I just gave AASHE $1,000 dollars! And I feel like a million bucks!

One of my favorite times of the year is in early December when Colorado Gives day occurs. That evening my wife and I sit down at our computers and after deciding how much each of us will be giving. We sort through hundreds of organizations in Colorado and give money to the ones that best fit our personal and public agendas. At the end of the evening my Visa has a huge charge on it, I’ve come to appreciate the wonderful things non-profits in Colorado are doing, and I feel great about having helped advance causes I care about.

A few of years ago, I was asked by a colleague how they could give some money they had earned from consulting to AASHE. I was a bit stunned because we typically looked at our institutional members and various fees as our income sources and in truth, really didn’t have any system for giving to AASHE. Truly, my response was, “Just write a check to AASHE and send it to our business manager.” I have had a number of conversations with individuals since who want to individually support the work of AASHE. After numerous discussions, and fits and starts, last year we began planning a system for helping individuals support AASHE through donations.

Since mid-December 2012, you may have noticed a green DONATE button on the AASHE web pages. This was the soft launch of our Donations web page and online giving system. Now we have a system for anyone to make a financial gift to AASHE . Which begs the important question, WHY should you give to AASHE? After all, we have a budget of more than $2 million a year and income from institutional memberships alone in excess of $1 million. Do we really need your money?

In fact, the answer is a resounding yes! Your gift to AASHE makes it possible for AASHE to provide better and more extensive services to a greater number of people. Although you can envision your gift to AASHE supporting any of our efforts – the Resources Center, various databases, the (free) Bulletin and other e-newsletters, publications, STARS assessment system, and our many collaborations with other organizations – we have called out three ways that your donation supports efforts to keep AASHE affordable for all:

1. Your gift can help us keep the registration price of the Student Summit and student attendance at the annual conference well below what it costs AASHE.

2. Your gift can help us bring together some of the nation's leading sustainability experts during convenings via webinars and publications.

3. Your gift can support AASHE providing award winners with an opportunity to attend the conference to receive their well-earned recognition.

Not only does AASHE need my money but I need to give (some of) my money to AASHE. You might suspect that I support higher education sustainability efforts and believe that higher education should be empowered to lead the sustainability transformation (the AASHE mission). It’s one thing for me to support it by choosing a job in higher education sustainability. But it is also important for me to make a personal statement about my support that goes beyond my job choice. That I can do by giving to AASHE to support AASHE’s efforts to empower higher education to lead the sustainability transformation.

As we celebrate our dependence upon the earth this week I would urge you to join with me in supporting AASHE in its efforts to ensure a better future for us all.

Click here to see how our members are shaping sustainability with the help of AASHE tools and resources, and give whatever you can to advance sustainability and feel the joy of giving to something you really care about.

Paul Rowland, AASHE Executive Director

It's official. As of today, hanging on the CCAN office wall, is a pen from Governor Martin O'Malley's bill-signing ceremony for the Maryland Offshore Wind Energy Act of 2013. Thanks to you and a statewide coalition that was broader and bigger than anything I've seen in CCAN's ten years, we won! Let me say that again: We won!

This is the start of what can be a huge offshore wind industry from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras that will one day provide most of the East Coast's electricity, while playing a key role in solving climate change. Thank you for all your hard work!

Now our work goes on -- and there's lot's more to do. On the defensive front, we were less successful during the just-ended Maryland General Assembly. In fact, we lost two critical bills by just one vote -- on a fracking moratorium and something called "black liquor."

See the full note from Mike>>



Victory: We won on offshore wind!
On April 9th, CCAN staff were on hand as Gov. Martin O’Malley signed the offshore wind power bill into law, positioning Maryland to lead in harnessing our state's most abundant clean energy resource. This incredible victory belongs to all of you who took action over the past three years -- by packing multiple hearing rooms, flooding key legislators’ offices with emails and phone calls, writing dozens of letters to the editor, and even circling the State House. Governor O'Malley went to bat to make offshore wind power a reality, and he deserves our thanks, too. Click here to send a note thanking Gov. O’Malley for his leadership!

