Rallying for a clean energy bill in Massachussetts, noted climatologist Dr. James Hansen told students this weekend that they must take the future in their hands.

Massachusetts Sleep Out (Photo: Ian McClellan)

“Our universe is incredibly unjust and inequitable for young people and future generations. ” Dr. Hansen said.  “Unless someone can change the direction, young people are really in trouble.  Our governments are not taking actions or planning actions that will achieve this.”

Dr. Hansen, known for sounding the alarm about climate change to Congress 20 years ago, appeared in Boston to support students and environmentalists who have been sleeping out to press Massachusetts lawmakers to commit to 100 percent clean energy for the state by 2020.

After sleeping out with the students encamped on Boston Common, Dr. Hansen joined them in lobbying lawmakers today. He testified before an informational hearing sponsored by the Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change. (And being cited for trespassing by Boston police.)

Others testifying included:  Dominique McCadden, Northeastern University student and participant in The Leadership Campaign; the Rt. Rev. Roy Cederholm, Jr., Bishop Suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Mass.; Frank Ackerman, Senior Economist at the Stockholm Environment Institute.

Earlier at the Sunday rally, several other supporters spoke, including:

Marla Marcum of the Massachusetts Council of Churches; Linnea Palmer Paton, a student at Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Alex Propp, a student at Amherst College; Steve MacAusland, co-founder of the National Interfaith Power & Light Movement; Ken Ward of the JP Greenhouse; State Representative Will Brownsberger, vice-chair of House Global Warming and Climate Change Committee; and Craig Altemose, a Harvard graduate student and coordinator of The Leadership Campaign.

The Leadership Campaign, which is run by Students for a Just and Stable Future, is coordinating the protests.

Dr. James Hansen, the NASA scientist known for sounding an early alarm about climate change, will join student protesters at a “sleep out” in Boston this weekend.

The students, from Boston-area and other Massachusetts colleges, have been sleeping out on Boston Common and at various campuses to push the state to pass a law committing to clean energy. Their target goal: Have Massachusetts pledge to be using 100 percent clean energy by 2020.

They’ve asked Gov. Deval Patrick, already known for signing the Global Warming Solutions Act, to again put the state at the forefront of combatting climate change by introducing clean energy  legislation before the legislature adjourns later this month. The students have won a meeting with the governor on Nov. 17.

The sleep outs began two weeks ago, with the overnight campouts followed by lobbying with legislators on Monday mornings. Four Last week, police ticketed the campers for trespassing, student leaders said.

This weekend the group expects at least 100 student activists to meet with Dr. Hansen (whose Phd is in Physics from the University of Iowa) at a 4 p.m. Sunday rally, followed by the camp out. Dr. Hansen is scheduled to hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m. Monday morning (Nov. 9).

In June, Dr. Hansen, along with actress and environmental activists Daryl Hannah, was arrested for civil disobedience for blocking a road at a coal plant protest in West Virginia. The pair, along with several local residents, were protesting mountaintop removal.

Known for his testimony to Congress in 1988, alerting leaders to the dangers of greenhouse gases, Hansen has said that the world needs to move away from burning coal to create electricity.

The student sleep out was inspired by the idea that protesters would not rely on the “dirty energy” heating their homes and dorms until lawmakers pledged to move in a new direction.

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

St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR, the national symbol for superior energy efficiency and environmental protection. St. Anthony’s is the first hospital in Florida and one of only 86 hospitals in the nation to achieve this recognition. Buildings that receive the EPA’s ENERGY STAR designation reduce greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy-efficient specifications set by the government.

Commercial buildings that earn the EPA’s ENERGY STAR use an average of 40 percent less energy than typical buildings and also release 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. St. Anthony’s Hospital improved its energy performance by managing energy strategically across the entire organization and by making cost-effective improvements to the building. The EPA’s national energy performance rating system provides a 1-100 scale that helps organizations assess how efficiently their buildings use energy relative to similar buildings nationwide. St. Anthony’s earned the EPA’s ranking of 87 out of 100 — placing it among the top 25 percent of energy efficient facilities in the country.

Since 2005, the hospital has conserved electricity by 1.5 million kilowatts, decreased natural gas use by 36 percent, and reduced water consumption by 4.7 million gallons. Ongoing maintenance focuses on efficient operation, including monitoring the performance of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. By conserving and managing energy strategically, and making cost-effective improvements to the building, the hospital saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual energy costs and reduces the emission of greenhouse gases.

