GREENING GUILFORD

Upcoming events

Various dates: Greensboro Community Television, Cable Channel 8, will air a 90 minute presentation about peak oil given in July by Peter Kauber of Guilford Solar Communities at the following times: Sunday, Aug. 17 at 6:00 p.m.; Friday, Aug. 29 at noon; and Monday, Sept. 1 at midnight.

Aug. 20: Greensboro Green Drinks (5:30-7:30 p.m. at Natty Greene's)

Sept. 20: A "Growing a Just, Green Economy" conference will take place in Durham on the campus of North Carolina Central University. Early registration fee is $20.

Keynote speakers include environmental justice activist, Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx, and minister, community activist and State President of the NAACP the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II. The day-long event will also feature panels and workshops covering policy, business development, job assessment, education and training, and resource security.

Sept. 25: “No Child Left Inside” talk and book signing, starting at 5 p.m. at Greensboro Montessori School, 2856 Horse Pen Creek Road. Call 668-0119 for more information.

According to the school: Author Richard Louv, whose award-winning book "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder" has sparked an international movement to reunite children and nature, will bring his message to Greensboro at a public lecture and book signing at the school.  The free event, which will be held (appropriately) outside, will begin with an array of family-friendly activities; Louv will speak at 7. 

Louv’s visit to Greensboro will be the centerpiece of a community-wide celebration of national "Take a Child Outside Week," September 24-30 that will include everything from a night hike at the library’s Kathleen Clay Edwards Family Branch to a workshop on wilderness skills at Bur-Mil Park. 

Sept. 29: Starting on this day, UNCG will host a "Sustainability" book club. To register, call Barry Miller at 256-0112 or go here.    

Other events here and here.

Group pushes for net metering in North Carolina

The N.C. Sustainable Energy Association is asking residents to sign a petition requesting strong rules for connecting solar systems to the electrical grid (net metering, which would allow households to supply electricity). The Vote Solar Initiatve is an effort to bring solar energy into the mainstream.

UNC to study link between sustainable farming and health

Read more here.

Camp out with the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences

An invitation to formal and informal educators from the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh: 

Join the Museum of Natural Sciences as we explore natural areas our state! Our itinerary includes stops at a number of state parks: Mt. Mitchell, Stone Mountain, Hanging Rock, Falls Lake, Jones Lake, and Hammocks Beach. We'll spend a lot of time in and on the water kayaking the Dan River (class 1 rapids - no experience necessary but loads of fun!) and canoeing on Salters Lake (a Carolina Bay in eastern NC), plunging in swimming holes, cooling down in waterfalls, and everywhere examining the geology and ecology that shape the streams, rivers, lakes, and coast of our state! No camping experience is necessary - we'll have an "advance team" of Museum staff to help with the camp setup and cooking (and there will be showers at almost all campsites!). There will be moderate to strenuous activities over the course of the week, including hiking, kayaking, and canoeing. It should be an amazing adventure! We hope you'll join us.

Location: Various natural sites around NC
Date: Sunday, July 20–Saturday, July 26, 2008
Cost: $250 (includes transportation from Raleigh, camping fees, 
most meals, take-home materials and kayak rental)

Spend a week traveling from the highest point in the mountains, the spruce-fir forest atop Mt. Mitchell, to the barrier islands along our coast. As we explore the diversity of North Carolina, we'll examine changes in the geology and ecology, including a close look at the characteristics and inhabitants of our streams, rivers and estuaries. We will camp our way across the state to experience the changes in local climates — from cool mountain air to salty ocean breezes. Most camping equipment can be provided by the Museum;  participants need to provide sleeping pad and bag.

For more information or to sign up, call Melissa Dowland at (919) 733-7450 ext. 613
or e-mail at melissa.dowland AT ncmail.net

What are we waiting for?

The Rev. Canon Sally Bingham, president and founder of Interfaith Power and Light, asked as much during the closing keynote addresses at the conference on faith, spirituality and environmental stewardship, I attended with almost 300 others in Salisbury last week. With all the work to do globally regarding climate change, it seems the pace of change on the government, business and community level is mighty slow.

But Bingham and other presenters made the case that people of faith have much to contribute to the transition away from a carbon-based society to one that relies on conservation, efficiency and renewable energy to meet its needs. I left quite inspired to do as much as I can personally and professionally in Greensboro.

Bingham said: "I think we are at a point where enough people have realized we are destroying ourselves.... I see a wonderful horizon. It may get worse before it gets better but I believe it will get better."

To which Gary Gardner, senior researcher of the Worldwatch Institute, responded: "I don't think we should underestimate the challenge that is before us. The challenge is huge."

Highlights from the conference (pictured below is Dr. Samuel Dansokho, an associate professor at Hood Theological Seminary, who gave a presentation):

Gardner said humans need a new understanding of progress, one that is not based on material consumption and lack of boundaries. He said religion can spiritually ground people to find their self-worth in something other than wealth generation.

Matthew Sleeth, an evangelical Christian who gave up his career as an ER physician to preach a green message, said that churches are starting to open up to the message of being better stewards of their natural resources. One session he gave was on observing the sabbath, both as a way of taking care of one's health and also as a way of reducing material and energy consumption. Sleeth said on Sunday, he and his wife only drive to church. They take walks and don't require anyone else to work on that day, for example, by ordering takeout.

"I don't think God intended our lives to be one long run-on sentence," Sleeth said.