MD Activist Call: Get the inside scoop from Annapolis
Do you want the inside scoop on what happened in Annapolis on energy and climate issues during the 2013 legislative session? Are you wondering what you can do next to build on the momentum of our offshore wind victory? Join CCAN's Maryland organizers and Mike for a grassroots conference call on Tuesday, April 16th at 7:30 p.m. You’ll learn more about our triumphs and challenges on wind, fracking, black liquor and other keys issues this year, and get a chance to ask questions about what’s ahead for the next few months. Sign up here to get the call-in details and join us on April 16th at 7:30pm.



Help clean up D.C.'s top renewable energy law
A dirty form of energy -- the burning of a toxic paper making byproduct called "black liquor" -- has snuck its way into the most important clean energy law in D.C., our Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The RPS was intended to ensure that an increasing percentage of our energy comes from clean energy sources, like wind and solar power. Instead, a big loophole is allowing 79 percent of D.C's renewable energy dollars to support old, polluting plants burning black liquor and inefficient wood waste. Starting this month, we'll be asking the D.C. City Council to pass legislation to close the "black liquor loophole," and make sure our renewable energy dollars incentivize true clean energy sources. Sign our petition urging the City Council to end the black liquor rip-off.

One million comments to stop Keystone XL
As the moment of truth on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline approaches -- and the recent Exxon tar sands spill in Arkansas reminds us of the risks -- the movement to stop the pipeline keeps getting louder and bolder. On March 21st, CCAN leaders joined Interfaith Moral Action on Climate for another peaceful demonstration of civil disobedience at the White House. Tar Sands Blockade activists, including former CCAN-er Ethan Nuss, continue to challenge tar sands profiteers across the country. Wherever President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and influential senators like Mark Warner go -- including storefronts in Harrisonburg, Virginia -- #noKXL activists are there. On April 22nd, Earth Day, the clock runs out to submit public comments on the State Department's latest flawed environmental review of Keystone XL. Click here to submit yours and help us reach the ambitious national goal of one million #noKXL comments.



Introducing Project Planet
This Earth Month, CCAN is telling Dominion Power -- Virginia's top climate polluter -- to go beyond token “green” efforts like tree planting and to start making a plan to reduce its climate-disrupting emissions. The project, called Project Planet, launched on April Fools’ Day, when thousands of Virginians saw the spoof headline “Dominion to go carbon neutral!” in emails, on social media or in their local newspaper boxes. Check out the video here.

Throughout April, parents, faith communities, and other concerned Virginians across the commonwealth are working together to demand a new direction from Dominion for the sake of those with the most at stake: our children, grandchildren and future generations. By collecting petitions to Dominion, submitting letters to the editor of local newspapers, and working with kids and youth on creative projects, we are telling Dominion to take serious action to address climate change. Sign the petition, and then sign up to get more involved here.

Hybrid tax moves forward. Next step: Repeal
When Gov. Bob McDonnell signed Virginia’s transportation bill into law this month, an outrageous attack on climate solutions -- a new annual tax on hybrid car owners -- became state law. Bending to public outcry, the governor reduced the hybrid tax from $100 to $64 per year. But we've crunched the numbers and that's still an arbitrary and excessive amount that unfairly punishes Virginians trying to do their part for the climate. To protest the tax, CCAN supporters led a honking parade of hybrid and electric cars around the Capitol in Richmond and delivered more than one thousand petitions urging the governor to veto it. Next year, we’ll work with our allies in the General Assembly to push for legislation to repeal the hybrid tax.



Getting ready for Power Shift 2013
Have you heard? Power Shift 2013 has been officially announced! From October 18-21st, 10,000 students from across the country will converge in Pittsburgh, PA for a weekend of action, trainings, and unity as we combine our power to take on the fossil fuel industry and fight the climate crisis. Hundreds of Maryland, DC and Virginia students attended Power Shift 2011 in Washington, DC. We need hundreds more to come together this fall in Pittsburgh. Join fellow students from around the country to bring new power to our campaigns to fight fracking, divest from fossil fuels, and demand 100% clean energy on campus.

Click here to pre-register with CCAN today. Then, join the Power Shift 2013 Facebook page, and stay tuned for more information on registration and coordinating travel from your campus.