New Detroit Edison program will enable customers to cut the cost of installing solar energy

Detroit Edison has introduced a new program that will make installing a solar energy system 50 percent more affordable for homes and businesses. Called SolarCurrents, the pilot program is intended to encourage Detroit Edison customers to purchase and install a solar energy system, and at the same time help the utility meet renewable energy targets contained in comprehensive energy legislation approved last year.

Solar energy systems generate electricity through the use of photovoltaic (PV) technology, which turns the sun’s light energy into electricity. After passing through a component called an inverter, the direct current electricity generated by the solar panels is converted to alternating current – the type of electricity accessed through standard electric outlets.

A solar energy system for a typical 2,000 square foot home or business can cost about $18,000 to install. Under SolarCurrents, customers will receive a one-time payment when their system is installed. They then will receive monthly credits on their electric bill for the next 20 years for providing Detroit Edison with renewable energy credits associated with the system.

Detroit Edison also plans to introduce a second-phase of the SolarCurrents programs in which the company will place large-scale solar energy panels it owns on customer rooftops or property. In return, Detroit Edison will pay long term leasing or rental fees to the property owners. Further details on the next phase of the SolarCurrents program are expected in the coming months.

Boston opens world’s first international green technology trade center

The International Green Technology Trade Center, the world’s first permanent trade show for Green Tech, today announced its launch at the TradeCenter128 green building complex located on Route 128, Boston’s Technology Highway, minutes from the region’s leading research universities.

The IGTTC is a permanent business marketplace designed to generate sales and brand recognition for 250+ cutting-edge green technology companies from around the world. For Green Tech companies seeking to join a beehive of economic activity, the IGTTC leverages economies of scale to attract trade buyers, manufacturers and investors to this dynamic networking environment.

One or two of the seven dwarfs would enjoy these houses, but certainly not all of them, and forget about Snow White. In Peter Pan, the lost boys made such a house for Wendy. And when Alice landed in Wonderland, she too experienced the tiny house phenomenon.

So, now in 2009, what’s the appeal of a home that ranges 100 to 800 square feet? Is there a market for them? Are people really downsizing to this level?

The economy may be one factor, but most folks who are attracted to these miniature homes are seeking a simpler, scaled down lifestyle –one that is kinder to the environment. Such a home uses less energy and takes advantage of renewable resources.

Simon Hare, a designer/builder in the Boston area, has resurrected an 150-year-old former gunsmith workshop and is now living in a very efficient 750-square-foot home in the dense urban setting of Roxbury, Mass. Dubbed the Pratt House project, the house is being constructed by Placetailor Inc.,  a design/build company that renovates city environments. Hare is one of five associates who work at Placetailor. The house, says Hare, “is named after Henry Pratt, the 19th century gunsmith who used it as his workshop when Roxbury was still mostly a rural settlement on the outskirts of Boston.”

Through the Looking Glass

“We just moved in this summer,” says Hare, who lives here with his engineer wife and one-year-old child. “In fact, the house isn’t finished yet. We live on the top floor, while the downstairs is being completed. We like small spaces — we’ve lived in studios before. It’s good for the environment, it’s easier to control and it’s good financially.”

Placetailor has managed to eliminate a traditional heating system (see picture right), amazing for anyone who has experienced a New England winter. “We keep the heat from a hot shower and the heat emitted by a refrigerator, by having great insulation. We also seal the building to make it airtight and situate the openings to best take advantage of the sun. By putting windows on the correct sides of the building, we minimize the amount of heat that is lost. We use no oil or gas, in fact, the house is designed to consume no energy.”

“Our walls,” says Hare, “are made of 12-1/4″ thick Styrofoam sandwiched between two layers of plywood. This is one of the many construction details we used to make the most of our house, both energy wise and otherwise.

“We don’t have a lot of appliances,” says Hare. Their washer-dryer is one unit and contains a condensing dryer, which is very efficient. It fits beneath the counter, similar to a dishwasher. “The clothes go in dirty and come out dry and clean,” says Hare. The unit does not emit exhaust like a typical dryer, so no heat is lost. As for cooking, the Hares use a convection microwave oven and a small cook top range, designed for a sailboat. Their fridge is measures 10 cubic feet.

