The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the Obama Admin. budget policies make a number of basic, false assumptions, which are reflected in the “Green Jobs Report”: One, that the economy will tank so badly that people will forget the need to transition to a “green economy,” shifting into a survival mode mentality (this is reflected in how low “environment” ranks in polls of Americans and the back lots full of unsold Priuses). Two, that big “T”echnology of renewables will dominate, when in fact, smaller technology reflected in simple weatherization projects, and small scale, sustainable ag. and distributed energy systems provide large “bangs for the buck.” And three, that the whole plan reeks of the failure to recognize the “elephant in the room,” over our hyper consumption under rising populations and rapidly destabilizing natural systems. Simply switching our consumption to green products fails to address the throughput issue. Lifestyle must be addressed, and indeed may be central, which begs the question of inherent traditional American “freedoms” as well as inequities.

Axiomatic of the problem of the Green Jobs Report is the definition of “green jobs.” UNEP’s definition is revealing: jobs that “contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality,” that “help to protect and restore,” “reduce” and” minimize” or “avoid” “consumption” of energy or “generation of pollution,” and that create positions that are just and fair. But notice these verbs, “restore” and “preserve” are not “conserve” or “sustain,” which implies setting aside and putting back into the system, regenerating that which has been deteriorated. Add in “fairness,” “diversity” and “equity” and that’s a tall order, given the massive market externalities, misperceptions of ecological systems and level of human induced degradation! There is absolutely nothing fair about free market, neo-liberal capitalism, which begs the question, “what kind of socio-economic system are we talking about?”

“Incubating quality green jobs” requires a strong public mandate, leadership, coordination and setting up the right incentives, identifying existing barriers, actors, “financing interventions” and the involvement of community groups and unions. This is a tall order requiring vision, leadership and unity of purpose of our elected officials. Establishing within each community Sustainability Advisory Boards and a Council or cabinet level Director of Sustainability “ensures that mandates become an organizing principle.” According to The Report, Green jobs policy should be “to leverage the unique capabilities and resources of the private sector to maximize the creation of green jobs,” removing impediments to private investment. Erratic treatment of the production tax credits has been identified as causing problems with “flagging investment.” Tax credits may provide better incentives if more of the credit can be converted to an upfront grant.

“Green jobs generate 2.7 times as many jobs as fossil fuel spending.” An illusion reflected in the document quote “by making wind power competitive with fossil fuel,” shows such a misalignment of priorities. We don’t want wind power or alternative energy to become “cheap as fossil fuel,” but want fossil fuel to reflect its true market, social and environmental costs. Cheap energy should not be the goal of our nation’s energy policy, as the results are inefficiency, suburban sprawl, increased pollution, etc. Yes, improved technology and competition will drive alternative energy costs down, but will take time. Replication, scalability and financing are needed. Some national “green market priority board” may help in ramping up technologies (i.e. thin film PV). Because of monopolies, corruption and market failures, waiting for not so “free” markets may keep good technology from achieving rapid implementation. Higher prices for these technologies will drive investment and innovation.

In ARRA, there is $500 million for research and job training projects that prepare workers for careers in “energy efficiency” and “renewable energy.” What is blatantly missing is the need for the promotion of sustainable agriculture and local produce development. This has such massive multipliers and economic and security value, I am surprised it was left out. Energy efficiency will likely absorb a fair number of entry-level trade and blue collar workers, but this presumes that folks can afford the upgrades to their homes and businesses. Renewables are closely tied to fossil fuel prices and right now there is little incentive to invest and zero capital for required financing.

The Green Jobs Report also presumes an easy transition to high tech, well paying jobs. But initially, most jobs will be entry or low level jobs. For instance, recycling that does not “value-add” is a commodity business. We send our waste to China to be remanufactured into higher value goods, which we then buy back. The carbon footprint is large due to under priced energy and suppression of the Yuan, thus making labor and material costs cheap. That we can create a larger middle class from green jobs is hugely optimistic. Our economy is teetering on another depression. Expectations are for “a sizeable wage premium (10-20 percent),” optimistic as contractors for energy efficiency, one of the pillars of the stimulus, are not high tech. positions. According to The Report, “Green jobs typically earn better wages,” but analyses from the workforce shows a lack of diversity, and “that they are more likely to be held by whites…men, and located in suburban and rural areas,” leaving out minorities and inner city residents.

My concern is that our expectations are being set too high based on the paradigm we are trying to supplant. Without the shift in perception and focus on transformative community structures, through incentives and disincentives, we will not achieve the equity and fairness most of us are expecting from the new, green economy.

I like the term “green jobs movement” as it is not just about creating fair and well paying jobs in the Green Economy. That, in fact, it is about building green communities, using the money earned to support other green businesses, and promoting healthful living and broader community development linkages. Some attention must be placed on building “green communities,” not just green jobs, to reinforce systems for these structural adjustments to really take hold and improve our behavior.

