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 Clean air-Cool Planet®'s Climate Fellowship program for this summer culminated in a reception generously hosted by Tom Haas at the 100 Club in Portsmouth, NH, on August 20th.
The program began with welcomes from host Tom Haas and CA-CP's CEO Adam Markham, who then introduced the fellowship program. On behalf of herself and her colleagues, Fellow Christina Bosch thanked supporters and CA-CP staff and presented her summer project with Poland Springs.
 Over 100 CA-CP partners and staff, members of the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, local business representatives, current fellows, and 2008 alumni of the program were in attendance. The night was filled with intriguing "cool conversation" and recognition for the professional, high-impact work that our fellows completed over the past 3 months. Read about the Fellows and their summer projects.
 Clean Air-Cool Planet is now Facebooking, Tweeting, and Blogging. Check out blog updates, participate in discussion board conversation, and find out what we've been up to by becoming our fan on Facebook or following us on Twitter. Our blog, Cool Planet, is full of interesting thoughts and comments from climate experts who have been working on solutions for years, and a few from bloggers with impressive achievements who are just getting started. "We're on the Cutting Edge" of climate science technology and "Buttoning up drafty old buildings with care" are a couple of our most recent headlines. Climate Fellows Ben Wessel, Julia Meisel, Natalie Berland, Neda Arabshahi, Christina Bosch, and Meg Guiliano have all contributed to the Cool Planet blog. See their blogs under New Generation.
Clean Air-Cool Planet staff are also contributing to other blogs. This month, Claire Roby, our carbon accounting coordinator in Oklahoma, wrote two blogs for TulsaPeople.com, a local magazine's website. Read her entries here:
On October 15, a gala dinner at the Boston Harbor Hotel will honor founding Clean Air-Cool Planet board member and former Board Chair Susan Tierney, along with Climate Champions selected for their leadership in effecting climate change solutions.
 Sue Tierney, who has served on the board of Clean Air-Cool Planet since its inception in 1999, took over as chair in 2004. She is currently a managing principal with the Analysis Group, a national firm specializing in economic consulting services, where she focuses primarily on economic, environmental, regulatory and policy issues affecting clients in the electricity and natural gas industries. She is being honored for her leadership role in the CA-CP organization, nationally, and in state government.
Climate Champion awards are given annually to businesses, individuals, campuses and municipalities that show extraordinary commitment to climate sustainability through innovative practices and programs. Former award winners include Oakhurst Dairy, Staples, Mount Wachusett Community College, Middlebury College and the towns of Maplewood N.J. and Cambridge, Mass..
Anyone who would like to attend the awards dinner is welcome. Tickets will be available on the Clean Air-Cool Planet website beginning September 8. Sponsorship opportunities are available. Individual tickets to the formal dinner are $150 a plate.
 Clean Air-Cool Planet has just been awarded a $400,000 Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) grant to boost its local energy efficiency efforts in New Hampshire.
Clean Air-Cool Planet has created the Municipal Energy Assistance Program to guide municipalities across the state through a process that has resulted in significant energy reductions for other towns in the northeast. The goal is to build capacity within towns to manage their energy usage in order to buffer them from a changing future energy supply, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save tax payer money. The Municipal Energy Assistance Program is a collaborative effort between CA-CP, SDES Group, and Jeffrey Taylor and Associates, along with the University of New Hampshire.
CA-CP has funding to assist 48 New Hampshire municipalities to reduce municipal energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. All 48 municipalities will receive a municipal energy inventory. Of the 48, 43 municipalities will then receive one Decision Grade building energy audit based on the findings from the inventory. The remaining five selected communities will receive a more in-depth Investment Grade audit for their lowest-performing municipal building. The project team will then provide on-going support to the board, town employees, and citizens in order to identify priority renovations/retrofits, assist with the drafting of RFPs, and qualify contractors.
Six municipalities will also receive a comprehensive energy policy audit. This audit will identify particular sections of zoning and other land use regulations that are inconsistent with the goals and vision of the town's master plan and the town's effort to reduce energy.
Municipalities will be selected based on a range of criteria to ensure that a diverse sample of New Hampshire towns is chosen. The goal is to choose approximately five municipalities in each of the nine regional planning commission districts. To be considered, municipalities must submit an application form signed by a member of the board of selectmen. Letters of support from appropriate municipal boards and commissions are strongly encouraged. Applications were mailed this week to all of the towns in New Hampshire, and are due on September 25, 2009 by the close of business.
If you have any questions about the project or application process, please call or email Christa Koehler, at ckoehler@cleanair-coolplanet.org or 603-570-7508.
