Great report for today

As you cast a vote, here in the US, for different candidates and help guide our future.  This report looks at the tremendous progress in wind energy in Europe, and outlines similar opportunities here along the Atlantic coastline.

Let's hope we are electing people who see promise in growing an economy, and jobs, around clean tech.

Take the time to read the report; it is very well done:

NWF Wind Energy Report Released

A Turning Point for Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy

The Environment Council of RI recently endorsed the new September 2012 Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy report from National Wildlife Federation, which is described on the NWF website. An excerpt from NWF's website:

America can create hundreds of thousands of jobs while powering our homes and businesses with local, clean energy, but only if our elected officials and regulators take the right steps now, according to a new report released today by the National Wildlife Federation, Environment America, and 45 partner organizations along the Atlantic Coast. The Turning Point for Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy: Time for Action to Create Jobs, Reduce Pollution, Protect Wildlife & Secure America’s Energy Future details the economic and environmental benefits of offshore wind energy, the progress made to-date, potential obstacles to that progress, and a prosperous path forward. READ MORE...

Radio documentary on elections and America's energy future: The Power of One, with Alex Chadwick

This is really interesting to us, and something we've been talking about on the show as we lead up to the national election here in the US.

Candidates for office get evaluated on many fronts, but two of the key issues we should focus on as we make our political choices, are their energy and environment policies.  The choices we make know in these areas will impact us for hundreds of years.

So, we are happy to bring you this story and the chance to listen to this radio documentary.  We'd love to hear your comments when you are done:

BURN: An Energy Journal, the radio documentary series hosted by former NPR journalist Alex Chadwick, has a 2-hour election special out. It's the most powerful piece of radio journalism I've listened to since—well, since the last episode they put out. You really must do yourself a favor and set aside some time this weekend to listen to “The Power of One.”

Energy policy, defining how we use energy to power our economy and our lives, is among the most pressing issues for the next four years. In this special two-hour edition of BURN, stories about the power of one: how, in this election season, a single person, place, policy or idea can — with a boost from science — affect the nation’s search for greater energy independence.

The documentary examines how "individuals, new scientific ideas, grassroots initiatives and potentially game-changing inventions are informing the energy debate in this Presidential Election year, and redefining America’s quest for greater energy independence." It was completed and hit the air before Hurricane Sandy, but the energy issues illuminated by that disaster (blackouts, gas shortage, grid failure, backup power failure at hospitals) further underscore the urgency.

Chadwick and a team of reporters do this through a series of "intimate, human-scale stories," traveling to the energy frontier of the Arctic Ocean, to Pennsylvania’s natural gas-rich “Marcellus Shale” region where the national “fracking” controversy runs deep, and a university lab in Colorado where a female scientist is building a battery that aspires to be the “Holy Grail of green technology.”

“Energy and climate are such big stories – there is a reason that both campaigns often talk about the economy, jobs and energy all tied together,” says Alex. “It’s easy to get overwhelmed by how big these topics are. What BURN tries to do is tell smaller stories that provide insight into how people’s lives are changed by the energy choices they and others around them make. ‘The Power of One’ is about how individuals can make a difference, even in something so globally immense as energy..."

Here's the link to the full page as well.  Enjoy:  http://boingboing.net/2012/11/03/radio-documentary-on-2012-us-e.html

Thanks to our radio partner, Seth Handy

For sending this good news from IKEA:

IKEA To Invest 1.5 Billion Euros In Wind And Solar Projects 

n News Departments > FYI

by NAW Staff on Tuesday 23 October 2012

Home furnishings retailer IKEA has announced that as a part of its sustainability initiative and its goal to become energy and resource independent, it will invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in wind and solar projects through 2020. The company also plans to improve the energy efficiency of its operations by at least 20% and encourage its suppliers to do the same. In addition, IKEA says all of its main home furnishing materials - including packaging - are renewable, recyclable or recycled. IKEA has already completed solar installations on 34 of its stores and distribution centers, with five more projects under way. It has also installed 33 electric-vehicle charging stations at nine of its stores in the western U.S.

