Seed Money for Seeds

By Helen Brady, President, Friends of Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center

The receipt of a generous grant from the Community Catalyst Fund allowed the Friends of Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center, Inc. buy the necessary vegetable seeds, soil amendments and supplies to plant our first Community Supported Agriculture program.

Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, is a regional education center that offers programs on healthy and sustainable food production, and teaches skills for small-scale suburban and urban farming, illustrating sustainable living practices for regional and local communities. The farm features demonstration models for backyard farming, rainwater harvesting, composting, and green-roof technology. Visitors can hike the farm’s 3.5 miles of woodland trails; picnic on the farm grounds; buy a CSA share, purchase produce from a farm stand and at U-Pick; or attend numerous classes and lectures. The Farm offers tours, classes and field trips to school groups, garden clubs, and scout troops, with specific emphasis on agricultural preservation, drinking water protection, and the promotion of environmental stewardship.  The farm is open to the public, harnessed 1,700 volunteer hours in 2010, and donated 4 tons (est. value $18,000) of produce to regional food pantries.

Purchased in 2003 by Westchester County for watershed protection, and agricultural education, due to budgetary constraints within the County the Farm lost 50% of its funding for the fiscal year 2011, the loss of funding eliminated the budget for seasonal employees and horticultural supplies. To save and support the Center, the Friends group was established in June 2010, with the goal of fully funding and operating the Farm. The Friends is working cooperatively with Westchester County to reach the goal within three years.

The $3,000 grant towards seeds, soil amendments and supplies was the “seed money” that allowed us to start a Community Agriculture Share (CSA) program of 100 members.   A CSA affords farm customers the opportunity to become farm supporters by committing before the growing season to buy a share of the farm’s produce, in our case members receive 20 weeks of vegetables from June to October.   This arrangement helps the farm better plan for the season, particularly in the area of staffing. Through the sale of CSA memberships the Friends raised over $60,000, critical income for 2011.  With the income we hired 6 local seasonal staff, and provided needed working capital.

It is clear that the financial return on investment for this grant is outstanding, but it is equally important to highlight the impact the grant has had within the community; local food, local involvement, and local jobs at a Farm that teaches sustainability.

Thank you Community Catalyst Fund.

Helping “The Heartbeat” with an Environmental GPS

By Bob Sheppard, CFO and Vice President, Corporate Program

One of the things that first attracted me to Clean Air-Cool Planet a decade ago when there were but two employees on the payroll, was the opportunity to work collaboratively with corporate leaders, helping CEOs manage risk. This was an organization whose sole focus is climate change, catalyzing climate leadership, by helping CEOs with carbon management; selectmen save tax dollars on energy costs; and college and university presidents manage their emissions, curriculum, and reputation. 

When a non-profit colleague called this summer seeking recommendations on a new project, there was no way to predict the call would lead to standing beside the CEO of one of America’s largest corporations as he announced a significant initiative aimed at reducing carbon emissions. In case you missed it, Dan Akerson, the CEO of General Motors, today unveiled a campaign by Chevrolet to invest $40 million in community-based efficiency and renewable-energy projects across America. That is a significant amount of money for any firm, let alone one that was facing bankruptcy and then federal support that led to this week’s IPO.

But this is not the old GM!  While cynical and skeptical readers are rolling their eyes and conjuring up ulterior motives, we see something different: signs of a possible cultural change from deep inside one of America’s largest corporations; a willingness to invest in game-changing or transformational projects that save money, create new jobs, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. 

Clean Air- Cool Planet was part of the team that helped develop the framework for the Chevy Clean Energy Initiative, which sets an ambitious stretch goal of reducing eight million metric tons of carbon emissions in cities and towns across the US. It’s not the first time a business has demonstrated climate leadership, and it’s certainly not the last, but it is significant.

Having reduced its manufacturing emissions 60 percent since 1990, the time has come for GM to raise the bar in the race towards a cleaner, more secure energy future.  This is the latest signal that corporations who are committed to becoming sector leaders in sustainability can get there faster and in a more direct path when they engage with third-party non-profits and other experts to help the process.

