients.
“By using organic supplies, we’re helping support sustainable agriculture and eliminating the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides in the ingredients we use,” Rowland said.
Pizza was chosen to follow up the Small World Animal Grahams because the company already distributed the main ingredients — organic bread, cheese and tomatoes, he added.
“We knew kids liked pizza and we had all the ingredients,” he said. “It was a natural fit.”
More Small World foods are in the planning stages. Anyone interested in the products should visit their local natural food store. If they don’t carry the Small World brands, ask them to call Tree of Life.
Earth Fact: There are approximately 9,000 natural food stores in the United States.
A simple soil test could improve the growth of your vegetables and possibly the health of your children. The Chaney-Mielke soil test will help parents determine if the soil in their yard contains enough lead to threaten the health of their children.
After using leaded gasolines and paints in our society for years, lead particles have settled out of the air and chipped off buildings, contaminating portions of the soil, said Rufus Chaney, a research agronomist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Automobile exhaust alone has caused the inner-city areas to have high lead content in their soils,” he said. “We’re talking about tens of millions of homes potentially being at risk. And children are the people who need to be protected from high lead contents in the environment because this situation can cause lower IQ’s and behavioral problems.”
Children five years and younger are especially at risk to lead poisoning due to the rapid neurological development at this phase in their lives. It’s also the age when children tend to put dirt and unsanitary items in their mouth.
One of the biggest lead threats to children may be found in vegetable and flower gardens, Chaney said. The soil in these areas can potentially expose children to dangerous levels of lead.
While lead paint used inside homes is still a greater risk to children, he said lead content in soils also should be considered. Soils near the edges of homes and buildings are often the most hazardous because rain will rinse dust particles containing lead off the walls. Lead-based paint also can chip from older buildings, collecting near exterior walls, he added.
The soil test developed by Chaney and his partner, Howard Mielke, is available for a $10 lab fee from local county extension agents or soil-testing labs at universities. (If these sources are unfamiliar with the test, have them call Chaney at (301) 504-8324.)
All soils will test positive for some amount of lead, Chaney said, but if lead levels prove hazardous, there are corrective steps that can be taken. In some cases, the soil can be made safer by just tilling the top layer under under. In other cases, a sludge compound can be added to the soil to absorb the lead, which also will make the soil more fertile.
Earth Fact: Under the latest standards established by the Centers for Disease Control, millions of children in America have dangerous levels of lead in their blood.
A New Mexico radio station is using sunshine to increase its listening audience tenfold… and in doing so has become the nation’s only radio station transmitting solely on solar power.
Thanks to its solar boost, KTAO-FM, located in the resort community of Taos, can now tap an additional audience in New Mexico’s capital of Sante Fe, said Brad Hockmeyer, the station’s owner and general manager.
The system uses 135 photovoltaic panels to collect the sun’s energy, then stores the power in a bank of batteries weighing 44,000 pounds. The batteries can hold more than five days’ worth of power to transmit the station’s signal. And a six-day stretch of sun-less weather is unheard of in Taos, Hockmeyer said.
The solar system was built on top of 10,800-foot Picuris Peak overlooking Taos, a town of about 4,000 in the mountains of northern New Mexico. By transmitting KTAO’s signal from such a high elevation, the station’s potential listening audience grew from 15,000 people to 150,000.
Getting electricity to the top of the mountain would have cost at least $300,000, Hockmeyer said, and would have required an eight-mile trench through an archaeologically rich area. So solar power became a cost-effective alternative.
“I didn’t consider alternative energy until I had to,” he said. “Conventional power ended up being too expensive, so this became the best way we could get it done.”
Hockmeyer said he estimates the station will save $4,000 a year in electricity costs, making pay back on the $60,000 project very reasonable — especially considering the alternatives.
Since hooking up the system, Hockmeyer said he has been contacted by a number of radio station owners trying to find out if solar might be an option for their stations.
“I’d love to get people thinking solar,” he said. “The benefit that comes from just thinking of an alternative method — even if they can’t do it — is better than not even considering it.
“If this project gets them looking into the possibilities, maybe they’ll say, ‘Well, I can’t do it for my radio station, but I can do it for my hot water heater at my house or maybe I can do it to power part of my radio station.”
