See the following website for data

http://www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/sequestration.htm

http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonneutral/TropicalForestry.htm

Mitigation as not as crucially important as reduction in emissions. All strategies are needed at this point. See:

http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/science-corner-1

Though there are strong arguments for ecosystem services that trees provide, if the right ones are selected. The issue of water consumption also plays a large role as both young trees require a lot of it and trees in general may alter hydrology.

Explaining CO2-e (carbon dioxide equivalents)

Different greenhouse gases have differing abilities to warm the planet (“global warming potential”). To enable us to estimate how much a given mass of greenhouse gas is estimated to contribute to global warming, the gas is compared to a baseline of one unit by weight of carbon dioxide (CO2), and is expressed in “carbon dioxide equivalent” (CO2-e). Many scientists also calculate the amount of carbon stored as carbon (C). To convert to CO2 or CO2-e, multiply by 44/12.

For example, methane (CH4), another common greenhouse gas, has a global warming potential 21 times that of CO2.

It’s good to hear from you. It’s impressive work you’re doing. As far
as starting a campaign to reduce exposure from bus emissions, I would
recommend you apply for a grant and or do a web search and see what the
other grantees have done. There have been a lot of successful programs
put into place as a result of the National Clean School Bus USA
Campaign. My contact is Sally Newstead, in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
newstead.sally@epa.gov, 734-214-4474.

Mailing Address

USEPA National Vehicle and
Fuel Emissions Laboratory/OAR
2565 Plymouth Road
Mail Code: AAISG
Ann Arbor, MI 48105

She’s very responsive and passionate about the campaign: Clean School
Bus USA
http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/.

You may be aware that recently “The Magic School Bus” book was published
by Scholastic in partnership with EPA and can be ordered free of charge.
Be sure to visit
http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/outreach.htm#order_pubs which has the
following:
Outreach Materials
(Embedded image moved to file: pic01763.gif)Clean School Bus USA

October 2007, “Magic School Bus Gets Cleaned Up” book available for
order. For more about the book. Order the book.

Materials and publications related to Clean School Bus USA are
available free. You may read or download EPA publications below, order
EPA publications to be mailed to you, download Clean School Bus USA
event planning materials, or download Earth Day materials.
Ordering EPA Publications
Clean School Bus Event Planning Materials
General Information about Clean School Bus USA
Bookmarks
Publications about School Bus Idling and Smart Driving Practices
Publications about School Bus Retrofit and Clean Fuels
Technologies
General Information about Diesel Exhaust
View or Download EPA Publications
Earth Day Materials

You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See
EPA’s PDF page to learn more.

Ordering EPA Publications

The publications below are available free from the National Service
Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP). Telephone orders can be
placed by calling 800-490-9198. Business hours are Monday through
Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. (EST). After hours you may leave a voice
mail order. The web address for information and links for ordering is
www.epa.gov/ncepihom/ordering.htm. You may also send an e-mail message
to nscep@bps-lmit.com to request publications. Your order may take up
to 3 weeks to process. If you need your materials before a specific
date, please provide your FedEx account number so that your order can
be expedited. Be sure to specify the date you need the books in hand.

Clean School Bus New Publication

The Magic School Bus Gets Cleaned Up book. (EPA420-K-07-001, September
2007)
Ordering information:
The item number is EPA420-K-07-001, which is needed for
ordering.
Quantities must be limited due to the popularity of the book.
Individuals, schools and library may order five copies
each.
Non-profit organizations working on diesel emissions
issues and outreach may order up to 500 copies.
Other organizations, such as for-profit companies, may
order up to 100 copies.
Larger numbers may be approved on a case-by-case basis. For more
about the book.
Clean School Bus Event Planning Materials
EPA has created materials to assist you with planning a Clean School
Bus USA event. They include ideas for clean school bus events, a list
of EPA contacts, resources available, sample proclamations, and a
sample certificate of recognition.
Ideas
Resources
Sample Press Release (Also available as a word processing RTF
file that can be modified, 1 pp, 6K).
Clean School Bus Proclamation (Also available as a word
processing RTF file that can be modified, 1 pp, 6K).
Idling Proclamation (Also available as a word processing RTF
file that can be modified, 1 pp, 6K).
EPA Certificate of Recognition (PDF) (1 pp, 2.6M).
New! Young Students’ Activity - Clean School Bus USA Logo to
Color (PDF) (1 pp, 160K).
EPA Contact List

