Making Change

SUSTAINABLE Cleveland

Submitted by lmcshane on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 08:34.

 

Sustainable Cleveland 2019:   

Celebrating Energy Efficiency in 2011!  

Thursday, March 31, 2011 

4:00-6:00 p.m.

Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs

Glickman-Miller Hall, Roberta Steinbacher Atrium

1717 Euclid Avenue 

Cleveland State University  

Celebrating Energy Efficiency!

( categories: )

I caught this on a back page, and seen this and knew it needed to be put on the front page.

Submitted by savcash on Sun, 03/20/2011 - 18:05.

 It is important information that I (and others agree with) So I quote; "  A CAREFULLY MANICURED SET OF FACTUAL PREMISE DO NOT NECESSARILY AMOUNT TO TRUTH. (see more below)

Draft Plan EJ 2014 Implementation Plans outline actions EPA will take to advance environmental justice in each area of focus

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Fri, 03/18/2011 - 05:55.

Draft Plan EJ 2014 Implementation Plans New!

To accomplish the goals outlined in Plan EJ 2014, the EPA developed nine Draft Implementation Plans which will guide agency actions in rulemaking, permitting, compliance and enforcement, community-based action, Administration wide action, science, law, information, and resources. The Draft Implementation Plans outline EPA goals, strategies, activites, deliverables, and milestones for each of the nine areas.

For each of the Draft Implementation Plans, we are asking for feedback from the public on how we can continue to address the issues that are most important to ensuring the protection of the air, water and land that support all of our nation’s communities and will result in environmental and economic health benefits.

Submit Public Comments on Regulations.gov

An important announcement from the publisher of The New York Times - "as we introduce digital subscriptions"

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 03/17/2011 - 17:24.

An important announcement from the publisher of The New York Times

Dear New York Times Reader,

Today marks a significant transition for The New York Times as we introduce digital subscriptions. It’s an important step that we hope you will see as an investment in The Times, one that will strengthen our ability to provide high-quality journalism to readers around the world and on any platform. The change will primarily affect those who are heavy consumers of the content on our Web site and on mobile applications.

This change comes in two stages. Today, we are rolling out digital subscriptions to our readers in Canada, which will enable us to fine-tune the customer experience before our global launch. On March 28, we will begin offering digital subscriptions in the U.S. and the rest of the world.

Medical wonders - blind man made to SEE thru his tooth!

Submitted by savcash on Wed, 03/16/2011 - 20:09.

Blind man sees wife for first time after having a tooth implanted into his eye
Seeing clearly: Martin Jones opens his newly-sighted eye fitted with a tooth. When Martin  met his wife four years ago, he never imagined that one day he would get to see what she looked like.  The 42-year-old builder was left blind after an accident at work more than a decade ago.

But a remarkable operation - which implants part of his tooth in his eye - has now pierced his world of darkness.

I'm certain more people than ever in history are interested in the subject of global air pollution monitoring by analyzing corn

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 13:15.


U.S. Fossil Fuel Carbon Dioxide Map (red = most polluted, blue = least polluted)

I'm certain more people than ever in history are interested in the subject of global air pollution monitoring, as a deteriorating cluster of nuclear power plant disasters in Northern Japan are already contaminating the Earth's atmosphere with deadly radioactive emissions, which will blow across the Pacific Ocean and in other directions to all points downwind until they settle back to Earth, on us, our land, in our water, and into our food-streams.

From the Wall Street Journal's Monday, March 13, reporting about nuclear fallout from the meltdown in Japan, which has taken many turns for the worst since then...

If the Japanese nuclear core were to melt, certain radioactive materials, such as iodine, strontium and cesium, would also be released. These particles are one-quarter the size of a grain of salt and can be carried by winds. The larger the grains, the more quickly they would fall out of the air.

U.S. import prices rose 1.4 percent in February, the U.S. BLS reported today, following a similar 1.3 percent rise in January

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 11:25.

The  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics just released its U.S. IMPORT AND EXPORT PRICE INDEXES – FEBRUARY 2011 - reporting ongoing significant price increase trends in core sectors of the global economy - like US import and export food and energy prices - that indicate US annual inflation in the double-digits for many products and services impacting daily life in America... like the price of gasoline, milk and bread. The impacts worldwide - especially in developing countries - will be staggering... radicalizing.