Earth Fact — The housing unit for KTAO’s new transmitter was built out of recycled tires and aluminum cans, then covered with adobe plaster to blend into the natural landscape.
Did you know you can build your own solar panels, saving $10,00’s off retail price? You have probably read about it or seen it on TV, but have you tried it yourself?
There is a step-by-step video guide online right now that can show you how to reduce your power bill by making your own solar panels.
Why pay thousands of dollars for solar energy ($27,000 average cost) when you can build your own solar panel system for just a fraction of the retail cost. You can build a single solar panel or you can build an entire array of panels to power your whole house.
Some people are saving 50% on their power bill, some people are reducing their bill to nothing. But what’s most impressive is that just by following these instructions some are even making the power company pay them!
A multidisciplinary panel comprised of medical doctors, audiologists, and acoustical professionals from the United States, Canada, Denmark, and the United Kingdom concluded that the sounds generated by wind turbines are not harmful to human health. Read the American Wind Energy Association press release or download the full report (PDF 437 KB) Download Adobe Reader.
As many states are already learning, wind energy development presents a tremendous opportunity for economic growth. Environmental Law and Policy Center Senior Attorney John Moore says that’s especially true for the Midwest.
ELPC has created a series of reports on the positive impact the wind supply chain will have on the Midwest economy including a 2001 report on “Repowering the Midwest.” Moore says it’s really a plan to seize the opportunities that come with clean energy development.
“Wind power and other renewable energy are great solutions for diversifying income, improving environmental quality and overall rural economic development. So we thought about the different kinds of policies that could help most spur these technologies forward, including wind power.”
According to Moore, several government policies have already helped spur the development of wind power in rural America.
“I think the production tax credit early on was a significant catalyst for more wind power. The Rural Energy for America Program — REAP — has also helped, especially with community wind projects. And then the Treasury Grant Program, which was in the Recovery Act, also is important. The thing about wind power development is that the capital cost upfront is expensive, so just getting that initial capital cost accounted for and paid for is the hurdle that most people face. That’s why these incentive programs are important, because over the long-run it’s a very low cost, low fuel cost energy source and it doesn’t have any carbon cost.”
Moore adds financial incentives offered by individual states also help defray the initial costs of wind projects.
Some states also have renewable energy standards in place. That’s one policy Moore says is still needed if rural America is to enjoy the full benefits and deployment of wind — a strong federal renewable energy standard. He notes Congress is currently working on that as part of the climate bill. But Moore believes other action is necessary.
“I think tax reform is also important. Less than a dozen large investment companies really have enough of a tax appetite to use the production tax credit and make it worthwhile. And so we have a situation where we’ve seen large investment companies like Goldman Sachs actually owning wind farms. While helping to move wind power forward in general, that kind of a policy makes it really hard for local owners, local developers and other investors to take advantage and invest in renewable energy projects.”
Then there’s the existing Treasury Grant Program mentioned earlier. Moore suggests that should be extended by at least a couple more years. He says it would help move wind projects forward.
As for those land owners and rural organizations that have an interest in taking part in the wind energy future, Moore offers some advice. For one, support the continuation of important policies like USDA’s REAP — the Rural Energy for America program. But also seek out reputable business partners and experienced developers who know how to make wind projects happen. Moore also suggests connecting with those in other states; learn from their successes and mistakes.
A one-of-a-kind environmental magazine is helping children channel their fears about the environment into constructive activities in their homes, schools and communities.
P3 Magazine, which stands for planet No. three or Earth, was first published several years ago and has grown steadily in circulation size since then, said Publisher Randi Hacker. More than 20,000 children, parents and teachers now receive the publication.
“We were alarmed about what was happening to the environment and noticed there wasn’t an environmental publication for children,” Hacker said about her effort to start P3 with her partner, Jackie Kaufman. “Kids need a consistent source of information to tell them what is wrong with the environment and empower them to do something about it.”
Recent surveys have shown that environmental problems rank near the top of lists of children’s biggest fears, Hacker said. By prompting them to take action, she said the magazine helps children control that fear.
The 32-page magazine, aimed at a 4- to 13-year-old age group, is printed on recycled paper periodically when funds permit. Seven issues have been printed so far, but Hacker said her goal is to publish on a regular basis as soon as possible.