The hiring of Van Jones, President of Green for All who promotes “respect” of the environment and a Clean Energy Corps, is a big plus as he is smart and has spent time in the trenches and on the front lines. We need to rotate folks from the field to the classroom and to leadership and back again, building an apprenticeship, “teach the teacher” systems to implement transformational change rapidly and with efficacy. More case studies and their promulgation are needed. The document provides examples from LA where the Apollo Alliance has helped in workforce redevelopment using apprenticeship models. Training costs (free to participants) are paid for by less than 10% of public funds and by unions and contractors, through labor/management partnership agreements. Focus is on young entry-level workers, and on older, more experienced workers needing skill upgrades. Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training (BEST) is a 10 week training program, with a certificate and helps place graduates in local green businesses and provides follow up support for three years. Solar Richmond, introduces basic construction training with an extra 2 week solar skills module. Mile High Youth Corps focuses on young adults 16-24 to teach job and life skills, creating crews of 8-10 and is supported by YouthBuild. Work is paid and provides on the jobs training, and is accompanied by Corps-to Career classes for job search and preparedness.

“Investments in efficiency are much less centralized than those in renewable energy.” The Report promotes investments in Green Retrofits, energy efficiency and upgrading home equipment with better than “energy star” (since the downgrading of EPA’s classification by the Bushies) compliance equipment. Paying for it is the challenge. The Weatherization Assistance Program will allow an average investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and will be available for families making up to 200% of the federal poverty level – or about $44,000 a year for a family of four. What is needed are loan circles, using energy savings from these upgrade to help offset costs. The Report suggests using energy bills for repayments, tying the investments to the property (not the property owner), and allowing transfer to new tenants. Milwaukee Energy Efficiency (Me2) solves the financing problem with an innovative program: coordinating funds with banks and contractors (their transaction costs are paid for by?). Fundamentally, changes are needed in building codes nationally, if energy efficiency is to take hold.

It is expected that the $6 billion in loan guarantees will leverage over $75 billion in investment, and will build on guarantees managed by already existing DOE and DOA programs. Establishing a Clean Energy Finance Authority (CEFA) is also an excellent idea. (However, loan guarantees require $25K expenditure upfront, without being guaranteed the loan, not much of a guarantee?) According to The Report, an important thing is “to reduce the complexity and increase the flexibility of CEFA applications.” Focus must be on small businesses, which are responsible for the majority of employment growth. Another local funding mechanism is Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds, or zero interest bonds that provide tax credit to holders.

The case study from Washington State shows an important protocol needing replication: first, they identify high demand green industries; second, their potential for creating high quality jobs; third, a Green Industry Skill Panel (GISP) is convened; and finally, a Green Collar Job Training Fund is created and money administered according to the findings of one, two and three. “The fund would distribute competitive grants to organizations. with proven success in implementing workforce training,… targeting adults and youth in families below twice the poverty line, dislocated workers and entry level workers.”

Our community in the Triangle is probably one of the more progressive communities in the nation with regards to “education for sustainable development.”  Focus is on localism, small scale, distributed, appropriate technology, closed loop engineering, synergistic, socio-economic sustainable livelihood interactions. Most activities are outside the traditional academic realm and some of the more advanced work is actually being done by small NGOs, individual activists/educators and smaller institutions.  Central Carolina Community College may have one of the more sophisticated, small “t” sustainable technology programs in the country, focusing on sustainable ag., green building and alternative energy.  Sadly, major institutions are behind in developing curriculum and training systems that reflect real “sustainability” (however that may be defined), and are having a hard time moving past old paradigms focused on science, technology and hyper intellectualizing.  Fundamentally, market externalities, human psychology and a lack of moral and spiritual connection are conspiring to keep real, practical “sustainable” (shall we dare say, “rejuvenating”) educational systems from evolving rapidly.  Though we are still having a hard time with the words that will shape our future, the Fair Trade movement along with traditional EE educators have been in the trenches and have been miracle workers in shifting perception, and slowly we are starting to see this new paradigm spreading into our cultural fabric.

One of my Old Testament professors cautioned me, “don’t let your schooling get in the way of your education.”

Good Luck,

Marc Dreyfors (MEM ‘90)
Manager,
www.GreenwayRides.com
Manager,
www.CarolinaBiofuels.com
President,
www.TheForestFoundation.org
Manager,
www.ForestsoftheWorld.com
Board Member,
Env. Educators of NC (2005-07)
Alumni Council,
Nicholas School at Duke University (2005-10)
1505 Angier Ave.
Durham, NC  27701
(919)957.1500

Shelby Gull Laird wrote:

From: Noah Feinstein nfeinstein@wisc.edu
================================================
I'm working on an international collaborative project about Education
for Sustainable Development, and my somewhat imposing task is to
summarize the state of ESD in the USA.

It's an exciting project (details below), but because I work mostly in
science education, I have a lot of catching up to do. I know that much
of the most important ESD work happens at the state and regional
level, and would really the report to reflect this. It is important to
me that the final report goes beyond sweeping statistics and captures
some of the depth and diversity of local efforts.
I would be very grateful if you could help orient me to ESD projects
and initiatives in your respective states. Almost any information is
useful, but I'm particularly interested in: success stories and local
challenges, influential state-level legislation or policy documents,
and any trends that you've observed or measured in your work.
Qualitative or quantitative, formal or anecdotal, references,
contacts, weblinks - you name it, I would love to get it. I will not
cite you if you would prefer not to be cited, and off-the-record
comments are welcome too, as they will help me get a sense of the territory.

Thanks so much for your help! Please call or email if you have any
questions or would like to know more about the project.

