Week of April 4, 2011

News from Across the USM Campuses

April 2011 - Towson University Earth Month Events - To celebrate, the Office of Civic Engagement along with the Environmental Initiatives Sub-Committee, TU Goes Green, and the University Bookstore have planned a series of fun and exciting events aimed at saving our planet! For more information on any of these events please e-mail Jillian Koller at jkolle1@students.towson.edu

April 5^th - "Education Opportunities in Sustainability at College Park" - Dr. Bruce James, Director, Environmental Science and Policy Program will discuss education opportunities in sustainability along with the status of the sustainability minor and sustainability education as part of the weekly lecture focusing on sustainability and the University of Maryland, College Park. The lecture will take place from 5:00- 6:15pm at the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, in the Auditorium, Room 0204, on the UMCP  campus. This Lecture is one in a series offered during the Spring Semester as part of ARCH 289i, Smart Growth Goes to School. The series is co-sponsored by the Campus Office of Sustainability. The event is free and open to all. For more information, contact Christine Cestello Hinojosa at 301-405-6286, or at hinojosa@umd.edu.

April 8^th - Dr. Kurt Stephenson, Virginia Tech? Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics??- "Stormwater Economics in Urban Settings: Benefits, Costs, and Uncertainties." This seminar, sponsored by the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education, will be held on Friday at 2:00pm in the Technology Research Center, Room 206, on the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus, and is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Visitor parking passes for the TRC lot may be purchased for $4.00 in the CUERE office in TRC 102/105 on the UMBC campus shortly before seminar.  ?

April 10^th (10pm) and April 11^th  (2am)?- University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's new Maryland Sea Grant Film Examines "Who Killed Crassostrea virginica? The Fall and Rise of Chesapeake Bay Oysters." This fresh perspective examines conflicting claims about the calamities that struck down some of the world's richest oyster grounds. Three particular groups come to the forefront -- the watermen who fish the oysters, oyster farmers who grow them and scientists who study them. Recent research and long-forgotten historical archives shed light on and re-evaluate the groups' roles. This film is a part of the 2011 Chesapeake Bay Week series of television programs.  

University of Baltimore Environmental Sciences Summer Academy - August 2011 - The 2011 University of Baltimore Environmental Sciences Summer Academy is for high school students, and is led by Stanley Kemp and Wolf Pecher, both lecturers in the University's Division of Liberal Studies and experienced environmentalists. The program consists of two off-campus field trips, laboratory work and a number of related classroom activities. As many as 14 students will be selected to participate. Among the opportunities presented to them will be field studies of two of Maryland's key ecosystems: the urban watershed known as the Jones Falls, and the singularly inspiring Chesapeake Bay-the nation's largest estuary and home to more than 300 species of fish, crab and shellfish. Applications are now being accepted.

Candlewick Press Earns Environmental Stewardship Award (Salisbury University Press Release, 3/31/11)

Get a Charge Out of New UMD Electric Car Charging Stations (UM Newsdesk; University of Maryland, College Park; 3/31/11)

University of Maryland Named One of 20 Bike-Friendly Campuses (By Arlette Philogene; UM Newsdesk; University of Maryland, College Park; 3/30/11)

Women of the Storm urge Congress to devote BP penalties to coastal restoration (By Jonathan Tilove, NOLA.com, 3/29/11) [Article quotes Dr. Donald F. Boesch, President of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and a member of President Obama's Gulf Oil Spill Commission]

State of Maryland News

April 7^th - Creating 8-80 Cities: Walking, Cycling & Public Places for All, with Gil Peñalosa, executive director of 8-80 Cities, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Bain Center, in Columbia, MD. Peñalosa is passionate about vibrant and healthy communities. As the commissioner of Parks, Sport and Recreation for the City of Bogotá, Colombia, Peñalosa's team initiated the "new Ciclovia" - car-free Sundays - today an internationally-recognized program that sees more than 1.3 million people walk, run, skate and bike along 75 miles of Bogotá's city roads. Registration is desired but not required to attend this presentation. To register, or to find out more information, please respond via e-mail to Event.RSVP@ColumbiaAssociation.com. The Bain Center is located at 5470 Ruth Keeton Way in Columbia. Hosted by the Columbia Association, for more information, contact Sheila L. Green at 410-715-3171. [PDF]

Gardening with an edge: Raised beds help beginners grow vegetables one square at a time (By Susan Reimer, The Baltimore Sun, 4/1/11)

Lawmakers weigh incentives for trash-burning energy plants: Environmentalists oppose legislation (By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun, 4/1/11)

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

• Practices
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• Climate Change Definitions
• Facilities Master Planning
• Statewide Sustainability Efforts
• ACUPCC National Benchmarking
• Useful Links and References

Report: Maryland falling short on energy-saving goals: PIRG says mismanagement by regulators led to slow progress (By Liz F. Kay, The Baltimore Sun, 3/30/11)

O'Malley offers further compromise on wind (By Julie Bykowicz, The Baltimore Sun - Maryland Politics, 3/30/11)

Going less green on lawns to help the Bay (By Tim Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun - B'More Green Blog, 3/28/11)

National and International News

The Truth, Still Inconvenient (By Paul Krugman, The New York Times - Opinion, 4/3/11)

Hexavalent Chromium: Tap Water Industry Knew About Brockovich Chemical For Years, Reports EWG (By Joanna Zelman, The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 4/4/11)

Oil Rises to 30-Month High on Libya Conflict; OPEC Output Slides (By Ann Koh and James Paton, Bloomberg News, 4/1/11)

Preparing for a Warmer Planet (Reported by Ira Flatow, NPR - Science Friday, 4/1/11)

Saudi Arabia to Target Solar Power in $100 Billion Energy Plan (By Anthony DiPaola, Bloomberg News, 3/31/11)

Obama's latest vision on energy security: Obama's grab-bag approach, forced by political reality, contains a bit of everything - oil drilling, nuclear, renewables, even coal. But the unifying goal is still less US dependence on foreign oil. (By The Monitor's Editorial Board, The Christian Science Monitor - The Monitor's View, 3/31/11)

President Obama calls for one-third cut to oil imports (By Steven Mufson, The Washington Post - Business, 3/30/11)

Obama Lays Out Plan to Cut Reliance on Fuel Imports (By John M. Broder, The New York Times, 3/30/11)

Less than 50 Years of Oil Left, HSBC Warns (By John Collins Rudolf, The New York Times - Green Blog, 3/30/11)

An Energy Plan Derailed by Events Is Being Retooled (By John Broder, The New York Times - Energy and Environment, 3/30/11)

FACTBOX-Energy issues facing the White House (Reported by Ayesha Rascoe, Roberta Rampton and Timothy Gardner; edited by Sofina Mirza-Reid, Reuters UK, 3/30/11)

Japan Nuclear Crisis: Setbacks Mount In Leaking Plant (By Mari Yamaguchi, The Huffington Post - World Blog, 3/30/11)

Cleaner Cars, Less Foreign Oil:  A Path to Economic Prosperity and Oil Security (By John Podesta, Carl Pope, Gene Karpinski; Center for American Progress - Energy and Environment, 3/30/11)

Sea Turtle Deaths Anger Mississippi Residents (By Rocky Kistner, NRDC as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 3/29/11)

You Saw the Movie; Now Here's the Book (By Justin Gillis, The New York Times - Green Blog, 3/29/11)

BP Employee Loses Laptop Containing 13,000 Oil Spill Claimants' Personal Data (The Associated Press as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 3/29/11)

BP Managers May Face Manslaughter Charges Following Gulf Oil Spill: Bloomberg Report (By Tom Bergin and Dominic Lau, Reuters London, 3/29/11)

Visions of an Interconnected Europe: Plans for more efficient transport would connect Europe's road, rail, air and water networks, cut dependence on oil imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (The European Commission - Transport and Travel, 3/28/11)

Obama tells government to prepare for climate change, whether Congress likes it or not (By Jess Zimmerman, Grist.org - Politics Blog, 3/28/11)

Pedaling away from the health care crisis (By Elly Blue, Grist.org - Biking Blog, 3/28/11)

Record gas prices blamed on peak oil: Manitoba pump price has never been higher in March (By Mychaylo Prystupa, CBC News [Canada], 3/28/11)

Japan's Fukushima: incorrect readings, radioactive water found in tunnels: A string of conflicting reports, alleged safety mishaps, and miscalculated radiation readings have added to confusion and unease in Japan surrounding the nuclear situation. (By Gavin Blair, The Christian Science Monitor, 3/28/11)