Erik Assadourian of the Worldwatch Institute listed 10 ecological ethical choices for people to follow in their daily lives: right diet, just livelihood, active political engagement, life of service, mindful consumption, family for all families (population control), renewing life rituals (and planning green versions of funerals, weddings, etc), preparing for a changing world, spreading community and shifting perspective. Assadourian said he doesn't see any reason why a coffee shop can't use reusable items, compost its waste and provide locally-produced products, such as garden produce, etc. (Sounds like a business idea!)

Of course, a lot more happened, but I think you get the point. If you are interested in any particular session, I will try to provide more information. Also, the Center for the Environment plans to some video of the keynote speakers online.

NC poll shows support for global warming solutions

N.C. Policy Watch: "Seventy-five percent of North Carolina voters favor the state taking action now to reduce global warming pollution, according to a recent statewide survey by Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling.  The poll, commissioned by Environment North Carolina, also shows that voters support the Clean Cars Program—one way of reducing global warming pollution—by a three to one margin."

Guilford County Rep. Pricey Harrison to the rescue: She is pushing for clean car legislation. Harrison is co-chairwoman of the Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change.

Association holds Eat Carolina Food Challenge

Update (June 2): Deep Roots Market also kicks off an eat local food challenge on June 10.

All you budding localvores out there can participate in a challenge to eat only North Carolina-produced food during the week of July 7-13. (Why not get an early start by holding an all local Independence Day food fest?)

This challenge is being publicized by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, which has the goal of increasing the number of organic farms in North Carolina and South Carolina. The association wants participants to blog about their experiences.

Food and gardening challenges are all the rave now and have become a popular tool for raising awareness about particular issues or initiatives. Path to Freedom has just started a social networking site called Freedom Gardeners and participating bloggers can add widgets/icons to their sites representing various challenges, including the 100 Foot Diet and Harvest Keepers (for the more radical gardeners out there).

Are any of you out there participating in online challenges or sticking to a local diet, for that matter? Share your stories and/or photos and I'll post them on my blog.

Logo courtesy of Carolina Farm Stewardship Association

Our path toward a sustainable energy future: mad dash or mini steps?

I attended the 5th annual Sustainable Energy Conference in Raleigh last week as part of my reporting on a project for the N&R. Gov. Mike Easley and others spoke about the need for the U.S. and North Carolina to become more energy independent (i.e. stop importing foreign oil) and the importance of creating a decentralized, diverse energy infrastructure. Overall, the presenters tried to sound hopeful about our opportunities. Below, photos from the conference.

Listen here to the speech Easley gave participants during the conference luncheon (about 20 minutes of unedited audio). He wrapped up his speech by saying:

"We're all trying to get independence from foreign oil. We know we have to have that to survive. America has to have independence from foreign oil to survive.... What will get us there is that new way of life, bringing the future to us now, taking those mini steps in unison."

Scott Sklar, president of The Stella Group, a marketing firm for renewable energy, said Americans must use less energy and become decentralized in our infrastructure, similar to what happened with the Internet and cell phones. He said:

"It is very hard to bring in the new technology when to this very day we're subsidizing the old technology.... They think this is a free market. It is not."

Even with the work being done, government leaders are taking a 10- to 20-year view on reducing energy consumption and some question whether we have that much time to adequately curtail global carbon emissions and prepare for a peaking in conventional oil production. Richard Heinberg, for example, has a greater sense of urgency.  

North Carolina's transportation problem

This following comes by way of an Environmental Stewardship Group of Greensboro listserv post this week from the N.C. Conservation Network:

"North Carolina is facing a major transportation problem. Since 1989, our state has focused heavily on creating new roads, expanding existing roads, and building sprawl-inducing highways. Now, the combination of increasing construction costs, greater awareness of climate change, and a growing maintenance backlog within the Department of Transportation shows that North Carolina’s over-the-top emphasis on building new roads can’t last.

"The NC Conservation Network has joined with a broad coalition of groups—North Carolinians for Transportation Reform and Modernization (NC TRAM)—to promote a better transportation future for North Carolina. This week the group released a set of five principles to help guide North Carolina in creating a new transportation future. The five principles are: (1) prioritize projects using objective standards, not political patronage; (2) build different kinds of projects, not just roads; (3) dedicate a larger share of spending to maintenance; (4) link transportation and land use planning; and (5) pay for our transportation system fairly, not by raiding education and health programs or by privatizing our public roads. Help protect North Carolina’s future by asking your state legislator to support investment in maintenance and public transit!"

The group also has a blog.

North Carolina's transportation practices are a big ship that is going to be hard to turn around, given the amount of financial and social investment North Carolinians have in seeing highways expand. I remember when I worked for the Gaston Gazette writing articles about the Garden Parkway and how an investment company (with a state legislator on staff) had bought up land around the proposed toll highway back in the 1990s with an anticipation that the land will become highly valuable for residential and commercial development. N.C. DOT can't exactly get religion about more sustainable transportation practices and renege on its road-building promises without creating a firestorm. But at some point the state will have to prioritize maintenance. Is a moratorium on building necessary?

By the way, I have heard a couple times that truckers are starting to drive slower on highways to conserve fuel with the $4 diesel prices they are facing (and apparently some want U.S. taxpayers helping to pick up the tab). I would argue they should be driving slow anyway for safety reasons, but there is an incentive to drive faster to get products to their destination on time. If fuel prices keep going up, truckers may have to do more than drive slow (park, perhaps?).