Courtesy of Putneypucs @ flickr. Creative Commons

In talking with guests at CLF’s holiday party last week, I was reminded of something simple and powerful: In this movement, we’re all leaders.

Helping New England thrive is a group effort.  It’s also CLF’s vision. To make it happen we work with  our colleagues, our allies, and our friends – many of whom were present at the party.

These guests included elected officials, heads of state and government officials, business and nonprofit CEOs – even an international delegation. CLF staff and alumni were there. Board members, families and friends joined us.  And also many dedicated people who help New England thrive by doing their part – sometimes small but always heartfelt – every day, week or month.

Talking with many present, I was reminded of what I have often thought: To succeed, we need each other.

I was also reminded of the story of an 8 year old girl with courage and a voice, but struggling against acute asthma. At a hearing for a proposed project in western MA that would aggravate her asthma and further threaten her community, she was sitting with my colleague Sue Reid, vp and director, CLF Massachusetts. She had in her hand a one page handwritten statement she was prepared to deliver that said, among other things, “It’s not fair!” After the committee spoke, she turned to Sue and said: “This really isn’t fair!”

She was right. We have followed her lead, and are working hard for fairness and justice for her community. We all should learn from her, and be inspired by her. She is a leader in our movement.

Reflecting on our holiday season, this message seems appropriate: we are sustained by the work of our allies and friends. In this movement, it does take a village. And everyone truly is a leader.

To all those who have worked with us, to our donors, sponsors, and allies, and to our friends and family, thank you. Without your leadership, we couldn’t do what we do.

May have you have a wonderful Holiday season.

New England Wind Energy Education Project (NEWEEP) Webinar #6

Title:               “Wind Power as a Neighbor: Experience with Techniques for Mitigating Public Impacts”

Date:               Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Location:        Webinar (Free)

Time:              2:00 – 3:45 PM ET

Registration
Link:                   http://neweepwebinar6.eventbrite.com/

Questions? Email:  info@neweep.com

Key Discussion Topics & Speakers

Speakers:

• Charles Newcomb, Wind Technology Deployment Supervisor, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will describe the technical mitigation strategies invented and refined by wind manufacturers and developers to minimize or avoid impact to project neighbors, along with the background of how these strategies work and where they have been applied.
• John Knab, Town Supervisor, Sheldon, NY, will discuss the project adjustment and other mitigation techniques used by the Town of Sheldon in the process of allowing the High Sheldon Wind Project to be developed in their town and how these techniques impacted the siting decision-making process.
• Nils Bolgen, Program Director, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, will describe project adjustments and mitigation steps taken by wind project proponents during both the planning and post-operation stages, with outcomes and results where available.

Discussion Topics:

The presentations and discussion will provide webinar participants with an understanding of:

• Technical and non-technical approaches to minimize, eliminate or compensate for direct or indirect impacts during the planning, construction and operation of a wind power project
• Lessons learned on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of available mitigation techniques and how specific techniques helped produce better outcomes
• The process of negotiation to achieve public acceptance, and what concessions communities should (and shouldn’t) expect from project proponents
• The key to successful siting through balancing mitigation of impacts with project economic viability
• Where current strategies fall short and what additional research is needed to fill the gaps

This free event is designed for attendance by the general public, local officials, state regulators, facility siting decision-makers, policy-makers, and others interested in a review of objective information on the impacts of wind energy.

We say New England is “blessed” with these resources because marshes have been critical to human activities from the earliest days of human presence in New England. In pre-colonial days, Native Americans hunted on the marshes for birds, clams and fish, and the early European settlers harvested salt marsh grasses for hay and took advantage of tidal cycles to set up fishing traps that caught the then-abundant variety of coastal marine fish. Later settlers discovered that these marsh areas could be diked to create valuable upland farmland, a good thing for the struggling farmers but a significant ecological loss to New England.

A salt marsh in Sandwich, MA. Salt marshes perform a number of critical functions for our environment. (CLF photo)

These salt marshes, you see, perform a number of critical functions in our environment. They are essential habitat for a diverse number of resident and migratory birds and juvenile marine fish; they protect the uplands from ocean storms, reducing storm surges and mitigating the power of ocean waves; and they filter the water running off the land and remove sediments and pollution before that run-off reaches the sea. They are also a fundamental part of our New England landscape, as any review of New England art will reveal.