P3 is filled with stories about the environment, along with colorful graphics, puzzles and comics. One section, called Earth Patrol, honors children’s activities to help the environment, and letters to editor are printed in each issue as they were received, complete with the children’s accompanying artwork.
Response to the magazine from both children and adults has been “better than we ever dreamed of,” Hacker said. More than 4,000 letters of appreciation have been received since P3’s inception. A four-year-old in Florida reportedly sleeps with the magazine like a Teddy Bear or favorite blanket, Hacker added.
“Children are committed to making the future a cleaner and greener place,” she explained. “They just want to save everything. And everything is black and white — either it’s good for the environment or it’s not.”
Every article in the magazine concludes with an action children can take. In a story about snow leopards, P3 asked readers to write the director of the Wildlife Institute of India. Later, the director, inundated with the children’s letters, wrote to Hacker explaining he was doing all he could to save the leopards.
Another issue covered the affects of last year’s Gulf War on the animals and environment of the Persian Gulf, Hacker said. Letters from children voicing their concerns about the situation prompted the coverage.
Earth News Media is a pioneer in the field of environmental news and information. The company was founded in 1991 as an international news service. Its efforts have led to a syndicated environmental news column being published around the world.
A photo of a haiku board with a picture of a wind turbine and the sun in the main hall of the school.
A photo of a wind turbine coloring project by student. It says, “Towering Flower. Shining pedals in the sky. I’m a wind turbine.”
A photo of another wind turbine coloring project by a student. It says, ” The Wind Turbine Parts. Turbines have these parts. The nacelle is the big brain. The tower and blades.”
A photo of librarian Mrs. Schmidt holding signed books donated by the author’s company, Mortenson Construction. Mortenson also provided a song to accompany the book.
An aerial photo of a group of people standing underneath the installed SkyStream wind turbine.
Disclaimer of Endorsement
Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or Alliance . The views and opinions of authors expressed in the available or referenced documents do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or Alliance.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Wind for Schools program is designed to raise awareness about the benefits of wind energy while simultaneously developing a wind energy
knowledge base in future leaders of our communities, states, and nation. To accommodate the many stakeholders who are interested in the program, a Wind for Schools affiliate program
has been implemented. Individual K-12 schools or states that join the affiliate program will not receive financial support from DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL),
but they will receive access to technical assistance, program Web sites, and information. The program is designed to support schools that wish to implement wind-related educational
curricula and install a Wind for Schools wind turbine system or states that intend to implement a statewide program. This fact sheet describes the two affiliate programs.
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. EST
The Webcast will be presented by Ben Hoen and Ryan Wiser of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
With wind energy expanding rapidly, and with an increasing number of communities considering wind development, there is an urgent need to empirically investigate common community concerns and thereby provide stakeholders in the siting process a common base of knowledge from which to work. The concern that property values will be adversely affected by wind energy facilities is often put forth by stakeholders.
The team of researchers for the project collected data between 1996 and 2007 on almost 7,500 sales of single-family homes situated within 10 miles of 24 existing wind facilities in nine different U.S. states; the closest home was 800 feet from a wind facility.
The conclusions of the study are drawn from eight different hedonic pricing models, as well as both repeat sales and sales volume models. A hedonic model is a statistical analysis method used to estimate the impact of house characteristics on sales prices.
None of the models uncovered conclusive evidence of the existence of any widespread property value effects that might be present in communities surrounding wind energy facilities.
Specifically, neither the view of the wind facilities nor the distance of homes to those facilities were found to have any consistent, measurable, or significant effect on the sale prices of the homes studied.
Though the analysis cannot dismiss the possibility that individual homes or small numbers of homes have been negatively impacted, it finds that if these impacts do exist, they are either too small and/or too infrequent to result in any widespread, statistically observable impact.
Please see the Web site to register for this Webinar.
The National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project and the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA) are sponsoring the workshop. Classroom teachers (K-12) will have a unique opportunity to learn about energy in a fun and exciting way! NEED is the nation’s leading provider of energy education programs and materials to schools. All NEED learning activities are correlated to Georgia science objectives and many others. The program will make teaching energy fun and exciting as you return to your classroom. Participation in this workshop provides educators with free use of the NEED Science of Energy Kit that teaches the concepts of force, motion, light, sound, heat, electricity, magnetism and energy transformations through hands-on activities. Additional curriculum materials to teach about energy and energy resources, including electricity and energy efficiency, will be provided.
