Northeast News Briefs

And the Winner Is…

Recipients of Clean Air-Cool Planet’s 2003 Climate Champions awards were announced last week at the Climate Solutions for the Northeast conference: top honors went to Shaw’s Supermarkets in the business sector; the Town of Hull in the municipalities’ category; and to both Tufts University and the University of New Hampshire, for their campus-wide mitigation and education programs. Congratulations to all of our award recipients, who have demonstrated true leadership in greenhouse gas emissions reductions AND in spreading a positive message of the need for climate action to their constituencies and their peers!

CA-CP Board Chairman Michael Bradley with the 2003 Climate Champions awards recipients: (left) Chairman Bradley; Kathy Loftus, of Shaws Supermarkets; Malcolm Brown and Anne Larsen, of Hull, (right) Tufts University President, Dr. Lawrence Bacow; Mr. Bradley; UNH President, Dr. Ann Weaver Hart

Another Reason to Love That Steaming Morning Mug

Recently, Vermont-based Green Mountain Coffee Roasters signed a formal partnership with Clean Air-Cool Planet, emphasizing this growing company’s commitment to addressing climate change as a part of their overall sustainability-oriented business strategy.

The partnership will focus on helping Green Mountain Coffee set a concrete target for corporate greenhouse gas emissions reductions; become part of a larger network of business and organizations who are finding and sharing creative, cost-effective ways to reach their targets; and communicate about the issue of global warming and its solutions to Green Mountain Coffee Roaster’s customers, competitors and peers in the business community.

Creating a Healthy Climate

Clean Air-Cool Planet partner York Hospital announced this spring that it will begin purchasing 100 percent of its electricity from Maine renewable sources as part of a commitment to creating environmentally healthy surroundings for patients, staff and communities. While the state of Maine requires 30 percent of the energy sold in the state to come from renewable sources, York Hospital has raised the bar by going to 100 percent, becoming the first hospital in the state to set such a precedent.

“Nothing is more important to us than the health of our patients,” stated Stephen Pelletier of York Hospital. “We believe that the health of the environment very much affects the health of each and every one of us. We are committed to doing everything we can to contribute to good health in the communities we serve and this is one big step in that direction.”

Commenting on York Hospital’s leadership, CA-CP’s Associate Director Bob Sheppard observes, “Many organizations are recognizing the bottom-line benefits of addressing environmental issues. It’s exciting to see York Hospital leading the way.”

CT Campuses Convene on Climate Change

Campus representatives from across Connecticut were hosted by one of CA-CP’s newest higher education partners, the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, in March. The workshop was organized to give interested colleges and universities in Connecticut the tools and resources they need to address their campus contributions to climate change. This informational forum also provided participants with a chance to talk together about both the unique challenges and opportunities they have, as higher education institutions engaged on the climate change issue—and to brainstorm creatively about what “solutions” could look like on their campuses. The meeting was organized and sponsored in a joint effort by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and Clean Air-Cool Planet.

Director’s Chair

In a move that epitomizes the increasingly-important role of regional players in the climate change action advocacy world, Clean Air-Cool Planet’s Executive Director, Adam Markham, was elected at the beginning of March to serve as chair of the U.S. Climate Action Network. Mr. Markham is slated to serve as the chair of the US CAN for a term of one year.