Coach USA, one of the largest motorcoach transportation companies in North America, has received the United Motorcoach Association’s (UMA) Green Highway Award. The award – established in 2008 and sponsored by Motor Coach Industries (MCI), the largest builder of inter-city coaches in the United States and Canada - recognizes companies that demonstrate leadership in reducing carbon emissions.

Coach USA – which operates megabus.com, an ongoing supporter of CA-CP’s programs  - has undertaken a wide range of  green initiatives. For example, its fleet of more than 1,600 coaches and buses is fitted with GPS systems that trigger alerts through the company’s control center if engine idling times are exceeded. Its facilities have been upgraded with energy-saving lighting, while LED lights have been added at the company’s parking lots.

Not to mention the benefits of getting more people to travel by bus rather than driving alone. When filled to capacity, the company’s coaches are on average seven times more energy-efficient than single-occupancy cars, releasing the least carbon dioxide per passenger mile compared to any other mode of transportation.

In 2010, Stagecoach Group (the parent company of Coach USA)  launched Revolution in the Way We Travel, a five-year plan to reduce further the carbon emissions from its transport operations in the UK and North America. Stagecoach Group is targeting an overall reduction of 8% in carbon emissions from buildings and a cut of 3% in carbon emissions from annual fleet transport by April 2014. Coach USA has already exceeded its target to reduce carbon emissions by 15% within the first three years of the plan!

Congratulations to a deserving company!

By Anna Mika, Campus Program Associate, Clean Air-Cool Planet

On May 9^th, the Earth’s atmosphere reached a frightening milestone, passing a carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration of 400 parts per million (ppm). The last time it was that high – about 3 million years ago! – temperatures were much higher, ice caps were smaller, and sea levels were up to 80 feet higher than today. Pre-industrial CO₂ concentrations were between 180-280 ppm and many scientists agree that 350 ppm is the upper bound of the “safe” concentration for current societies and ecosystems.

Despite these increases in atmospheric CO₂, observed change in global mean temperature has leveled off in the last decade.  In March, the Economist published an article about this phenomenon.

The Economist, March, 2013. http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21574461-climate-may-be-heating-up-less-response-greenhouse-gas-emissions

Some people point to this apparent “de-coupling” to support the claim that climate change is due to natural variation. However, the Economist authors point out that there are several different explanations for this perceived stalling in climate change. One reason is that natural variability in temperature may be greater than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated in the past.

After attending the May 8^th Simons Foundation lecture series on climate change, I have a much better understanding on how climate scientists disconnect the natural and anthropogenic (i.e. man-made) factors in their analyses and projections. I hope that this new understanding would allow me to give a confident science-based counter-argument to the claim that climate change is only a natural variation.

Dr. Clara Deser from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO, talked about the difference between “free” and “forced” climate variation. Her talk, entitled “Climate Projections over North America in the Coming Decades” dove into the center’s research sampling the atmosphere and building a climate model.

In modeling future changes in climate, scientists use general circulation models (GCMs). GCMs break up the world into a series of 3-dimensional grids that contain oceans, land, and the atmosphere. In each grid, a series of complex mathematical equations represent phenomena such as air flow and thermodynamics. Researchers use GCMs to ask “what if” questions and run various scenarios to project changes in global, and regional, climate.

IPCC, 2007. “The World in Climate Models” http://www.ipcc.ch/graphics/ar4-wg1/jpg/fig-1-2.jpg. The figure shows the advancement in Generic Circulation Models (GCMs) since the mid-1970s, mid-1980s, the IPCC’s First Assessment Report (FAR), the Second Assessment Report (SAR), Third Assessment Report (TAR), and the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).

GCMs take into account basic climate cycles (referred to as “free” climate variation) as well as both natural and man-made “forcing” agents. Natural forcing agents include the solar sun spot cycle, orbit of the Earth around the sun, and volcanic aerosols. Anthropogenic forcing agents include the heating effect of atmospheric CO₂ and the cooling effect of sulfate aerosols from coal combustion. All of these – the “free” variation, “forced” natural variation, and “forced” man-made variation – can have similar effects on climate variables like temperature. Researchers have to take all into account; otherwise the data can be misleading, like the “global warming hiatus” trend discussed in the Economist article.