For more information or to request the materials in Microsoft Word
format, e-mail Clean School Bus USA cleanschoolbususa@epa.gov

I know that you are also interested in asthma education and EPA has
done a great deal of work. A number of years ago we did a national
campaign that included the televised PSA - “I feel like a fish with no
water.” I believe most of those materials are still available - in
particular is an activity book that I try to keep on hand for exhibits,
posters, fact sheets, etc. These can also be order from our NSCEP
warehouse.

Asthma Education
http://www.epa.gov/Region4/air/naaqs/asthma.htm

Susan Stone is our Health Scientist for ambient air issues
(stone.susan@epa.gov) and my contact for the asthma campaign in DC is
Kristy Miller (miller.kristy@epa.gov). Kristy is very knowledgeable and
could be very helpful with ideas and materials.

Reformulated Gasoline
http://www.epa.gov/region4/air/naaqs/reform.htm

Our goal is to create materials that the public can use to educate the
public. I’m sure there’s so much more that I haven’t mentioned.

I have worked to help develop air quality curricula and programs for
students and teachers: Air Pollution: What’s the Solution, Smog City 2
and in draft - AQI Toolkit for Teachers which can be found on the
Internet.

Let me know if you have additional questions. I wish you the best.

Donna Rogers
Innovative Programs and Outreach Group
US EPA
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (C404-05)
RTP, NC 27711
rogers.donna@epa.gov
T: (919) 541-5478
F: (919) 541-0242

What we learned is that the drought is not the worst drought in recorded history(no comfort in this fact given our fixation on rapid growth coupled with a profound misunderstanding of quality of life and inability to measure important values, like green space), and that the drought was compounded by one of the hottest years in the last century (an important climate change connection as models predict that we will continue to warm and what rain we get will fall quickly in Biblical torrents). We also learned that if and when we do run out, which according to models is of low probability, that the City has determined that railing water in by train is prohibitively expensive, and thus we will be turned over to the vagaries of the free market to buy bottled water from a retailer near you. Boy will that be expensive and you have got to wonder how that fact will affect growth. Plans exist to share water amongst the local municipalities and to increase storage capacity as well as modernize our delivery system. One thing they did miss is that the quality of water is likely to diminish as we approach the bottom of the reservoir and how that would both increase cost and reduce quality of the delivered water. But other than that, all bases were well covered by this highly productive and desperately needed event. Kudos for Duke’s NSOE for hosting it at the beautiful Duke Gardens in its vaulted, wood framed meeting room.

However, what came out of the forum that was most profound was when one of our community members got up and proposed that the folks who use wells, including herself, be placed on meters, correctly believing that wasting groundwater was wasting a public good. The response from the City was that this was a property rights issue, to which I turned to a friend and said “figment of our imagination.”

Concepts of property rights go way back to the Code of Hammurabi, Solon the Great and the Bible, with passages replete with reference to land ownership. Rights to property are the basis of the evolution of democratic ideals and reformation and are captured in our Constitution. Fundamentality, our perception of owning land and God granted rights to do with it as we please, are core to our economic system And being American. But if indeed granted by our Creator, you have got to know “he” is royally pissed off, as we have, through our externalities and greed, reeked havoc on our planet’s bounty, pushing it’s ecological systems to the brink of collapse, and our civilization.

It would seem that our perception and our laws need drastic shifting if we are to save our planet and ourselves. This shift has to be one of flipping the concept of “rights” for “responsibilities.” It is absolute that we are transient beings on this planet, and secondary to the primacy of the Creation. Our lives, as brilliantly evolved and pinnacle as we may think, are mere blinks of the eye in geologic time. Many have used the Biblical metaphor of “stewards,” which contains the wonderful concept of care for future generations, yet still has attached a granted or endowed nature. A more humble approach has been exposed by great writers, like Thomas Berry, Aldo Leopold and Wendell Berry, that more than stewards, we are responsible for the land and must learn its unique character, its position to other pieces of land, it’s connection (interestingly often through the hydrological cycle), and must honor its “sense of place.”

