Massachusetts Regulators Give National Grid Approval to Purchase Cape Wind Power. By Beth Daley, BostonGlobe, 11/22/10. “The state Department of Public Utilities gave permission on 11/22 for National Grid to purchase half of Cape Wind's power, removing the last significant hurdle for the controversial wind farm to start construction in Nantucket Sound next year. However, the agency refused to approve a second agreement for the sale of the other 50% of the project's power. Without a buyer for that power, Cape Wind's efforts to get financing for the proposed 130-turbine project could suffer, energy specialists say, with some suggesting only half of the turbines may now be built.”

Climate Activists Registering for CCC-Backed Conference. CCC is pleased that the Pricing Carbon: The Wesleyan University Conference, set for November 19-21, continues to be shaping up nicely. Please visit our site and consider registering. Your interest and support is much appreciated.

Washington's Wind Power Windfall. By Kathie Durbin, Clark Columbian, Washington, 10/12/10. “Eastern Klickitat County’s wind energy boom has utterly transformed the landscape. In the past four years, 624 wind turbines have risen along the crest of the Columbia Hills and on ridges south and east of this town of 90, each the height of a 41-story building as measured from the ground to the tip of the highest turbine blade… The gusty Gorge winds that set those turbine blades spinning have the capacity to generate more than 1,200 megawatts of power once all the wind farms under construction in Klickitat County are generating electricity -- enough to serve about 300,000 homes. That’s more than the generating capacity of Portland General Electric’s Trojan nuclear power plant, which closed in 1993, or about five natural gas-fired plants, such as the River Road plant operated by Clark Public Utilities… For Bickleton, the wind-powered transformation has been abrupt, and mostly positive… The arrival of large-scale wind development also has thrown a lifeline to Bickleton-area farmers who previously scratched out a living growing dryland wheat.”

Marketing Strategies for Energy Efficiency. By Jenny Mandel, Greenwire, 10/5/10. “Give the people what they want. Know your customer. Make it easy to do the right thing. These are some of the common-sense recommendations featured in a new [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory] report [Driving Demand, PDF, 136 pp] that highlights just how unprepared many energy program designers are when it comes to selling efficiency to the public… For starters, the researchers said, don't offer ‘audits’ or ‘retrofits’ -- customers shy away from the negative connotations. Instead try offering ‘energy assessments’ and ‘upgrades,’ but focus messaging on health benefits, improved comfort, community pride or other benefits that consumers tend to care more about. Other suggestions included working with trusted local partners, minimizing the paperwork and hassles that customers face, and following the marketing rule of thumb that it takes three ‘touches’ to convince most people that something is worth buying into.”

Ex-President of Ireland Starts Human Rights Climate Charity. Cork Irish Examiner, September 14, 2010. "Former president Mary Robinson announced plans today to establish a new charity to put human rights at the heart of the climate change agenda. The campaigner revealed she will return to live and work in Ireland at the end of the year to set up the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice). A team of distinguished international experts will advise the charity, which is already working on its first project focusing on the development of Women's Leadership and Climate Justice. It is hoped that despite being based in Ireland, it will have impact worldwide, particularly in the poorest of developing regions."

Chicagoans Plan for Helping Nature Adapt to a Warmer Climate. By William Mullen, Chicago Tribune, September 14, 2010. "Climate change isn't coming to the Chicago area, it is already here. That is the position taken by Chicago Wilderness, an alliance of 254 regional organizations that manage or conserve natural areas. Extending across all or part of 36 counties in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, it includes huge forest preserve districts, park districts, wildlife sanctuaries, land trusts, universities and research institutions. Earlier this year it issued the Chicago Wilderness Climate Action Plan for Nature, an ambitious blueprint to guide area governments, corporations and conservation agencies in coping with coming environmental changes."

Minnesotans Convene to Plan for Warmer, Wetter Climate. By John Croman, Kare11, September 17, 2010. "Hundreds gathered at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum west of the Twin Cities for the Clean Water and Climate Adaptation Summit. They're not there to debate global warming or whether it's a manmade phenomenon. They're talking about ways to adapt to life in a warmer state, and what that means for land use policies and for future infrastructure needs. Warmer air aloft, for instance, allows clouds to carry more moisture. And, as the theory goes, people living in a warmer Minnesota would see more intense downpours when it does rain."