Despite huge advances in technology, the massive computational demand of GCMs imposes a limit on the complexity of these models and the number of scenarios that scientists can feasibly run. However, the resolution of GCMs has improved drastically. Grid cells have reduced in size from 200 km to 10 km resolution. This means that we used to be able to look at climate projections for the grid cell that contained half of New York State and now we can almost hone in on the one that includes New York City.

IPCC, 2007. The advancement in resolution of GCMs over time. http://www.ipcc.ch/graphics/ar4-wg1/jpg/fig-1-4.jpg. Today’s models have even finer resolution than that in the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report (AR4).

Researchers have already run various CO₂ scenarios, which investigate the impact on climate if we curb global emissions or if emissions go up drastically. Instead, Dr. Deser’s group was interested in studying how small changes to initial atmospheric conditions affect the results. They found that it makes a huge difference and, in some simulations, the effect on temperature (for example) was equal, but in the opposite direction.

They were able to make sense of these results by separating out the natural from the man-made forcing effects. It turns out that the North American projections, in particular, are much more variable because of atmospheric circulation, which is a “free” component of climate. The forced component is small compared to free component and, for this reason, it is possible to get equal and opposite trends between simulations. However, when you remove the free component from the model, and look only at the air flow and temperature, the simulations are actually very similar and indicate a clear trend in warming due to CO₂ emissions.

Dr. Deser concluded that if where you live hasn’t experienced much warming, it doesn’t mean that climate change is not happening. It simply means that the forced warming is small compared to the natural variation in that location. In response to the Economist article, she commented that the recent cooling effect is almost certainly due to a “free” factor: the decadal oceanic warming and cooling cycle. Once that cooling cycle is complete in 5 or 7 years, observed temperature will jump back up.

The 2013 New England Campus Sustainability Forum has extended the deadline for their competition for funding to support student initiatives on campus sustainability.

Applicants have until May 31, 2013 to submit proposals for mini-grants of up to $1,000 for each project.  These grants are available to student-run organizations at colleges and universities in New England, specifically for projects promoting or raising awareness of campus sustainability efforts.

Examples of possible grant activities include (but are certainly not limited to) a guest speakers’ series on sustainability/climate issues or a visit to another campus to study and replicate successful sustainability practices/models.

Clean Air-Cool Planet is proud to be among the organizers of 2013 New England Campus Sustainability Forum–read more about it at http://necsf.com/. You can also visit http://necsf.com/mini-grants/ for more information specifically on the mini-grants program.

On September 1, 2012, Ted Smith, one of Clean Air-Cool Planet’s founding board members, died in a tragic accident, hiking the mountains he loved near his home in Polson, Montana. Friends and family celebrated his legacy at a memorial in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday, May 5.

Below, Ted’s close friend and co-founder of Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP), Bill Moomaw, reflects on how CA-CP came to be and on Ted’s legacy. You can also read more about the memorial in a blog from former CEO of CA-CP Adam Markham. 

Ted Smith and I spent New Year’s Eve 1998 discussing how the US would never agree to the recently negotiated Kyoto Protocol. We concluded that climate change was urgent, but “why wait for the Senate” to ratify a treaty when we were all going to have to do the job of emissions reduction ourselves. And so the idea for Clean Air-Cool Planet was born.

In his inimitable way, Ted kept questioning and probing my arguments until together we solidified the idea of creating an organization that was a “Do tank” not a “Think tank” or an advocacy group. The new group would focus on practical solutions to climate change, and work to assist businesses, universities and cities, and measure its success in emissions reduced and citizens and institutions engaged. CA-CP would begin as a regional organization, building on New England traditions of independence, “Yankee ingenuity” and intellectual leadership. With time, we thought, lessons learned from this new approach might be scaled up nationally.

