2nd Green Revolution

The following article is by Alison Hopcroft,a sustainability and carbon management consultant who works for Fluid Market Strategies in Portland, Oregon. Alison is leading a free webinar on carbon management this Tuesday, March 2nd at 12pm EST.

Despite the fact that hope for meaningful climate legislation has all but completely disappeared for this session of Congress, climate regulation will be arriving at some point in the near future. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the avenue for this regulation, and although many industry groups and a group of senators are challenging the EPA’s Endangerment Finding released last December advocating for a slower phase-in of regulations with higher reporting thresholds, the EPA’s Final Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases Rule is still in effect (Read more about these challenges in the New York Times and the Washington Post)

Regulation means that there will be an increased need for professionals who can quantify and verify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Quantification is the accounting of all of an organization’s emissions, otherwise known as developing a GHG inventory. Verification is essentially an audit (the act of verifying that the quantification was performed accurately) and follows the reporting protocols and meets reporting standards. Read the rest of this entry »

One of my favorite concepts to teach in my science classes revolves around population growth. Looking at the exponential growth of the human population over the past two centuries always gives me pause for reflection. How can the earth support this continually growing number of people? What is its carrying capacity?

It is with this in mind that I debated having children. The impact of more people, especially with regards to the level of consumption in Western society, weighed heavily on my mind. Watching National Geographic’s special The Human Footprint a few years ago made me ponder this fact even more.

Now that I have a child, born on Tuesday night, I have the ultimate responsibility to the next generation. Read the rest of this entry »

With the movement for outdoor education and increasing youths’ general experiences in nature gaining steam, legislation referred to as “No Child Left Inside” (NCLI) passed its first major hurdle. Directly related to the work of Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, NCLI aims to combat what Louv terms nature-deficit disorder.

The state of Connecticut has their own initiative of the same name. Intended to “encourage Connecticut families and visitors alike to enjoy all the recreational resources and outdoor activities available in Connecticut’s state parks, forests and waterways”, the state’s directive aims to reconnect families with Connecticut’s natural environs. Read the rest of this entry »

We are pleased to announce the opening of a very modest “2nd Green Store” on our site. It can be found underneath the “Features” tab in the drop-down menu at the top of our homepage. The store currently has books that we’ve reviewed on the site for sale through Amazon. We plan to add more products as we expand the store this year. This will be one part of our expansion, in conjunction with a website redesign we are working on for release sometime in the next few months. For now, let us know if there are any other books you would like to see in the new 2nd Green Store.

Justin and Eric,

2nd Green Revolution

On or around the first of every month, 2nd Green Revolution updates the green events calendar for the coming month. Last November we began including a post highlighting some of the intriguing events for that month. This month has fewer events, but some intriguing themes have emerged in the post-Copenhagen world. In the United States, there are two conferences dealing with carbon caps and emissions.

Several international conferences dealing with sustainability and clean energy are also on the horizon this month. Here is a sampling of a few domestic and international symposiums that caught our eye.

Conference: The New Green Economy
Dates: January 20-22nd
Location: Washington, DC
Further information: http://ncseonline.org/conference/greeneconomy/ Read the rest of this entry »

Much of the writing in academic circles and popular nonfiction regarding sustainability reiterates the importance of place in sustainability. In fact, one of our earliest guest posts on 2nd Green Revolution was titled “Place Really Does Matter.” From academics like David Sobel at Antioch University in Keene, New Hampshire to nature advocate Richard Louv – whose latest book Last Child in the Woods was reviewed recently on 2nd Green Revolution – a number of thinkers in the field of sustainability have rallied around the importance of place to sustainable development. What this means,  primarily, is that in order for sustainable behaviors to take root, there must be a connection to place and a willingness to begin acting sustainably. Read the rest of this entry »

On or around the first of every month, 2nd Green Revolution updates the upcoming green events calendar for the coming month. Last month we began including a post highlighting some of the intriguing events for that month.

This month there are several international conferences posted on Conference Alerts. Here are a few domestic and a couple of international conferences of interest, including the United Nations’ long anticipated meeting in Copenhagen. Read the rest of this entry »

• 13% of homes purchased in the US are 2nd homes
• The United States has more cars than licensed drivers
• Self-storage has become a $17 billion dollar annual business (larger than the motion picture industry)
• Buildings generate as much pollution as autos and factories combined
• A study at Georgetown University found that even if the students, teachers, and educational approach remained the same, improving a school’s physical environment could increase test scores by as much as 11 percent.
• A study in Pittsburgh’s MontefioreHospital, surgery patients in rooms with ample natural light required less pain medication, and their drug costs were 21 percent lower, than their counterparts in traditional rooms.

These facts come courtesy of Daniel Pink’s 2006 book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. As an extra, we have included a 6th fact from Pink’s book. (Note: The first four pertain specifically to the United States.)

- 2nd Green Revolution

[image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art]

Rachel Gutter, Head of Education for the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), addressed the Colorado chapter’s Green Schools Summit on October 1st. Gutter works “on a national level to promote and facilitate the design, construction and operations of high performance, green schools and higher education facilities. She oversees USGBC’s National Green Schools Campaign as well as the LEED for Schools Green Building Rating System®, USGBC’s market-specific guidelines that recognize the unique nature and educational aspects of the design and construction of K-12 educational facilities.”

In her presentation, titled “The State of Green Schools,” Gutter stated that the USGBC’s vision for the future of school buildings is to have all green schools within a generation. With more than 125,000 K-12 schools in the United States, this a bold and broad goal. Read the rest of this entry »