Virginia's campus climate leaders come together
Students from across Virginia came together in early April for a leadership summit in Richmond, where they developed a long-term vision for a unified campus climate movement. Students left the summit, hosted by the Virginia Alliance for a Cleaner Environment (VACE) and CCAN, re-energized and ready to keep building a strong statewide network. Read more about the summit and learn how to get involved here.

By: Susan Powers, Assoc. Director of Sustainability, Clarkson University

In my campus role as the Assoc. Director for Sustainability for Clarkson University (an AASHE & STARS Member Institution), I work with several different student groups every year to help them complete sustainability projects. It is time consuming and too often requires a lot of hand holding to get the students through their projects. This changed when I was contacted by staff at Focus the Nation early in 2012. I was impressed with their materials and recognition that it takes many types of students to affect change on a college campus. Working with two sophomores from our SYNERGY sustainability club, we embarked on the Forums-to-Action (F2A) planning and action in September 2012. The sophomores were passionate about making real changes in our energy efficiency, but they were novices in terms of organization and leadership. They had no ideas about what to do, how to organize their peers or engage professionals in their plan for action.

Over the course of four months, the FTN staff worked closely with these students through a series of webinars and weekly conference calls. We worked together through the F2A Guide, which laid out strategies for planning, engagement and fundraising. Both the document and the support from FTN staff were critical in transforming my student leaders from passionate yet somewhat directionless to passionate and successful leaders. These two sophomores found and led a team through the planning and implementation of an on-campus forum. This forum was a crucial step in raising awareness of the problems, bringing various stakeholders together for a common dialogue and garnering excitement about the project that was proposed in the forum. We are now working towards the implementation of a $CORE program for peer-to-peer energy auditing and upgrades in off campus housing. We look forward to reducing students’ energy bills and carbon footprint next year!

As the Campus Advisor of the Clarkson Focus Chapter I did work closely with our F2A leaders, but did not have to do nearly as much handholding and directing as with many other groups (and my F2A leaders were sophomores, not seniors or graduate students as in many other projects). I attribute this mostly to the support and leadership training that the FTN staff provided. We would have not had the opportunity to make the $CORE program work on our campus without their help.

If you are an AASHE Member Institution apply now to Start a Focus Chapter on your campus for the 2013-14 Academic year! Space is limited to 20 AASHE Member Institutions and applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Reserve your spot today to leverage a proven student engagement strategy that produces sustainable energy projects.

By Dedee DeLongpre Johnston
Director of Sustainability
Wake Forest University

We recently hosted a panel event on campus that probed the realms of morality, justice, capitalism and sustainability. Titled Good for Me – Good for Us? Self Interest, Community Values, and a Sustainable Future, the event challenged participants to consider the coexistence of community values and self-interested behaviors. Prior to the event we asked students to contemplate the perceived clash between the “moral” behaviors we teach in our American families, churches, and schools and the “selfish” behaviors inherent in our current economic system.

Julian Agyeman, Professor and Chair of Urban Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University; Sabine O’Hara, Dean of the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability & Environmental Sciences, University of the District of Columbia, and Larry Rasmussen, Professor Emeritus of social ethics, Union Theological Seminary served as respondents on the panel.

Our panel of experts articulated their visions for a sustainable future, noting that process, and a particular consideration of whose voice is included in the process, are central to our collective way forward. A focus on the moral dimensions of sustainability was a refreshing departure from the usual facts-and-figures sustainability lectures we have hosted in the past. Our students appreciated the attention paid to the fundamental motivations for our – and their – behaviors.

We worked with student groups for weeks before the event to discuss and debate our organizing questions. Several key themes emerged from these debates and discussions that are worthy of consideration by those of us working to empower students to lead the sustainability revolution.

One: members of this generation realize that unlimited growth, particularly unlimited economic growth based on a fixed set of inputs, is unsustainable. As one young woman put it, however, “it’s the devil we know and trying to imagine jumping off into something different is terrifying.”

Two: members of this generation want to care and want to make a difference, but are spread so thin and are so overcommitted, that they don’t act on their passions.

