This Saturday is International Day of Climate Action — a chance for everyone to take a stand on behalf of the planet and possibly participate in one of 4,300 actions that are planned in 171 countries.

With participation numbers like that, the number “350″ is becoming a popular rallying cry.

“We had no idea it would go viral like this. It seems far-fetched that you could get that many people to rally around a scientific data point, but the number just keeps climbing. It shows just how scared of global warming much of the planet really is, and how fed up at the inaction of our leaders,” said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org.

Added Matt Fitzgerald, a organizer for the group: “We’ve been hearing from the politicians and the corporations, now we’re hearing from the people. And in over 170 countries they’re calling for a Copenhagen agreement that sets us on a rapid path to 350.”

350.org began the International Day of Climate Action campaign not only to wake up politicians, but wake up the world. The group wants everyone to know about and understand the number 350, which signifies the level many scientists have identified as the safe utmost limit for CO2 in the atmosphere, in parts per million.

Here are a few unique events around the US:

Austin

• Get Clean to Get Green

The Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation’s (GNDC) extremely affordable, net-zero energy subdivision is truly raising the bar for local, affordable, community-based development. This large infill project involves subdividing approximately 7.2 acres into four tracts, which will be developed into both multi-family condominiums and single-family homes. Currently the land is vacant, and remediation of the brownfield is starting Saturday. Every unit on this property will have net-zero energy bills. A large portion of these units will be affordable to extremely low-income households. Join in and get dirty.

• Education Stroll

Join in a moving forum that will not only be good for you, but for the planet. Participants will take a walk in their neighborhood or across the city to talk with people about the urgent need to reduce our carbon emissions so we can quickly scramble back to 350ppm. Walkers/educators are asked to carry signs illustrating important concepts and will stop in businesses along the way (where appropriate and arrangements have been previously made) to speak with larger groups. Spread the environmental word.

Chicago

• Chalk Walk

Columbia College Chicago will be celebrating the arts and bringing awareness to the environment. The college will demonstrate how one can make their own paper by reusing old paper and turning it into pulp. Later, each person will be given a piece of chalk in to use to trace their “carbon footprint” on the sidewalk. Participants will make a pledge, write something meaningful, and decorate their footprint however they would like. There will be volunteers and organizations showcasing art and visual displays along the walk. There will be art stations, tables, and anything else participants want to use to express themselves.

• Go Go Green

The 2009 Go Go Green 5K will raise awareness about the urban ecosystem and educate the community on eco-friendliness on Saturday at Diversey Harbor. People of all ages are welcome. Participants are encouraged to bring household recyclables, old batteries and gym shoes to the race. The race begins at 9am.

Dallas

• Boomer Green Teams

Volunteers will be saving money while saving the environment for area senior citizens. Participants will be installing free compact fluorescent light bulbs for low-income senior citizens. This simple task will reduce electricity consumption and carbon emissions.

Los Angeles

• Eat Locally, Think Globally

Enjoy socially responsible fine dining, with locally sourced foods and wines at unique sophisticated venues. Created and produced by Chef Rico Mandel & Helen McHugh, their new concept “Restaurant without Walls” blends the social consciousness of environmental awareness with a luxurious gourmet culinary theme at specially contracted, interchangeable locations.

New York

• Dance to Save the World: Studio 54

Join 250 movers and shakers at Studio 54, for StartingBloc’s second annual Fellow-run fundraiser, BLOC PARTY II. This year they will be celebrating “social innovators”, presenting an inaugural award to Majora Carter, an environmental justice and green jobs pioneer from the South Bronx who has worked on climate change initiatives most of her career.

• Climate at the Cathedral

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine invites the community to come join in ringing bells, delivering messages and taking photos to commemorate IDCA. The cathedral will ring its iconic bells 350 times.

Anywhere

• Twitter Hour

Maybe you do not have a couple of hours to get out this Saturday. It is OK. You can still make a difference from the comfort of your own home. Twitter has swiftly become the new communication tool for people everywhere, even celebrities and politicians. So TWEET it.