To make way for agriculture, housing, marine commerce, and major urban centers like Boston, Portsmouth, and Portland, thousands of acres of coastal wetlands were filled. Fairly reliable estimates are that the Gulf of Maine, for example, has lost roughly half of its original inventory of rich salt marshes. With sea level rise a certainty in the coming decades, increasing numbers of people will begin to understand the protective role that these marshes once played.

It is not too late to restore some of this lost natural heritage. CLF and other conservation groups around the country formed Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) in 1996. RAE’s mission is to restore one million acres of wetlands, and we are well on our way. Each year, CLF places more than $100,000 with municipalities and citizen groups to pay for the costs of wetland restoration.  These projects remove dams and dikes and eliminate tidal restrictions, such as highway culverts, that choke many marsh systems of the salt water tidal flows that they need to survive. Through this work, we are making important strides.

On September 24^th, the nation is celebrating National Estuaries Day. We ask you to celebrate it with us: take a walk in an estuary (and pick up any trash that you see), go to your library and read Life and Death of the Salt Marsh—a natural history classic written by CLF Board member Dr. John Teal – join an Audubon Society in your state, visit CLF’s estuaries website page to learn about CLF’s restoration projects and support our work, teach your children about salt marshes, or just spend a sunrise looking out at the ocean over a marsh. New England is blessed by our salt marshes; take some time on September 24th to discover why.

To learn more about National Estuaries Day, visit the RAE National Estuaries Day website. To learn more about CLF’s work with RAE, click here.

Panelists (including our own Sean Cosgrove) at the listening session. (CLF Photo)

Members of an assembled panel and most public comments held great support for the National Ocean Policy and urged its implementation. It’s not lost on ocean users that ecosystem-based management (EBM) and coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) are the foundation of the NOP and have overarching effects and influence over the other seven objectives. While discussing EBM, several speakers voiced the importance of focusing on the health of our oceans, making the case that all other objectives of the NOP could be achieved as long as the ultimate goal was a healthy ocean, which would result in both economic and environmental benefits.

Concern for stakeholder engagement was a common theme, with many noting the lack of representation of specific interest groups. Many stressed that an informed and engaged public  and communication and collaboration among a diverse array of interest groups and governmental bodies were vital to the NOP’s success. These are all points on which we certainly agree.

The event provided an opportunity for the public to voice opinions on the National Ocean Policy. (CLF Photo)

New England is already a national leader in ocean planning, and has many organizations, institutions and policies already in place to assist in the creation of New England’s regional ocean plan. We recognize the necessity of a national, comprehensive policy, but also the importance of recognizing the differences between regions and using different approaches to solve region-specific needs. Without a doubt, New England should be a priority region for the implementation of the National Ocean Policy.

Public speakers also stressed the fundamental need for fiscal resources to implement the plan. CLF’s Sean Cosgrove highlighted the need to recognize the Gulf of Maine as a nationally significant water body in the NOP and various action plans. He urged specific recognition to be written into the policy – an idea that was reiterated throughout the public comments. (Watch the video here.)

Most notably, the importance of swift and steady implementation of the NOP was of primary concern. The public didn’t want another “plan to plan.”  With ocean conservation a time-sensitive area of strong interest, constituents demanded a plan to act.

Do you love the Earth? Fantastic concerts? Free stuff? Learning about the awesome work of your friendly neighborhood environmental non-profits? No matter what you and your family are into, celebrate it with CLF at EarthFest this Saturday, May 21, at the Hatch Shell in Boston. This annual event, presented courtesy of Radio 92.9, features hundreds of environmentally-friendly vendors and sponsors along with local non-profits doing green work in your community. And if that’s not enough rockstars for you, stick around for a stellar lineup featuring Atomic Tom, Sponge, LIVE’s Ed Kowalczyk and Ok Go, among other acts of musical greatness.