Sincerely,

Noah Feinstein
Assistant Professor,
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Department of Agronomy
University of Wisconsin-Madison
nfeinstein@wisc.edu
(608) 262-6288

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
I've been asked to represent UW-Madison in the International Alliance
of Leading Educational Institutions, a group that includes member
institutions in Brazil, China, Singapore, Denmark, the UK, Canada etc.
 Each year, IALEI produces a report on an education-related topic of
broad international interest. This year, we are working on "education
for sustainable development," a topic chosen by the Danish team. The
report is intended to highlight international similarities and
differences, synthesize relevant research, and draw attention to best
practices or generalizable findings. Each representative has been
asked to prepare a report that addresses the five issues: (1) the
overall conception of ESD and its place in national education plans;
(2) The role of education in relation to the challenges of sustainable
development and climate change respectively; (3) the relationship
between ESD and climate change education; (4) the presence of ESD in
the curriculum, in relation to traditional disciplines and otherwise;
(5) the realities of ESD in classroom context, especially the possible
role of ESD in promoting pedagogical innovation. Whew! As you will
have noticed, there is an emphasis on K-12 (formal) education. We're
allowed to go beyond that focus, as long as we don't ignore it.
================================================

Green Events

Grow TFF’s service of Green Event Planning through development and implementation of a marketing plan. Help Greenway Transit expand it’s green transportation service to area businesses, universities and organization’s. Develop marketing, advertising materials and workshop schedule. Arrange meetings, and collect and maintain a resource list. A small stipend is available as well as commission based on experience and background, may develop into part-time paid position. Duration of 3-6 months.

Fair Trade

TFF and Forests of the World need support to organize its fair trade crafts inventory, working in the warehouse and dividing sample sets from regular inventory. Additional help is needed in sales of handcrafts, through sales calls and retail and wholesale show presence. Some bookkeeping assistance and producer communication is needed. Sales commissions are available. Duration of 3 months.

Greenway Transit

Help TFF develop and implement of a franchise marketing and expansion plan for a green transportation service, looking at expansion to other markets. Research franchise system and collect and produce franchise legal documents. Rewrite business plan. Assist in development of a franchise training program manual. A small stipend and sales commissions are available, and may develop into full-time paid position. Duration of 3-6 months.

Carolina Biodiesel

Help TFF develop and implement Triangle wide marketing plan for “Community Supported Energy.” Gain and gather restaurant service contracts for waste veggie oil donation and collection. Develop brand graphic and marketing materials and implement marketing plan. Work on end of year donation letters and accounting. A small stipend and sales commissions are available. Duration of 3-6 months.

Triangle Green Fund- A Community Carbon Catalog

Help TFF create business plan for a Triangle wide, community based voluntary carbon mitigation fund for grants and loans. Assist in identification of partners and develop partnership agreements. Develop marketing materials and link with Community Supported Energy project. Identify and gather an Advisory Board. Identify funding and lending institutions. This could develop into a full-time position. A small stipend is available. Duration of 6-12 months.

Green Jobs Training

Help TFF develop and implement a community-wide, Green Jobs training system for low-income, at-risk youth and young adults. Create certificate program and curriculum, working with Durham Tech. and other educational service organizations. Develop “Train the Trainers” program, identifying resources and partner organizations. Create partnership agreements and develop training workshop schedule for after school, weekends and summer. Create self-sufficiency income generation components. This could develop into a full-time position. A small stipend available. Duration of 6-12 months.

A unique feature of The Fund is that it has the ability to create profound environmental protection through its voluntary carbon mitigation system. The Fund would establish a way for organizations and individuals to offset their greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing carbon offsets from local sources. The Fund will then loan green businesses that provide products and services in a variety of sectors, including but not limited to: transportation, renewable energy, water conservation, energy efficiency, green space and green workforce development. This Fund will effectively internalize external costs of pollution, while instilling a sense of community, keeping money local (maximizing the economic multiplier effect), while financing the local, emerging green economy.

The jobs will be created in the first year, with the expectation to maintain low overhead using existing infrastructure of partner organizations, maximizing the amount of funds redirected into the community. The multiplier effect for The Fund in employment in both direct and indirect job creation may average approximately 5 direct jobs and 20 indirect jobs per $100,000 invested/donated. With each local governmental entity in the Triangle signing on to carbon reduction, the existence of The Fund will greatly help in facilitating real and measurable goals and may become a significant player in growing the green economy.

Importantly, this model can be emulated across the State as a national system of carbon trading or pollution tax may be years from taking effect and will be national in scope, focusing resources away from our State. Environmental affects can be calculated for each of the investment sectors and using academic resources in the area, many indicators can be developed and used to track and evaluate the effectiveness of The Fund. The plan is to market to Triangle organizations with existing commitments for carbon mitigation, who are currently purchasing carbon offsets using products outside of the Triangle or the State and wish reduce their environmental and social impacts by investing locally. Self-sufficiency will be achieved through an administrative fee and interest on loans to cover Fund management. Additional funding may come from individuals and foundations wanting to provide capital for sustainable community development. This project will be a collaboration with  Good Work, The Forest Foundation and other local organizations with expertise in these fields.