The plumbing system consists of an electric tank less and instantaneous hot water heater located in a special wall cavity between the bathroom and kitchen, which are back to back. There are three lines, one goes to the lavatory, says Hare; the others go to the shower and the kitchen sink. There is no traditional water heater, “so we avoid having water standing around,” says Hare.

Basically, it’s a big house condensed into a smaller one, he says. “We’ve cut out a lot of things. And it’s taken a lot of trips to the local thrift shop to donate what we don’t use. There’s no room for storage.”

The second floor has two areas for sleeping, but no partitions. “The house is good for our small family, but would also work for empty nesters,” says Hare. In addition, he says, “we’ve found that people put out heat themselves and now with the addition of our baby, that helps…

“Of course,” he says, “there are other reasons for having kids!”

Do not underestimate the excitement of Earth Day. Trust us. There is a lot to look forward to this year – the Green Apple Festival and Earth Day Network are making sure of it.

The two organizations have teamed up to put together the largest Earth Day festival in America. The event will take place April 17 to 19 (the weekend before the official Earth Day on April 22) and features simultaneous service events in 10 major cities across the nation including New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

Volunteers who help out over the weekend will be given a green gift bag and tickets to attend a free “Thank You” concert in their city. And of course, the national flagship festival “Earth Day on the National Mall” will take over in Washington, D.C. The free festival is open to volunteers and the public and will feature performances and speakers throughout the day.

The “Thank You” concerts serve as a great incentive for rolling up your sleeves and making a meaningful contribution to the planet (check out the line-up below).  But just as motivating is the opportunity to be a part of some really creative and significant projects:

• Like finding out why you should have a worm in your apartment. The Lower East Side Ecology Center of New York City is teaching people how to deal with their smelly trashcan problem by keeping Red Wiggler worms handy. You learn how the Red Wiggler rapidly eats kitchen scraps and turns waste into fertilizer, and then learn how to set up and maintain a worm bin in your own crib and use the compost for feeding plants.

• Or discovering why it’s important that everyone aim for energy efficiency. In Austin, you can help retrofit a house for a family in need. The organization 1 House at a Time is teaching volunteers first-hand about home energy efficiency as they install water and energy conserving fixtures and appliances.

• You could even try to atone for your addiction to oil. Builders and bird enthusiasts are being recruited in San Francisco to help construct a cage, shed and rehabilitation pond for oiled birds in recovery at the International Bird Rescue Research Center.

Across all 10 cities there are opportunities to work in parks, beaches, schools and forests and focus on lasting climate change solutions, but you have to sign up to participate, and you have to sign up soon. Volunteers have until Tuesday, April 14 at 11:30 p.m. to register for a service project in their area. The events are listed on the Green Apple Festival site and from there a link takes you to the PlanetGreen website to sign up.

If you don’t live in one of these 10 cities, don’t worry. You can visit Planet Green’s Green Guide to Volunteering to make your own Earth Day plans.

You can also use the EDN green event locator.

Thank You Concert Lineup

Atlanta, GA – Funk and jazz band Galactic & Friends with opener country singer Victoria George at Variety Playhouse.

Austin, TX – Grammy Award-winning Country star Travis Tritt & Friends at Antone’s (note: this one’s on Monday April 20).

Boston, MA – The funk/jazz trio Soulive & Friends at Paradise Rock Club.

Chicago, IL – Alt-rock favorite Cracker & Friends at The Metro.

Denver, CO – Funk band Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk & Friends at Cervante’s Masterpiece.

Los Angeles, CA – The Hotel Cafe Presents indie rock singer-songwriter Cary Brothers & Friends at The Roxy.

New York City – The Soul legend from the James Brown Band Deep Banana Blackout featuring Fred Wesley & Friends at Bowery Ballroom.

San Francisco, CA – BassNectar & Friends at Slim’s.

Seattle, WA – Hip-Hop group The Blue Scholars & Friends at The Crocodile.

Washington, DC – Artists to perform on the National Mall have not yet been announced (it’s all about the suspense).

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

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From Green Right Now Reports

Green Apple Festival and Earth Day Network have released the 2009 line up for the free “Green Apple Thank You Concerts” for volunteers in major cities across the country over Earth Day Weekend (April 17 through 19).

Performers at the flagship event “Earth Day on the National Mall” in Washington D.C. will be announced soon, festival organizers said.