So tomorrow, come out and show your support for CLF and New England’s environment! Stop by our booth for environmentally-themed games, prizes and more. We’ll be strategically located between Lovin Spoonfuls and Boston Harbor Alliance in the non-profit exhibitor area between the Main Events area and the Vendor Cafe. We’ll see you there!

Let’s review:

Radio 92.9 EarthFest
Saturday, May 21
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Hatch Shell, Boston, MA

In honor of the 41st anniversary of Earth Day, CLF Board members from across New England have banded together to make an extraordinary $41,000 investment in CLF’s – and our region’s – future. Every new or increased gift you make now through Earth Day – April 22– can be matched, dollar-for-dollar, up to $41,000.

Your gift today will go toward solving the region’s toughest environmental problems, and help us ensure a healthy, thriving New England for generations to come. From Maine to Rhode Island, CLF stands up for your favorite places, for the health of your families and your communities, and for the prosperity of our region. Since the last Earth Day, we:

• Cleaned up the air in Somerset, MA by closing the doors on an old, polluting coal plant
• Won tougher standards for phosphorus pollution in Lake Champlain, VT
• Preserved the fragile ecosystem of Great Salt Pond on Block Island, RI
• Saved Mainers millions of dollars on electricity infrastructure
• Helped NH cities and towns save energy and money by increasing energy efficiency

As Earth Day approaches, we are reminded that around the world and right here in New England, our land, our oceans and our air are in peril. On the heels of the 2010 elections, many in the new Congress are pursuing a clear anti-environment agenda, one that cuts directly to the core of the most fundamental protections for our health, safety and well-being. With leadership in Washington sorely lacking, CLF is uniquely poised to take the reins in protecting New England.

Today, we are asking you to help us continue our progress by taking part in our Earth Day Challenge. Your commitment enables CLF to safeguard our oceans, clean up our lakes, rivers and forests, promote clean energy innovations and build healthy, livable communities. We hope you will take part in our Earth Day Challenge by making a donation today to help CLF protect our small but mighty corner of the world.

Bottom line: If you don’t want to listen to us, at least listen to Sarah. The ZOOM proposal would expand mass transit between Maine’s largest cities, increasing the current service between Portland and Biddeford and Saco and adding routes between Portland and Lewiston/Auburn and Augusta–and with full buses and park-and-ride facilities at capacity, it’s a service that Maine commuters desperately need. The proposed bill, introduced in January, would increase commuter transit options, reduce household expenditures on gasoline and diesel, increase employment opportunities and productivity and reduce government expenditures.

Want to know more? Now’s the perfect time to get on board. Speak out in support of the ZOOM bill at a public hearing this Tuesday, March 22 at 1 p.m. at the State House in Augusta. Prior to the hearing, CLF and the Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) will host a press conference beginning at noon in the same location. It’s the perfect chance to learn more, get your questions answered and hear straight from the bill’s co-sponsors why they think the ZOOM proposal is essential to Maine’s development. Details at www.clf.org/events.

CLF and the Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) will be hosting a press conference on the new bill to expand the ZOOM commuter bus service between Portland and York County and add new service between Portland and Lewiston and Auburn and between Portland and Augusta to keep up with rising demand.

Those in attendance will include Jane West, CLF staff attorney and steering committee member of MAST; Representatives Bradley Moulton (R-York) and Ben Chipman (I-Portland), both sponsors of the bill; Nicola Wells, communications director and organizer at the Maine League of Young Voters and steering committee member of MAST; and Christian MilNeil, citizen activist. Read the full media alert >

Learn more about ZOOM

Have an idea that you think will reduce energy use, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions in Cumberland County? Share it at tonight’s Power Hour discussion and feedback session, facilitated by CLF Maine Staff Attorney Jane West in coalition with the Brunswick Permaculture Group and Transition Greater Brunswick.

The ideas gathered from this and future Power Hours will form the foundation of a Cumberland County energy and climate plan, which will inform the ways in which municipalities, their communities and the private sector conserve, generate, use and diversify energy in the County. It will focus on priority measures to reduce energy, greenhouse gas emissions and costs 17 percent by 2017.

The event is open to the public. Cost is $2/person. More details >