The Fund will budget approximately $150K per year for 3 staff members, housed within existing non-profit organizations, with a goal of achieving a $2 million endowment (or annual, mitigation/donation flow rate) to cover its basic overhead. Roughly 90% of the funds will be available for reinvestment and grants, leveraging capital at an estimated 5 times the expected donation income. The hope is to double The Fund size within 3 years to $4 million in capital annually, increase staff and to leverage local financial institutions to take responsibility and leadership for carbon mitigation, pollution reduction and sustainable community development. Staff will provide technical assistance in reviewing mitigation equivalents as well as applications, and others will be involved in marketing and liaison as well as training and assisting financial partners. Some part-time staff borrowing from partner institutions may be required to help during certain times of the year as applications are received and selections for funding made. The Advisory Board will be responsible for final selection of grant recipients.

The good news is that the fallacies they use are so obvious, and the rhetoric has shifted from complete denial, to the range of arguments, including scientists are bad, scientific data is bad, suppression of information, “environmentalist are socialists” or “liberal fascists” (ad Hominem), “they are undermining our Constitution,” etc. Granted, they have a point on some issues, but they are becoming better at articulating counter arguments that blur the issue and will keep us from acting. Fortunately, one does not have to make a stand on whether or not the climate is warming. Fundamentally, it is about process and the process of living our lives is full of impacts, externalities that keep us from properly valuing the world around us, and that are causing massive loss of ecological integrity necessary for survival.

What is so consistent with these right wingers is their fear of losing their lifestyles, and particularly, their ideologies.  Sadly, they are losing them not because of the environmentalists and scientists who work with little to no resources to make their case, (as particularly compared to the lobbying, marketing and junk science of corporate status quo), but to that very hyper consumptive “free market” model that has entrapped us. Perceptually, we are blind and desperately need experiential learning- to know is to understand, to understand is to care.

What are they afraid of? That we are going to save energy, by promoting energy efficiency, new technologies and jobs and reduce reliance on foreign fossil fuel? We will always use fossil fuel, to that there is no doubt because is so much of it, but we should be using it like the precious resource that it is. Are they worried about the cost? My God, the costs of burning fossil fuels have been and will be enormous, check out the childhood asthma data, talk about costs!!?? How about an aircraft carrier tooling around the Persian Gulf, that is a steep bill we don’t pay for at the pump. Right wingers should be loving environmentalists for the work we do. Our societies will be stronger, more healthy, more community oriented and create more sustainable wealth than the globalized system brought to you by the corporate elite and “right wing philosophers.”  We even may be able at some point to increase freedoms, access to natural areas, hunting and fishing, etc. once we get on the right path. Right now we are killing our planet, death by a thousand cuts.

As much as I love Libertarians and strict Constitutionalists (love The Federalist Papers), there are some serious problems with the rhetoric on these websites.

Case in point:
www.thomasbrewton.com/
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Inquisition or Scientific Investigation?

This is full of fallacious arguments. I could take the time to pull apart each of the false statements, but prefer a more general discourse.

Embedded in these blogs are truths, but the arguments are made as if the environmental community is a bunch of socialists, fascists or communists, and want to take away our “freedoms.”

There are strengths and weaknesses to all forms of governance and political philosophy. The Founding Fathers, as beautiful as their legacy and work are, were oblivious to the intricacies of our natural world. The Scientific Revolution was just beginning and was dominated by the seeming power of Newtonian-Cartesian thinking and reductionism. Today we know that the world is amazingly complex and we have to understand that it is more governed predominately by quantum mechanics. That means everything is connected, the air you breath, the water you drink, the minerals you exchange in food and waste, all circulates. I breath in the same air you exhale, drink the water you pee (ideally after it has been recharged by nature). These resources exhibit certain renewable characteristics but energetically their flow reduces due to entropy, loss of order. All of these resources become available to us with sun’s energy (or from internal energy within the planet), and with the sun food is grown, or we supplement energy from other sources, like fossil fuels which are stored energy from the sun, to make the food we use to eat. Wind, water, solar all require the Sun. Geothermal, uses heat from the planets’ core.

Environmentalists and scientists espouse socialist ideas only because they reflect the natural world, and solutions that may work for problems from which we suffer. What we know of free market capitalism is that it has very social Darwinistic outcomes. Darwin was right about a lot of things, but humans and many other highly successful creatures exhibit higher social structures influenced by compassion and care that have evolved as best adaptive strategies. Capitalism, left unregulated, externalizes costs on people and the environment, because we are uneducated, spiritually vacuous, greedy, power hunger, etc. Capitalism also causes huge disparities in wealth, which we don’t correct because we like to keep our money and power, and feel we can spend it better. Sadly, we think Americans are generous lot, but we are not, dead last in the western world for percent GDP given to development. Marx was right on this, but was wrong on our motivations.

We can do better, that’s why we create institutions to better govern ourselves and create equity. We can argue on how to do so, but if we don’t, expect the poor to arm themselves and take what they can’t get by other means. Of course the wealthy, arm themselves too and the growth in the military and security industries are testament to that. But what the hell are we fighting for?