21st Century Expressions of The Second Sex

Submitted by lmcshane on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 04:51.
04/01/2011 - 18:00
04/01/2011 - 22:00
Etc/GMT-4

21st Century Expressions of The Second Sex will showcase selected works by leading female regional artists, created in the world in which women artists must live. The pieces may span the decades of a career or reflect new work produced specifically for the show.

Opening Reception:
Friday, April 1, 2011 from 6 pm –10 pm

Location

1433 East 33rd Street
Cleveland , OH 44114
United States
Phone: 216.881.7838

Kendall Law Group Investigates The Lubrizol Corporation Acquisition for Shareholders

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 16:36.

Kendall Law Group Investigates The Lubrizol Corporation Acquisition for Shareholders

DALLAS, Mar 14, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Kendall Law Group, led by former federal judge Joe Kendall, is investigating The Lubrizol Corporation (NYSE: LZ) for shareholders in connection with the proposed acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The national securities firm's investigation seeks to determine whether Lubrizol and its Board breached their fiduciary duties by entering into the agreement without properly shopping for a deal that would provide better value for shareholders. If you are a Lubrizol shareholder and would like additional information about your rights, contact the Kendall Law Group at 877-744-3728 or by email at skendall [at] kendalllawgroup [dot] com.

On March 14, 2011, the companies announced the definitive merger agreement under which Lubrizol would be acquired by Berkshire Hathaway, in a transaction valued at approximately $9 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Lubrizol stockholders will receive $135.00 in cash for each share of Lubrizol/LZ common stock held. According to Thompson/First Call, analysts have set a price target as high as $148.00 per share for Lubrizol stock. Earlier this year, Lubrizol reported higher-than-expected fourth quarter profits and issued a "bullish forecast for 2011," with Chief Executive Officer James Hambrick stating: "I reiterate my deep confidence in our ability to deliver an eighth consecutive record year of earnings." The firm's investigation seeks to determine whether Lubrizol and its Board negotiated a deal that provides the best value available to shareholders.

EPA's 2005 National Air Toxins Assessment looks at human health impacts from estimated, chronic air toxin exposure

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 03/14/2011 - 06:14.

EPA's 2005 National Air Toxins Assessment human cancer risk from estimated, chronic inhalation exposures based on emissions data from the 2005 National Emissions Inventory for hazardous air pollutants, assuming these emissions remain constant throughout one's lifetime
EPA's 2005 National Air Toxins Assessment looks at human health impacts from estimated, chronic inhalation exposures based on emissions data from the
2005 National Emissions Inventory for hazardous air pollutants, assuming these emissions remain constant throughout one's lifetime

On March 11, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a press release (below) and held conference calls supporting release of the fourth update of the National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) - a computer tool that helps federal, state, local governments and other stakeholders better understand the potential health risks from exposure to air toxics.  The EPA  states: "the National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) contains 2005 emissions data submitted primarily from the states for 178 pollutants. Models are used to make broad estimates of health risks for areas of the country.  The tool is not designed to determine actual health risks to individuals living in these areas." "Because the data submitted varies from state to state, it is also not possible to use the data to compare risks between different areas of the country."

As someone who lives in Cleveland, Ohio, which the Federal EPA and their NATA prove is highly polluted and unhealthy, I truly appreciate access to all environmental data management and mapping services the EPA may provide, as real-time as possible. These federal government tools offer citizens access to information that allows us to make better life-decisions - like where to live - and empowers us to be better environmental stewards - like shutting down coal pollution in our own backyards.

Yale University Identifies Six Distinct “Americas” When It Comes To The Issue Of Global Warming - Where Do You Live?

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Sun, 03/13/2011 - 20:09.

U.S. Commerce Department Announces $12 million i6 Green Challenge to Promote Clean Energy Innovation and Economic Growth

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 03/10/2011 - 13:20.

U.S. Commerce Department Announces Launch of i6 Green Challenge to Promote Clean Energy Innovation and Economic Growth

U.S. departments of Agriculture, Commerce and Energy, along with the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation, support entrepreneurship initiative

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) and its Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship today announced the opening of its $12 million i6 Green Challenge in partnership with the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, and Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. ‪

EDA will award up to $1 million to each of six teams around the country with the most innovative ideas to drive technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in support of a green innovation economy, increased U.S. competitiveness and new jobs. Its partner agencies will award more than $6 million in additional funding to i6 Green winners.

