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EarthWorks Announces New
Partner
EarthWorks
Expo is delighted to announce a new partnership with Paradigm
Nouveau Enterprises, a Boulder-based organization dedicated to
meeting the challenges of climate change and using the best of arts
and sciences, business and humanitarian efforts for the stewardship of planet Earth
and the well being of all its diverse inhabitants, human and
non-human alike.
"This partnership
greatly strengthens our ability to create Denver’s most inspiring,
informative and empowering green-living event of the year," said
EarthWorks director Michael Lindemann. "We are proud to welcome
Paradigm Nouveau as a key partner in producing EarthWorks Expo in
2009 and beyond."
Audrey James, visionary
founder and CEO of Paradigm Nouveau Enterprises, has a 25-year
background in transformational education and humanitarian efforts.
Other key members of the Paradigm Nouveau team include Rick Levine,
Chief Operating Officer, and Sarah Larrabee, Director of
Environmental Projects.
Paradigm Nouveau
produces public events showcasing grassroots efforts to meet climate
change. Their flagship gathering in Boulder, Colorado is the Global
Warming Expo. Launched in April 2007 to rave reviews at the Boulder
Theatre, and repeated by popular demand in 2008, the Global Warming
Expo blends entertainment, art, science, business and politics,
creating a community opportunity for individuals to meet and respond
to global warming with inspiration and personal
power.
Paradigm Nouveau is also
an active member of the influential Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).
Launched in 2005 by President Clinton as a non-partisan catalyst for
action, CGI’s approximately 1,000 members are global leaders in such
diverse fields as business, economics, politics, philanthropy,
energy, environment, education, science, art, and entertainment,
unified by their commitments to address the world’s most pressing
challenges.
Members of CGI make
formal commitments to programs addressing one of four key focus
areas: Education, Energy and Climate Change, Global Health, and
Poverty Alleviation. Paradigm Nouveau’s 2007-08 project commitment
for the CGI was the Global Warming Expo. For 2009 and beyond,
Paradigm Nouveau has taken on a more far-reaching CGI commitment:
Sustainable Boulder by 2020 (SB2020), the intention that Boulder,
Colorado will become authentically sustainable as a community by the
year 2020.
Paradigm Nouveau
recognizes that the key to creating sustainable communities lies in
forging partnerships with all sectors, including local, state and
federal governments, businesses, academia, religious institutions
and non-profit organizations. Achieving true sustainability entails,
among other things:
• a healthy economy
• carbon
neutrality
• ensuring clean supplies of fresh
water
• ample local food production
• zero
waste
• reinventing community – new ways of relating,
fostering deep connections with one another and the
planet.
Paradigm Nouveau’s
SB2020 project is intended to offer a replicable model for the rest
of the country and the world.
New Climate Warnings Are Strongest
Yet
Several new announcements from
leading climate researchers comprise the strongest warnings yet
regarding the dangers posed by climate
change.
A new scientific study led by
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) senior
scientist Susan Solomon concludes that climate-related changes
caused by future increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide – including
changes in surface temperature, rainfall and sea level – are largely
irreversible for more than 1,000 years after CO2 emissions are
completely stopped. The findings appear in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences the week of Jan
26.
Meanwhile, an “emergency summit” on
climate change taking place in Copenhagen in mid-March will feature
a Who’s-Who of the world’s top climate scientists. The
International Scientific Congress on Climate Change is not only
a forum for evaluating the latest climate findings but also “a
deliberate attempt to influence policy,” according to Katherine
Richardson of the University of Copenhagen. The summit is prompted
by a growing belief that previous estimates of climate change have
failed to take account of so-called carbon feedbacks that could
accelerate the pace of change far beyond current
expectations.
Speaking at the annual
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
on Feb 14, U.S scientist Christopher Field, founding director of the
Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology at Stanford
University, warned, “We are basically looking now at a future
climate that's beyond anything we've considered seriously in climate
model simulations.”
Wind Jobs
Outstrip Coal Mining in U.S.
Found in Green Wombat,
Fortune.cnn.com
During 2008, the number
of U.S. workers employed in the wind energy industry increased a
remarkable 70% over the previous year, exceeding for the first time
the total number of U.S. workers employed in coal mining. The wind
energy workforce grew to 85,000, compared with an estimated 81,000
employed mining coal.
The huge spike in wind jobs was a result of a record-setting 50%
increase in installed wind capacity, with 8,358 megawatts coming
online in 2008, enough to power some 2 million homes. Wind accounted
for 42% of all new U.S. electricity capacity installed during 2008.
However, it is unclear whether this pace can continue in 2009, as
the global credit crisis is forcing delay or cancellation of many
planned installations. For the whole story, GO
HERE.
Urban Foraging Grows in
Popolarity
Found in the San
Francisco Chronicle
We’ve all seen
it: trees in urban yards, overflowing with delicious-looking apples,
plums, peaches or other fruit, most of which eventually rots on the
ground, wasted. Now, green-minded citizens in cities across America
are reaching out to homeowners with fruit to spare, getting
permission to harvest large amounts of good food free of charge,
often trading for other foods or redistributing the bounty to food
banks, senior citizens and others with limited access to fresh food
items. Depending on locale, the harvest might include citrus, figs,
olives, grapes, berries and various types of nuts and herbs. "This
is not idealistic," says Asiya Wadud, founder of Forage
Oakland. "Rather it is necessary, pragmatic and creative –
especially in times when much of the world is suffering from lack of
access to healthful and satisfying fresh food." The movement is
strong in California, where many varieties of fruit are available
more than half the year; but urban foraging is also taking hold in
Portland, Philadelphia, Boston and other cities.
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