In a way this collobration functions much like a GPS in your car, providing GM with environmental intelligence and expertise as it travels over unfamiliar terrain, warning the auto giant about obstacles to achieving success. At a time when many are still mourning the failure of climate policy in Washington and wondering what the outcome of the mid-term elections may mean, we continue to be bullish about the eventual transition to a low-carbon economy.

Have You Started YOUR Energy Plan?

By Julia Dundorf
Manager of Community Relations and Co-director of the New England Carbon Challenge,
Clean Air – Cool Planet

 

 

We hear a lot about green jobs and restarting the economy these days.  We also hear veiled and not-so-veiled dispersions about addressing energy consumption and climate change.  It’s going to kill jobs ya know! 

Despite numerous prestigious economic reports of the value and imperative of addressing climate and energy issues earlier rather than later – check out the Stern Report or the more local report out of the University of NH New Hampshire’s Green Economy and Industries: Current Employment and Future Opportunities – we’re still living in this rabbit hole of short sighted, antiquated paradigms.

In my work at Clean Air-Cool Planet as Manager of Community Relations and Co-director of the New England Carbon Challenge, I talk to people a lot about what they can do to take control of their own energy future – municipal and energy committee leaders, homeowners and renters, legislators and kids.  It all boils down to some pretty simple precepts.  I shared some of these thoughts the other day at the exceptional Housing Conference that NH Housing Finance Authority puts on every year in Concord and again to some of the Build Green NH folks at the Building NH Trade Show and Conference organized by the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of NH.

Regardless of one’s ideological framing, the way we mindlessly expend energy is senseless.  Pick your button issue – energy independence, climate change, foreign (or domestic) fossil fuel markets, environmental impacts of fossil fuel extraction or burning (think Gulf spill), green jobs, peak oil, resource conservation, rising energy costs (we can be sure they will) – they all point to the absurdity of our profligate addition to all things energy.  “Alright Dundorf, enough of the soapbox, give us specifics,” you say?  

Let’s look at heating fuels, according to the US Energy Information Administration, 82% of the nation’s fuel oil and kerosene sales are in the Northeast.

Figure 3. Residential Heating Oil Sales By Region

That’s a stunning statistic.  Now overlay this rough reference point… for every $1 spent in the region on heating fuels, only about 10 to 15 cents stay in the region, driving the local economy.  This just makes no business sense.  We’re not only letting our precious energy leak out of our aging building stock, through inefficient building techniques and business as usual practices, but we’re letting our energy dollars leak out of our region.

Simply put… this is MISSED OPPORTUNITY! 

Again whatever your ideological drivers, can’t we agree on THAT?  What could the other $.85 – $.90 for every $1 of heating fuels buy us?  More efficient schools or teachers, healthcare for all children, tax refund checks or incentives to put in the energy efficiency measure that will drive down this energy consumption?  Pick YOUR priority. They’re all important.  They’re all possible if we prioritize energy conservation, efficiency and clear, renewable energy sources. 

One more stat for you to chew on, “Every dollar invested in efficiency returns $2.60 to New Englanders” according to the recently released report from the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, “From Potential to Action:  How New England Can Save Energy, Cut Costs,  and Create a Brighter Future with Energy Efficiency”.

So what are we waiting for?  Before you pull out your cans of spray foam, learn how to build storm windows, or hire an energy auditor to assess your energy-saving opportunities, make a plan.  We seem to make plans for everything in our lives but rarely do we lay out our short and longer term plans for reducing energy consumption.  I’ve got just the tool to walk you through it and help you get those energy project done.  Visit myenergyplan.net and start planning today.