President Barack Obama is one of the people with the most power to create a positive outcome at the upcoming Copenhagen meeting. Let him know that 350 ppm target is the only way to stop the planet tipping into climate crisis. From 12-1 EDT, send “USA MUST formally adopt the 350ppm CO2 target at Copenhagen 09 – the ONLY WAY to prevent runaway climate change NO EXCUSES!” All the tweets sent to President Barack Obama need to contain the same message, to create maximum impact, according to 350.org.

It is not too late to join an event or even register your own. Either way, make this Saturday about something much larger than yourself.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Tesla Roadster

Environmentally-sensitive lifestyles and luxury goods would not, to many of us, seem to go together very well. People who own billion-dollar yachts, for instance, aren’t exactly worrying about their carbon footprint.

But plenty of purveyors of high-end goods hope to fight that assumption. Gathering a few steps from Central Park at Manhattan’s Rouge Tomate restaurant Tuesday, a few dozen companies argued that you can have your lush life and save the planet, too.

Fashion models and a celebrity or two mingled with backpack-toting journalists at the event, but (no offense to the models) the sexiest guest never came in the front door: A Tesla Roadster was parked out front, inviting slack-jawed lust from passersby, right in front of a more modest would-be world-changer, the single-seat NmG from Myers Motors.

Both companies had representatives inside, as did conventional carmakers like Audi and Mercedes-Benz, whose bragging about the 20-something miles per gallon their newest models get sounded pretty underwhelming in light of the plug-ins across the room.

All the autos, though, looked like Earth-savers when compared to the dubious offerings of Greenjets, which is essentially a car-pool in the sky for those who would otherwise travel on private jets. Yes, sharing a plane with a dozen or more of your fellow upper-crusters wastes less fuel than flying solo, but a commercial flight is better still.

In other categories, displays without an obvious environmental link sometimes proved surprisingly compelling. Looking at the many jewelers in attendance, for instance, a skeptic might have rolled his eyes: Beyond donating a slice of sales to green charities, how did any of them help the world? Well, it turns out, some had a pretty good argument. Designer Alberto Parada, for instance, was passionate about the environmental impact of global gold mining (promoting a “No Dirty Gold” campaign that hopes to raise public awareness to equal the controversy over diamond mining) and was proud to say his collection exclusively used gold that had been reclaimed from discarded jewelry.

A plethora of beauty products were available for sampling at Eco-Luxe, from shea butter balms sold through Whole Foods to handmade soaps and a line whose cute packaging described it as “natural beauty for girls”.

Further up the pampering food chain were spas. All offered body treatments with exotic all-natural ingredients or low-impact aspirations, but some went further: Albany’s Complexions spa, which sounds like a much-needed oasis of calm for that politically fractious town, claims to be the state’s “first & only LEED Gold spa & salon.”

For more active recreation, the obligatory array of exercise water bottles was highlighted by one, from The Water Geeks, that did the filtering for you via a screw-in adapter — perfect for carrying around the countryside or urban jungle as you ride an enhanced bike that makes electricity from your pedal and braking action to give you an extra boost when the going gets tough.

Bonterra Wine

And what’s the high life without entertaining? In addition to Rouge Tomate’s quite popular wholesome cocktails (the cucumber one with agave nectar was particularly tasty) were organically produced wines from Bonterra and Korbel and a slew of new flavored offerings from 360 Vodka. Choco-tini, anyone? (A helpful spokesperson at the 360 booth answered a question I’d had about their packaging: Turns out the bottle is “only” 85% recycled content because a higher percentage wouldn’t be strong enough not to break.) And for planning the party to go with all that booze, a designer from Celadon & Celery cheerfully showed off a beautiful “green wall” of succulents planted in materials rescued from a demolished playground.

All in all, the event was far from the greenwashing field day skeptics might have predicted. For every instance of weird aromatherapy or sighting of an evening gown made of cork, there was an entrepreneur who was clearly sincere about making goods that are both desirable and beneficial — or at least not harmful — to the world they come from.