This year’s Green Apple Festival has grown to 10 cities and will focus on environmental volunteerism. Volunteers who participate in the activities over the weekend will be given tickets to attend the free “Thank You” concerts.

Here are the artists announced for each festival city:

• Atlanta, GA – Galactic & Friends with opener Victoria George at Variety Playhouse
  Galactic is a leading funk and jazz instrumental band from New Orleans, Louisiana. George is a country/rock singer/songwriter.
• Austin, TX – Travis Tritt & Friends at Antone’s (on Monday April 20)
  Tritt is a Grammy Award-winning Country star who has charted more than 30 singles on the Hot Country Songs charts, including five #1’s
• Boston, MA – Soulive & Friends at Paradise Rock Club
  The funk/jazz trio originated in Buffalo, New York, and is known for its solos and catchy, upbeat songs Chicago, IL – Cracker & Friends at The Metro Cracker is an Alt-rock favorite founded by former Camper Van Beethoven member David Lowery with Johnny Hickman
• Denver, CO – Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk & Friends at Cervante’s Masterpiece
  Led by Ivan Neville, a member of legendary Neville family and his popular funk band from New Orleans
• Los Angeles, CA – The Hotel Cafe Presents Cary Brothers & Friends at The Roxy
  The Hotel Cafe venue in LA helped launch the careers of top singer/songwriters, including Brothers, an indie rock singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee
• New York City – Deep Banana Blackout featuring Fred Wesley & Friends at Bowery Ballroom
  The Soul legend from the James Brown Band joins this long-time NY funk favorite
• San Francisco, CA – BassNectar & Friends at Slim’s
  BassNectar is an electronic music freeform project based in San Francisco, known as a top DJ and collaborator
• Seattle, WA – The Blue Scholars & Friends at The Crocodile
  The Northwest’s Top Hip-Hop group will be playing their hometown
• Washington, DC – artists will be announced soon for Earth Day on the National Mall

If you’d like to volunteer, go to www.PlanetGreen.com to sign up.

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Next month we celebrate Earth Day, the calendar hub of environmental action in the United States and around the globe.

The event, launched back in 1970, has enjoyed enduring life, inspiring countless mid-April tree plantings and “trash offs.” No doubt many adults today remember canvassing a ditch for soda cans and paper litter sometime during their childhood.

Lately, Earth Day has been enjoying a resurgence as green aspirations break out in corporate offices, Jaycee meetings and kindergarten classrooms everywhere.

But with the movement focused on April 22, you might be asking yourself, is it too late to sign up?

Not at all, says Raquel Garcia, communications manager for the Earth Day Network. “It’s never too late. We encourage actions no matter how small. There are many things you can do. You can plan a community event, maybe with just your neighbors. Maybe you call up your representative or senator or state official and ask them to put pressure on the federal government to help curb global warming by cutting carbon emissions.”

Garcia had other suggestions when we spoke Wednesday, noting that you also could:

• Search for an event on the Earth Day Network and sign up with something already planned.

• Watch an Inconvenient Truth

• Pledge to not eat meat for a month, which would have a tremendous effect on reducing global warming, according to Garcia, pointing out as many experts do that producing meat is resource-intensive.

• Organize a day at school to teach children about renewable energy.

“The actions are really infinite; there are so many things you can do,” she said.

Last year, EDN, based in Washington D.C., sponsored events in eight key U.S. cities. This year, they’ve increased that to 10, though the tenor of the events will be a bit different. There will still be a full day-long festival on the National Mall in D.C. But instead of a day-long festivals in the other cities, the Earth Day weekend celebrations (April 17-19) will focus on volunteer projects; a “nationwide weekend of action”.

Yes, that means you’ll gather with others to work — cleaning up parks, laying garden beds, scouring beaches, planting trees or perhaps helping weatherize low-income housing. (We might be unemployed in America, but we’re not out of work!) The details have not been announced yet, but soon. Look for more at the Green Apple Festival site.

Participants at the ten sponsoring city events will be treated to a free concert that Sunday. Again, watch for details. We’ll keep you posted here as well.

So if you live in one of the ten sponsor cities: New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, get ready for a busy weekend.

If you dock your boat in a smaller hamlet, you can check out planned events at the Find An Event search area on the EDN website.

You also can register community or group events, large or small, with the EDN.