If we were all enlightened we would realize that working in our self-interest would mean that we would work for and with each other. This particularly so as the resources of the planet are depleted and population increases. What the Right is so worried about is loosing their liberty. But you mistake liberty for freedom, and we are not free, but defined by our genes and the laws of physics and ecology. With whatever freedom we have, comes a great deal of responsibility and that has been severely lacking in this generation. We are over-consuming the planet’s natural resources at a rate which they can not be replenished, drugged by the abundance that has come from this destruction of the natural capital of the planet, and blinded by the greed and power that this conversion of wealth has caused.

The environmentalists see the natural world for the real value it provides us and scientists should be honored for their contributions in this understanding. We have to learn the natural world’s laws and live by them. Human economy is a subset of those laws. Until we understand this and change our actions and institutions to better reflect these truths, we are on the road to ruin, and those guns that sit in my closet that those First Amendment nut cases fight for may sadly be needed to defend myself from the insanity that is this human predicament. How ironic!

The Foundation also seeks to value the wisdom of women, indigenous communities, who have lived closer and longer in unity with nature, as well as the basic labor and culture reflected in hand made items and fairly traded goods. Because of cheap energy provided by fossil fuels, much of our economy and its transactions are improperly valued. In addition, market externalities are keeping our most important things needed for human community from being properly valued and traded. Technology has a role to play, but ultimately it will be a process of becoming more knowledgeable and aware of how our natural systems work and our place within them, that will allow us to survive.

Using the “triple bottom line” as an introduction and simplified model may help, but it creates and false impression that if we optimize our social and economic values with environmental values we will find the best solution. This inherently over weights our human economy at the expense of the natural world.

Greenway will be offering a complete transportation package for The Inauguration, including a 100% biodiesel powered bus for up to 47 passengers, catered lunch, drinks, and dinner on the return at famous Bottoms Up Pizza in Richmond.  We will be leaving from Durham and its Green Oil Campus on January 19th at 8:00AM, arriving Franconia-Springfield Station Metro Station at 2:00PM.  And returning the 20th at 5:00PM, leaving Franconia-Springfield Station, arriving Durham… who knows when?!  Price for the complete package will be $200, which includes a $50 donation to The Forest Foundation.

For transportation and Inaugural details:

http://inauguration.dc.gov/index.asp

http://www.wmata.com/getting_around/metro_events/inauguration.cfm

Accommodations

Greenway will not be offering official overnight accommodations, but some limited space is available for first come first serve.  Prices for accommodations that are Metro walkable (30 mins. to the Mall) vary from floor space camping, to couches, to bedrooms.

Pedicabs on the Mall

In addition, Greenway’s new Pedicab Manager, John Bair, will be bringing our two pedicabs up to service the Inaugural festivities on and around the Mall starting Jan. 9th.  He will be running multiple shifts and two of Greenway’s founders will be on hand to drive and to make policy suggestions to any errant decision-makers who decide to “Go Green” and ride pedal power!  If John is smart, he may be able to get in the parade and give us some real nationwide publicity!

Sponsorship

The Bus and Pedicabs are looking for sponsorship for the Inauguration tour.  The Bus will have sign space on either side and on the rear, and the Pedicabs will have their back panel space available.  We expect hundreds of thousands to see us on tour, so given our high profile as probably the only biodiesel bus headed to DC and one of only a few pedicabs on the Mall, we think this will be a great marketing opportunity. Contact us for pricing.

Proceeds from the trip and sponsorship will help fund The Forest Foundation’s non-profit work.

Trip Stipends and Discounts

For those who can not afford the full price of the tour, but can show volunteer service and dedication to the cause will be provided stipends or discounts.  Other non-profit and environmental groups may also be offered discounts.  Two stipends of $100 each are available to students on a first come basis from Dr. Sandy Smith-Nonini of YIKES!  Contact us for details.

Deadline for Deposits:

Jan. 16th

Email us at:

info@greenwayrides.com, or info@theforestfoundation.org

The two studies, one by MIT (Acemoglu and Johnson, “Disease and Development: The Effect of Life Expectancy on Economic Growth”);  and the second by Brown University (Ashraf, Lest and Weil, “When Does Improving Health Raise GDP”), show that investing massively in human health improvement, as we are doing, does not result in immediate improvement in economic development.  In fact, it actually causes serious problems, often delaying development for decades.  It is obvious that what investments in human health do (and don’t get me wrong as I believe in helping people from a purely humanitarian standpoint, but let’s do it smartly, maximizing investments with the limited resources we throw at it), is to bring more humans through the perils of childhood into adulthood.  Why is this bad?  It is a proverbial no-brainer to anyone who has endured Psychology 101 rat study data (don’t knock the rats as they are profoundly more like us than you think), we overpopulate.

See:

http://econ-www.mit.edu/files/2129

http://ideas.repec.org/p/bro/econwp/2008-7.html

Given the scarcity of resources, poor resource management,  control of these resources through horrendous graft and corruption, mis-valuation of resources through GDP and GNP measures, etc. that characterize so many of these developing countries and our development policy, it is no wonder that more people surviving means less for everyone else, crushing what little possibility that anyone can eek out an existence.  “Blasphemy!” I can hear the health and development community (Christian fundamentalists and many of my “bleeding heart” friends) scream.  But this data from these reports seem to confirm what has been obvious.  The way to development is not through human health  initiatives, though it is an important part, but through a myriad of other reforms, of which empowerment of women, population planning and better natural resource management are likely at the top of the list.  Our human economy is dependent on and subset of the natural capital of this planet, and we are doing a terrible job of taking care of it (much less creating proper valuations).  This new research data does not confirm directly this hypothesis, but it would make sense (given the rat research) that if your natural environment is conducive to stable populations (all populations, not just humans), then you will likely create a foundation for development that is more lasting.