This is much more than a simple stewardship, and from this honoring of the land, we accrue rights, very limited rights. Land must be treated as a trust, and if done so with understanding of this concept, it may fundamentally reverberate to reform our whole economic system, including our run-away corporate culture that is the spearhead of our creative destruction.

It was half way through the question and answer period that a lady from the Southern Environmental Law Center reminded us that water is not just a concern for human consumption, but indeed all the animals, plants and microbes in the watershed and in the streams and that lakes rely on it for their very existence. The best moment was when an African American woman, who stated she had lived in New Orleans and was very familiar with baptism by water, told us that our efforts at conservation would be limited until we learned to respect and honor water. I wondered what the scientists thought of that perspective?

TFF exhibited in Oct. at the State Fair for the 14th year, along with NCCONET and their drought awareness campaign, and assisted in the biodiesel demonstration project of Wake Tech. TFF also exhibited at the NC Science Teachers annual conference, while simultaneously tabling at the NAAEE Conference in Virginia Beach—how did we do it? Good job to Marc and MK and all those who helped out. Both booths were well supported, highlighting fair trade, biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and TFF and CBL’s new curriculum on biodiesel. TFF also exhibited at the Green Festival, and we heard Bill McKibben’s rousing speech, “before screwing in a new CFL, screw in a new legislator!”

EENC’s Conference at Lutheridge near Asheville was a great break from our daily grind during the height of leaf change. Marc presented the biodiesel curriculum to 12 teachers and we stopped at Warren-Wilson College on the way home for a tour by Stan Cross of the new LEED building (hand made by students and faculty), the organic garden and horse-logged forest. Warren Wilson received the number 3 ranking by Sierra Mag. for green campuses. We were all impressed by the dedication to balance in students’ lives and education, creating graduates that understand the value of community and living sustainably. Marc has stepped down from the EENC Board to give more time to TFF’s Green Oil Campus and it’s fundraising needs.

TFF exhibited, again, at both the Nicholas and Divinity Schools’ 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. We also attended the Duke Divinity School’s Conference on Land, People and Food and heard Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson speak. TFF also started working with the Interfaith Power and Light project of the NC Council of Churches in its outreach on climate change and sustainable livelihoods. This collaboration will fit well with TFF’s Spring Ecopalms’ project.

Greenway Transit has taken off like a rocket, though pedicab sales have been slow (participating in Watts-Hillandale arts tour and the Christmas parade) and a challenge to manage, bus and limo transport has been non-stop. Greenway organized 2 buses for Duke and UNC students to go to DC for the Powershift Conference and protest on climate change. It has signed a deal with the DEL (Duke Environmental Leadership) Program to run transportation between RDU, hotels and the campus for one week each month. Greenway also did its first Bat Mitzvah, making RDU, hotel and dinner runs for 5 days. All guests for the Bat Mitzvah were extremely happy with our service. Greenway was banned from Duke campus sports games for no apparent reason and is now lobbying to provide this important service to handicapped and elderly patrons.

In September, we held the grand opening party of the Green Oil Campus and it’s new, card swipe biodiesel pump (the only one on the east coast), hosting over 100 people, with Rich Kregar’s diesel mechanics workshop with 20 students from Durham Tech. attending. Between downpours (the first rain in three months), we ran tours of the site. In other Green Oil Campus news, TFF was able, with the help of Dr. Sandy Smith-Nonini from UNC’s Anthropology Dept., to submit a grant proposal for an environmental educator to GSK’s Ribbon of Hope.

Carolina Biodiesel, LLC’s sales more than tripled over 2007, adding the Vietnam Vets. program and is in negotiations with Duke University to operate the biodiesel fueling for its service and shuttle vehicles. CBL’s year has had more challenges than the other organizations, however. Though sales grew dramatically, the margins on sales have been thin, particularly as the cold weather taught us that high petrol diesel blends were required and continued filter clogging reduced sales. CBL’s partner, Reclamation Station received its major “special use permit” to operate a trap grease dewatering operation. Frustratingly, we are sitting on one of the best sites for alternative fuel, yet we remain undercapitalized. We hope in 2008 this will change.