Three: members of this generation recognize that we need radical change, but they are paralyzed by a commitment – to their families, communities, and selves – to be practical.

During these conversations I was reminded of something David Orr said at a conference a few years back: The revolution is failing because it fails to be radical enough.

At his recent acceptance of the NAACP’s prestigious Spingarn Medal, life-long civil rights advocate Harry Belafonte said "What is missing I think from the equation in our struggle today is that we must unleash radical thought... America has never been moved to perfect our desire for greater democracy without radical thinking and radical voices being at the helm of any such a quest."

For the students we engaged in conversation about this event, the discussion continually circled back to the struggle they feel between understanding that the revolution needs to be radical and the pressure they feel to be practical.

Interestingly, a different group of students expressed the exact same sentiment just days before our event, upon their return from an alternative spring break trip in Alabama where they explored the history of civil rights. They acknowledged that there is “so much work still to be done,” and yet that they feel a need to be practical in the work they do and the life goals they pursue.

If this generation feels paralyzed by practicality, how can we empower them to think, and act, for change? In the follow-up conversations after our panel, we found that students valued the transdisciplinary solutions articulated by the presenters. The mix of economics, history, social equity, and ethics gave them a new insight into the importance of multiple perspectives and it added a pragmatic dimension to their otherwise narrowly conceived understandings of sustainability, based on discipline-specific teaching.

I think that the academe is slowly awakening to this insight as well. We still have our silos, and our reward systems that perpetuate those silos, but sustainability research and teaching is chipping away at the divides. Practicality does not equal stagnation.

Perhaps there are some very practical ways forward for students who are trained to think, and act, across boundaries. The keys to a sustainable future are certainly process-oriented and not just knowledge-based. Perhaps the revolution doesn’t have to fail if it fails to be radical enough. Though a practical revolution is a bit oxymoronic, if it’s a way to get this generation activated in the development of a vision for a sustainable future, maybe it’s a route we have to consider.

As someone who works with students every day, I reject the often-stated conclusion that this generation is apathetic. We should not mistake their lack of action for apathy. We should accept that they’re passionate – and overwhelmed. They’re overscheduled – and need to be taught that their habits are unsustainable. It is our job, as educators, to empower them to clear their own plates and to set their own priorities, so that they can fully engage their passions.

2013 Ecofest Calendar of Events:

Mon 4/22 10am-2pm: Kick-off Fair:
Quad, Rain location: Lower Flat Tuesday's

Join us for food, live music, drum circle, solar cooking, games & give aways from student orgs, non profits & local businesses
Hosted by Students for Environmental Awareness

Tues 4/23, 4pm: Global Solar Technology Lecture
Clean Energy Technology Incubator @bwtech (CETI)

featuring internationally recognized leaders in renewable technology: Deepak Gadhia & Bjorn Frogner

Tues 4/23, 5pm: Thin Ice Film screening
Commons Sports Zone (2nd floor)

Join as UMBC screens the first release of a new documentary exploring climate change science with free popcorn
Hosted by UMBC Climate Change Taskforce

Wed 4/24, 3pm: On Campus Tree Planting
Volunteer to plan trees and help green UMBC!

Hosted by Parks & People, AKA Sorority & the Arbor Day Foundation

Thurs 4/25, 12-1pm: Sustainable foods brown bag lunch discussion
Fine Arts, Room 529, INDS conference room

Bring your lunch and collaborate with campus and local leaders in agriculture, food justice, nutrition and organic gardening

Thurs 4/25, 12-1pm: Global Warming and Maryland's Climate

UMBC Information Technology and Engineering building (ITE), Room 102

Projections for the 21st Century featuring Dr. Halverson

Thurs 4/25, 2pm-3pm: Herbert Run Greenway Tour
Departing from Joseph Beuys Sculpture Garden Rock Garden
Hosted by Patricia La Noue, Greenway Founder

Fri 4/26, 12-1pm: Bike pro tips clinic & group ride

Commons Terrace, adjacent to the Quad

Get comfortable with handling your bike on the streets & learn road riding etiquette, then give it a whirl!
Hosted by the UMBC Cycling Club

Fri 4/26, 12-1pm: Make Your Own Tree (craft)
Commons Mainstreet
Hosted by Student Events Board

President Clinton launched the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world. Each year, CGI U hosts a meeting where students, youth organizations, topic experts, and celebrities come together to discuss and develop innovative solutions to pressing global challenges. This year, CGI U will be held at Washington University in St. Louis from April 5 - 7, 2013, bringing together nearly 1,200 attendees to make a difference in CGI U's five focus areas: Education, Environment and Climate Change, Peace and Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, and Public Health.

