What Grows On in Rhode Island News

Bioneers by the Bay Early Bird Discount (30%) Ending September 30, 2011

Note: This is a highly regarded conference!

The 7th annual educational Connecting for Change conference, is set to take place once again in downtown New Bedford, on October 21-23, 2011.  The Connecting for Change: a Bioneers by The Bay Conference brings awareness of the importance of environmental activism and sustainability.  Connecting for Change is committed to affordable access for all to learn, grow, and connect with like-minded individuals. Discounted (30%-off) Early Bird Registration is available ONLY until midnight on Friday, September 30.
 

4th Annual Interfaith Conference on Climate Change ~ March 24, 2011

Global warming is already increasingly producing harmful impacts on humanity and all species around the globe.  How will social issues such as immigration pressures, food insecurity, access to drinking water and year-round utilities be impacted?  What are its implications for RI? What can we do to prevent or lessen an impending crisis?

Rhode Island Interfaith Power and Light is organizing its 2011 conference, entitled “A Social Justice Response to  Climate Change.”  It is hosted by La Salle Academy, Providence, RI, on the evening of Thursday, March 24, 2011, from 4:30 pm to 9:00 pm.

For a lively Panel Discussion of how science, economics, policy and faith bear on this important issue through the lens of social justice, along with educational workshops, tours of LaSalle’s solar greenhouse, kick-off of the IPL Food & Faith program with multi-faith blessings and a taste of RI local foods and an expanded exhibit section, the RI-IPL Low-Carbon Footprint Fair featuring alternative energy providers & more.  Interested in exhibiting?  View the details on vending options on-line.

Early sponsors of the conference include Beneficent Congregational Church, Blarney Stone Consulting, Community Relations Council of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, La Salle Academy, Newman Church, UCC, and Unitarian Universalist Church of South County.

Register online and pre-select the workshop of your choice.  Thank you, and we will see you there!

From the Globe to the Cell and Back - Responses of Ecosystems to Global Environmental Change ~ February 7, 2011

Monday, Feb 7, 2011- Noon ~ Brown University, Sidney Frank Hall / Room 220, 185 Meeting St, Providence, RI   ~ Nathan Marcuvitz Auditorium

Speaker Dr. Bruce Hungate is a Professor of Ecosystem Ecology at Northern Arizona University. His research focuses on ecosystem processes, especially carbon, water, and nutrient cycling. Hungate studies biogeochemical responses to global changes, such as rising atmospheric CO2, climate change, N deposition, and altered land use. Currently he is investigating how altered precipitation and warming alter carbon and nitrogen cycling in Arizona's ecosystems, how elevated CO2 alters nitrogen cycling and hydrology of scrub oak woodlands, and how increased temperature influences the nitrogen cycle in grasslands.

To learn more about Professor Hungate click here

Upcoming Environmental Films in RI ~ February 2011

See The What Grows On in RI Books/Films/Plays/Readings SubCalendar for the details of these and other movies. These are only SOME of the films being shown in or near Rhode Island this month. Too many to list!

Climate Change & Energy Films Available for Screening & Workshops ~ January 2011

RI Interfaith Power and Light has a DVD library of films concerning environmental issues ranging from discussions of the morality of climate change to technical presentations of energy-saving techniques. They have speakers for film discussions, sermons and for Climate Change & Energy related workshops on request:

• The moral questions raised by global climate change
• How to green your house of worship
• How your congregation members can understand and reduce their "carbon footprint"

Send them an email or give them a call to let them know when and where your congregation wants to host the film screening and discussion.  RI-IPL volunteers are available to help with your event upon request. 

Host a film screening:  The DVD library ranges from discussions of the morality of climate change to technical presentations of energy-saving techniques:

• New - Fall 2010 Release Carbon Nation - a fast-moving, informative and solutions-oriented portrayal of the range of issues connected to climate change.  90 minutes.
• Award-winning Renewal by Marty Ostrow and Terry Kay Rockefeller. This 90 minute documentary inspires viewers with individual stories "about what different religions are doing about the awesome devastation of Earth's life systems now taking place..."  - Thomas Berry
• Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America by Jeff Barrie. "What would you find if ... you traced the wires from your switch to their energy source:  Mountaintop removal, childhood asthma, or ... hope?" 55 minutes.
• God's Creation & Global Warming - A National Council of Churches, Eco-Justice Program film short.  A 15- minute discussion of the stewardship of creation, acts of mercy and acts of justice,  and climate science from an interfaith perspective within the Judeo-Christian tradition.
• Food, Inc. - A 2009 Robert Kenner Film.  "Doing for eating what former Vice President Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth did for global warming." - The Kansas City Star.
• Fighting Goliath - Texas Coal Wars - A short film produced by Covenant.
• Too Hot Not To Handle - A 2006 HBO documentary on the effects of global warming in the United States (53 minutes).  The film is directed by Maryann DeLeo and Ellen Goosenberg and stars Michael Oppenheimer, Donald Kennedy and Stephen Schneider.
• Green is the New Red White and Blue - A Discovery Channel presentation narrated by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman on the globally inconvenient truth and grassroots solutions.
• This is Your Home - A film for young people by the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Contact them to discuss a convenient time and place for your event.

Conservation Stewardship Program Signup ~ Through January 7, 2011

NRCS EXTENDS SIGN-UP PERIOD FOR CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM

Applications Will Be Accepted Through January 7, 2011

WARWICK, RI – The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has extended the ranking period cut-off date for producers to apply for the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to January 7, 2011. CSP is a voluntary program that encourages agricultural and forestry producers to maintain existing conservation activities and adopt additional ones on their operations.

NRCS Chief Dave White said, “We’re extending the deadline for applications to CSP to provide agricultural producers more time to complete their applications,” said White. “This will help farmers, ranchers and forestry producers by giving them more time and hopefully allow even more producers to participate in this program.”

CSP has been a very successful program for Rhode Island’s farmers and forest landowners, according to R. Phou Vongkhamdy, NRCS state conservationist, “So far, Rhode Island has 32 CSP contracts covering over 4,000 acres. The average contract earns $1,200 a year,” said Vongkhamdy. “CSP is especially applicable to agricultural and forest landowners who have implemented conservation plans on their private lands. Under CSP, participants receive an annual land use payment for the environmental benefits they produce on their operation. Under CSP, participants are paid for conservation performance - the higher the operational performance, the higher their payment.”

CSP is available statewide. The program provides many conservation benefits including improvement of water and soil quality, wildlife habitat enhancement and adoption of conservation practices that address the effects of climate change.

Producers are encouraged to apply for CSP at their local NRCS office. The program, authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, offers payments to producers who maintain a high level of conservation on their land and who agree to adopt higher levels of stewardship. Eligible land includes cropland, grassland, prairie, improved pastureland, non-industrial private forestland, and agricultural land under the jurisdiction of an Indian tribe. Additional assistance is available to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

A CSP self-screening checklist is available to help producers determine if CSP is suitable for their operation. The checklist highlights basic information about CSP eligibility requirements, contract obligations and potential payments. It is available from local NRCS offices or online at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/new_csp/csp.html.

Source: NRCS Press Release

Answers to Environmental Questions We Want Our Governor to Know

Last week, Greg Gerritt offered prizes for a contest, Are you Smarter than a Gubernatorial Candidate, which reflected his disappointment in the answers of the gubernatorial candidates during last month's Environment Council of RI's debate on the environment. No one submitted answers, so this week Greg has answered his own questions. Maybe you agree or disagree with him, but let's hope our next governor is generally well grounded in environmental science and surrounds himself with people who consider Rhode Island's land, water, and air quality issues ~ as well as food and energy supplies and industries ~ to be top priority in state government. Let's also hope everyone in the General Assembly also ratchets up their concern for our environment and works with the governor with the long view in mind. 

We also can hope the next governor will insist on substantial work from the new Climate Change Commission set up by the Climate Risk Reduction Act of 2010 (S 2439 SUB A). The Commission's purpose is to study and recommend how Rhode Island can adapt to rising sea level, which can worsen future storm surges up the Bay, and other potential consequences of climate change that will seriously impact Rhode Island's economy. More background on the Commission is in a Brown University News article.

We hope the next governor is aware of the RI Department of Management's Climate Change Factsheets, as well as

Do you have ideas about the answers to these questions? Yeah, it's a little like being in school, but understanding the systemic nature of our environment is essential knowledge for our leaders (and for us Rhode Islanders as well).