The National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project and the Indiana Office of Energy Development (IOED) are sponsoring the workshop. Classroom teachers (K-12) will have a unique opportunity to learn about energy in a fun and exciting way! NEED is the nation’s leading provider of energy education programs and materials to schools. All NEED learning activities are correlated to Indiana science objectives and many others. The program will make teaching energy fun and exciting as you return to your classroom. Participation in this workshop provides educators with free use of the NEED Science of Energy Kit that teaches the concepts of force, motion, light, sound, heat, electricity, magnetism and energy transformations through hands-on activities. Additional curriculum materials to teach about energy and energy resources, including electricity and energy efficiency, will be provided.
The Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources and the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Project are sponsoring the workshop. Classroom teachers and students (3-12) have a unique opportunity to learn energy in a fun and exciting way! NEED is the nation’s leading provider of energy education programs and materials to schools. All NEED learning activities are correlated to Rhode Island science objectives and many others. The program will make teaching energy exciting and fun as you return to your classroom. It is recommended that teachers bring groups of 4 - 6 students to participate in this energizing workshop!
At least in his part of the country, Somerset County, Pennsylvania Commissioner Jim Marker says, most people recognize the importance of alternative forms of energy — like wind — to the future. He says they’ve seen the benefits of wind energy development first-hand and as a result acceptance has increased. But, if the state is going to reach its full wind potential, Marker says it’s going to require more than public acceptance. He says it will take investment and common sense siting ordinances.
Marker says he and his fellow commissioners starting looking at an ordinance because the County had no reporting mechanism for the construction of wind farms. So they put a mechanism in place that met subdivision regulations but also eliminated costly compliance measures to create a level playing field for landowners and wind companies.
“It just didn’t seem fair to us that we would target one industry and slap extensive regulations on them and possibly or potentially kill that industry in our county. I mean, my thought as a government official is that the government should be there to help foster business and help facilitate business development, and these are large business developments. And while we wanted to foster those, we also needed to make sure that the scenic beauty of our county and the land rights of neighboring landowners were protected.”
Marker says the result was a fair compromise.
“That ordinance has been used for a model throughout the state of Pennsylvania. The Township Supervisors Association used it as a model. Many townships in our county merely defer to the county’s ordinance and say ‘we’re happy with that, if you abide by it, we’re fine with it.’ So, I think we struck a good compromise because we managed to anger all sides. I think that tells me that we got a pretty fair ordinance in place.”
And Marker says it’s important to have that kind of model to go by. He says in 2002 — speaking to the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection — he explained that other states with wind energy developments had statewide siting regulations.
“So I think that’s something that our state can do to help make sure that the development happens in a common sense, logistical way. I think also our state, Pennsylvania, has committed resources to the wind industry and there again, I believe that that’s an investment in our future. And I think that it’s something that you should have government dollars assisting in trying to develop a new industry. I think that there’s an education process in any community that has to happen. I think the state can assist with that as well.”
Marker says we owe it to our children and grandchildren to explore the wind industry and foster wind energy development.
Fashion designer Lynda Grose wanted to create an environmentally sensitive line of clothing. But before she put a proposal into final form, Susie Tompkins, owner of Esprit International, approached Grose with the same idea.
The result is Ecollection, a new line of clothing that incorporates innovative manufacturing processes — from handicrafts to high technology — to produce garments that are both ecological and fashionable.
From buttons made of reconstituted glass to organically grown cotton, each element of the line contributes to a better environment. The first of its kind, Ecollection consists of 14 pieces of apparel, including pants, shorts, jackets and shirts, Grose said.
“We’re attempting to make environmental considerations a part of the whole design process,” she said. “Designers should not be designing in a vacuum anymore — the environment should be considered as part of the criteria.”
Ecollection items cost more than other Esprit products, so at first the line will be offered only in Esprit stores to keep retail prices as low as possible. Grose said the hope is once a demand is created for environmentally friendly clothing, prices will drop along with the cost of manufacturing, allowing wider sales of the clothes in other stores.
“The product line benefits the environment, the customer and the supplier because we’ll be choosing suppliers that are thinking environmentally and producing products this way,” she said. “The idea is that Ecollection will create a catalyst — it will encourage changes in a positive way by helping people make a shift.”