While you’re there check out the schedule of Button Up NH Workshops, free, public trainings on how your home uses energy and what you can do about it.  By the way, these tools are largely funded through RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, in this case through NH’s Public Utilities Commission’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Fund.  The RGGI program is expressly designed to stimulate and support reductions of emissions, e.g. reductions in energy consumption.  Yet in our topsy-turvy priorities, even THAT program is beleaguered.  But that’s another rant for another day.

Let’s stop the bickering and denial and take advantage of the missed opportunities happening every minute in our region. 

If not us then who?

If not now, then when?

Retirement Communities Going Green

By Dan Peerless
Executive Director,
Gray Is Green

Gray Is Green and the Agency on Aging of South Central Connecticut (AASCC) have partnered to help spread the concepts and practices of sustainable living to retirement communities and senior housing centers in Connecticut.

Gray Is Green: The National Senior Conservation Corps, has made excellent progress on its unique new Senior Volunteer Energy Auditor Program, with the help of funding from the Community Catalyst Fund. The program, which will be piloted in Connecticut under a partnership with the AASCC, will recruit and train retired volunteers to perform basic energy efficiency audits of local retirement homes and senior housing communities.

“Green Teams” or sustainability committees have been springing up all across the country in retirement communities, drawing together older Americans with a shared concern for the environmental legacy of their generation, and an interest in active participation in a movement that is often, mistakenly, viewed as only a young person’s game. With support from the Clean Air-Cool Planet’s Community Catalyst Fund, Gray Is Green has prepared a series of educational seminars on sustainability and training materials for use at continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). The Agency on Aging has begun visiting regional CCRCs with existing Green Teams to learn from their successes and challenges, and to enlist their help in demonstrating the value of sustainability programs to other retirement communities.

Gray Is Green is responsible for the creation of training materials and audit guides, and will also be conducting the training sessions. The Community Catalyst Fund provided the means to hire interns to work on the compilation of these materials. Work completed thus far includes materials on the fundamental purpose and practices of energy efficiency in housing and facilities, on communicating the science and research behind climate change and the importance of efficiency practices to residents, and the outline for an audit report to facility operators.

Our partner, the AASCC, was recently awarded a significant Programs of National Significance (PNS) grant to support the volunteer coordination component of the project. These funds will be used to hire a program coordinator, to manage volunteer scheduling, and for quality assurance and community feedback purposes. As the program matures, the materials and practices developed for this program will be distributed to the national network of Retired Senior Volunteer Programs (RSVP) for replication wherever possible.

Gray Is Green and the AASCC both appeared at the ConnCCRA (Connecticut Continuing Care Retirement Association) annual meeting on Thursday, October 14, to present and discuss their partnership to establish and support sustainability committees in retirement communities in the Greater New Haven area. We were looking forward to connecting with the ConnCCRA member communities, and arranging to visit the individual communities for more in-depth discussions.

To the best of our knowledge, this program is unique, and it holds great promise for carbon savings by a segment of society that is expected to double in the next few decades. Regular updates will be forthcoming. If you are interesting in learning more about the project, or any other work of Gray Is Green, please contact Executive Director Dan Peerless at danpeerless@grayisgreen.org.

Energy, Environment and Elections

By Bob Sheppard
CA-CP CFO and vice president of the Corporate Program,
Clean Air-Cool Planet

This is the last full day of summer, and with the primaries behind us, all eyes are turning towards the November mid-term elections. Folks who have spent the last 15 months focused on building support for comprehensive climate and energy policy are still coming to grips with the failure of the US Senate to take up legislation this summer.

We just co-sponsored a forum in Concord, NH on energy, the environment and elections that drew more than 80 people representing local efforts to reduce carbon in scores of small towns, as well as state agencies, funders, business people and activists. The event focused on a recent survey commissioned by Clean Air-Cool Planet and Conservation New Hampshire of likely voters in the state.

A poll this spring, in anticipation of a Senate vote, gauged business support for cap-and-trade legislation, revenue recycling and an economy-wide solution and found that, regardless of party affiliation, most respondents see this as a key issue.  A second round of questions conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center in July, demonstrated a marked difference between Democrats, Independents and Republicans in terms of support for comprehensive climate and energy legislation, changes in national energy policy,  and support for candidates who make environmental protection a priority. 