(SEE BBC News "Population: The elephant in the room,"
Environmentalists must accept that uncontrolled population growth threatens to undermine efforts to save the planet.
< http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7865332.stm >)

Which brings me back to Sach’s book.  Nowhere does he mention market externalities and the need to use market economies (if we can so trust them, given our recent global meltdown) to properly value natural capital.  What is so frustrating is the billions of dollars we have spent on human health initiatives, that have actually contributed to long term worsening of conditions within these developing countries.  Organizations, like The Gates Foundation, the largest Foundation in the world bolstered by the billions of Warren Buffet, have a central focus on human health, at the expense of most everything else.  Let us hope/pray that the development community reads this research and better directs our limited resources to development policies that offer the “bigger bangs for the buck.”  And that cheap Americans, who think they give, but in fact, are the last of the western world in percentage of GDP in giving, start giving more.  Critical are strategies of integrated conservation and development and fundamentally restructuring our global economies to properly value the truly important things, like clean air, water, biodiversity, human labor and energy.

The Cavitator reactor construction went smoothly and we spent a lot less than expected. However, the efficiencies were not gained in its operation, in fact, we lost efficiency, expending more methoxide and creating more glycerin that expected. As well, site costs for repair and maintenance started increasing, and with no development partners our cash flow dried up. The Phase II Assessment was completed and some issues were found with the site, particularly heavy metal and herbicide contamination. Our effort to purchase it has floundered as we have failed to find financing up to this date. Positive financials have remained elusive, particularly as feedstock prices climbed along with petroleum, and then prices collapsed making our hand-crafted fuel expensive. Diesel prices retreated 5 fold after the highs near $150 per barrel in August, right as we completed the reactor build and began to ramp up.

Bright spots were The Foundation received two grants this year, one from Frank Phoenix to help pay for our work with neighborhood kids (expenditures near $15K) and another from The Body Shop for our craft work internationally. We have received small donations, but the Foundation’s primary revenue stream has been the BCBC pump and fair trade handicraft sales, both which have slowed. We attended the Resourceful Communities workshop and retreat of The Conservation Fund and enjoyed the energy of the participants and all their cool projects in Nov. However, the triple bottom line mantra was hard to swallow, given the fact that our economy is a subset of our planet’s ecology. If folks don’t understand that, we are creating false models.

TFF exhibited in Oct. at the State Fair for the 15^th year. Shifting gears to try to generate more income, we sublet space to green businesses both sign and marketing space, and created a Green Guide to the State Fair, which also launched a greening initiative, GreenNC. TFF met with Fair officials last year about doing more green things and it looks like years of preaching may have shifted them. TFF received support from Common Ground Builders, a green building supply company, and Stop Painting, a recycled plastics lumber company. Thanks goes out to all the volunteers, including Shane Maene, who helped run the booth, and of course MK, who, for yet another year, spent way too much time in the “sea of deep fried conservatism.” Marc did get to meet Kay Hagen, who unseated Dole, the do-nothing Republican Senator. Carolina Biodiesel picked up the contract to convert the State Fair’s waste oil into biodiesel and delivered the fuel to Department of Agriculture research sites in Butner and Goldsboro.

TFF exhibited, again, at both the holiday fairs, at the Judea Reform Temple and at the Resurrection United Methodist Church, and participated in a micro-lending fair at the Bryan Center at Duke. Sales were down across the board. Sadly, the Foundation was unable to attend its usual EENC and Green Festival Conferences, running out of money and energy this year. Marc rotated off the EENC Board to focus on trying to make a living and get the biodiesel plant built.

Greenway Transit by far had the best year, doubling its sales and acquiring a new Bus and luxury Mercedes, while paying down some of its debt. Greenway ran the transportation for a number of events, including the AASHE Conference in Raleigh, which had MK and Marc pulling 5 days of 18 hour shifts moving people from the airport to hotels to the new Convention Center and back. Thanks go to Dora and Ben who helped pitch in with running bus tours to Duke, UNC and NC State’s campuses. The crowd of teachers, students and administrators were awesome and we received accolades for our service and work as an organization. During the Conference, MK and Marc were recognized as NC Sustainability Champions by Sustainable NC.

Goals for 2009, survival.

Mary Katherine and Marc finally took a well-needed vacation (thanks to our parents support) at the end of November, visiting Prague and Bolzano in the Dolomites in northern Italy. Two of our friends’ decided to get married in Prague, MK had been before and Marc had heard of Prague’s Gothic beauty and attractions (i.e. beer), so it seemed a good idea to head for Europe. The trip couldn’t have been timed better, with the rising value of the dollar against the Euro and the pre-holiday celebrations. The Dolomites of Italy had been on their mind since their 2006 trip to Torino for the winter Olympics, and were a high priority as being one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Lots of cool environmental ideas came from the trip, as our green lenses are always on. There were a lot of things we learned from our European neighbors.