Goals for 2008:

to be processing 2K per week of waste veggie oil on site,

begin outreach to community and to have a curriculum and weekend training program for Green Collar jobs,

to have our Phase II finished on the site and be on our way to purchasing the facility, and use the land and buildings to provide collateral and capitalize operations,

get the tanks, pumps and loading arms operational,

beautify the site.

Great idea! We are offering green transportation and carbon mitigation options through our Greenway Transit business and have beautiful fair trade gifts and decoratives through Forests of the World.

That is conceivably the largest impact a wedding will have is carbon/pollution emissions for travel for all the guests (including the honeymoon). The second would be lodging and accommodations as hotels are slow to the greening process, but energy, water consumption and sustainable food are issues when staying at hotels. The third category would be food, as buying local, organic/permiculture and vegan/healthy are very significant. Finally, accessories, such as gifts, table settings, services, flowers all should be considered using fair trade, organic, local criteria for selection. The impact on wedding guests of thoughtful, loving and earth caring ideas is where the real impact can be made. Educating and influencing others to adopt these lifestyle changes which can be fun and equally fulfilling are key.

Resources:

CoopAmerica.org
FairTradeFederation.org
your local fair trade store and food coop

Good Luck!

Marc

Jaye E. Marsh wrote:
> Dear Like Minded Business!
>
> I am launching an event planning business, focusing primarily on smaller family occasions and, of ‘course, the ubiquitous weddings.
>
> I will be offering myself as the ‘Eco-Wedding Planner’ in my city, Toronto, Canada, and am looking for partners, resources, alliances and supporters for this endeavor.
>
> The wedding industry is still in the ‘awareness’ stage in most of North America and to that end I am planning “The Eco Wedding Show” in Toronto for this coming January/February. It will be a modest affair to begin with but I anticpate a lot of attention…I already have newsmedia and lifestyle tv shows interested in presenting information on this show to their viewers.
>
> I am requesting any possible research pointers, resources and vendor databases that might help me build a meaningful tradeshow that will inform, offer service and value to consumers and vendors on both weddings and lifestyles, which are often paired.
>
> I hope my endeavor is of interest to you and I look forward to any feedback you have to offer.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jaye Marsh
> President
> It’s Personal! Occasions
> www.itspersonal.ca
>

Project 2. The Forest Foundation and Clean Energy Durham are requesting assistance in developing a carbon mitigation catalog to be funded by grants, donations and carbon mitigation offsets, working with local Government, non-profits, corporations and universities. Carbon mitigation calculations are needed for energy efficiency home and building improvements, biodiesel consumption, pedicabs and green transportation, greenspace and tree planting, solar PV and hotwater, and other creative local carbon reduction projects. Research is needed on catalog structure and management, to determine administrative and operational needs as well as marketing strategy. (Carolina Biodiesel, Clean Energy Durham, Greenway Transit and The Forest Foundation.)

Project 3. Engineering and revitalization of the Green Oil Campus fuel terminal. Help engineer biodiesel production, waste oil collection and processing and biodiesel distribution systems using old oil terminal infrastructure. This includes: sustainable energy and electrical systems, cogeneration, water recycling, waste reuse, heating and winterization, all under the constraints of the existing infrastructure and new and evolving technology. (Carolina Biodiesel, Bull City Biodiesel Coop, Reclaimation Station, Triangle Biodiesel, Orange Recycling)

Project 4. Help develop a grant and begin implementation of a Green Oil Campus Environmental Training and Learning Lab, working with local NGO’s like Clean Energy Durham, YIKES and SEEDS. Recondition space on the site for educational and vocational training in alternative energy, green transportation and environmental science. Build a learning lab on biodiesel, alternative energy, water catchment treatment and recycling, composting, and urban and rooftop gardening operation. Goal will be to outreach to local schools and the neighboring communities and train young adults in a range of environmental health, sustainable livelihoods and life skills. We are also looking for Liasion Coordinators for outreach to each university and schools in the area, to act as a communication conduit on activities and events on campuses that may be interested in and making sure campuses know of the work we are doing. (The Forest Foundation)