We are proud to have AASHE student representatives attending and promoting the important work of campus sustainability - read more about them and their commitments below!

Renee Dickman - University of South Carolina Columbia. Renee's CGIU commitment is "Columbia: Swap and Save!". The plan is designed to promote sustainability in the Columbia, SC community. With environmental concerns and economic hardship at the forefront of our nation’s challenges, this commitment will strive to tackle both issues by engaging the community in sustainable practices. The EcoReps at the University of South Carolina and their partners will engage Columbia citizens in money saving, sustainable actions such as light bulb swaps and health and earth-friendly cleaning. Our organization will cultivate collaborative relationships with local businesses and organizations to support and host educational information sessions across Columbia, paying particular attention to low income neighborhoods.

Ashley Fallon - The New School. Born and raised in Breezy Point, Queens, NY, Ashley has sometimes felt a bit of an outsider as an environmentalist in a blue collar, Tea Party-like town. On October 29th, Superstorm Sandy ripped through the community, where the massive flooding caused a fire that notoriously destroyed a section of homes just a stone's throw from her house. Ashley's commitment involves taking a needs assessment of the area, determining the appropriate response, and coordinating with private corporations, nonprofits, and local/federal governments to initiate action. This project is ongoing and would hopefully serve as a disaster response template for future events.

Gill Matan - University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Through the Clinton Global Initiatives program, Gill is partnering with his campus to develop a campus sustainability master plan whose objectives and vision are being crafted by a panel of students and administrators.

Niles Barnes - Duke University/AASHE. Full time graduate student and full time AASHE staffer, Niles is promoting various AASHE initiatives and programs at the CGI U event. One specific resource that will be highlighted is the new database of Green Revolving Funds developed in partnership with the Sustainable Endowments Institute. With colleges and universities seeking ways to finance campus sustainability, green revolving funds can be one mechanism to provide dedicated funding for institutions to invest in energy efficiency and resource efficiency projects. In addition, Niles will be promoting AASHE's upcoming conference, Student Summit and Sustainability Awards Program.

For those not attending but who want to keep up with the action check out the below sites:
* Live stream of CGI U plenary sessions
* CGI U Twitter and CGI U on Facebook
* AASHE Twitter and AASHE Facebook

Mon 4/22 10am-2pm:

Ecofest Kickoff Fair
on the Quad (rain location: lower Flat Tuesday)
Hosted by Students for Environmental Awareness

Mon 4/22, 4pm-5pm:

Silent Spring in the Age of Environmental Crisis
at the Proscenium Theater, Performing Arts and Humanities Building
Hosted by Gender & Women's Studies

Tues 4/23, 4pm:

Global Solar Technology Lecture
Clean Energy Technology Incubator @bwtech (CETI)

Wed 4/24, 3pm:

On CampusTree Planting
hosted by Parks & People, AKA Sorority & the Arbor Day Foundation

Thurs 4/25, 12-1pm:

Sustainable foods brown bag lunch discussion
at Fine Arts Room 529, INDS conference room

Thurs 4/25, 2pm-3pm:

Herbert

Run Greenway Tour

Joseph Beuys Sculpture Garden Rock Garden

Hosted by Patricia La Noue

Fri 4/26, 12-1pm:

Bike pro tips clinic &

group ride

Commons Terrace, adjacent to the Quad

hosted by the Cycling Club

Fri 4/26, 12-1pm:

Make Your Own Tree
Commons Mainstreet
Hosted by Student Events Board

The Lambda Phi Chapter of Alpha

Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated

presents the UMBC ARBOR DAY BLOCK PARTY

Date: Wednesday, April 3

Location: UMBC QUAD

Time: 3-5pm