Urban Cycling in L.A. Spawns its Own Peddlers. By Cyndia Zwahlen, LATimes, August 30, 2010. "Carol Agay loved the retro-style wire bike basket that came with her new yellow cruiser, except that her keys and cellphone kept falling through its holes. So the Costa Mesa resident came up with a fashionable but practical solution: a basket liner that kept her items secure while she was riding. And she included drawstring handles so that off the bike, the liner could be transformed into a handy tote. So many female bicyclists stopped her to ask about the invention that Agay transformed it, again, into something else: a business… The liners… appeal to cyclists looking for fashionable and functional gear for casual commuting, shopping trips and social rides. This movement, dubbed urban cycling by some, is in contrast to hard-core road cycling, with its spandex outfits, and rugged mountain biking, with its own gear and garb. Urban cycling has gained in popularity as a practical, more social alternative to more sport-centric bicycling… The attire looks like everyday clothing, with some alterations… to make it more bike friendly… Los Angeles clothing companies, Swrve and Shifty, cater to urban cyclists... online as well as at [urban bike stores like] the Flying Pigeonand Orange 20 Bikes... Last month, Los Angeles released a draft bicycle plan that would increase the city's bikeways - including designated paths and lanes - to more than 1,630 miles in the next five years from the existing 339 miles."

New York City Attempts to Limit Emissions with Compressed Natural Gas Buses. By Michael Graham Richard,Treehugger, September 2, 2010. "The Board of the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (the 'MTA') has awarded New Flyer of America a contract for up to 475 buses. The contract is for 135 40-foot compressed natural gas ('CNG') heavy-duty transit buses with options for up to an additional 340 CNG buses... Based on testing by the U.S. Department of Energy, 'model year 2004 CNG engines produced 49% lower nitrogen oxides emissions and 84% lower particulate matter emissions versus transit buses equipped with model year 2004 diesel engines.' This is particularly important because in urban areas, NOx and PM are the pollutants that accumulate the most and cause smog and bad air quality. On the CO2 front, the reduction should be of about 25%, depending on the source of the gas (a bigger reduction can be had if biogas from carbon neutral sources is used). The main downside is that methane emissions can be higher, but this can be mitigated by minimizing leaks and making sure that the refueling is done properly."

Ancient Seeds in Mexico Help Fight Warming Effects. By Mica Rosenberg, Reuters, September 17, 2010. "More than 500 years after Spanish priests brought wheat seeds to Mexico to make wafers for the Catholic Mass, those seeds may bring a new kind of salvation to farmers hit by global warming. Scientists working in the farming hills outside Mexico City found the ancient wheat varieties have particular drought- and heat-resistant traits, like longer roots that suck up water and a capacity to store more nutrients in their stalks. They are crossing the plants with other strains developed at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in El Batan to grow types of wheat that can fight off the ill effects of rising temperatures around the world."

Illinois Schools to Generate Cash with Wind Farm. By Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, August 20, 2010. "A plan by three struggling suburban school districts to create a revenue-generating wind farm has picked up some velocity this summer. Empowered by recent legislation... [they] have joined together to build a 13-turbine wind farm that would sell energy to defray their own electrical bills. The unique project would be in rural Stark County, about 140 miles southwest of Chicago... Facing operating shortfalls... all three school boards approved the formation of a separate agency that will issue bonds, recruit investors and apply for federal grants to get the $50 million in needed financing in place."

Tribal Lands Struggle to Bring Power Online. By Amy Standen, NPR, August 20, 2010. "A slumped economy, one modest casino isn't enough to sustain the Campo Kumeyaay Nation, especially when about half of the 329 tribal members are unemployed. So the Campo have turned to a new source of income: generating electricity... It's a wind farm, the only large-scale renewable energy plant on Indian land in the country. The 25 turbines, which went online in 2005, provide electricity to up to 35,000 homes in San Diego County…The Wind Farm is an enormous source of pride for the Campo, but monetarily, it hasn't changed much, in part because the Campo don't own it -- they just lease the land. Now the tribe is in negotiations to build another wind project -- three times [larger]. This time, they plan to go in as investors, along with a private energy firm and the local utility. While all sides are tight-lipped about the numbers, the electricity produced by that plant would be worth about $24 million a year on today's market."

