Staunton Green 2020

Virginia Natural Resource Leadership Institute (VNRLI) is now accepting applications for Fellows.

Here’s more info on the program:

VNRLI is changing the way people make environmental decisions in the Commonwealth by helping Virginians take on the most challenging, costly and divisive local, regional and state environmental and land use issues through collaborative problem solving – reaching beyond common ground to “higher ground.” Our graduate Fellows – numbering over 250 – are working professionals in industry, small and independent businesses, local, state and federal government, educational institutions, and environmental, civic and non-profit organizations.

We are accepting applications for the 2010-2011 session workshops: six three-day learning experiences that we offer approximately two months apart – starting in September 2010 and ending in June 2011. The sessions usually start at mid-day on a Wednesday and end by mid-day on Friday. We offer each session in a different location in Virginia and focus on a set of natural resource issues of interest to citizens there. However, the underlying Institute theme across all sessions is to develop leaders who can help groups involved in contentious natural resources issues move beyond conflict toward consensus building and collaborative problem solving.

The VNRLI program grew out of a strong partnership between the University of Virginia Institute for Environmental Negotiation, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Department of Forestry and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Our alumni are involved in collaborative efforts in local, state and federal government, business and the nonprofit sector. They tell us that the VNRLI experience has helped them have the confidence and skill to get involved in resolving conflict in their work. They also report that the VNRLI experience has enhanced their careers and fostered new opportunities.

If you are interested in becoming a VNRLI Fellow, please visit our website:

http://www.virginia.edu/ien/vnrli/index.html

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico just got scarier. NPR reported today that the spill could be considerably worse than originally believed. See the story here. It would be easy to get bummed out by the environmental damage, angry about the economic consequences and worried about the potential increase in gas prices. Instead take action to reduce your dependence on oil. Here are some steps to consider:

1. Help SG2020 in our efforts to create clean energy and green jobs in our community. EMAIL US: StauntonGreen AT gmail.com (insert @ in place of AT, no spaces!)
2. Make better transportation choices: walk, cycle, take the train, carpool, or recycle an old car for an energy efficient model. Plus, turn off the mower, blower and other small engines. Finally, combine errands into one trip.
3. Talk to friends, neighbors and local politicians; discuss what we all can do to move the entire city to greener and lower carbon practices.
4. Shop at locally owned businesses, support Augusta County agriculture. Join a CSA this summer.
5. Attend Staunton Green 2020 events — such as End of Suburbia at the Mockingbird on Thur. May 20 @ 7pm
6. Buy less stuff and when you do make a purchase, bring your own (petro free) bag!  Rethink your purchasing priorities. And of course recycle, reduce, reuse, renovate and restore.
7. Reduce your home’s carbon footprint by 20% by 2020 and save on your monthly bills and be eligible for BIG state and federal income tax incentives.
8. Demand environmental education in local schools; talk to school board members and teachers.  Instruct children in sustainable living.
9. Let  local, state and national lawmakers know your feelings.
10. Support SG2020 by making a tax-deductible donation through the Staunton Creative Community Fund.  Make your checks payable to SCCF and place SG2020 on your memo line. Your donation is  fully deductible to the extent allowed by law. Send checks to:  SCCF, 35 S. New St. Staunton VA 24401

Did you know that if you walk through your house with conventional lawn chemicals on your shoes the chemicals hang around… sometimes up to a year! Those same dangerous chemicals that run-off and contaminate the Chesapeake Bay watershed after some rain also stick around your house lingering in carpets and household dust for a year or more according to Environmental Science and Technology. Okay, that’s a bummer. But the problem is far more pervasive.

Last month (Apr. 2010) the President’s Cancer Panel released the report, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk, which details how we are exposed to up to 80,000 dangerous, unregulated chemicals from not only industry and manufacturing, but also in our homes, at work, through agricultural activities and our front lawns. The report is incredibly (and depressingly) comprehensive.

One of the scariest elements of the report is the acknowledgment that children are often most vulnerable to these chemicals.

The report pulls no punches and at the end of the Executive Summary the authors take their case to President Obama:

“The Panel urges you most strongly to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our Nation’s productivity, and devastate American lives.”

Related articles by Zemanta

• The 2008-2009 Report of the President’s Cancer Panel: Mostly good, some bad, and a little ugly (sciencebasedmedicine.org)
• The President’s Cancer Panel steps into it (scienceblogs.com)
• President’s Cancer Panel Warns of Cancerous Chemicals in Environment (grantlawrence.blogspot.com)
• Cancer panel: Unregulated chemicals pose serious risk (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Cancers from Environment ‘Grossly Underestimated’ (abcnews.go.com)
• Tackle environmental cancers, Obama urged (cbc.ca)

Check this out… these guys are riding their bikes around Virginia. But they are not just hitting all four corners of the Old Dominion, they are stopping in 13 cities from Winchester to Richmond playing social and environmental justice music. They figured if they were really committed to a healthy planet they couldn’t just make art about it; they had to live it. The 2nd annual Petrol-Free Gypsy Carnival Tour starts in Harrisonburg and comes to the Darjeeling Cafe in Staunton on May 12. Check it out.

On Thursday May 6, the House of Representatives passed the Home Star bill dubbed “Cash for Caulkers” because homeowners could collect thousands of dollars in rebates for renovating their homes with better insulation and energy-saving windows and doors. Caulking, adding attic insulation, installing energy star appliances are great ways to cut energy costs, reduce carbon emissions and save money. But without incentives it is tough to take these kind of actions.

Ready to make changes in your home? Keep an eye out this fall for Staunton Green 2020 re-skilling workshops on all sorts of topics that will help you green your fall and save you money this winter.

The bill (H.R. 5019) now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Related articles by Zemanta

• House Passes $6 Billion Cash for Caulkers Bill (dailyfinance.com)
• Insulating an Attic is Among the Best Green Investments (saving-energy.suite101.com)
• Small Contractors Await ‘Cash for Caulkers’ (businessweek.com)
• How the proposed Cash for Caulkers program works (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Do you need to build a brand new LEED platinum house to go green? Not at all. There are great examples in downtown Staunton that demonstrate how preserving is often the wisest environmental and economic choice. Join the fine folks from Historic Staunton Foundation this Friday, May 7 at 5pm for an hour tour of downtown Staunton revitalization and preservation initiatives that are green.

Meet at the R.R. Smith Center for History & Art (20 South New St. Staunton, VA). A reception will follow the tour. Free.  Open to the public.