From Green Right Now Reports

Star Market at Chestnut Hill in Newton, Mass., recently became the first grocery store in the nation to receive US Environmental Protection Agency’s GreenChill Partnership platinum store award. The advanced refrigeration technology in the new store, which is part of the Shaw’s line of supermarkets, significantly reduces its impact on climate change and the stratospheric ozone layer by cutting the use of refrigerants by 85 percent compared with the typical supermarket.

Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, called the store’s efforts “wicked cool.”

“This store shows that smart design and advanced technologies help us right now to better protect our climate, the ozone layer, and our health,” McCarthy said in a statement.

The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is an EPA cooperative alliance with the supermarket industry to promote advanced technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.

GreenChill partners emit about 50 percent less emissions than the industry average, and have pledged to continually lower them as part of the program. EPA estimates that if every supermarket in the nation joined GreenChill and reduced emissions to the current GreenChill average, the U.S. would prevent 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 240 tons of ozone-depleting substances annually, and save $108 million in refrigerant costs each year. GreenChill has 46 partners, with more than 6,500 retail food stores in 47 states.

Under the program, GreenChill Partner stores agree to:

• Transition to non-ozone-depleting refrigerants;
• Reduce refrigerant charges;
• Reduce both ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas refrigerant emissions; and
• Promote supermarkets’ adoption of advanced refrigeration technologies

Earlier this year, the EPA honored a handful of supermarkets for reducing their use of greenhouse gas refrigerants that deplete the Earth’s ozone layer and contribute to climate change. Awardees included  Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods, and Hill Phoenix.

Sprouts Farmers Market, which owns stores across California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, received a New Partner Award.

New partners pledge to go above and beyond regulatory requirements by measuring and tracking refrigerant emissions that affect climate change and the Earth’s ozone layer, and then setting reduction targets for these emissions. Partners also agree to use only ozone-friendly alternatives in all new and remodeled stores.

“We look forward to a productive and mutually beneficial partnership with Sprouts Farmers Market,” Keilly Witman, GreenChill Program Manager, said in a statement. “The public wants to do business with companies that share their environmental values. By joining GreenChill, Sprouts Farmers Market is proving to consumers that they care about the Earth’s ozone layer and climate system.”

Whole Foods Market’s newest store in the North Atlantic Region, located at Legacy Place in Dedham, Mass., was recognized for its environmentally friendly design, construction, and operations with the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes certification and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) GreenChill certification.

For the Green Globes certification, the Dedham store was evaluated in six categories, including energy, water, resources, emissions, indoor environment and environmental management systems, and received a three out of four “Green Globes” rating. The EPA’s GreenChill certification program promotes advanced technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce refrigerant charges and emissions of ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases.

“With the combined power generated from our fuel cell and solar panels, the Dedham store is essentially able to generate almost 100 percent of its power needs on-site with clean energy resources,” Kathy Loftus, global leader of sustainable engineering, maintenance, and energy for Austin-based Whole Foods, said in a statement. “We are the first supermarket to use fuel cell technology in the state.”

By generating most of its power on-site with a fuel cell, Whole Foods’ Dedham store will prevent the release of more than 764 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually, the equivalent of planting more than 175 acres of trees and removing over 90 cars from the road, according to the natural foods grocer. The peak power generated from the photovoltaic (PV) solar energy system is enough to meet the store’s entire lighting power needs.

To achieve a Green Globes rating, Whole Foods used Green Globes’ online and interactive program to monitor the environmentally friendly building upgrades. A GBI-authorized third-party building science expert was engaged to review the building documents, conduct an on-site inspection and assess an official Green Globes rating.

A field monitor checks a gas meter for leaks. (Photo: Department of Energy)

From Green Right Now Reports

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell announced today that the first installment of $123 million in federal Recovery funds for weatherization will begin to be released Nov. 2, part of $253 million that the state will use for this purpose.

The Governor said the funding represents an unprecedented level of investment that will help to create new, “green” jobs, save money for struggling families, and stimulate local economic activity as weatherization agencies buy required material, vehicles and equipment.