Celebrate the 2nd Annual Hemp History Week - May 2nd-8th 2011 - a national grassroots education campaign

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 03/10/2011 - 03:44.

Hemp History Week website

Wherever you live in America, there should be some near-by gathering, event, public meeting or celebration in support of Hemp History Week - May 2nd-8th 2011 - and if there isn't, you may help organize one in your community. Check their website for planned events - and how to organize events - and do it ASAP, as events registered by March 15th may get hemp product samples to distribute, and that is worth hustling-for.

The sponsors and supporters of Hemp History Week include Vote Hemp, the Hemp Industry Association, and leading hemp manufacturers, natural foods retailers, celebrities, farmers, historians and hemp advocates. "Hemp History Week is all about celebrating the goodness of hemp", and that is something all these organizers and millions of other people are working hard to make legal in every state across America - like New Mexico is succeeding with this week - to making hemp agriculture legal in America and worldwide, as is the mission of Vote Hemp and other advocacy organizations, large and small.

The steepness of the drop prompted a skeptical reaction at Cleveland City Hall. "We believe it is a significant undercount"

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Thu, 03/10/2011 - 01:44.


Data provided by U.S. Census Bureau.

Cleveland Sees Plunge in Population, reports the Wall Street Journal today, announcing: "A larger-than-expected exodus from Cleveland during the past decade shrunk the city's population by 17% to about 397,000, according to U.S. Census data released Wednesday." That's right, Cleveland's population has crashed below the 400K floor for the first time since around the start of the 20th Century, which triggers all sorts of unsustainable, shrinking, un-re-imaginable financial and political realities for leadership and citizens here.

Perhaps the only silver lining is that this proof of Cleveland political and leadership failure will have a significant price of leaders' heads. From the Wall Street Journal:

Political observers said the decline could tilt the balance of political power in one of America's most hotly contested swing states.

"Ohio is expected to lose two congressional districts, and this big decline in Cleveland suggests that both could come out of northeastern Ohio," a Democratic stronghold, said John Green, a University of Akron political-science professor.

A reminder: The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is hosting a FREE Brief Advice and Referral Clinic

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 23:11.
03/12/2011 - 09:45
03/12/2011 - 12:00
Etc/GMT-4

A reminder: The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is hosting a FREE Brief Advice and Referral Clinic

Location

Langston Hughes Center
2390 East 79th Street
Cleveland, OH
United States

New Mexico State - House Agriculture Committee has passed Historic Bill HB 565 for licensing the growing of “Industrial Hemp"

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 16:21.


State Rep Ray Begaye (NM-4) discusses the positive impact of biotech and
the potential offered by hemp biotech in his state

Attached is New Mexico House Bill 565 (.pdf - 214 kb), and below is the press release announcing INDUSTRIAL HEMP BILL RECEIVING SUPPORT FROM NM LEGISLATORS - the House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee has passed Bill HB 565 relating to agriculture: Providing for licensing, growing, selling and processing of “Industrial Hemp - Santhica”.

House Bill No. 565 is sponsored by Raye Begaye (D-NM 4th District ), NM State Representative 7th term: Vice Chair; House Agriculture and Water Resources Committee; Concurrent Jurisdiction for Tribes, Nations, Pueblos and the State of New Mexico.

The progess of this bill was announced by Ray Begaye - from their press release: "House Bill 565 passed the agriculture committee by a vote of 8-l this past Monday.  The bill will go to the Judiciary Committee and then onto the Floor of NM legislature.  House Bill 565 upon passage will stimulate the New Mexico economy with producers, processors, manufacture, and growers."

New Mexico Industrial Hemp Coalition Contacts are Bernice Muskrat, Attorney at Law and CFO for The Native International Solutions, Inc. - Bernicemuskrat [at] yahoo [dot] com - 575-759-4412... and Gloria Castillo, President; New Mexico Hemp Commission - gjc777 [at] gmail [dot] com - 505-554-5476. They are taking donations through the non-profit Rural Coalition to support these efforts.

They are each and all to be congratulated!!