1. What is the physics of climate change?
2. Explain what happens to beaches and salt marshes when sea level rises, and what happens if beaches and marshes are backed up by hardscapes. How will you protect tourism in RI if the hardscapes interfere with the needs of a tourism underpinned by healthy landscapes?
3. What role do forests play in alleviating flooding, and how much forest is needed to increase infiltration and alleviate run off.  What program would you implement in order to save Rhode Islanders millions and millions of dollars in flood damages that would also provide for cleaner water and livelier and more abundant wildlife and fisheries?
4. RI receives almost all of its food from places vulnerable to climate change, and shipped here by ever more expensive and climate changing dirty fossil fuels.  What would you do to increase RI’s food security, what are the inputs needed for that task, and how does this relate to your economic development strategy?
5. Ecosystems change over time, with much of the process either explained by Darwinian thought, or mimicking its effects in the physical universe. Pick an iconic RI landscape, beaches, saltmarshes, farm land, forests, river valleys, or another of your choosing. Can you describe how healing that system might help us make progress both in social and evolutionary terms? Explain.  Make specific reference to Darwinian principles in doing so.  Then describe the economic changes that would contribute best to the healing process and the prosperity of the community.

View & Comment on the RI Gubernatorial Environmental Debate Videos

Let your voice be heard!

The Environment Council of Rhode Island has posted the recent gubernatorial debate on environmental issues in 10 segments on YouTube so Rhode Islanders can see and hear for themselves what the next governor thinks about the local environmental issues that affect all of our lives.

The Providential Gardener encourages Rhode Islanders to view the debate on YouTube and add comments so that the next governor can get a more complete perspective and overview of our environmental problems so that he will act in the state's best interest. Today's Providential Gardener post also links to published summaries of the debate as well as critiques of the candidates' responses.

Are You Smarter than a Gubernatorial Candidate?

From Greg Gerritt, Prosperity for Rhode Island

I was not real happy with the answers gubernatorial candidates gave at the debate on the environment.  So I came up with some new questions that would actually test their knowledge of the environment.

What I am doing is holding a contest.  Answer the 5 questions, email the answers to me.  I will pick the two best set of answers.  One winner will get a signed copy of my book “A Campaign for the Forest,” the other winner will receive a guided tour of the Moshassuck River. 

Questions that Rhode Island's Governor Should be Able to Answer

1. Explain the physics of climate change.

2. Explain what happens to beaches and salt marshes when sea level rises, and what happens if beaches and marshes are backed up by hardscapes. How will you protect tourism in RI if the hardscapes interfere with the needs of a tourism underpinned by healthy landscapes?

3. What role do forests play in alleviating flooding, and how much forest is needed to increase infiltration and alleviate run off?  What program would you implement in order to save Rhode Islanders millions and millions of dollars in flood damages that would also provide for cleaner water and livelier and more abundant wildlife and fisheries?

4. RI receives almost all of its food from places vulnerable to climate change, and shipped here by ever more expensive and climate changing dirty fossil fuels.  What would you do to increase RI’s food security, what are the inputs needed for that task, and how does this relate to your economic development strategy?

5. Ecosystems change over time, with much of the process either explained by Darwinian thought, or mimicking its effects in the physical universe. Pick an iconic RI landscape, beaches, saltmarshes, farm land, forests, river valleys, or another of your choosing, and describe how healing that system might help us make progress both in social and evolutionary terms.  Make specific reference to Darwinian principles in doing so.  Then describe the economic changes that would contribute best to the healing process and the prosperity of the community.

Film about Climate Solutions ~ Carbon Nation ~ October 25, 2010

Worried about Carbon Pollution? How about a Climate Solution?
 

Come see Carbon Nation, a film about climate solutions
Monday, October 25 at 6:00 PM
Metcalf Auditorium in the Chace Center at RISD
20 North Main Street
Providence, RI
Buy your tickets online and save! Seats are limited!
 
Attend the Providence premiere of the film Carbon Nation, a documentary about climate solutions. Filmmaker Peter Byck has taken a complex and polarizing topic and made it apolitical, accessible and yes, entertaining. Entertaining because he chose to focus on solutions – and the real, very engaging and hopeful people already putting them in place around this country.