Off-the-Grid Advocate Says Their Numbers are Growing by 10% a Year. By Kari Lydersen, CSMonitor, August 7, 2010. "There are about 750,000 off-the-grid households nationwide, estimates Nick Rosen, author of Off the Grid: Inside the Movement for More Space, Less Government, and True Independence in Modern America. Improving technology means that -- while still not cheap -- living off the grid is more realistic and comfortable than ever before. In an age of extreme economic insecurity plus concern about the effects of using fossil fuels -- witness the BP oil spill and a host of recent coal-mining disasters -- living off the grid gives people a feeling of structural, financial, and emotional independence. It lets them plan and control their energy use, with no fear of sudden blackouts. It liberates them from the grip of government regulators and utility companies -- not to mention reducing their utility costs, after the initial investment is paid off. And it hints at the potential of a different energy future, free of the environmental and social costs of using fossil fuels. Mr. Rosen estimates that the number of people living off the grid in the US is growing by about 10% per year. His website, off-grid.net, features an interactive map that shows where people are living off the grid and helps them connect to share ideas."

Ecuador Secures Trust Fund To Save Park From Oil Developers. By Jeremy Hance, Mongabay, August 3, 2010. "In what may amount to a historic moment in the quest to save the world's rainforests and mitigate climate change, Ecuador and the United Nations Development Fund (UNDF) have created a trust fund to protect one of the world's most biodiverse rainforests from oil exploration and development. The fund will allow the international community to pay Ecuador to leave an estimated 850 million barrels of oil in Yasuni National Park in the ground instead of extracting it. This first-of-its-kind agreement, known as the Yasuni-ITT Initiative, will allow the rainforest protected area to remain pristine: preserving one of the most species-rich places on Earth, safeguarding the lives of indigenous people, and keeping an estimated 410 million tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere… Ecuador is asking for $3.6 US billion from international donors over the next ten years to keep the oil in the ground; the amount is half of what Ecaudor expected to receive if it developed the park."

Cameron: Amazon Dam Dispute is a Real-Life 'Avatar'. AP, April 13, 2010. "Director James Cameron said April 12 that a real-life 'Avatar' battle is playing out in Brazil's Amazon rain forest, where indigenous groups are trying to halt the construction of a huge hydroelectric project... Cameron said he was in Brazil's capital to support Indian and environmental groups as they stage protests against the Belo Monte dam project... Cameron attended an environmental summit in the Amazon last month with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. He returned this week to Sao Paulo to promote the DVD version of his blockbuster movie Avatar, in which the fictitious Na'vi race fights to protect its homeland, the forest-covered moon, Pandora, from plans to extract oil. He said he came to Brasilia on his own initiative because he was drawn to the activists' plight.

"Avatar has struck a chord with environmentalists worldwide, from China, where millions have been displaced by major infrastructure projects, to Bolivia, where Evo Morales, the nation's first indigenous president, praised the film for sending the message of saving the environment from exploitation. 'I'm drawn into a situation where a real-life 'Avatar' confrontation is in progress,' Cameron said in a telephone interview while en route to protests taking place in front of the Mines and Energy Ministry. 'What's happening in Avatar is happening in Brazil and places like India and China, where traditional villages are displaced by big infrastructure projects,' he added. The $11 billion Belo Monte hydroelectric dam -- which if completed would be the world's third-largest such project -- was cleared for construction Feb. 1 by the Environment Ministry. Bidding for prospective builders is expected to take place later this month."

Amazon Rancher Sentenced for Ordering the Killing of U.S. Nun. By Tales Azzoni, AP, April 13, 2010. "A Brazilian rancher's conviction for the murder of a U.S. nun in the Amazon could help discourage attacks on rain forest activists that for decades have largely gone unpunished, environmentalists and legal officials said Tuesday. Vitalmiro Moura was sentenced to 30 years for ordering the killing of 73-year-old Dorothy Stangin 2005 because she blocked him and another rancher from taking over land the government gave to farmers. Hundreds of activists have been killed in Brazil in the last 20 years -- but only about 80 triggermen, usually paid by powerful ranchers with land claims at stake, were behind bars before Tuesday. Moura is the only so-called mastermind of one of the killings to join them, raising hopes that the climate of impunity in the Amazon is finally nearing an end."