Some manufacturing processes are eliminated and others modified for production of Ecollection. Naturally colored cotton that grows either brown or green, or low-impact, vegetable-dyed cotton, is used for the items.
Fabrics are mechanically, rather than chemically, pre-shrunk, removing resins and formaldehyde from the process. And non-rusting alloys are used for zippers to eliminate the toxic residues created by electroplating.
Additionally, the clothing company supports disadvantaged people and endangered environments by encouraging sustainable trade through Ecollection. Hand-painted wooden buttons are bought from a low-income cooperative in North Carolina, while other versions come from indigenous cooperatives in Ghana and Ecuador.
Eventually, as Esprit tests and refines these alternative production processes, these modifications will be incorporated into the company’s main collection, Grose said.
“If all designers thought this way or all companies made their purchasing decisions based on these types of environmental things — and we can certainly get so many layers deeper — the impact would just be amazing,” she said. “We know we can’t change the world overnight, but we need to start somewhere.”
Earth Fact: Bags used for the Ecollection are made from sustainably harvested ixtle cactus fibers and are handwoven in a Mexican cooperative.
Earth News Media is a nationally syndicated environmental news service profiling the positive environmental efforts of individuals, organizations and corporations around the world.
This presentation profiles nine community wind case studies: Hull, Massachusetts; Kodiak, Alaska; Lamar, Colorado; Pretty Prairie Jr. - Sr. High School, Kansas; Hyannis, Massachusetts; Waverly, Iowa; Luverne, Minnesota; Rosebud Sioux Tribe, South Dakota; and Jefferson, Iowa. Local ownership (municipality, rural electric cooperative, landowner LLCs, tribes, small business), variety of applications (utility generation portfolio, net metering, IPP, wind-diesel, self generation), range of wind turbine and project size, and financing options (municipal bonds, USDA and DOE grants, state grants and production payments, CREBs, innovative green tag arrangements, piggyback structure) are discussed.
The effort to bring wind energy to Pennsylvania started in the late 1990s. Somerset County, Pennsylvania Commissioner Jim Marker says it started with eight wind turbines — with more cropping up in the last decade. He says Somerset County, according to the wind companies, is a prime spot for developing wind energy.
While the growth of the industry has been met with a variety of opinions, Marker says most realize the importance of wind energy to the future.
“I believe overall, most people have the understanding that if we want to continue to turn our lights on, if we want to continue to heat water so that we can take a hot shower; that we’re going to need alternative forms of energy as we move into the future. You know, looking out 15, 20, 30, 50 years, we need to make sure that we explore alternative forms of energy. So I think most people understand that.”
Marker says they’ve certainly witnessed the economic benefits that come with wind energy development.
“There are many economic benefits from bringing money in from a state and federal government level, from a business investment level, from companies all over the world bringing money directly into our local economy, and benefitting landowners and benefitting local businesses and local municipalities and things like that.”
Marker says the manufacturing of wind turbines in the state is a great example. Gamesa is a company based in Spain that is positioned among the most important wind generator manufacturers in the world — and they have a location in Pennsylvania.
“A direct business is the number of jobs that are created, good paying, good wages, family sustaining jobs. And there’s been millions of dollars invested into our county. They generate some tax revenue to the county, to the municipality, and of course the larger taxes to the school districts.”
As a result of the benefits, Marker says interest in and acceptance of wind has increased. But he says it will take more than public acceptance if Pennsylvania is to achieve its full wind potential.
The Offshore Wind Power Forum is specially tailored to address the key issues faced by the North American market in deploying offshore wind farms. The two day conference will bring together the key players in the offshore wind supply chain in order to discuss and debate the optimum and cost efficient routes to deployment.
North America is going from a sophisticated market in onshore wind to a nascent market in offshore wind. This conference will provide the opportunity to learn from the success of European offshore wind farms. The event will feature case studies from developers on how the first offshore wind farms were launched and from manufacturers on how the technology was developed. Find out what challenges were faced along the way and how they were overcome.
Source: Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC).
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) has published a new edition of its “Connecting to the Grid” guide (PDF 1.9 MB) Download Adobe Reader. The sixth edition of this guide, published in October 2009, introduces readers to the issues surrounding policy and technical considerations of grid-integrated, renewable energy development.