True, almost nothing in the room could be called a necessity. But squeezing through the crush of magazine writers and eco-advocates who mingled, a visitor sensed (and sometimes overheard) a bit of relief that this was less an exercise in easing the guilt of conspicuous consumption than a step toward convincing high-end business that many of their customers care about the long term impact of life’s little pleasures.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

This number shows Earth’s collective 3 trillion-plus metric tons of combined greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

You’ll notice that it is a BIG number. And it’s already outdated. This picture was captured yesterday. Look at the counter today on the web, and the number will be bigger.

The volume of greenhouse gases is constantly ticking upward. Much faster than a watch. Steady as an oil derrick. As ominously as a time bomb.

“It keeps on going up while we’re talking and discussing possible policy; it keeps going up,” says Ronald Prinn, co-director of the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change,  the group behind this carbon counter and one of two major entities that measure global greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

“Things are happening. We’re burning fossil fuels. We’re producing greenhouse gases and adding to the stockpile in the atmosphere,”

Carbon counter billboard in NYC. (Photo: Eric Rank, Deutsche Bank)

In New York City, this carbon counter looms large  in Manhattan, thanks to a near-70-foot billboard topped by the moving meter that was launched by Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management Division to raise awareness about climate change. The billboard, just outside Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, was erected this summer, and stands as a reminder to all who pass by, such as those attending the United Nations Climate Summit this week.

The summit, a prequel to the Copenhagen Conference in December, brought together US President Barack Obama and China’s President Hu Jintao, who both explained some measures their countries would take to curb climate change. It offered jolting pronouncements, like the one from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that scientists’ models leave “no space” for inaction.

We talked with Dr. Prinn, a professor of Atmospheric Science who directs the MIT Center for Global Change Science, about those latest projections and the basic science behind them.

First, he explained, the carbon counter in NYC presents an aggregate of the 40 greenhouse gases, the largest one, far and way, being carbon dioxide in the atmosphere worldwide.

What does this number really mean? The atmosphere is so big, it seems like it could handle a certain amount of carbon.

Indeed, nature has ways to process or absorb carbon, replies Prinn. But there are limits and we’re testing them. Since the industrial age began (say 1750), the world has been adding carbon to the air from the burning of fossil fuels –  coal, oil, gasoline — faster than natural elements can absorb it. The Earth’s forests and oceans, which serve as carbon “sinks,” are being tapped out. And we’ve been aggravating the situation by chopping down the forests that can capture and hold carbon.

So the carbon cycle is out of whack, and the excess is building up in the air. Carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas, builds up for a long time because it can persist in the atmosphere for more than 100 years.

To restore balance we need to find non-polluting energy solutions, get off fossil fuels and re-examine agriculture, too, because cattle contribute a potent greenhouse gas, methane, Prinn said.

What happens if we don’t?

“If we decide to do nothing for the next 90 years, if we decided that we don’t care about global warming, we can increase this (carbon) number by factors of two to three.”

You mean it would…”Yes, a doubling or tripling.”

Dr. Ronald Prinn, director of the MIT Center for Global Change Science

In terms of temperature, that amount of carbon in the air would mean Earth would be on average about 10 degrees Centigrade warmer by 2100 or – get ready to be singed – 18 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

This new, hotter prognosis is the result of recent analysis, published on MIT’s website in May, showing that global warming is occurring much faster than previously thought.

Under such change, both arctic poles would be nearly or completely melted. Their extinction would mean the oceans would rise dramatically, enough to put Bangladesh under water – along with parts of Florida and significant portions of both US coastlines.

Calamitous changes would face areas in the Southwest US and Mexico which would be too hot and dry for many crops; border disputes would break out across the globe between nations fighting over water and arable land.

“I think that for us to do nothing about this issue would be irresponsible to future generations, it would be saying we don’t care,’’ says Prinn. “In fact the people who would see this happening would be children born today, it’s a good chance at least in the rich countries they’ll be alive in 2100. Significant fractions of them will experience these big changes and stresses on the planet.”

And yet, “one has to be careful not to say that this would be the end of humanity.”

To a scientist, says Prinn, this is a problem requiring immediate action, but not one that calls for panic or incendiary rhetoric.

