Northeast News Briefs

A Little Insight Goes a Long Way

In June, Clean Air-Cool Planet welcomed Ned Raynolds as its new Senior Program Officer, who will be responsible for the organization’s campus and community partnerships as well as CA-CP’s involvement with the New England Governors’ commitment to a regional Climate Change Action Plan.

Ned served eight years on active duty with the Coast Guard, where he witnessed firsthand the environmental devastation of the 1989 Exxon-Valdez oil spill. Since earning a Master’s degree in Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, he has worked in Washington, D.C., on EPA's Energy Star programs for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and as Policy Associate for the non-profit Alliance to Save Energy. Ned most recently served as Policy Outreach Manager for Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships.

Ned and his trusty red Insight.

A Massachusetts native, Ned moved to Portsmouth in January 2001 and has received coverage in the Portsmouth Herald for his citizen advocacy efforts to “green” the city's high school and new main library construction projects. Ned also owns a 2000 hybrid-drive Honda Insight.

Happy to forsake a commute to Massachusetts in favor of a short walk to CA-CP's downtown Portsmouth office, Ned will instead be “driving the talk” as he visits cities and campuses across the region to enlist and support their participation in Clean Air-Cool Planet's alliance of partners implementing solutions to global warming.

Ned proclaims, “I couldn't be more excited. The founding premise of Clean Air-Cool Planet resonates with my passionate belief that we must - and we can - make a transition to a sustainable economy and society. Now I'm charged with combining that passion and applying my experience and knowledge to help our partners demonstrate that it can be done in a way that leaves them - and the natural world on which we all depend - better off.” Read more about Ned at http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/06242002/news/10957.htm

Tufts Dorm Goes Solar

Tufts University and the Tufts Climate Initiative recently secured a $500,000 commitment from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative's Renewable Energy Trust to support the design and construction of integrated photovoltaic electricity and high efficiency designs in a planned new residence hall. This project is an important next step in Tufts commitment to slow and decrease the generation of greenhouse gasses from university activities. Support for this project will provide visibility and monitoring of renewables and energy technologies in a high profile location. Visit the Tufts Climate Initiative to learn more about the energy
efficiency initiatives on this Massachusetts campus.

Climate Change Hits the Airwaves

To help the public better understand the issue of climate change, The Weather Notebook (TWN) and the New England Science Center Collaborative (NESCC) have teamed up to bring you a weekly radio program devoted to current climate research, notable changes to our landscape, and extreme weather. Clean Air-Cool Planet is a member group of the NESCC, which collectively represents 26 nonprofit research, science, and environmental education centers in five New England states. TWN is a syndicated radio production of the nonprofit Mount Washington Observatory, reaching an estimated 2.5 million listeners nationwide on 180 radio stations and more than 1 million listeners overseas on the Armed Forces Radio Network. The climate change segment is currently broadcast on Tuesdays.
Visit www.mountwashington.org for transcripts of daily TWN segments, archives, and links to related sites.

Power to the People

In an engaging one-on-one interview, Orion Afield takes a look at the foresighted work of Greg Watson, Vice President for Sustainable Development and Renewable Energy at the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. The state agency is charged with allocating its $140 million trust fund to projects in Massachusetts and New England that support the development of renewable energy technologies. Greg also sits on the Board of Directors for Clean Air-Cool Planet. Read the interview at http://www.oriononline.org/pages/oa/02-3oa/watson.html

A Departed Friend and Advocate

Clean Air-Cool Planet marks with much sadness the departure of Mary Kilmarx, a longtime friend of many who dedicated boundless energy and creative insight to climate change issues in New England.

Mary chaired the Environment Committee in the Rhode Island House of Representatives when America began to realize the dangers of dependency on foreign oil. She sponsored many pieces of legislation to encourage conservation and renewable energy, long before global warming became a salient issue. She left the legislature at the end of her third term and accepted a position as Executive Director of Rhode Island's Energy Coordinating Council. This eventually led to appointment as a member of the R.I. Public Utilities Commission, then Deputy Director of the Governor's Energy Office, and finally as R.I. state Director of Energy Policy.

In addition to serving on Clean Air-Cool Planet’s Board of Directors, Mary was a member of numerous other boards, both public and private, dealing with such issues as voting rights, education, mental health, Narragansett Bay, statewide planning, and water resources. Mary spent her summers in Rhode Island and many winters in New Hampshire-where she enjoyed maple sugaring and skiing. She also enjoyed visiting family in Thailand.