“The weatherization program stimulates the economy in several ways,” Gov. Rendell said in a statement. “It saves money on energy bills for people who need it the most, and keeps those dollars circulating in local communities because families will be able to spend more on food, clothing and other necessities. It also will create new jobs in the growing ‘green’ economic development sector.”

Pennsylvania’s allocation of $253 million for weatherization from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is the fourth largest in the nation; only New York, Texas and Ohio received more. The money will be paid over three years.

Ohio technicians prepare to seal a roof prior to re-insulating an attic containing vermiculite. (Photo: Department of Energy)

In Ohio, the $266.8 million Recovery grant from the Weatherization Program is allowing the state to boost the energy efficiency of more than 32,000 homes. Adding insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment will reduce energy costs for Ohio homeowners by an average of 24 percent. In general, the Weatherization Program allows for an investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and is available to homeowners making approximately $44,000 a year for a family of four. The Department of has recognized Ohio as a leader in the weatherization program with 951 homes completed in July 2009.

Ohio allocated funds from the grant to local community agencies and other public and not-for-profit organizations. In addition, 54 independent contractors were hired to supplement existing contractors. It is estimated that by completion of the project at the end of March, 2012, 590 new positions will be created and 487 jobs retained.

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has awarded $288 million in federal stimulus funding to 66 cities, counties, and eligible nonprofit organizations across the state to weatherize the homes of an estimated 40,000 low income Texans. Overall, the state received $326.9 in weatherization funds, the balance of which TDHCA will award in 2010.

The Recovery Act provided approximately $314 million more in funds than what Texas typically administers each year for weatherization activities. By comparison, the state annually weatherizes approximately 3,700 homes using current funding levels of approximately $13 million.

The Nissan LEAF (Photo: Nissan)

From Green Right Now Reports

Nissan North America said it will debut the LEAF zero-emission, all-electric car in Los Angeles on Nov. 13. After Los Angeles, the five-passenger, five-door, gasoline-free car will go on a nationwide tour in the coming months.

The Nissan LEAF Zero Emission Tour will stop in 22 cities, in 11 states, the District of Columbia, and Vancouver, Canada, offering the opportunity for interested drivers, media, civic partners, businesses and university students to learn more about the Nissan LEAF and the benefits of zero-emission driving.

Get updates on the final schedule and sign up for more information at www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car.

Here are the scheduled stops for the Nissan LEAF:

Southern California

• Los Angeles: Nov. 13-17
• Orange County: Nov. 18
• San Diego: Nov. 19-21

Northern California

• Berkeley/Walnut Creek: Nov. 23-24
• San Francisco: Nov. 25-29
• Santa Rosa: Dec. 1
• Sacramento: Dec. 1
• San Jose: Dec. 3-6

Pacific Northwest

• Seattle: Dec. 8-12
• Vancouver, Canada: Dec. 14-15
• Portland, Ore.: Dec. 17-23

Southwest

• Phoenix/Tucson: Dec. 30-Jan. 5
• Las Vegas: Jan. 6

Midwest/East Coast

• Detroit: Jan. 11-13
• Knoxville/Chattanooga, Tenn.: Jan. 16
• Middle Tennessee: Jan. 19-21
• Washington, D.C.: Jan. 26-28
• Raleigh, N.C.: Jan. 29
• Orlando: Feb. 1-2

Texas

• Houston: Feb. 5-6

New York

• New York City: Feb. 9-14

The Department of Energy announced $10 million has been awarded to 16 cities for 40 new Solar America Cities Special Projects. The funds, made through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will enable the cities to increase solar energy use in their communities through innovative programs and policies that the government believes can be replicated across the nation.

The cities chosen for these awards came from the group of 25 large U.S. cities that are part of the DOE’s Solar America Cities program, which recognizes the participating cities as partners highly committed to solar technology adoption at the local level. Those cities already have been given millions of dollars in funds and technical assistance to accelerate solar adoption.