Garcia is certain that even with the focus on work – which seems in keeping with the times this year – Earth Day will enjoy tremendous turn out. She sees more mainstream involvement than ever, having recently fielded calls from places not always associated with environmental action, such as military bases and a New York branch of the Homeland Security Office.

People are realizing that protecting the environment is not partisan and it’s not particular, she said. The environment is, by definition, all that surrounds us. It’s clean air, healthy food, unspoiled land and a future for our children. We all have a stake.

“We’re very happy to see more and more people seeing that (for) one, we don’t have any more time to waste. If we keep waiting for a miracle to happen, it’s not going to happen. We better stop reducing (our emissions and waste) now, or we’re going to go to the point of no return a lot sooner than a lot of people realized. ”

(Sponsors for the large city events include: Disneynature Earth (the movie opens in theaters April 22); Timberland: Join the Earthkeepers^TM movement; Motorola, Inc.: Offering the first carbon neutral mobile device, MOTO^TM W233 Renew and Clear2GO^TM: Drink Clean & Go Green.)

Photo credit: Justin Kase Condor, Noofangle Media,

Copyright © 2009 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

ExxonMobil Corporation’s pipeline subsidiary has agreed to plead guilty and pay more than $6 million in fines and other charges for a 15,000-gallon spill of diesel oil into the Mystic River from ExxonMobil’s oil terminal in Everett, Mass.

The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it had filed charges in federal court that ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corporation, violated the criminal provisions of the Clean Water Act. The plea agreement is subject to court approval.

ExxonMobil owns the marine distribution terminal in Everett, where oil tankers deliver petroleum products that are then distributed throughout the region. An inland “tank farm” at the terminal was compromised when pipes and valves connected the tanks leaked oil into waters that feed into the Mystic River and, ultimately, into Boston Harbor.

The government said the company’s “negligent failure to provide adequate resources and oversight to the maintenance and operation of the Everett terminal was a direct cause of the spill.”

In particular, ExxonMobil negligently failed to replace the leaking seal valve on Berth 3, and to replace the unpainted and corroded coupling at Berth 1, which ruptured as a result of the leakage and pressure build-up in the product receipt line.

As part of its plea agreement, ExxonMobil agreed to pay:

• The maximum possible fine of $359,018 (twice the cost of the clean up)
• The clean up costs of $179,634
• A community service payment of $5,640,982 to the North American Wetlands Conservation Act fund to be used to restore wetlands in Massachusetts

ExxonMobil also agreed that for the next three years, the Everett facility will be monitored by an court-appointed official and will be subject to a rigorous environmental compliance program.

The benefits of a rooftop garden are not only environmental, but extend to the human spirit. At the Ulfelder Healing Garden atop Massachusetts General Hospital’s Yawkey Cancer Center, those benefits are realized.

The 6,300-square-foot foliage-filled healing garden gives cancer patients and their families a much-needed retreat and helps the hospital conserve energy at the same time. It is just one of the many Boston sites included on tours during this week’s GreenBuild International Conference, a large annual gathering of builders and remodellers sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Bringing green design into health care and hospital building is a growing trend across the U.S.. At Dell Children’s Medical Center, which opened in Austin, Texas in 2007, green has been the focus from the ground up. In fact, says spokesperson Matilda Sanchez, the hospital is waiting to hear if they have achieved “platinum status” in the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program sponsored by the USGBC. Among the many green elements at Dell is a four-story interior healing garden with a waterfall that starts on the top floor, as well as a three-acre healing garden with a labyrinth that can be seen from many of the hospital rooms.

“Dell is setting the bar for hospital buildings,” says Sanchez. “While we were still under construction, many other hospitals looked at what we were doing. There was even a delegation from Australia who came to get ideas.”

“It’s a different way of healiing,” she says. “A patient’s surroundings are important. Eighty percent of our light is natural light. People often say it doesn’t feel like a hospital.”

The Ulfelder Healing garden in Boston, named for the late gynecologist and oncologist Dr. Howard Ulfelder, is located on the 8th floor adjacent to the Cancer Treatment Center and opened in 2005. It was inspired in part by social worker Evelyn Malkin, who said she had had the idea for at least 10 years.

“When my husband was hospitalized and I waited for his recovery, there was only one window that looked out on another brick building. The hospital was not as inviting as it could be. I also remember talking to one woman after treatment. She had bought a plant because she said the plant represented hope and renewal, a continuation of life. There wasn’t another place at the hospital, besides the chapel, where you could gather your thoughts together.”