The important take away for candidates in November is that over half of those surveyed were unable to tell whether elected officials from either party were making that commitment to environmental protection, so a clear, concise message directed towards independent voters could make the difference in a close race this fall.

The Concord forum included a panel featuring two political insiders and a consultant to leading businesses.  Michael Dennehy is a political and government relations advisor to corporations and national organizations. He is perhaps best known for his role as a senior advisor to both of Senator John McCain’s Presidential bids. His biggest victory came as New England Political Director & NH Campaign Manager, orchestrating the 2000 upset victory in New Hampshire’s First-in-the-Nation Primary. Michael believes that by reducing carbon, America could end the flow of dollars overseas to nations that wish us ill while creating new jobs here at home. Though the peer-reviewed science is hard to ignore, by committing to national climate and energy policy, Dennehy says, we strengthen our economy and reduce waste, which helps improve our quality of life, even if the predictions about global warming are wrong.

People in the audience who are running for office got savvy advice from Former Portsmouth Mayor Steve Marchand, the principle of The Marchand Group, a public affairs and strategic communications firm.  While consumers are still feeling the effects of the recession, he believes that successful candidates will be the ones who can connect the dots in terms that their constituents can wrap their arms around – dealing with climate change by investing in efficiency and renewables, because new technology translates into job creation and more discretionary income for voters.

The final presenter was Ken Colburn, a consultant to businesses including Stonyfield Farm.  He reminded the audience about the true costs of reliance on fossil fuels: American military personnel lost protecting convoys bringing fuel to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the ongoing clean up of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He used as a metaphor for the need for policy parents helping their children understand the importance of eating their vegetables while they crave sweet desserts. A long time advocate of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, he thinks the nine-state compact, which reduces emissions from power plants, returns money to states for energy efficiency, coupled with a renewable portfolio standard that increases over time, can serve as a model for federal legislation.

All three speakers agreed its time to get the politics out of the climate debate and identify areas for collaboration between state and local government, the business community and higher education if we are going to honestly deal with global warming.  Generations of Granite Stators may be counting on us, and, as another NH Primary season looms, the rest of the nation, if not the world, are watching.

A New Class of Leaders

By Claire Roby
Carbon Accounting Coordinator,
Clean Air-Cool Planet

Last week we held the closing reception for our third year of the Clean Air-Cool Planet Summer Climate Fellowship program. We had great projects and Fellows in 2008 and 2009, but I think something truly special happened with this year’s six fellows.       

As always at the conclusion of a summer’s Fellowship program, the staff at CA-CP and invited guests heard the results of each fellow’s project, from analyzing life cycle data for CA-CP’s CHEFS project to working with our partner VHB to research how innovative carbon management solutions can be transferred from one sector to another. You can read more about each of their projects here.       

Like their predecessors in “classes” past, this year’s Fellows – in addition to the valuable on-site job experience – also received several different opportunities for professional development, from presentations by CA-CP’s Brooks Yeager on short-lived climate forcers to a discussion led by CA-CP’s Dr. Anne Stephenson and former climate fellow Dovev Levine on how to choose a graduate program.

Anne with the 2010 Fellows

But the most fulfilling part for me, as a former Fellow and a current CA-CP staff member, was coming back three months after meeting the summer fellows to witness their transformation into a team of six committed climate professionals. At the closing reception in Portsmouth’s 100 Club, the six of them presented our office with a beautiful potted plant—autographed in sharpie! They thanked CA-CP for the mentorship and support they had received over the summer, and the next morning most of them launched an impromptu trip to Boston to hang out with each other for the weekend.

Perhaps it was the camp-like initiation they underwent back in June at Laudholm Farm in Wells, Maine; maybe it was the smaller “class” size; maybe it was that five of the six worked on projects close to Portsmouth and so got to know and spend time with each other. Whatever the case, this group “clicked” in a way that truly made their work and experience “larger than the sum of its parts.”

