Week of June 13, 2011

News from Across the USM Campuses

June 17^th - Rooftop Garden Summer Work Party - South Campus Dining Hall, second floor; University of Maryland, College Park - Join the students of UMD Rooftop Community Gardens to help build the garden on the roof of the South Campus Dining Hall.

June 18^th - Gardening Workshop and Drawing for 10 Free Rain Barrels - 10am-noon, Davis Hall, 9217 51st Avenue, College Park, MD 20740 - One-hour workshop on Water Conservation and Gardens, including seven basic principles to ensure that you save water, money and time. Kimberley M. Knox-community outreach manager for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), coordinator of WSSC's native-plant demonstration garden, member of the Beltsville Garden Club, and editor of Landscaping for Water Conservation: Xeriscape! To Register: Please email janiso@erols.com or call Elisa Vitale at 240-487-3538, X2.

August 20^th - Campus Sustainability Case Studies - National Wildlife Federation - Campus Ecology has been helping individuals and campuses address sustainability and climate change since 1989, and our members have been making a difference. We have their stories to prove it. Campus Ecology gathers these case studies to document and celebrate the great work being done at colleges and universities across the country, and to help others learn from these projects. Campus Ecology is currently accepting case studies for the 2010-2011 academic year. Case studies are due August 20, 2011.

Terps Win Maryland Green Registry Leadership Award [PDF] - The Maryland Green Registry Leadership Awards recognize organizations that have shown a strong commitment to the implementation of sustainable practices, the demonstration of measurable results, and the continuous improvement of environmental performance. Read here how these award winners achieved their environmental successes and continue to move their organization forward along the path to sustainability.

In UMBC power outage, students turn to games, conversation: Students discover talking and other low-tech pastimes during days-long power outage on campus (By Laura Vozzella, The Baltimore Sun, 6/6/11)

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

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

Coal exports through port booming: Asian demand for fuel turns bay into parking lot (By Michael Dresser, The Baltimore Sun, 6/11/11)

Taste: Urban foraging takes root: Locavores shop parks and yards for fresh greens and other wild foods (By Laura Vozzella, The Baltimore Sun, 6/6/11)

O'Malley orders Marcellus shale study (By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun, 6/6/11)

National and International News

Best news of the year: Solar-power costs plunge (By Jay Hancock, The Baltimore Sun - Jay Hancock's Blog, 6/10/11)

Montana Overwhelmed With Flooding, Supplies Ferried In; Western States To Receive Aid (By Matthew Brown and Stephen Dockery, The Associated Press as reported by The Huffington Post, 6/10/11)

Divided OPEC Losing Control of Oil Market (By Patrick Allen, CNBC.com, 6/10/11)

Worldwide Oil Demand Outweighs OPEC's Present Supply: Report (The Huffington Post - Business Blog, 6/10/11)

Summers Are Going To Get Hotter, Stanford Scientists Say (By Joanna Zelman, The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 6/9/11)

Key regulator: Speculators swamping oil, grain markets (By Kevin G. Hall, McClatchy Newspapers, 6/9/11)

Mitt Romney Attacked For Being Reasonable About Climate Change (The Huffington Post, 6/9/11)

The Gas is Greener (By Robert Bryce, The New York Times - Op Ed Contributor, 6/7/11)

Roundup Birth Defects: Regulators Knew World's Best-Selling Herbicide Causes Problems, New Report Finds (By Lucia Graves, The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 6/7/11)

Opponents Of EPA Greenhouse Gas Regulation Dominate TV News Coverage (The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 6/7/11)

Australian climate scientists receive death threats: Universities move staff into safer accommodation after a large number of threatening emails and phone calls (By Oliver Milman, The [UK] Guardian, 6/6/11)

Ray LaHood Dons Helmet And Bikes To Work (The Huffington Post - Politics Blog, 6/6/11)