To this point, the cities have used the funding to develop solar financing models, improve solar permitting processes, and create training courses for solar installers, among other uses. The DOE said this new award will enable the cities to scale up their most promising projects and concepts to overcome key barriers to urban solar energy use. The DOE plans to share the lessons learned and best practices from these projects with local governments throughout the nation through a substantial outreach effort planned to launch in early 2010.

The DOE has selected the following Solar America Cities Special Projects:

Austin, TX

• Solar Curriculum Development and School Demonstration Projects

Berkeley, CA

• Smart Solar Regional Expansion and Solar Map Enhancements

Boston, MA

• Solar Evacuation Route

Madison, WI

• MadiSUN Community Solar Financing
• Target Marketing Solar to Businesses
• Solar Business Center

Milwaukee, WI

• Solar Hot Water Business Council
• Solar Water Heating Demonstration Projects and Best Practices Manual
• Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing
• Solar School Swap

Minneapolis – Saint Paul, MN

• Solar for District Heating and Cooling

New Orleans, LA

• Third Party Solar Tax Credit Implementation
• Sustainable Energy Financing District Implementation

New York City, NY

• Smart Solar City Data Acquisition System
• Community Solar Financing
• Smart Solar Virtual Community

Portland, OR

• Solar Now! Regional Outreach Campaign
• Neighborhood-Based Volume Solar Purchasing
• Residential Solar Power Purchase Agreement Model for Utility-Bill Financing
• Neighborhood-Scale Distributed Energy Systems

Salt Lake City, UT

• Solar Rebate Program Expansion and Third Party PPA Legal Analysis
• Financing Options for Mid to Large Scale Solar Systems

San Diego, CA

• Solar Financing Options for Multifamily Affordable Housing
• Solar-Powered Fire Shelter Integration into Disaster Response Planning

San Francisco, CA

• Debt-Financed Solar Water Heating Retrofits for Affordable Housing
• San Francisco Sustainable Financing Program (SF²)
• Commercial Solar Power Purchase Agreement Model
• Solar Financing for Public Schools

San José, CA

• Property Assessed Solar Financing through Joint Powers Authority
• Solar Loans for City Staff
• Qualified Energy Conservation Bond Financing for Revolving Solar Loan Fund
• Streamlined Regional Solar Permitting Process
• Solar Train the Trainer Internship Program
• Solar Career Training for At-Risk Youth
• Green Vision Education and Demonstration Center

Santa Rosa, CA

• Clean Energy Advocate

Seattle, WA

• Community Solar Financing through Municipal Utility

Tucson, AZ

• Creative Financing for Municipal Solar Installations
• Solar One Stop Shop
• Solar Integration into Green Building Codes and Infrastructure Planning

The exterior of Habitat for Humanity's green project at Ocean Hill-Brownsville in Brooklyn (Photo: Habitat for Humanity -- New York City)

From Green Right Now Reports

Habitat for Humanity – New York City has opened the largest and greenest multifamily complex ever built by a Habitat affiliate in the nation. Keys to the 41 affordable condominiums, which are expected to receive LEED Gold certification, were handed to families at a ceremony Saturday.

The ribbon-cutting event in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn, included about 10,000 volunteers who helped build the homes, financial backers, faith and community leaders, and elected officials who made the new homes possible.

Homeowner families worked alongside volunteers for more than two years to help construct these homes. (Photo: Habitat for Humanity -- New York City)

The new homeowner families worked alongside volunteers for more than two years to help construct these homes. The 41 families contributed at least 300 hours of “sweat equity” per adult on the project.

“This is an emotional and exciting day for Habitat-NYC and our 41 families, whose lives will be transformed by these healthy and affordable homes,” Josh Lockwood, executive director of Habitat-NYC, said in a statement. “They are a testament to the vast impact New Yorkers can have by working shoulder-to-shoulder to build homes and revitalize communities.”

Esther Huambo, a single mother of two said she was grateful for the many New Yorkers who helped build her new three-bedroom home.

“In breath-taking cold days, with no heat or windows or doors . . . in the very hot days of summer with no air conditioning or fan . . . you came out to work side-by-side with us. You do this out of the kindness of your hearts,” she said in a statement. “On behalf of all the Habitat family partners, and on behalf of my children: ‘Thank you.’”