The Fellows with CA-CP staff

This is not, of course, to take away in anyway from the amazing work of our past fellows – several of whom joined us on the 19^th for the soiree send off for this year’s group. We still cite the work of our Fellows past – and enjoy hearing of their continued successes, which only serves to confirm Clean Air-Cool Planet’s good fortune in having found, year after year, talented, bright and energetic young people for our Climate Fellows program.  

I think I can speak for our whole office when I say that we were delighted to send this year’s Fellows off as a new class of trained, inspired young climate professionals. While each of the CA-CP and partner programs are delivering solutions to global warming, contributing to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, what is even more important is leveraging these programs to create a cadre of the experienced professionals necessary to implement the economy-wide reductions and adaptations we so vitally need.

Cool Planet: Climate Change in a Blog

Welcome to COOL PLANET, the climate blog with a difference: The authors here have been providing solutions to climate change for years. There have been a lot of lessons learned. We look forward to sharing them – ours, and yours – here, as another step toward a COOL PLANET.

Send email to: bburtis@cleanair-coolplanet.org

Clean Air-Cool Planet | 100 Market Street, Suite 204 | Portsmouth, NH 03801 | 603-422-6464

Exploiting the spill, for good

 

By Leah Bamberger,
Climate Fellow
Clean Air – Cool Planet

 

 

Leah Bamberger did her undergraduate studies in political science and environmental studies at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC and is now at UMass Amherst pursing a master’s degree in regional planning, where her primary research area of interest is planning for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

 
Oil spill or not, we need comprehensive climate legislation!

After addressing the nation from the Oval Office last week,  President Obama was criticized for exploiting the crisis in the Gulf in order to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation.  Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said Obama “is trying to exploit this disaster to pass his national energy tax.”  The word exploit carries a very negative connotation.  Is he really that evil?  Let’s first explore the definition of the word exploit.  Merriam-Webster gives two definitions for the verb. 

Definition one: “to make productive use of: utilize.”  Okay, that’s not so bad.  Growing up, I was told this was called learning from ones mistakes.  In his speech, the President acknowledged that “we need better regulations, better safety standards, and better enforcement when it comes to offshore drilling.”  Furthermore, he pointed out that “oil is a finite resource” and “the reason oil companies are drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean (is) because we’re running out of places to drill on land and in shallow water.”  I guess “drill, baby, drill” has some pretty devastating consequences.  We need clean energy.  We need green jobs and clean industry.  We need the savings from energy efficiency improvements.  We need comprehensive climate and energy legislation and we need it now. 

Definition two: “to make use of meanly or unfairly for one’s own advantage.”  Bringing climate and energy legislation back to the Senate floor is in no way advantageous to the President.  Democrats no longer have a super majority in the Senate, and even if they did, they can’t come to an agreement on what the bill should look like.  A climate and energy bill could prove to be just as much as a political death sentence as the healthcare bill was.  Furthermore, only a few months ago President Obama was opening more of our waters to offshore drilling.  It does not seem that climate and energy legislation was on his agenda prior to the spill.  

So it appears to be true; the President is exploiting this disaster (according to definition one at least).  He is utilizing it as a learning opportunity.  He’s not profiting from it, he won’t experience personal gain and no one will suffer as a result.  He is merely asking Congress to come up with a bipartisan solution to wean this country off fossil fuels and prevent disasters like the one in the Gulf from ever happening again.  He has been reminded, along with the rest of the nation that more oil means more problems.

The cost of energy and the green jobs machine

 By David Borden,
Guest Blogger
NH State Representative 

 

 

David Borden is a NH State Representative from New Castle.  He serves as clerk of the House Science, Technology, and Energy committee; as a state legislator, he sponsored legislation to promote the use of biodiesel in New Hampshire, authored and sponsored bills to allow towns to establish local energy commissions and municipal financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy. He chairs the Municipal Energy Working Group of the NH Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Board.