Mexico City Launches Bicycle Program: 'Ecobici'. By Ken Ellingwood, LATimes, March 30, 2010. "Take a vast, teeming megalopolis where the car is king, bicycle paths are few and motorists often seem determined to mow down anyone not tucked behind a steering wheel. Now try talking residents into pedaling to work every day to help the environment. That's the task facing Mexico City officials, who have parked hundreds of bikes in busy neighborhoods in hopes of getting people to avoid cars and instead bicycle to the office, class or a lunch date. The new project, called Ecobici, is modeled on bike-lending programs in such cities as Barcelona, Spain; Paris; and Copenhagen. Planners hope that by saturating certain Mexico City neighborhoods with the three-speed bikes, they can persuade residents to consider making cycling at least part of their daily commute.

"Ecobici users pay a $24 yearly registration fee and get a membership card, which they can swipe across an electronic reader at any station to release a bicycle. Riders have free use for up to 30 minutes and are charged up to $3 an hour for longer intervals... So far, city officials have placed 1,100 bikes at 85 stations in several busy neighborhoods near downtown. The areas were chosen as promising proving grounds because they boast a mix of residences and businesses. The sturdy-looking red-and-white bikes, outfitted with a headlight and rack for belongings, also are sprinkled along the city's premier boulevard, Paseo de la Reforma. The bikes and equipment cost $6 million. About 2,600 people have signed up, far from the eventual target of 24,000. But use is picking up, officials say."

Landmarks, Cities Worldwide Unplug for Earth Hour. By David Stringer, AP, March 27, 2010. "Europe's best known landmarks fell dark Saturday, March 27, following Sydney's Opera House and Beijing's Forbidden City in joining a global climate change protest, as lights were switched off across the world to mark the Earth Hour event."

Using the Sun to Sterilize Water. BBC News, March 22, 2010. "Tanzanian villagers have begun using an energy-saving method to sterilize their drinking water - leaving the water under the sun. The piped water supply to Ndolela village in the central Iringa region is intermittent and even when it does flow, it is not clean enough to drink. When the pipes run dry, villagers get water from a dirty spring. Mother of five Rose Longwa says the new process has changed her life. 'We no longer suffer from stomach illness. That's because the water is clean and safe.' Like many other people in rural Africa with no access to safe drinking water, she used to sterilize her water by boiling it. But she says the smoke from the firewood to heat the water used to irritate her eyes. She is also glad she no longer has to go to fetch wood from the bush. 'I fill the plastic bottles, put the lids on, then put them on my black-painted roof where they stay for a whole day.' The sun heats the water, helped by the black roof, which helps to absorb the heat. Solar radiation means a combination of ultra-violet rays and heat destroys the bacteria which cause common water-borne diseases like cholera, typhoid, dysentery and diarrhea. After eight hours in the sun, it is ready to drink. If the water reaches more than 50C, it is safe in just one hour."

Forward From Copenhagen: Recognizing Climate Change as a Justice Problem. By Tom Athanasiou, EarthIsland, Spring 2010 issue. "Almost two decades after I started working on climate change, I was happily astounded to witness the crystallization, on the streets of Copenhagen, of a grassroots movement that was both energetic and sophisticated, and to see global civil society groups working in solidarity with the leaders of the world's poorest and most vulnerable nations to press a collective agenda. And I can tell you something else: Our chances of preventing climate catastrophe rests in large part on the ability of this new alliance to communicate to the world's richest and most powerful peoples that the emissions emergency is, above all things, a crisis of justice.

"As everyone knows, the Copenhagen talks failed to catapult us into the ambitious global mobilization we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But this was never going to happen anyway... [But,] the emergence of a semi-organized bloc of 'Most Vulnerable Countries' (MVCs) is news that will stay news, and not just because of the tension between the MVCs and 'emerging economies' like China and India. The larger issue is that the MVCs have come to know themselves as frontline states, and in so doing have irrevocably transformed the global politics of climate crisis. It goes without saying that, in the coming battles, the most vulnerable will reserve much of their ire for the wealthy countries of the North... Copenhagen, for all its disappointments, marked a turn. The need for an emergency mobilization is obvious, and with it a set of challenges that can no longer be denied. These will get clearer in the years ahead, but the essential situation is before us: With the atmosphere's ability to absorb carbon critically limited, we face the greatest resource-sharing problem of all time. For all its complexity, the core of this problem can be stated simply enough: What kind of a climate transition would be fair enough to actually work? The climate problem is and remains a justice problem. It's more than this, of course, but justice is nonetheless the key. If we fail to solve it in time, it will be in large part because we refused to see it as such." Tom Athanasiou directs EcoEquity (ecoequity.org), an Earth Island Institute-sponsored project, and is a member of the Greenhouse Development Rights authors' group.