	Vol. 1 No. 2
	IN THIS ISSUE: EarthWorks Theme #1: Reducing Our Ecological Footprint Green News Highlights
	WORTH A LOOK: Transition Colorado Starting in mid-2005 as Boulder Valley Relocalization, a dedicated group of people has generated a groundswell of interest in the principles of relocalization that is fast spreading across the state. The latest manifestation of this effort is Transition Colorado, a non-profit organization whose mission is "to catalyze, inspire, encourage, network, support and train communities in Colorado as they consider, adopt, adapt and implement Transition Initiatives." Their website explains that the Transition approach "empowers communities to squarely face the challenges of peak oil and climate change" and to begin re-creating our collective future based on "localized food, sustainable energy sources, resilient local economies and an enlivened sense of community well-being." EarthWorks Expo has proposed to partner with Transition Colorado in 2009 and beyond. Find out more in the November issue of EarthWorks Letter.
	QUOTABLE: "The good news is, we know what to do. The good news is, we have everything we need now to respond to the challenge of global warming. We have all the technologies we need; more are being developed. And as they become available and become more affordable when produced in scale, they will make it easier to respond. But we should not wait, we cannot wait, we must not wait." – Al Gore
	CONTACT: EarthWorks Letter Michael Lindemann, Editor michael@earthworks-expo.com phn: 970-416-8700


	Solar energy is now positioned to become a "significant part of America's energy future."


	The Norwegian Lànstrøm tidal turbine will be used in the Scottish project.


	Will ocean-floor methane soon accelerate climate change?

Dear Friend,

You are receiving this newsletter because you have expressed interest in EarthWorks Expo and in living more sustainably. Please share this information with others. Thank you!

EarthWorks Theme #1:

Reducing Our Ecological Footprint

EarthWorks Expo will focus on three major themes in 2009 and beyond. The first is discussed below. Our other two themes, to be discussed in future issues of EarthWorks Letter, are Relocalization and Greening the Economy.

This discussion on Ecological Footprint is adapted from the website of The Footprint Network.

In a sustainable world, society's demands on nature are in balance with nature's capacity to meet those demands in terms of resources consumed and waste products returned to the environment. But when humanity's ecological demands exceed what nature can continually supply (resources) and absorb (waste), we move into what is termed ecological overshoot. In today’s world there are many clear indications of overshoot, such as collapsing fisheries, carbon-induced climate change, species extinction, deforestation and widespread groundwater depletion.

The Ecological Footprint is a way of quantifying how much of the Earth’s total resource productivity and waste-absorbing capacity is required by human activity. It is possible to estimate the Ecological Footprint of any segment of human population, from humanity as a whole down to individual people. It is estimated that humanity as a whole is consuming at least 23% more biological productivity than the Earth can sustainably produce. This is bad enough; but the average U.S. citizen is consuming, and producing waste, at a vastly higher rate. If everyone on Earth behaved like U.S. citizens, it would take at least five “Earths” to sustain that consumption. Clearly, we must reduce our Ecological Footprint or face disastrous consequences.

What is your Ecological Footprint? Take this short quiz to find out. This is one of several good Footprint calculators available on the web. For comparison, here’s another one you might want to try.

Here's a revealing exercise. After you find out how many "Earths" it would take to sustain your lifestyle on a global basis, take the quiz again and adjust your answers until the resulting lifestyle requires only one Earth. Could you be comfortable living that way?

Even if you’re already very conscientious, there are probably a number of things you can do to reduce your Ecological Footprint. Taking the quiz will alert you to many possibilities in the specific areas of Carbon footprint, Food footprint, Housing footprint and Goods and Services footprint.

For a great list of suggestions on reducing your Footprint, from the website Redefining Progress, Click Here.

If each one of us does a bit more to reduce our Ecological Footprint, our combined efforts will make a big difference. Please pass this information on to others who might be interested.

Green News Highlights

Each issue of the EarthWorks Letter includes several green news reports summarized from the mainstream press, with links to more detailed information.

Renewable Energy Tax Credits Extended
Found in Environmental News Service, Oct 3, 2008

In a huge boon for the solar industry as well as wind, geothermal and other renewables, Congress extended a major package of incentive tax credits as part of the $700 billion bailout legislation passed and signed into law on October 3. The tax incentives, deemed essential to the growth of renewable energy in the U.S., were set to expire at year’s end, and several previous Congressional attempts to extend the incentives had failed. The new package “ensures that solar energy will be a significant part of America's energy future," said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. GO HERE for the whole story.

Scotland Announces World’s First Commercial Tidal Energy Project
Found in The Scotsman, Sept 29, 2008

ScottishPower has announced plans to build three commercial tidal power “farms” in undersea locations, two in Scottish waters and one off Northern Ireland. If the projects proceed on schedule, the installations could be producing up to 60 megawatts of power by 2011, enough to serve 40,000 homes. Scotland has Europe’s best sites for tidal power and could eventually meet one-third of its total energy needs by harnessing the tides. GO HERE for the whole story.

New Study: Ocean Floor Methane is “Time Bomb”
Found in The Canadian Press, Sept 27, 2008

Preliminary results of an international study suggest a methane "time bomb" on the ocean floor threatens to catastrophically warm the climate. Scientists have found significant amounts of methane gas, a much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, bubbling up from the ocean off Russia's north coast as permafrost on the ocean floor melts. The findings suggest that warming due to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere might eventually lead to a massive release of ocean methane, further accelerating climate change. GO HERE for the whole story.