New Hampshire is scratching its collective head trying to figure how to make ends meet.  43,000 people are seeking employment and thousands more are underemployed or facing immanent layoffs.  State and town budgets are no better off. Demand for health care services, homeless shelters, the education of our children, road maintenance are all rising faster than our ability to pay for them. 

However, much of the money we need to meet the needs of our citizens is leaking out of the state each year and capturing it might help us make ends meet. Waste not, want not. 

Some examples: 

We consume 300,000,000 gallons of heating oil every year in the state, at a cost of around $750,000,000.  Only about 10% of that money stays in the state and 65% or more goes out of the country. Simply Green, Proulx Oil and a few other entrepreneurs are converting waste cooking oil into Bio Heat which burns very well and cleaner in your furnace.  New England Wood Pellet uses waste wood to create pellets for heat. In both these cases, a much higher percentage of the money spent on heat stays in the state. And these companies hire New Hampshire residents and pay taxes. 

However a more immediate benefit to the state’s economy can be gained from reducing consumption. We use, on average, about twice as much fuel to heat our homes as our European counterparts. This is why so much of the stimulus funds coming into the state is for “weatherization.” Although estimates vary, it would probably take an investment of up to $5 billion (or $10,000 per house) to reduce our home heating energy consumption by 1/3.  

What does $5 billion do for NH?  Add about 62,000 jobs in the state, for one thing.    

Where are these funds going to come from? The stimulus money for energy efficiency and renewable energy (solar hot water or wood pellet furnaces) only amounts to $100 million. 

Some of the stimulus money will go into revolving funds through the Community Development Finance Agency (CDFA) (which can arrange loans) and other institutions. But most of the money will come from lending institutions like local banks and credit unions who realize that reducing fuel consumption adds value to a home. A new bill now before the legislature will permit towns to loan funds directly to homeowners under very strict guidelines.  

The best way to get started is to have an energy audit conducted on your home.  This costs about $400 and can help you determine where to invest your hard-earned dollars carefully.  If you are eligible for fuel assistance, you are probably eligible for a free audit and up to $6,000 worth of assistance in tightening up your home. 

New Hampshire can join the war on wasted energy and employ its people at the same time.  

To find out more, attend the Local Energy Solutions Conference this Saturday at the Grappone Center in Concord and see what communities are doing to reduce energy use and create more renewable energy.

American EcoThermal: Improving the Home and Business Carbon Footprint

By John Frodyma,
Director of Commercial Development
American EcoThermal, Inc.

I am really excited about participating in the Green Entrepreneurship webinar on Feb 24^th.  My talk is going to be all about math and finance, and incentives.  We’re going to talk about tax credits and rebates, accelerated depreciation schedules, and internal rate of return (IRR). 

Sounds like a lot of fun, huh?  Are you asleep yet?  I’m just kidding of course…that presentation sounds like “boredom by banker” to me!

While I’m sure we are going to talk about some of these topics, as well as innovative financing solutions for emerging energy technologies, I will be presenting real-world examples of how American EcoThermal Inc. is improving the carbon footprint and operational efficiencies of households and businesses.

One of the examples I’m going to discuss is how American EcoThermal Inc. will be installing a $40K geothermal system in a home in Connecticut for $2,900.00 out of pocket to the homeowner using rebates, tax credits and EcoTherm, our patented Thermal Purchase Agreement (TPA).

I will also be discussing how one of our commercial clients gave up his traditional HVAC system and his $8,000.00/mo. natural gas bill, switched to an American EcoThermal geothermal heating and cooling system, and is saving almost 70 percent on his heating and cooling cost.

So there will be some math, a little science, a little finance and tax talk…but hopefully a lot of inspiration and motivation and proof that we can make environmentally sustainable energy a widespread success.

See you on Feb 24^th.

To register and watch the webinar please visit here: http://tinyurl.com/y8of6jd