Once we had our idea, we tested it out among participants at a climate conference at Tufts University. We then recruited Michael Bradley and Sue Tierney as co-founding directors, and with seed money from The Kendall Foundation, where Ted was Executive Director, hired a Tufts grad student, Charlene Garland, to carry out the many tasks required to incorporate CA-CP. Ted and I began fund raising with a lead contribution from Kendall, and we had raised nearly half a million dollars by the time we were approved as a new non-profit. We hired Adam Markham from WWF as Executive Director, and he took on the job of turning our vision into action. Thirteen years later, CA-CP has grown and evolved, fulfilling our hopes that a small non-profit focused on pragmatic and non-partisan civil society leadership could make a big difference. Hundreds of towns and cities have benefitted from the organization’s boots-on-the-ground approach to climate solutions, and thousands of colleges and universities nationwide now rely on its Campus Carbon Calculator to guide their emissions reduction strategies. Many regional businesses have developed climate mitigation programs with the guidance of CA-CP.

Ted served for many years on CA-CP’s board and even after leaving the board he continued to assist in fund raising through his foundation contacts and in giving advice and support. He also continued his mentoring of young people who shared his passion for the natural world. One of Ted’s great personal legacies at CA-CP was to help the organization raise the seed funds it needed to launch its Summer Climate Fellows program – now in its 6th year of helping to develop the next generation of progressive environmental leaders.

Ted Smith was truly a pioneer within the foundation world in moving the agenda of climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation to the fore. His death in a hiking accident in his beloved Montana has left a huge gap among those who work to protect this planet. For those of us who had the privilege of knowing Ted and working with him the loss is also deeply personal. We are fortunate that he shared his life so productively with so many.

Are you an amateur mobile app developer looking to get more experience, expand your portfolio, and get exposure for your work? Are you a student looking for a cool project to do for a college-level class? If so, read on

Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP) is seeking an individual to help materialize drafted content into an educational mobile app about the impacts of coal ash waste. The project will span several weeks and will include  outlining various options for structural organization of the app’s key features, creating a prototype using mobile app building software, and providing guidance on development.

The ideal person will have some experience in mobile app development, will work remotely, and will participate in regular phone or virtual meetings.  If you’re interested, please send a letter of interest and resume to Anna Mika at amika@cleanair-coolplanet.org.

It’s finally here!

We have launched the new web-based Campus Carbon Calculator and it is now available to use.

Clean Air-Cool Planet has partnered with Sightlines, LLC to bring the tool to a new online Carbon Management and Analysis Platform (CarbonMAP).

We think that you will find the new web-based version of the Calculator more user-friendly, intuitive, and powerful. We look forward to hearing your feedback.

There will be a free webinar on March 22nd at 1:00PM EST for those who would like a basic introduction.

Thanks to the generous support of the Verizon Foundation, Dick and Nancy Raines, and the Wallace Global Fund, the Calculator will remain completely free at least through the end of 2013, and technical support will remain free at least through June 30th.

We will continue to support the Excel-based Calculator for the time being, but we know once you’ve tried out the online Calculator, you’ll be as excited as we are to make the switch!

With regards,

The CA-CP Campus Team

http://cleanair-coolplanet.org/carbon-map/

and

Sightlines, LLC.

www.sightlines.com

Want help setting up your account and making your transition? Check out Sightlines’ validation services.

After 13 years at the helm of Clean Air-Cool Planet, Adam Markham is stepping down as its President. He has been selected to run a new national climate impacts initiative at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

We are very happy to announce that Jenn Andrews, currently Deputy Director, has been appointed as Acting Executive Director.

Says Board Chair Kathy Loftus, “Jenn is a wonderful choice as interim leader for CA-CP. She has been with the organization almost since the beginning, taking on many challenging roles and complex projects. She has been responsible for leading our Campus Carbon Calculator program to the point where it has become an indispensable tool for hundreds of colleges and universities nationwide.  She has also managed our growing Climate Fellows program since its inception and has been deeply involved in design and coordination of some of our most successful adaptation and resilience projects.”

Under Jenn Andrew’s leadership, CA-CP will continue to focus on strengthening and developing our focal programs: campus sustainability, community resilience, and the development of the next generation of environmental leaders through our Climate Fellows program.

Adam Markham says “It’s a bittersweet feeling to be leaving CA-CP. I’ve enjoyed virtually every minute of my time here, and it’s been a real privilege to be able to work with so many amazing people on our staff, the board and with our partner organizations.  Together we’ve achieved some remarkable things.” Adam will maintain his links with CA-CP by serving on a new advisory committee being created to guide and help build the Climate Fellows program and the new Ted Smith Fund, which will be chaired by board member, Sue Tierney.