Malkin says the support group, Friends of Mass General Cancer Center, was eager to initiate a green space at the hospital. Then the question became monetary. Dr. William Shipley, a senior radiation physician at the center, took an interest. As head of the Healing Garden Committee, Dr. Shipley helped to raise the funds needed to make the garden a reality.

Next was the execution. Coming up with a design and construction of a rooftop healing garden in dense, downtown Boston was no easy task. Halvorson Design Partnership, in conjunction with architects Cambridge Seven Associates, were selected for the job, combining two trends in landscape architecture today: green roofs and therapeutic landscaping.

It’s refreshing in these days of gas and environmental calamities, not to mention lending and budget crises, to hear about something that’s chugging along in a positive direction.

That’s the story of Amtrak, or nearly so, at this junction. Ridership on the American passenger rail service is up a healthy 14 percent compared to this time last year, and is on pace to hit an all-time annual record of 28 million passengers in fiscal 2008.

Trains are whisking folks around in the busiest “Northeast Corridor” (DC to Boston) faster than ever, and people across the nation are flocking to inter-city train travel, a mode of transportation less polluting per passenger than both cars and planes. Amtrak seems right for the times and primed for expansion.

“Ridership is through the roof! Let’s get on with it,” announced Amtrak CEO Alexander Kummant at a transportation summit in Irving, Texas, last week, where he came well prepared to make the case for more Amtrak.

Tossing up a series of charts and graphs during a presentation to fellow transportation officials and business leaders, he showed the audience that train travel spirals upward in an almost dead even correlation with gas prices. Yes, our pain is Amtrak’s gain, and one can reasonably conclude that if high gas prices stick with us, as predicted, train ridership will boom.

And as more people wiggle out of their personal gasoline predicaments, trains could become ever more popular, given the leap to trains preceded gasoline hitting $4 a gallon, Kummant noted.

Furthermore, a review of the ridership shows that it is not just straining the tracks in the busy rail-savvy “Northeast Corridor,” but has increased nearly everywhere. July 2008 ridership figures show increases over July 2007 for the Texas Eagle’s San Antonio to Chicago route (up 30 percent); the Coast Starlight (Seattle to Los Angeles; up 28 percent); the Kansas City to St. Louis route (up 57 percent); and the Hiawatha (Chicago to Milwaukee; up 38 percent).

So it’s all good. Except that it’s not: Amtrak’s trains are full, but the national network is unprepared to handle more passengers.

Chronically under-funded to the point of near insolvency a few years ago, Amtrak is reaching a tipping point where it cannot take on new business because it lacks reserve cars to pull on line and also is hemmed in by lines it shares with freight trains.

Operating under tight budgets for years, and jeered by perennial critics who argue that the national train system (which traditionally operates in the red) should not even receive subsidies, Amtrak has been unable to refurbish retired cars or build new ones. The service’s infrastructure, including the depots and track that it largely shares with commercial railroads, badly needs modernizing. Many supporters believe that “double track” routes should be installed to allow Amtrak the ability to expand alongside existing lines and provide more flexible, rider-friendly service, but these lines would be expensive and subject to high local taxes.

And so, just as the demand for rail travel, ridership and gas prices conspire to create what Kummant terms a “perfect storm” of opportunity for Amtrak, the doppelganger of Amtrak Past haunts the future.

How to change that picture? Kummant cites one thing as absolutely necessary, both in his speech to transportation officials and in remarks afterward. He would desperately like Congress to give Amtrak multi-year funding, instead of piecemeal year-by-year appropriations, so it can hire, plan and strategize like any other business.

His ask is moderate compared to funding for other transportation: $1 billion a year for each of the next 10 years.

He asked this year, but was denied. “A bitter pill,” he says, in face of the potential.

“It’s incredibly easy to argue that Amtrak should double in size over the next 10 years, given everything that’s going on,” he says.

And possibly incredibly hard to make that happen. Whether Congress is letting American train potential go unrealized because it doesn’t care, is procedurally balled up (Kummant’s view) or is just better geared to subsidizing plane and car travel, has become almost academic. The bottom line is that public policy since Amtrak’s inception in 1970 is clear, the system is on a short leash — or as its supporters see it, riding a vicious cycle of too-little funding that causes it to be less profitable, which creates an argument for less funding.