The Wedding

Our friends, Barbara and Shane, had decided to have their wedding in Prague after visiting early in their dating, and realizing what a magical place it was. Low and behold, after some good planning, communication and salesmanship, they were able to pull close to 70 friends and family to Prague. It was quite a crowd that made partying there all the more fun. We ran into each other on the streets, got ideas on places to go and shared stories after stories, etc. Drinking alone is not advised. The event was brilliant all around. Of course, MK and Marc started thinking about how one can run green events, like weddings, while critiquing the Prague event (See below). However, we avoided saying anything during any of the events, like “have you thought about mitigating your carbon footprint ….. ” as we thought it may be bad manners.

Barbara contacted the Prague Tourism office, which was extremely helpful in legal particulars surrounding the wedding, like English speaking ministers. But most of the leg-work was done by the couple, finding hotels, churches, caterers, musicians, etc. MK and Marc joked that the mayor of Prague was going to appear with the key to the city, given the huge economic punch the event provided. Granted the city is large, but 70 folks was a serious boost to the town center. The wedding likely cost less in Prague than in the US, even when including the airfares. Generally prices were slightly less, though downtown was expensive compared to rural regions of eastern Europe. Average Czech salary is $10K per year and the exchange rate was around 19 Crowns to the $1.

The wedding was held at St. Nicholas Church on St. Winceslas Square the center of Old Town. The square holds the famous cuckoo clock, and gilded and ornate buildings from many architectural periods line coble stoned streets and whined away from the center. It was a beautiful cathedral, and the English service was well choreographed in its simplicity. The reception was held at the jazz club, and the rehearsal dinner at the best micro-brewery, U Flecku, where we were served endless mugs of brilliant stout, traditional meat dishes and dumplings. Yes, meat, potatoes and bread are center to Czech food, but vegetarian meals were available. It seemed that much of the food was locally prepared or grown. After a typical meal, one felt the need to dawn armor and defend the parapet or head out to the potato fields! Sadly, Marc caught pneumonia before his trip and was limited in the full scope of his partying capacity.

Other features of Prague are the river, its beautiful bridges and the spectacular Prague castle, across the river from Old Town Square on a hill overlooking the city. Its nighttime lights reflected in the river and created a regal feel to the evenings. Prague also sports excellent micro-breweries, music scene and an alternative, arts culture astounding in its sophistication. There was a real sense of individuality, where clothing designs had a hip, hand made feel. Marc and MK found a couple a very cool, used clothing stores, some hip boutiques and local vegetarian and vegan restaurants, like Country Life and FX Café. These were great places to people watch. Our favorite “pivovars” were: U-Flecku, At the Little Bear and New Town Brewery, all of which had excellent food (sans the smoke). Our second favorite was Strahov Monastery at top Hradcany Hill across the river, overlooking the City. We ran into one of the monks in his PJ’s looking for the brewery, it was a hoot. The walk, to and from, will help work off the beer and you can duck into any one of the bars on the way back for a pee-break.

We had hit Europe during the famous town square craft festivals, where most large towns had vendors (they seemed exhausted) inhabiting kiosks, and selling lots of interesting hand made goods as well as local food. Birch bark ornaments, crystal, lace and the coiled bracelet cinnamon pastries were a must. Prague sported numerous glass and jewelry galleries (the area was a center for gold and silver smything in the middle ages and the reason it became so wealthy), as well as the second largest toy museum in the world, marionette theaters, a sex machine and torture museums (thank God not sharing the same building)! There was a lot to do for a wide variety of ages, and singing into the early morning echoed from the streets.

Walking and public transportation are wonderful, and we used the tram, metro and train system to get around, using roller luggage on cobbled streets, which created an annoying echo that let everyone know the tourists were coming. The city was ripe for pedicabbing, though taxis seemed embedded and horse carriages were available in the town square for about $100–what is their carbon footprint? We were surprised at how few bikes there were, but regulations, the cobbles and tram rails may have made biking somewhat difficult. Uniquely, the city requires helmets, lights and mudflaps. The hills above Mala Strana are a great place to exercise and catch a view. We used the metro and bus to return to the airport, which took about an hour from Old Town Center. We used the train to get to Munich and then transferred to a train to Bolzano, which took only 10 hours. The return trip was longer, requiring 4 trains and a trip through small towns of eastern Bavaria (Wald Bahn, “Wild Way”), a natural park and the Sudetenland in the snow covered mountains between the two countries.

Flying out of Prague we flew over Antwerp and saw a massive wind farm and an offshore installation. We also flew over Greenland and Hudson Bay and got our first view of icebergs, ice sheets and pack ice and the stark beauty of glaciated landscapes., wondering how well the planet was faring given record warming trends, loss of ice thickness as well as cover and reflectivity.

Though the Czech Republic was not as modern as other parts of Europe, its people and potential seemed great. Cigarette smoking was rampant and made Prague significantly less enjoyable, particularly to Marc’s compromised lungs. There was also a feeling of a Mafioso culture seemed to be developing and a slight seediness that tourist cities have. The influence of post Soviet era crime and corruption seemed to be waxing. One had this heavy feeling that the years of oppression and war was lingering, leaving one with the hope that the rest of the world would leave them alone, as the country has much to be proud of and should be left to develop at its own way and away from geopolitical manipulations.