Among the reasons New Mexico passed this bill, from their Press Release about NMHB 565 and industrial hemp: 

How Does the Electricity I Use Compare to the National Average? User friendly web tool allows Americans to search by zip code

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 12:34.

I just received an email from the EPA announcing it "updated its database that helps Americans understand the health and environmental impacts of electricity generation" and now provides a useful public interface - "Power Profiler is a user friendly online application that uses eGRID data to show air emissions information and the type of electricity generation, such as coal or nuclear, in various regions of the country.  By simply entering a zip code and selecting a utility, users can learn more about where their electricity comes from and what impact it has on air quality and the environment."

Good morning, The state of the American education system today is unacceptable.... let me know what you think:

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 10:28.

The White House, Washington

Good morning,

The state of the American education system today is unacceptable. As many as one quarter of American students don’t finish high school. We've fallen to ninth place in the proportion of young people with college degrees. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations.

For the sake of the next generation, and America's economic future, this has to change.

Steve Martin’s The Underpants - Matthew Earnest returns to direct farcical comedy at Beck Center - April 1 through 23, 2011

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 09:30.

Steve Martin’s The Underpants - Matthew Earnest returns to direct farcical comedy at Beck Center

Lakewood, OH—Beck Center for the Arts presents The Underpants, Steve Martin’s contemporary adaptation of a turn-of-the-century satire by German Expressionist Carl Sternheim, on the Mackey Main Stage, April 1 through 23, 2011. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. The performance on Saturday, April 9 is sold out for a private event.

In The Underpants, Martin brings his comic genius and sophisticated literary style to Sternheim’s classic 1910 farce. His hilarious version opened Off-Broadway in 2002 to critical acclaim. The New York Times called the show “laugh-out-loud funny” and the Village Voice said it was “hilarious and bawdy.”

Advance in Biofuel - using bacteria to convert plant matter directly into isobutanol, which can be burned in regular car engines

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 20:07.

http://www.ornl.gov/ornlhome/images/print/header_print.jpg

Energy Department Announces New Advance in Biofuel Technology

Highlights Opportunity to Reduce America's Oil Dependence and Create Jobs in Rural America

March 07, 2011

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today congratulated a team of researchers at the Department's BioEnergy Science Center who have achieved yet another advance in the drive toward next generation biofuels: using bacteria to convert plant matter directly into isobutanol, which can be burned in regular car engines with a heat value higher than ethanol and similar to gasoline. This research is part of a broad portfolio of work the Department is doing to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil and create new economic opportunities for rural America.

Green Power Network RFP Update: solicitations for renewable energy generation, renewable energy certificates, and green power

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 19:40.

This update contains solicitations for renewable energy generation, renewable energy certificates, and green power as a courtesy to our subscribers. Unless otherwise noted, these requests for proposals and solicitations are neither supported nor endorsed by the U.S. Department of Energy, Green Power Network.

March 31, 2011
Dayton Power and Light Company (DP&L) RFP seeking qualified solid biofuel materials for use at two of its generating stations for the next three years to meet Ohio RPS requirements. DP&L will consider contracts for quantities starting in the 4th quarter of 2011 and in the years 2012-2014. Questions due by March 23, 2011.

EPA Awards $32 million to fund four Clean Air Research Centers at universities conducting cutting edge air pollution research

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 18:59.

EPA Awards $32 Million to Understand Health Impacts of Air Pollution

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $32 million to fund four new Clean Air Research Centers at universities conducting cutting edge air pollution research. The research will focus on the impacts of air pollution mixtures on people’s health. It is important to understand the health risks associated with exposure to multiple air pollutants because people are exposed to more than one pollutant at a time.“These centers are critical to understanding how to improve air quality and protect Americans’ health from complex mixtures of air pollutants,” said Dr. Paul Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “The centers will focus on important scientific questions remaining in air research.”

Energy Matters, the quarterly newsletter for the U.S. Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies Program (ITP)

Submitted by Norm Roulet on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 18:44.

Winter 2011 Issue of Energy Matters Now Available

Energy Matters, the quarterly newsletter for the U.S. Department of Energy's Industrial Technologies Program (ITP), provides in-depth articles to help industry professionals save energy, reduce costs, and increase productivity.

The Winter 2011 issue includes the following: