Week of April 1, 2013

News from Across the USM Campuses

April 5^th - Special Joint Seminar with CBEE?Dr. Lee Blaney?Department of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering, UMBC -?"Water is life: The UMBC Engineers Without Borders chapter conducts an assessment trip in Kenya." Seminar will be held on Friday at 2:00 pm in the Technology Research Center, Room 206, on the UMBC campus. The event 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 the seminar.

April 15^th & 16^th - Smart and Sustainable Campus Conference - Colleges and universities are incubators of innovation, tackling the biggest challenges of society through creative means. The 2013 Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference provides the setting to learn, share and explore how campuses are using their passion for innovation to develop technologies, infrastructure, programs and curricula that address the world's most pressing sustainability challenges. For 2013, there is a NEW conference - The DoubleTree by Hilton, in downtown Bethesda. This venue is walking distance to two subway stations and nearly 200 restaurants. Hop on the Bethesda Circulator for a free and convenient ride to any downtown destination. For more information about the conference, contact Aynsley Toews at atoews@umd.edu.

April 27^th - The 5th Annual Towson University Environmental Conference will be held from 10am - 5pm at the University Union, on the campus of Towson University. The annual conference is designed to raise awareness among students, faculty and staff about environmental topics, issues and solutions. Each year members of the campus community gather to hear presentations from faculty, students and environmental leaders in the Baltimore region. The conference addresses the impact of individuals and communities on the environment and actions that individuals and communities can take to positively impact the environment and create a more sustainable world.

Bottle, bag bills headed to summer study? House committee chair aims for comprehensive review of state recycling, waste policies (By Tim Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun, 3/28/13)

Maryland Senate Panel OKs Gas Tax (WNEW Radio - 99.1 FM, 3/28/13)

Easter a time to renew - and for renewable wind energy (The Baltimore Sun - Opinion, 3/25/13)

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

• Practices
• Programs
• Policies

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

$3.5 Trillion? The Insanely High Costs of Subsidizing the Fossil Fuel Industry: IMF says global subsidies to fossil fuels amount to $1.9 trillion a year ... and that's probably an underestimate (Grist.org as reported by CommonDreams.org, 3/29/13)

Injection Well Linked to Destructive Earthquake in Oklahoma, Raising New Fracking Fears (By Mike Ludwig, Truth-out.org, 3/29/13)

EPA Loophole Allows Flood of Pesticides to Litter US Ecosystems: Approval process for toxic substance "grievously flawed" says NRDC (By Carey L. Biron, CommonDreams.org, 3/29/13)

Ted Cruz Cuts Climate Change Mention In Senate International Women's Day Resolution (By Luke Johnson, The Huffington Post - Politics Blog, 3/29/13)

What You Need to Know About the Terrifying Monsanto Protection Act (By Tracy Bloom, Truthdig.com, 3/28/13)

Mystery Malady Kills More Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms (By Michael Wines, The New York Times - 3/28/13)

How Global Warming has Prevented Spring's Arrival (The Thom Hartmann Program, Op-Ed as reported by Truth-out.org, 3/28/13)

Poll: Americans want U.S. to prepare for climate change (By Wendy Koch, USA Today, 3/28/13)

Movement and Place in Urban Design: Thursday March 28, 12-1 pm  (WYPR/National Public Radio - 88.1 FM Radio, The Dan Rodricks Show, 3/28/13)

House Lawmakers Push For Bicyclist, Pedestrian Safety Goals (By Martin Di Caro, WAMU/National Public Radio - 88.5 FM Radio, 3/28/13)

How climate change threatens the seas: Special report: USA TODAY will explore how climate change is affecting Americans in a series of stories this year. (By Dan Vergano, USA Today as reported by DelMarVaNow.com, 3/28/13)

Genetically Modified Bacteria Created By Dr. Ka-Yiu San Could Turn Waste Into Fuel (From Mother Nature Network's John Platt as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 3/28/13)

Obama administration moves ahead with sweeping rules requiring cleaner gasoline (By Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post - Politics, 3/28/13)

Energy secretary nominee Ernest Moniz has deep ties to oil, gas, and nuclear industries (By John Upton, Grist.org, 3/27/13)

Study Challenges Fuel Subsidies (By Reuters as reported by The New York Times, 3/27/13)