The block where these homes now stand was a long-vacant, garbage-strewn lot. Habitat-NYC invested $11.6 million to build the complex of three, four-story buildings. According to an economic impact report by HR&A Advisors, the project will generate about $34.5 million over the next four decades – approximately $3 for every dollar invested.

Habitat-NYC families are first-time homeowners earning 45 percent to 80  percent of NYC’s federal median income ($31,905 to $56,720 for a family of four).

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

BASF will host its first High Performance Buildings for Education Summit on Sept. 16, 2009 at 7 World Trade Center, the first commercial office building in New York City to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. In support of its continuing commitment to sustainability, BASF is convening a panel of speakers to provide attending school administrators, architects, construction companies, general contractors and sustainable design experts, an overview of what it takes to construct or retrofit educational buildings to make the learning environment

At the event, four experts will address the financial return on investment of sustainable design and architecture, as well as the health and performance benefits of high performance schools. A school district superintendent from Neptune Township, New Jersey, will also share his real world experience building high performance schools in his district. The speakers include:

Rob Watson — CEO, EcoTech International & Founder of the LEED Green Building Rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council: Learning to Build from Nature

Vivian Loftness FAIA, LEED AP — University Professor, School of Architecture, Carnegie Mellon & Co-chair, National Academy of Sciences Committee on Green Schools: Greening our Nation’s Schools for Health and Performance

David Mooij — Superintendent of Schools, Neptune Township, New Jersey: A Living Textbook: Neptune’s Green Schools

Kris Kolluri — CEO, New Jersey Schools Development Authority: Building the Financial Case for High Performance Schools

The event begins at 9 a.m. EDT and ends at 12:45 p.m. EDT. Doors open at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Pre-registration is required for the event. Register at events.basf.com/2009hpbe/.

NFL Films, the world’s largest sports film library, has unveiled upgraded high efficiency chillers at its Mount Laurel, NJ, facility that were partially funded through New Jersey’s SmartStart Buildings Program. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) had earlier awarded NFL Films $69,300 from its incentive program.

“By replacing outmoded, unreliable chillers with high efficiency equipment powered by oil-free compressors, NFL Films will dramatically cut energy costs, electricity consumption and greenhouse gases,” New Jersey BPU Commissioner Nicholas Asselta said in a statement.

NJ Gov. John Corzine’s Energy Master Plan includes a goal to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020 and increase the amount of renewable energy to 30 percent of our energy consumption by 2020. The New Jersey SmartStart Buildings Program, part of the BPU’s Clean Energy Program, offers commercial, industrial, and governmental customers financial incentives along with design support, and technical assistance to integrate energy efficient and renewable energy technologies into new construction, upgrades, and new cooling and heating equipment installations.

Barry Wolper, vice president of NFL Films, said the more efficient cooling equipment is essential to preserving its collection. When the facility’s HVAC system failed in the spring of 2007, Wolper and NFL Films began researching the installation of a new system.

“We were excited to learn about today’s high-performance coolers that run more efficiently and offer enhanced controls,” he said in a statement. “By partnering with New Jersey SmartStart Buildings on this upgrade, we received funding to install our new equipment and protect 47 years worth of America’s greatest NFL moments.”

NFL Films said the new chillers had immediate results: monthly utility expenses have been cut by over 10 percent.

Since its inception, New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program has invested nearly $1.2 billion to promote energy efficiency and renewable technologies for businesses, local governments and residents. Program initiatives have saved more than 22 million megawatt-hours of electricity and over 70 million Decatherms of natural gas through improved energy efficiencies as well as generating another nine million megawatts of power from renewable energy sources and combined heat and power projects.

Nearly all the world’s electric utilities now believe that climate change is threatening power outages, higher costs and changes in usage as demand grows to power the world’s expanding cities, according to a new report from Acclimatise.

Over ninety percent of the global electric utilities that report climate change activity to the Carbon Disclosure Project say they are at risk from changes in climate and water availability, which are already adding stress to the sector. However, fewer than a third say they are undertaking any financial or quantified evaluation to the impact of climate change on their business.