Despite growing demand for a cleaner, more reliable energy source, there remains a lack of uniform policies that allow renewable energy generators to connect to the utility grid. This fact significantly complicates renewable energy installations and has likely deterred the adoption of
customer-sited distributed generation. Well-designed interconnection standards facilitate the deployment of renewables and other forms of distributed generation by specifying the technical and institutional requirements and terms by which utilities and distributed generation system owners must abide. To assist stakeholders in developing such standards, IREC published the first edition of Connecting to the Grid in 1997. Because distribution-level interconnection issues remain largely in the domain of the states, this guide is designed for state regulators and other policymakers, utilities, industry representatives and consumers interested in the development of state-level interconnection standards.
In an effort to create a “good-forest-keeping seal,” a nonprofit institute in northern California has developed a system to identify lumber harvested in an ecologically sound manner.
The labeling program calls for land owners and logging operations to follow 10 elements of sustainability in harvesting their forests. To receive a seal of approval, the affected forests cannot be clearcut, doused with harmful chemicals or torn up by an abundance of logging roads.
“Realistically, we know we can’t stop logging,” said Tracy Katelman, co-director of the Institute of Sustainable Forestry. “What we need is a more ecologically sound and sustainable way to do it.”
The idea for sustainable logging grew out of a company called Wild Iris Forestry in Redway, Calif. Owners Peggy and the late Jan Iris selectively harvested hardwoods on their land and sold the kiln-dried wood for flooring and cabinets.
The institute is taking the forestry system developed at Wild Iris and building a model that can be used to save forests around the world. A pilot project is planned for three pieces of land where the institute will carry out the logging and determine the exact costs of conducting operations in a sustainable fashion.
“You can’t have ecological stability without economic stability,” she said. “So in a lot of ways, this is a community-development project, as well as an environmental effort.”
The labeling program, called Pacific Certified Ecological Forest Products (PCEFP), first requires land owners or logging operators to develop a timber management plan. This plan provides a tree inventory, lays out long-term goals for the land and describes how the 10 elements of sustainability will be met.
When harvesting is started, periodic inspections are undertaken by the institute, along with the normal inspections conducted by the state government, Katelman said. If all conditions are met, the eventual lumber produced will carry the PCEFP label.
By purchasing the certified and labeled wood, consumers will know their buying power is supporting sustainable forestry and allowing them to influence forest-management policies, she said. Lumber producers will in turn have a marketing advantage through the creation of a market niche, much like that enjoyed by organic food producers.
The institute’s efforts are being supported by both forest-advocacy groups, along with the forestry establishment, including the U.S. Forest Service and California Department of Forestry, Katelman said.
“People who never used to talk to each other are now sitting down and agreeing on some plans and ideas,” she said. “This effort shows we can start working together to get things done.”
Tip/Stat — The information gathered from the institute’s pilot project will be used to create a Handbook of Ecological Forest Practices.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory assists with wind resource assessment and development activities initiated by federal agencies to facilitate distributed renewable energy projects at federal agency sites. This brief outlines the process for requesting National Renewable Energy Laboratory assistance with federal wind energy projects.
Wind Powering America presented the Carpe Ventem (Seize the Wind) award to development partners of the Dry Lake Wind Power Project, Arizona’s First Utility-Scale Wind Plant.
Marguerite Kelly of DOE’s Wind Powering America project presented the award to the key development partners of the Dry Lake Wind Power Project at the project’s dedication ceremony near Holbrook, Arizona. Iberdrola Renewables, Salt River Project, Bureau of Land Management, Arizona State Land Department, Rocking Chair Ranch, Navajo County, and Suzlon Wind Energy Corporation will receive awards.
Wind Powering America presents Carpe Ventem Awards to the first commercial-scale wind project in a state. See Wind Powering America awards for a list of past awardees.
Wind Powering America has been active in Arizona for a number of years. The team developed the Arizona wind resource map, funded the Arizona Wind Working Group, funded outreach activities through Northern Arizona University, and participated in the annual Southwest Renewable Energy Conference in Flagstaff.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management attended the event.
Control Climate Change is a news aggregator site with all your favorite
and latest environmental, global warming and climate news in one easy to find place.
Please contact us if you would like to be added or removed from our list of sources.