Project 5. Consulting, communications and marketing. Taking the above models, documenting the work we do and using this to educate and inform as well as provide assistance in technology transfer. Models may be used to help other local, decentralized alternative energy companies and organizations establish similar projects in their communities and may be used to assist in economic self sufficiency for NGO’s working in environmental conservation and sustainable development in developing countries. Synergistic and closed loop models such as these are needed in a number of areas and we have received requests for support from many organizations. This information and these services may provide an additional income generation source for the work of the non-profit. (The Forest Foundation)

1) Examine the drivers that are leading our society to the use of Biofuels;
–Energy Security
–Petroleum supply and demand
–Classic emission issues
–Global warming–Carbon issues

2) Examine the development of modern Diesel technologies:
–Brief history of the Diesel Engine
–Brief introduction to principles of Diesel combustion
–High pressure (common rail) fuel systems
–Air control and delivery (Turbos and related technology)
–Emission systems

3) Examine renewable alternatives:
–Biodiesel
–SVO’s
–Synthetic fuels (DiMethyl Ethers and F-T)

4) What we need to do to improve our future (General Discussion)

Richard E. Cregar,
Instructor,
Wake Technical College,
9101 Fayetteville Rd.,
Raleigh, N.C. 27603

Rich Cregar joined the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC) as the National Instructor in July, 2004. He joined the Faculty of Wake Technical College, An NAFTC National Training Center, in the summer of 2006. Mr. Cregar represents Wake Tech at nationwide conferences, seminars, and training events, such as the SAE Hybrid Technology Symposium. He has presented papers at the 2006 SAE World Congress and the 2007 North American Council of Automotive Teachers (NACAT) convention in Long Beach, Ca. He has also served as co-chair of the Committee on Hydrogen Vehicle Safety of SAE.

For several years, Mr. Cregar was Technical Training Manager at Leith Mercedes-Benz in Raleigh, NC. In this role, he trained apprentice technicians to staff dealerships. This position involved hands-on management and technical troubleshooting of a franchised high-line workshop. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Mr. Cregar has served as a Team Leader and Site Manager for Universal Technical Institute in Houston, TX, and Allentown, PA; as Operations Manager for the Bosch Technical Hotline in St. Paul, MN; and as Service Manager for a number of automotive dealerships.

Mr. Cregar holds the following certifications from the Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE): Master Automotive Technician, Advanced Level Specialist in Automobile Advanced Engine Performance, and Alternative Fuels Technician. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), International Automotive Technicians’ Network (IATN), and North American Council of Automotive Teachers (NACAT).

5:30-10:30pm

1404 Angier Ave. Durham, NC

* Free, local organic foods * Fair Trade Products
* Live bands * Guest speakers
* Pedicab rides * Raffles and more
* A carbon neutral event * Donations accepted

please RSVP to
info@theforestfoundation.org by 9/10

Events:

Bull City Biodiesel Cooperative & Carolina Biodiesel’s Green Oil Site

New Pump Grand Opening And Ribbon Cutting (9/14/2008)

1404 Angier Ave. (Parking along Angier)

4:00 Tour of Site
J. Marc Dreyfors
President, The Forest Foundation; Co-Founder, BC2; Manager, Carolina Biodiesel

5:30 Party Begins, Bands Play
Ice Cream from Maple View Farms
Fish Fry by CJ and Barry

Music by:
ROOTZIE
TROSA

6:30 Opening Remarks
Dignataries
Triangle Clean Cities on behalf of the grant from
State Energy Office

7:00 Ribbon Cutting

Band Plays

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Rodeo/Open House

Raffles and Pass the Hat
Crafts from Forests of the World

Bull City Biodiesel Cooperative, New Member Sign Up

7:30 Seminar: Biodiesel Engine Technology, Rich Cregar, Wake Tech

Alternative Energy and Environmental Information Exchange

SPONSORS:

Hemlock ($500)

Orange Recycling

Oak ($200)

Weaver Street
Wholefoods
Ninth Street Bakery

Maple ($50)

My Taller
Triangle Biodiesel
The Forest Foundation
Forests of the World
Greenway Transit

Wildflower ($25)

Directions:
http://bullcitybiodiesel.org/