The Cool Current - Climate Change News from the Northeast

Clean Air-Cool Planet is the Northeast's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.

Edition 3: Winter 2002/2003

CA-CP Web Site

Newsletter Archive

Hot Fact of the Season:

The good news: U.S. greenhouse gas emissions fell last year, for the first time since 1991; analysts describe a drop of 1.2 percent. Compare this to the average annual change in emissions over the last decade, an increase of 1.3 percent, and you have progress.

The bad news: Given that average yearly increase, U.S. emissions are still up, overall, by 11.9 percent over 1990 levels.

-- Source: the Energy Information Administration (EIA)

Quote of Note

"Our mission at Aveda is to care for the world we live in, from the products we make to the ways in which we give back to society. At Aveda we strive to set an example for environmental leadership and responsibility, not just in the world of beauty but around the world."

-- Horst Rechelbacher, Founder of Aveda™, manufacturer and retailer of plant-based personal care products.

Reminder!
Be sure to visit an Aveda salon or lifestyle store near you during Earth Month in April to learn about Clean Air-Cool Planet’s partnership to stop global warming. You can make a difference! Visit www.aveda.com for salon and store locations.

Plan Ahead! Maple Sugar Season is right around the corner…

A warming climate has accelerated the time of year when sap is running in our regions’ maple bushes. Visit these sites to find a sugarhouse in your neck of the woods.

gonewengland.about.com/
cs/maplesugaring/

www.uvm.edu/
~uvmaple/products.htm

www.massmaple.org/info.html

www.newyorkmaple.com/
html/news.html

www.nhmapleproducers.com/
events.htm

Whither Our Wildlife?

Recently-published studies are corroborating theories about climate change-related species migration and loss. What does this mean for our local landscapes? Read more...

New Communications Face at CA-CP!

Bill Burtis brings state government experience and a wealth of journalistic savvy to Clean Air-Cool Planet’s outreach efforts. “Meet” our new Communications Manager...

Partnership to Further Solutions for Northeast Communities

CA-CP recently formed a partnership with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives that will enhance both groups' work with cities and towns in the Northeast. Learn the details...

EmPowering Climate-Friendly Energy

Though renewable electricity suppliers are not yet fully established throughout the Northeast, Green Mountain Power and others are offering alternatives for customers who want to ensure their energy dollars are going to support non-polluting, future-oriented technologies. Get the story...

Showcase for Regional Leadership Coming to Connecticut in May

CA-CP will soon be hosting an exciting high-profile forum to spur continued implementation of the regional and state climate change action plans. Find out about our Climate Solutions for the Northeast conference...

Northeast News Briefs

For Climate-Related Winter Events, check:
The Cambridge Climate Calendar—listings of events, conferences, lectures, activism, and resources for the environment and climate in New England. To subscribe to the enviro and climate calendar, send a blank email to: CambClimCal-subscribe@topica.com. Or visit the Calendar website at:
tufts.edu/tci/Calendar.html.

Hunker Down with this Winter Read:

North of Now: A Celebration of Country and the Soon to be Gone (W.D. Wetherell; The Lyons Press, 1998.)

Though not specifically about climate change, this stirring collection of essays evokes the color and beauty of the local landscape, both natural and cultural. Wetherell, an avid outdoorsman and resident of small-town New England, writes about sustainability, community, and the simple luxuries that are slowly being obliterated as our homogenous consumer culture edges out native individuality.

In heartfelt yet light-handed prose, the author does indeed “celebrate” the joys of wildness, solitude, family togetherness, local flavor, parenthood, and a slower-paced existence — managing to be touching and thought-provoking without being depressing. A wonderful book to curl up with, and savor the season.

Did You Know?

Sugar maples and sap buckets. Last year, the Northeast produced more than $21 million dollars worth of maple syrup—87% of the syrup yield for the entire U.S. Sap flows are dependent upon freezing night-time temperatures and warmer days, but the New England Regional Assessment tells us that the greatest warming in our climate is occurring in the winter and at night, spelling potential trouble for our local sugarhouses in the seasons ahead.

Photo: Kristi Donahue, ECS