By Brian Kaminer and Eileen Joy, co-chairs, Sustainable North Castle

Sustainable North Castle‘s mission is to support, involve and inform our community about climate change; to provide guidance to the Town Board and our community on sustainable living choices; to participate with other communities and collaborate on green initiatives; to coordinate efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and make a positive impact on the environment for current and future generations.

Based on that, we decided it was important for the town to lead by example and demonstrate the benefits of being sustainable through team work. We utilized the generous funding from Clean Air-Cool Planet to support the creation of a Green Team, comprised of municipal employees in the Town of North Castle.  We engaged the consulting services of Dani Glaser from Green Team Spirit to guide the process.  An internal Green Team with staff representation from all government departments is an essential component of a municipal sustainability plan and will allow the Town to serve as a role model for its residents and businesses.

The process began with a staff survey to seek their input about waste, energy, water, transportation, purchasing, communications and importance/willingness to commit to a green team program.  A well attended kick-off event was held on April 19, 2012 to engage as many municipal staff as possible, with an introduction by the Town Supervisor. The event was facilitated by Dani Glaser who reviewed the importance of municipal green teams  based on her experience with other local municipalities. She then led an open discussion where employees shared existing best practices used at Town Hall. We identified a core group of staff who was interested in leading the green team and held follow up meetings.  It was determined that an intranet website would be a great tool in supporting and sharing the various green initiatives taking place in different departments while introducing new ideas.

With Dani Glaser’s assistance, our Town Clerk hired a summer intern who helped create a logo for the Green Team.  She also supported us in ‘greening’ Town Hall by applying new recycling and waste labels for all trash/recycling receptacles  as well as facilitating the development of the green team intranet.  We are currently in the process of finalizing the internal website design and implementation.

With limited time and resources our progress has been slow but steady.  We are excited about this resource for the municipality and look forward to sharing the intranet concept with other interested municipalities.  An ongoing lesson is that, continued support by the elected officials is key to the continuing success of this initiative. As a follow up, we will be engaging all municipal staff and offering additional training to empower them to collaboratively build a culture of sustainability.  We look to share this progress and positive impact with the broader community of residents and businesses.

I wanted to update you on our biodiesel project. A few weeks ago, we started the process making titrations to test the quality of the vegetable oil that we used. We acquired our used vegetable oil from the school’s cafeteria and collected enough to make 2 batches. Next, I purchased Potassium Oxide (KOH) and Methanol from an online supplier. Then we added the oil to the processor (which you helped purchase) and the methanol and KOH. A chemical reaction took place and separated glycerin out of the oil. After separating we had to wash the fuel with water and then we let the biodiesel air dry. The biodiesel processor made the process really easy. We ended up with about 35 gallons of useable biodiesel ready to use. Today was our last day of drying and we tested the biodiesel. We put the fuel in a spare diesel engine that I have. I didn’t want to put in in one of our tractors in case it didn’t work. We started with a 50:50 ratio of diesel fuel and biodiesel as recommended by manufacturers. The end result is the engine has been running for the past half hour on biodiesel.

Our class with an engine running on biodiesel

The students in my class noticed that the biodiesel burned with less emissions compared to straight biodiesel. Next, we plan to use the biodiesel to power our school’s farm tractors. We are super excited that this batch worked out and plan on making another batch. We calculated that the biodiesel costs about $4.60/gallon to make which is more than what diesel costs. However, next time if we order our supplies in bulk, we could save more money and reduce the cost of the fuel.

By Barbara Duncan, Fairlee Energy Committee

The Fairlee Energy Committee had energy audits done for the Town’s three municipal buildings and then prioritized the projects. The local regional planning commission (Two Rivers Ottauqueschee) had also done studies of the region’s municipal buildings. Fairlee’s Library was the least energy efficient of the Town’s three buildings.

A grant from Clean Air-Cool Planet assisted with air sealing and insulation of the Fairlee Public Library’s basement crawl space walls.

The crawl space at the Fairlee Library prior to the insulation work being completed.

The crawl space after insulation work had been completed.