We have to take it a step at a time. First we slow the meter, he says. Then we stabilize it. Then we try to turn it back.

Our generation’s job is to slow it, to examine the 20 or so low-emissions energy solutions on the table  – nuclear power, wind power, solar generation, conservation – and move in the right direction.

Then the next generation can use the latest technology, which could be much improved, to roll the numbers back in coming decades.

It took awhile for Earth to get to this point, he said.  Carbon dioxide, the most abundant and one of the most persistent greenhouse gases can reside in the atmosphere for 120 years; methane, the second most significant greenhouse gases, can last nine years. So it will take many changes to work off the overload.

“Under no circumstances is this to say it’s the end of humanity,’’ reiterates Prinn. “It is a wake-up call. It’s time to slow that counter down and make it steady. Then we can talk about lowering it.”

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

By Sommer Saadi
Green Right Now

You’ve only got one weekend left to witness the near impossible: a car-free street in New York City.

Summer Streets is back for its second year and is once again offering New Yorkers three weekends in August to play, walk, bike and breathe on a nearly seven-mile stretch of city streets void of any motorized distractions.

New Yorkers can join the festivities during this year’s final opportunity on Saturday, Aug. 22. The path runs along Park Avenue and its connecting streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park. The event starts at 7 a.m. and runs until 1 p.m.

Building off of last year’s success, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) is using Summer Streets to once again inspire people to get more exercise and learn about sustainable forms of transportation. As part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s greening initiative, Summer Streets is encouraging city residents to embrace the ease and importance of eco-friendly modes of transportation.

And how do you encourage people to do anything? Provide them with free and fun activities.

The Summer Streets route includes free bike and skate rentals and free bike and skate repair. Stops on the path also are hosting a variety of activities, including free bicycle helmet fittings, tennis instruction, fitness classes, dance lessons, sidewalk chalk and picnic areas.

Although the disruption to traffic has stirred some complaints, the estimated doubling of last year’s turnout, which was said to be about 50,000 people on each of the weekends, is an encouraging sign that Summer Streets might become another New York tradition. Jen McKenna’s family attended Summer Streets for the first time this year and plans on coming back next year. She thinks complaining drivers just might need to adjust.

“It’s like most other things that are new,” McKenna says. “It might take some getting used to but once people do I think everyone will learn to enjoy it.”

Those who want to participate in Summer Streets can get to the route by NYC Subway, commuter rail or ferry. Group rides are being organized for bikers in neighborhoods around the city. Check the Summer Streets web site for more details.

And if you live outside of Manhattan or can’t make it to Summer Streets, don’t despair.  DOT is also partnering with groups citywide to organize 13 Weekend Walks from June through September in the surrounding boroughs. Check to see if one of the sites is near your neighborhood.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Bitches on Bikes and the Wind Power Pedalers Climate Ride Team will hold a benefit event at New York City hot spot The Eldridge on Thursday from 9-11 p.m., featuring a silent auction of art, curated by Gitana Rosa Gallery.

Climate Ride is a 300-mile bicycle ride from New York City to Washington, D.C. to raise money to address climate change and promote renewable energy. The silent auction curated by Gitana Rosa Gallery will  feature artists including Tom Bob, Tom Billings, Andrés García-Peña, Michael Krynski, Graham T. Slick, Jodi Taylor, Brett Wintle and Suzy Q.

A $10 suggested donation at the door will get you three raffle tickets. All proceeds will benefit the Brita Climate Ride. Free admission and raffle tickets to anyone who donates $10 or more to the Wind Power Pedalers team or any individual rider. Please present proof of donation at the door. To donate online go to: http://tinyurl.com/WPPCR09. To review and bid on the art up for auction, visit http://stores.ebay.com/gitanarosagalleryandgiftshop.

Details:
Bitches on Bikes: Brita Climate Ride Benefit Party
Thursday, August 20; 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The Eldridge
247 Eldridge Street; (btwn Houston St. & Stanton St.)
New York City
Space is limited. To RSVP or for more information, contact shawna@rosengrouppr.com.