The Dolomites

Taking the train to Italy from Prague we passed through into Germany and immediately noticed the number of solar PV and hot water panels and saw several large-scale, rotational PV fields. Lots of barns and businesses had commercial scale PV units. We changed trains in Munich and headed south over the pass into Austria, passing beautiful castles, alpine valleys and snow covered Alps, stopping in Innsbruck before heading south again over the Brenner pass at about 4000ft. Our Bolzano hotel had a very large solar hot water system and we passed a pumping hydro-electric plant several Kms north of town.

Watching the news in Prague we new the southern alps had received a major dumping of snow. Looking out the train windows we saw mounds of snow lining the tracks and hills. We had made a good choice, rather than going to eastern Slovakia or southern Poland mountains, which we had considered. We found that the Sudtirol area had received a two decade record of snow close to 30 cm early in the season, making the sunny days a warm wintry delight. The train line paralleled a major highway that wound its way through the mountains, along with the secondary roads and tiered villages, we were amazed at the level of safety engineered into these transportation systems. How much work over the years had been placed on building this infrastructure?!

The Dolomites are a unique geologic feature, essentially an ancient coral reef that uplifted to nearly 3000 meters, eroded, was glacially carved and created one of the world’s most dramatic landscapes. Bolzano sits at around 200 meters in the southwest corner of the Dolomites northwest of Venice and is a largest city in the Sudtirol region. It has excellent train and bus service and a beautiful, old town square within walking distance of the train and bus stations. Val de Siusi and Val Gardena were the destinations and took about an hour by bus to get to. Siusi is the largest, high alpine valley in the Alps and is ideal for its infrastructure for winter and summer sports and spectacular views of the Dolomites.

Our hotel room had a great view of the mountains. Castles lined the valley and the entrances of each side valley. This area was primarily German but was given to the Italians after WWI. Most folks speak German, but Italian was also spoken as well as Laden, an ancient language derived from Roman Latin and protected by law in the area. Each village had three names. The region’s beauty and ancient history conjure images of Tolkien, and indeed the ancient Laden fairy tales of people living under the mountains have influenced many authors. See these websites for more information:

http://calitreview.com/604

http://www.ilregnodeifanes.it/inglese/essay4.htm

MK and Marc’s favorite part of the trip, besides the food, beverages and spectacular views, was the Utzi Museum in Bolzano. Utzi was murdered back in around the 3^rd millennium BC, immediately covered by drying snow and his body discovered in a melting glacier (can you believe that?) at the top of a mountain about 50 kilometers northwest of the Dolomites. His artifacts of survival gear make REI aficionados look pathetic, as he had to learn to hand craft and repair his gear from all natural materials. Extensive scientific investigation has been able to determine a great deal about this man’s life and livelihood, his origins and environment. His life was not easy and death sad, but a great gift to us all. One of the exhibits on Paleolithic life showed a rock that was the base structure for a community that lived in the Val Siusi. We cross country skied right by it! In one view from the mountain gazing down the valley 600 ft. we could see 5,000 years of human history, and 100’s of millions of geologic history.

Green Tours and Vacations

Given MK and Marc’s global touring and event planning experience, it would made sense to offer advise/services on how to create “completely green European tours,” like Barbara and Shane’s Wedding. For the most part, Europe and its hotel and tourism infrastructure are already hands down one of the best places to conduct green events, particularly if folks want to make the commitment to going overseas. The biggest issue is our carbon footprint, specifically traveling there on planes. This of course can be mitigated through a dozen organizations, from methane capture to tree planting. But once there, travel by public transportation is a breeze even for large parties. With many of the European countries approaching 20% of their energy from renewable sources, this makes green travel and living by far easier than any place except maybe Japan. Biodiesel is available, but to find sustainable bus or car transport is more challenging, though the compact size and diesel engines tend to get higher mpg, high biodiesel blend stations are limited.

All the hotels we visited had signs asking folks to turn off the lights, reduce water consumption and towel washing in several languages, though few had low flow shower heads, LED or compact florescent lights. This may because the electricity is 220 and manufacturers have not focused on this market yet. Our Bolzano Hotel had a massive hotwater solar panel right outside our window, and showers were definitely warmer in the evening than in the morning. Generally, recycling was found everywhere and waste was minimized in many ways, including food. Localism is already a strong movement in Europe so finding local vendors and particularly caterers who use local foods is not a problem. Veganism and vegetarianism is on the rise and many gourmet options exist.

Prague and nearly any medium size town in Italy make ideal places to hold weddings, retreats or events that have a feeling class, uniqueness and a connection to history. The 12^th Century chapel in Tuscany next to where we stayed on our first trip to Italy markets itself on the internet to couples from around the world, so global sophistication is not lacking. There is so much to do and for the most part everything can be done within short distances, though “spoke” trips to larger attractions can be added to itineraries.

Opportunities abound to link with local green organizations and to participate in “give back to the community” projects, essential to make any tour more special and should be apart of any sustainable event. Accommodations exist for nearly any size party and generally costs can be kept to a minimum. Or one can go way upscale, depending on your budget. Greening high end facilities may be a task, but some may be on Eastern Europe and rural western Europe offer incredible deals with some surprisingly exceptional infrastructure.

Green tours to Europe can be a fun way to experience and to give.