This fall, CA-CP will embark on its "Hip Boot Tour," a public education and public policy information effort about the impacts of sea-level rise from Arctic warming and melting. Events in Portland, ME, Hampton, NH, Philadelphia, Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA, Charleston, SC, and Miami and Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL, will feature scientists discussing why the eastern coast of the United States will see one meter of sea-level rise from ice loss in Greenland and thermal expansion of the oceans by 2100. Events will feature images and data which highlight this danger. CA-CP staff will collaborate with local climate science, policy, and opinion leaders to bring the issue to the public and the media. The tour will conclude in Washington, DC and New York City with presentations to major media outlets, senators and staffers.
 The American Clean Energy and Security Act (Waxman-Markey) has officially been passed by the US House of Representatives. This energy and climate bill, the first of its kind, would establish a cap-and-trade program to impose limits on greenhouse gases and incentives for investing in clean technology. It aims to cap greenhouse-gas emissions at 17% of 2005 levels by 2020 and at roughly 80% by 2050. Heralded by many as the most important piece of environmental legislation in America's history, Waxman-Markey or similar legislation is slated to be debated in the Senate this fall.
In related news, U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) will host four U.S. senators on a "Climate Change tour" of Alaska this weekend.
The visiting senators are all considered critical to the passage of climate legislation. They include Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works members Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), as well as Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
The tour will highlight the dramatic impacts of global warming on Alaska and the state's innovative renewable energy project. It includes a stop at Newtok, an Alaskan community which was forced to relocate nine miles inland due to melting permafrost. For a firsthand account of this relocation, as well as other impacts of climate change in Alaska, please read the interview with Yup'ik Eskimo Caleb Pungowiyi, spokesperson and advocate for Alaskan natives, on our blog (http://www.coolplanet.org).
For more information about the tour, please read the press release here.
Honeywell, a global leader in energy services, and Clean Air-Cool Planet have collaborated to develop a curriculum that trains colleges and universities in launching successful energy and carbon reduction programs.
The curriculum is designed as a day-long, interactive workshop for all members, or potential members, of schools' multidisciplinary "green teams." Two "pilot" workshops have been held - one at Butler University in Indiana, and a second at Oklahoma University this week - to better test and develop the curriculum.
Participants will learn how to use CA-CP's Campus Carbon Calculator™ to calculate their institution's carbon footprint and to translate this information into a climate action plan. They gain an understanding of how to create a project team and get their whole organization truly on board.
The workshop aims to support schools in successfully implementing the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, a pledge to climate neutrality, research, and community leadership adopted by college campuses across the country.
Attendees leave the workshop with the Campus Carbon Calculator™, the ACUPCC Program Implementation Guide, and training and technical support from experts in the field. CA-CP has trained a number of Honeywell corporate trainers to run such workshops for other Honeywell clients in the future.
For more information about the workshop, download the PDF brochure here. To register for the workshop, please visit Honeywell's building solutions website.
For more information on global warming solutions, visit CA-CP's website.
Energy Committee Handbook, Volume II, Released: Comprehensive Resource for Energy Committees
The New Hampshire Handbook on Energy Efficiency and Climate Change, Volume II, is now available for download on the Carbon Coalition and Clean Air-Cool Planet websites. This 2-volume handbook helps to meet the immediate needs of local energy committees. Just released, Volume II is provided to help local governments and energy committees or commissions measure and manage their energy consumption. Volume II explains how to obtain your energy data, what tools and software exist, and includes a chapter focused on financial resources available to communities. Download Volume II here.
The Climate Change Backpack is Back!
Our successful, K-12 teacher-preferred Climate Change Backpack has returned with extensive updates. The Backpack is a CA-CP original climate change curriculum tool designed for use in both the classroom and the field. The next Educators' Workshop for this new version is scheduled for November 7 at the Margret and H.A. Rey Center in Waterville Valley NH. Learn more and register online here.
Green Grocery Shopping of the Future is Here: LEED Platinum Hannaford Opens in Augusta
 The largest certified organic supermarket chain in New England has taken its climate leadership to the next level. Hannaford Bros. have just opened the world's most sustainable supermarket, the first ever Platinum LEED certified, in Augusta, Maine. The store is serving as a pilot for cutting edge technology and innovation that decreases energy usage, waste and water consumption, while improving air quality, storm-water management, and the use of sustainable materials. For further information, please visit our corporate page here.
Featured Case Study: The Soul of Sustainability
 Clean Air-Cool Planet's Corporate Program has just released a case study featuring one of our corporate partners and winner of our 2007 Climate Champion Award, office supply giant Staples. Staples has shown leadership and dedication to climate action and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through investing in energy efficiency and renewable power while offering customers eco-friendly products and recycling and environmental education. To read the study, please click here.
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