The report, sponsored by IBM, suggests the energy industry is rapidly approaching a critical stage of development. As demand is growing from new requirements such as electric vehicles, increased cooling during warmer summer months and rapid urbanization, the report suggests that utilities will need to attract new financial investment to grow existing capabilities and develop emerging technologies in a low-carbon way.

The report, titled “Global Electric Utilities – The Adaptation Challenge,” is based on 219 responses to the Carbon Disclosure Project’s annual request for investor information from the industry, analyzed using the Acclimatisation Index(TM). Methodology.

Many scientists report that climate change is underway and the direct effects of increasing global temperatures, such as changes in precipitation and rising sea levels, are becoming more evident. Climatic issues have the potential to impact how all major electric utilities operate, underpinning the world’s major cities, transport and water infrastructures, which are essential to the commercial world and the way we live.

As the impacts of climate change become more direct, governments are starting to resort to prescriptive regulation and statutory controls to ensure that electricity companies take appropriate action on climate change adaptation.

Early indications of action by governments are already evident. In the United Kingdom the Climate Change Act 2008 gives the government an adaptation reporting power that requires electricity companies to assess and disclose the impacts climate change might have on their business.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission asks publicly-listed companies, including electric utilities, to disclose climate threats to their bottom lines in annual reporting. Voluntary agreements on climate risk disclosure have also been signed between electric utilities and governments, such as New York City.

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

Barbara Ettinger and Sven Huseby knew their documentary about ocean acidification would have to pass a high test to avoid overwhelming a public already grappling with the many technical facets of climate change.

To sound the alarm about yet another looming global warming catastrophe, the potential destruction of all marine life, their film would have to be engaging, accessible, down-to-earth.

Happily, A Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish succeeds on all those levels. Humanizing this critical issue like no previous film or book, it follows the soft-spoken Huseby on an odyssey of discovery as he meets with scientists and activists in Alaska, Seattle, California and Norway trying to understand the phenomenon of ocean acidification.

Gently, the story drives home what’s at stake: A healthy planet for future generations, embodied in this case by Sven and Barbara’s spirited grandson, Elias, age 5. The irrepressible Elias serves as the film’s touchstone, reminding us of the urgency of his grandfather’s mission and of the simple wonders of beach and ocean.

Sven writes “home” about his discoveries to Elias, who lives in California (where in real life, he watches Blue Planet and is known as “a very verbal fellow”). He tells him he’s deeply worried about the oceans, but adds that as a former teacher, “I really believe the power to change begins with knowledge.”

On his travels, Sven considers how he’ll explain to Elias about this problem that should rightly fall outside the scope of childhood — the potential complete destruction of the oceans via acidification, the result of the seas absorbing humankind’s carbon dioxide emissions.

In asking, what are we leaving behind for our kids and grandkids, A Sea Change doesn’t mince words.

But this inter-generational interplay also lends the film a warmth, and keeps it clear of the rocky shoals where more strident, proselytizing documentaries sometimes crash. Sven is on a fact-finding mission, not a soap box. His director and wife, Barbara Ettinger, uses ample footage from expert subjects, but also keeps them off the preaching podium.

A Sea Change deliberately reaches out to people of all ages and political stripes. Kids will enjoy Elias’s viewpoint. Newcomers to the subject will appreciate Sven’s Mr. Rogers-like approach to interviews. The film is paced to allow for periodic reflection, and beautifully filmed along the rocky coasts of the Pacific Northwest and Norway, all the way to the Arctic, where we see and hear the ice dropping into the sea.

Sven ultimately meets a score of scientists and environmentalists who are passionate about their mission to save the oceans (which cover more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface). He also visits with artist Maya Lin to ponder the psychology of why we haven’t been better ocean stewards.

