USM National Green Campus
News Archive

Week of September 17, 2012

News from Across the USM Campuses

Oct. 1st - Project Green Challenge 2012 - This is a global call to action for high school and college students to transition from conventional to conscious living.  It successfully engages youth by uniting them in a commitment to sustain a healthy and just planet. Comprised of 30 challenges in 30 days throughout the month of October, PGC presents participants with daily themes (body, food, labeling, paper, fair trade, energy...) and up to four challenge opportunities at varying levels of engagement. Participants are awarded points based on challenge completion and the top 20 daily submissions receive prizes. We are finalizing outreach, prizes, challenges, and a robust digital platform with our small staff, dozens of volunteers, a web team of students and adults collaborating from Canada, India, Bangladesh, China, and Northern and Southern California. It's an extraordinary initiative on every front!

Oct. 13th - Chesapeake and Beyond - Horn Point Open House - The Horn Point Laboratory invites the public to take part in its annual community Open House on Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Located on the banks of the Choptank River on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the laboratory is renowned for its study of marine ecosystems. The theme of this year's event is "The Bay and Beyond" and features investigations by the laboratory's scientists in the Chesapeake Bay and coastal areas around the nation and the world. The Horn Point Laboratory is located at 2020 Horns Point Road in Cambridge. For more information, call (410) 221-8425.

Think Green, Get Green - Apply for the University Sustainability Fund by November 1st - Got a green idea? Cash in on it! We could give you the money you need to implement your sustainability project on campus. Over the past two years, $290,000 has been given out to students, staff, and faculty to enhance sustainability at University of Maryland, College Park.

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

State of Maryland News

Oct. 6th - 13th - From the Bay, For the Bay Dine Out is Back! Governor Martin O'Malley today announced the return of the From the Bay, For the Bay Dine Out, a week-long celebration of Maryland seafood benefiting the Oyster Recovery Partnership. More than 70 high-profile restaurants have already signed up, including Ryleigh's Oyster House, Woodberry Kitchen, Equinox, and Matchbox. Last year's inaugural promotion proved a success, raising $25,000 for oyster restoration projects.

Warm fall expected: Meteorologists say region has seen above-normal temperatures (By Sam Speigelman, DelMarVaNow.com, 9/14/12)

Gas prices hit unusual mid-September spike (By Melany L. Paralman, DelMarVaNow.com, 9/14/12)

National and International News

Arctic Sea Ice Will Reach 'Final Collapse' Within Four Years: Expert (By Common Dreams Staff, CommonDreams.org, 9/17/12)

As climate change crisis looms, presidential campaigns stay quiet (By Erika Bolstad, McClatchy News, 9/17/12)

Campaigners 'Vindicated' As Shell Halts Arctic Drilling

A series of safety failures, ice floes, and public pressure has put an end to this year's drilling (By Common Dreams staff, CommonDreams.org, 9/17/12)  

Financial Costs of Climate Change Seriously Underestimated by US Government Calculations (By Mat McDermott, Treehugger.com - Business/Economics, 9/17/12)

False Balance Lives: In Worst Climate Story Of The Year, PBS Channels Fox News (By Joe Romm, ThinkProgress.org - Climate Progress, 9/17/12)

Vanishing Arctic ice is the planet's white flag of surrender: The planet's last great global ice melt left a benign and balmy climate in which civilisation was cradled: the new great melting heralds a grave threat to civilization (By Damian Carrington, The [UK] Guardian, 9/14/12)

Saving the Ozone Layer: Lessons for Fighting Climate Change (By Frances Beinecke, Huffington Post - Green Blog, 9/14/12)

Please send your ideas and comments regarding campus sustainability to green@usmd.edu