Fashion Institute of Technology student Jessica Velasquez can soon cycle in style, her own style, after winning a contest to design a jacket, poncho and bag suitable for fashion-conscious bike commuters.

Her winning designs for the “Bike in Style” contest were unveiled this week as the city launched its Summer Streets program, which promotes biking and walking.

The contest and the Summer Streets are both part of Mayor Bloomberg’s program to foster greener practices in the city — and their pairing serves notice that greenie New Yorkers won’t be sacrificing any style impulses to the eco-Gods.

Summer Streets is a celebration of a 6.9-mile route from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park for people to run, bike and walk. It will feature special activities on three Saturday mornings in August, starting on this Saturday the 8th followed by the 15th and 22nd.

The program and the “Bike in Style” contest are being supported by luxury goods firm LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the NYC Department of Transportation and the city of New York. (See Velasquez with a model wearing the jacket she designed, above.)

The contest challenged student designers from the Fashion Institute of Technology to create “stylish, practical and affordable bike gear.” The DKNY division of LVMH-owned Donna Karan International (DKI) mentored the FIT students and developed the prototypes of the winning designs.

Said LVMH Inc. Chairman Renaud Dutreil: “As a citizen company, LVMH is proud to support the efforts of the city and its agencies; this project illustrates the power of public-private collaboration. We remain dedicated to supporting initiatives that enrich people’s lives, improve their health and reinforce New York’s position as a fashion capital.”

LVMH brands include wines and spirits (Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon), apparel and accessories (Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Fendi, Emilio Pucci, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, Berluti, StefanoBi), parfums (Christian Dior, Givenchy) and watches and jewels (Christian Dior watches, De Beers Diamond Jewellers Ltd).

(Photo credit: LVMH)

The New York Botanical Garden, historically green by nature, is helping New Yorkers cultivate ever greener ways. This summer it is featuring “edible evenings,” a celebration of home-grown food with tips from chefs and help for getting kids involved in gardening.

The eco-outreach will continue during the Garden’s Fall Open House on Sept. 12, which will feature a day (from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.)  of lectures, demonstrations and classes in botanical art, botany, floral design, landscaping and horticulture and horticultural therapy

Green classes will continue throughout the year with these offerings:

• Growing Green with Roses, 3 Thursdays starting September 24

• Organic Greenhouse Methods, 3 Saturdays held in November

• Organic Gardening and Ecological Landscaping: The Natural Approach, 6 Wednesdays starting January 6, 2010

• Does “Organic” Really Work?, January 19, 2010

• Environmentally Safe Lawn Care, March 10, 2010

• Native Plants Saturday, March 27, 2010

The Open House also will feature career talks for those who are interested in learning more about landscape design, horticultural therapy, or horticulture. To find out more how the Garden’s Continuing Education program can help people find careers in these industries, see the website or call 800.322.6924.

The National Audubon Society has honored six women with the 2009 Rachel Carson Award for their outstanding conservation efforts.

• Dr. Sylvia Earle, an oceanographer, author, lecturer and National Geographic Explorer in Residence whose work has expanded awareness and conservation of the fragile marine environment. Former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dr. Earle is president and founder of Deep Search International. She has led more than 60 expeditions, including the first team of women aquanauts during the Tektite Project in 1970. She also set a record for solo diving to a depth of 3,300 feet. Her research focuses on marine ecosystems in the deep sea and other remote environments.

• Sally Jewell, president and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), a national outdoor gear and apparel retailer dedicated to inspiring, educating and outfitting for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship. Additionally, Jewell sits on the boards of the National Parks Conservation Association, Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, Initiative for Global Development and the University of Washington. She also serves on The National Forum on Children and Nature Advisory Board and the National Parks Second Century Commission.

• Elizabeth C. Titus Putnam, the president and founder of the Student Conservation Association, the nation’s largest youth conservation leadership organization. While studying at Vassar College in the mid-1950’s, she envisioned a contemporary conservation core that would utilize her strength and the energy of students to respond to the threats facing America’s national parks. Through her hard work, vision and determination, she established and nurtured the SCA which enlists nearly 4,000 students, who contribute over two million hours of service each year to protecting and restoring America’s parks, forests, refuges, seashores and communities.