Enjoy the show and tour 2012

We will be filming here today

Sustainable Schools Summit ~ Friday, November 2nd, 2012 ~ 8:00 am to 1:00 pm at Rhode Island College REGISTER NOW!
Calling all Educators, Students, Principals, Superintendents, Facilities Managers, Parents, Green Teams, and Community Members:	This is a GREEN event! The electricity used during this event is matched with clean, local wind power thanks toPeople's Power and Light. LEARN ABOUT: Green Ribbon Schools Teaching about climate change School as a Tool Energy efficiency and conservation Renewable energy systems Low/No cost steps Funding and programmatic resources Maximum recycling Non-toxic cleaning products Healthy, local food systems School gardens Curricula and activities Environmental education and environmental literacy Enhancing indoor air quality for better learning Sustainable transportation School green teams and action plans GETTING THERE: Parking is available in Parking Lot J or take RIPTA bus line #55 Interested in EXHIBITING at the Sustainable Schools Summit? Also, check out TechniArt, Inc.’s Energy Saving Lighting Fair sponsored by National Grid where you can purchase a variety of high quality energy-efficient lighting products at deep discounts from ENERGY STAR® certified vendors. Don’t miss the great “Combo Special” that includes 12 CFLs, 1 floor lamp (bulb included) and 2 LED sensor night lights, all for $10! The regular retail price is $120!
Workshops providing hands-on resources and sharing best practices include: Shannon Donovan, former RI Teacher of the Year Green Ribbon Schools program information and resources Susan Ring, noted children’s author MET School Green Team OSEEC environmental literacy initiative in Central Falls See all Workshop Descriptions and Presenter Bios Scheduled speakers include: The Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse Marion Gold, Administrator, Office of Energy Resources Curt Spalding, EPA Region 1 Administrator David Abbott, Acting Commissioner, RI Dept. of Education Welcoming Remarks by Nancy Carriuolo, President, RI College Check out the Agenda HERE!

Yesterday's radio show

Is now available 24/7 on the Renewable Now channel on Blog Talk Radio.

With the help of Jim Murphy and Kyla Pecchia of RI College, Kyla being the President of the Student Government at the school, we took a RI issue, passage of Question 3 to authorize spending 50m there to remodel some of their buildings, and took it to a national level as we discussed current and future funding of education.

We also had brief conversation with Dave Fisher, who is campaign manager of Abe Collins run for national office, and previewed what will be a future, including Dave, on funding education that fills some of the skill's deficiencies we now see in this State and in lots of other places as well.

Listen and send us your comments:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/renewable-now/2012/10/31/financial-ways-to-reduce-operating-costs-for-schools

What is "sustainable development"?

That is the question we constantly ask ourselves and try to find the right answers and models of success.

Our next series of TV shows will profile positive changes in education.  One of the groups we will profile is Apeiron Institute and we love the definition they post on their site, along with some good examples of what it means and what it can look like in real life.  Take a look:

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
“…to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
The World Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Commission)
 
“Sustainable” is working and living in ways that can continue for generations to come.  Examples of sustainable practices are: meeting our energy needs from clean renewable sources such as wind and solar power rather than more polluting forms of energy; producing foods locally rather than trucking them in from far away places; or designing buildings with healthy materials that use fewer resources to heat and cool.  Practices that work for future generations encompass almost every aspect of our lives: the air we breathe and water we drink, how we grow our economy and develop our communities;  ultimately, these practices determine our health, safety, and prosperity.
 
Sustainable RI is a multi faceted initiative to transform Rhode Island into the nation’s first Sustainable State.  The Apeiron Institute launched Sustainable RI as the Rhode Island Sustainability Coalition in 2001 to put “sustainable” thinking at the heart of how we grow and develop our state".

Tomorrow, we'll continue to look at Apeiron, and other institutes like them, and highlight some of their great successes and how their overriding goal is very ambitious:  "to transform Rhode Island into the nation’s first Sustainable State."

How cool would that be?

More tomorrow.