The film, released this spring, is being featured this week at the Downtown Film Festival-Los Angeles on Aug. 20 (Thursday at 7 p.m.) and will have its New York City premiere at the American Museum of Natural History on Sept. 13. It is also playing at cinema festivals around the world. It was conceived of in late 2006 when Sven and Barbara were both struck by the New Yorker article, “The Darkening Sea” by Elizabeth Kolbert. Barbara, a filmmaker, and Sven, a former teacher and headmaster of the Putney School in Vermont, considered themselves enlightened people; Barbara’s last film had even tackled a regional environmental fight. Yet the ocean article was startling.

“We were flabbergasted that we’d never heard of the phenomenon of acidification of the sea,” Sven said last week from his home in upstate New York.

The couple set out to investigate. Sven pursued financing (eventually signing several foundations to back the movie), as Barbara figured out how to turn the story into a film that could reach a wide audience.

“We made a very clear decision. I guess part of it is who we are as people. We didn’t want to make an apocalyptic film. But what we see in this area of ocean acidification are some very big issues,” Sven said in an interview with GreenRightNow.

Much of what the film crew uncovered was disturbing, he said; “I got pretty depressed the first half of this film as we interviewed scientist after scientist.”

As the native Norwegian and former private school headmaster travels from Alaska to the Pacific Northwest US to a scientists’ outpost in Tromsoe, Norway, a dark cloud emerges. Everything out in the deep blue is in jeopardy. The oceans have been absorbing the earth’s mounting CO2 emissions, but now, all life, from the tiniest marine creatures to those at the top of the food chain – to humans – is paying a toll.

“For 20,000 years, we’ve had a relatively stable environment. Now, there are going to be a lot of extinctions,” reports Dr. Jeff Short, then with NOAA, now the Pacific Science director for Oceana.

“Ocean chemistry is being altered on a scale not seen for millions of years,” says marine professor, Dr. Edward L. Miles, ot the University of Washington: “And we don’t know what the consequences will be.”

When the oceans turn acidic, Sven explains in our interview, “it’s like dropping a piece of chalk into vinegar.” That’s an exaggeration, but what happens to the chalk shows how shellfish, coral and the delicate, tiny pterapods at the foundation of the marine food chain are being affected.

Increasing carbon emissions here on land mean more ocean acidity, which is sapping the oceans’ capacity to support life and pushing them to the brink. Fish populations are thinning, coral is dying and the Ph of the water is nearing fatal levels for many species.

We get many visuals. Sven interviews a chemistry teacher who demonstrates with baby teeth what acid (in the form of a soda) can do to a calcium coating, like those on the pterapods. (You’ll understand the oceans better, and reconsider your next Coke.)

Similar mini-tutorials keep us hanging in with Sven as he bikes, hikes and hovers on several coastlines, explaining the threat to our oceans – and during the last part of the film, what can be done to save them.

It’s an enjoyable ride, even under that brooding cloud. Our amazingly robust 65-year-old narrator, his glib grandson, and the fleet of people working to solve things make for an eye-opening tale. There are poignant moments, like when the author of the New Yorker piece Kolbert commiserates with Sven about leaving such an ailing planet for our children.

“I continue to think about that remark and trying to turn this thing around,” Sven says in our interview.

A Sea Change does offer hope, on several coasts. There are the lawyer activist in California, wind engineers in Norway, executives at Google and others, who believe pollution can be stopped and alternative energy harnessed to turn back the carbon clock.

Even in unlikely spots, such as the century-old Solstrand Hotel in Norway, which now operates on renewable energy from the ocean, there’s hope.

How can ordinary people help? “They can think about their carbon footprint,” says Huseby. “They can ask themselves how can they decrease the fossil fuel they use for transportation. They can ask how well have they insulated their homes…through conservation alone we can do the most. It’s not that expensive and it can have a huge impact.”

And, he adds, you should contact your Congressional representative.

“It sounds old-fashioned, even quaint. But it’s really important that people write to their representatives and stress that they want to get off fossil fuels…They all say they need the push. So let’s start pushing.”

Details:

A Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish
Director/producer: Barbara Ettinger; co-producer: Sven Huseby; co-producer: Susan Cohn Rockefeller; editing: Toby Shimin; cinematography by Claudia Raschke-Robinson; associate producer: Ben Kalina.

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

Related video:

Watch the trailer for A Sea Change:

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.