• Elizabeth Colleton, Jane Evans and Susan Haspel – NBC Universal’s “Green is Universal” Initiative: Launched in May 2007, Green is Universal is NBC Universal’s ongoing effort to promote environmental awareness and action, and to green the company’s own operations. Spanning numerous business units, Green is Universal provides hundreds of hours of green-themed content and activities, especially during dedicated “Green Weeks.”

The women received their awards at the sixth annual Women in Conservation Luncheon held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City earlier this month.

Carol Browner, head of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change and past Chair of the Audubon Society; Alison Rockefeller, Founding Chair of the Rachel Carson Awards Council and Gloria Reuben, Golden Globe nominee and star of “Raising the Bar” and “ER,” also attended the ceremony on May 19.

The award commemorates the late Rachel Carson, whose landmark book Silent Spring made the world aware of the damage caused by pesticides in the early 1960s. Audubon established the award in 2004 to honor similar visionary women. Past honorees include Bette Midler, founder of the New York Restoration Project; Teresa Heinz Kerry, chair of the Heinz Endowments and the Heinz Family Philanthropies; Majora Carter, founder and executive director of Susainable South Bronx and Laurie David, producer of An Inconvenient Truth.

Exhibitors include Disney’s Earth movie, The Sundance Channel’s The GREEN, DELL, Home Depot, Food Network’s Good Food Garden, and Honda’s all-new advanced hybrid vehicle, The Honda Insight. The event will showcase a variety of special interest consumer and business areas including: Home Building and Energy Conservation; Health, Beauty and Fashion; Travel and Transportation; Business and Electronics and a Kids Zone, giving New Yorkers a chance to see, learn and interact with the latest in energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly products and services, as well as participate in interactive seminars with leaders in the green industry, local politicians and community organizations.

Event Highlights:

• Stars Mariel Hemingway and Nigel Barker will join environmental leader Josh Dorfman and bestselling authors Julie Edelman and Seth Leitman as just some of the headlining names participating in this year’s event
• Over 20 notable environmental and business leaders including Jen Boulden, Founder of IdealBite.com and Gay Browne, Founder of Greenopia, on speaking panels about today’s most topical green issues including Greening Your Business, Greener Transportation, Renewable Energy, Green Tech, Green Leadership, and more
• Attendees will enjoy being among the first in the United States to view the 2010 Honda Insight. The five-passenger, five-door vehicle gets an EPA-estimated city/highway fuel economy rating of 40/43 and at just under $20,000, it is the most affordable new hybrid available in the US, helping to bring greener transportation to everyone
• Major blue chip companies including Home Depot, DELL and Disney are exhibiting at Go Green Expo New York in a move that signifies their commitment to sustainable business practices
• Disneynature, a division of Disney, will preview their new film, Earth, narrated by James Earl Jones, which will play a film trailer all-day throughout the weekend event. The film debuts on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, in theatres everywhere
• Attendees will have the opportunity to see a premiere screening of The Sundance Channel’s THE GREEN original programming “The Lazy Environmentalist” starring Josh Dorfman and “EcoTrip: The Real Cost of Living”
• Food Network, in conjunction with their charitable partner Share Our Strength(R), a childhood hunger relief organization, will feature a Good Food Garden on the show floor where Go Green Expo attendees can learn how to plant fresh food, demonstrating the importance of sustainable agriculture in urban areas, helping to save money and eating well in a city environment
• Green Spaces, a New York City based green business competition, will announce this year’s semi finalists at Go Green Expo on Friday April 17 at 2pm, followed by a panel discussion that will include the winning companies’ three-minute elevator pitches to an audience of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs
• New York City Public School children were asked to create art that represents the environmental movement. The winning art piece will be featured in a special section of the New York Post and the finalist will receive passes to a private screening of Disney’s Earth
• ConEdison Solutions WIND Power Program allows ConEdison users to get FREE admission for the weekend when they bring their ConEdison energy bill to Go Green Expo and sign up for wind power.