See CA-CP staff at these and other events around the region this winter and spring...
SAVE THE DATE - Global Warming and Energy Solutions: the Next 4 Years
October 12 and 13th, 2007: Manchester, NH
Global Warming and Energy Solutions: the Next 4 Years is a conference of national importance to be held in the Granite State three months before the New Hampshire presidential primary.
Clean Air-Cool Planet, in coordination with national and state organizations, is organizing its third biennial climate solutions conference in Manchester, New Hampshire. We are taking advantage of the location and timing of the conference to invite and involve Presidential candidates to address conference participants.
CA-CP has established a reputation since 2003 for providing unparalleled "mixing" of leaders in the business, university and community sectors to address policy options as well as the risks and opportunities that come with global warming actions.
Global Warming and Energy Solutions: the Next 4 Years will convene business and community leaders for two days to communicate specific challenges to the next president of the United States, and to learn about policy options and priorities from presidential candidates in both parties.
This 2007 conference will provide a highly visible opportunity for the private sector and communities to showcase solutions to greenhouse gas reductions and future challenges.
You will be hearing more from us as plans for the conference progress. For more information in the meantime, contact Roger Stephenson (603) 422-6464, ext 104, rstephenson@cleanair-coolpanet.org.
CA-CP Publishes New Guide to Retail Carbon Offsets
On December 5, 2006, CA-CP released A Consumer's Guide to Retail Carbon Offset Providers, and it caused quite a stir in global environmental and energy circles.
"We literally heard from media and interested parties from all over the world," said CA-CP Communications Manager Bill Burtis. "It's difficult to say how much of a coincidence it was that one leading renewable energy marketer and one foreign government announced new offsets standards in the days following our report."
In all dozens of media outlets responded and more then ten thousand people visited the report on the CA-CP website.
The 40-page report was commissioned by CA-CP to "help the corporations, campuses, and communities we work with understand the offsets market more fully," according to Adam Markham, executive director.
"We also hoped it would serve as a catalyst for change in the market, where clearly more transparency is needed in order for people to understand what they are purchasing and the quality of the product." That worked, too, Markham reports.
"We had a number of the providers we rated contact us, thank us for the report, and ask for specific feedback."
The report, done by Trexler Climate + Energy Services of Portland, Oregon, examined 30 offset providers and rated them on seven weighted criteria. The providers were then scored and ranked in two tiers.
The report was sponsored by CA-CP partners Interface, ClifBar, and Stonyfield Farm.
Learn more about the report and its findings at the CA-CP website: www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/action/CarbonOffsetsGuide.php
Pittsburgh Completes Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Begins Work On Climate Action Plan
Under the direction of Clean Air - Cool Planet Community Program Manager Christa Koehler, seven interns from Carnegie Mellon University recently completed an inventory of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions for the City of Pittsburgh, PA.
Using 2003 as a baseline year (the most recent for which all energy-use information was available), the Carnegie Mellon team found that Pittsburgh emitted more than 6.6 million tons of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases, only 4 percent of which were the result of municipal government operations.
Their report, submitted to the Green Government Task Force co-chaired by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Senator Jim Ferlo, Councilman Bill Peduto, and Rebecca Flora of the Green Building Alliance, included the following recommendations for the Task Force:
Make all energy information available electronically;
Create a centralized database in which energy information will be stored;
Maintain transparency of the information, and encourage local businesses and organizations to submit energy information to the database;
Collect annual data from local utilities on community-wide consumption and reduction efforts
Create and publicize an energy action plan for Pittsburgh;
Catalogue and inventory results of local emissions reduction efforts.
The ultimate goal of the recommendations, according to Koehler, is "to make it possible to continue to inventory emissions and the results of reduction strategies easily in order to inform the planning process, update actions plans, and help educate the public about the effectiveness of actions to reduce the threat of global warming."
The team from Carnegie Mellon also recommended further analysis of energy use and emissions in a number of areas, including an expanded analysis of reduction measures to include reduction numbers and costs and the best ways to use cost savings, and detailed analysis of the largest energy users.
Specific action recommendations in the report are for an inventory of green space, evaluation of the city's steam loop, and a review of data for natural gas use and solid waste disposal. Finally, the team recommended expanding the scope of future inventories to include all of Allegheny County.
According to the inventory, the biggest single source of GHGs in the greater Pittsburgh community is electricity generation, although transportation, and particularly passenger vehicles, use the most energy. For the City of Pittsburgh, the greatest use of energy is natural gas, which heats the most than 6000 units maintained by the Housing Authority. While housing is the biggest source of emissions, at slightly over 90,000 tons of CO2e, for the city, city government is next in line with nearly 75,000 tons, followed by the water and sewer authority at 62,000 tons. Nearly half of city government emissions are from street (88 percent) and traffic (12) lights.
The inventory also includes details of a variety of emissions reduction measure currently underway in city government and the community at large. The City of Pittsburgh began upgrading all traffic signals to LED lights last year, changing out 3,668 lights, saving more than 958,000 kWh, more than 1000 tons of CO2, and more than $68,000.
In the broader community, low-income weatherization and recycling efforts have reduced more than 66,000 tons of CO2. Pittsburgh's public schools saved 22,375 tons of CO2 in 2005 by participating in the US EnergyStar program. Meanwhile, Carnegie Mellon University has implemented several energy-reduction measures, including completion of a LEED standard residence hall, the first "green dormitory" in the nation.
The next phase of the project will be the development of a local action plan, which will contain short and long term recommendations on how to achieve the emission reductions. Neighborhood visioning sessions to gather public input will take place in the spring. Learn more at CA-CP's website.
Climate Change and Working Forests
Thursday, March 1st, 9 am-4 pm; Grappone Center, Concord, NH
The Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests and Clean Air-Cool Planet are teaming up to host this conference, which is open to all interested in the future of our forests.
Recent analysis of ice cores from Antarctica confirm that carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere today are substantially higher than at any time in the past 800,000 years. Our New England climate will change in the time it takes for new seedlings to mature into harvestable timber. What challenges and opportunities does this present for working forests in New Hampshire?
Speakers include:
Former NY Governor George Pataki; Phil Bryce, New Hampshire State Forester; John Aber, Vice President for Research, University of New Hampshire; Rafe Pomerance, Chairman, Climate Policy Center; and many more...
Topics include:
Climate Change Impacts on New England; Biological and Economic Impacts of Climate Change on NH Forests; The Big Picture on Carbon Markets; The Potential for Fuel Substitution and New Products from Wood; The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and California Initiative; An International and National Perspective on Carbon Policy; and more...
At the conclusion of the final panel discussion all participants will meet in a town meeting format to talk about what actions we, as individuals and as a working forest community, can take to advance the conservation and productivity of working forests in a changing climate.
Join CA-CP and SPNHF for a fun and enlightening day. This conference is made possible by a generous grant from the Merck Family Fund. The registration fee is only $15 per person, which covers the cost of a buffet lunch (fit for all loggers and foresters).
Space is limited, so please register by February 22nd. You can register two ways: 1.) CALL: Ann McCoy at the Forest Society (603-224-9945, Ext. 320) OR 2.) MAIL: the registration form and payment.
More information at www.forestsociety.org.
