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This week in conservation
November 12 - 18, 2007
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In This Issue:

Local News:
CSA to stay at Thimble Farm!;
A Father’s View of Thimble Farm

Feature:
Energy boost

Calendar:
Seed Cleaning Project;
Starfish and the number five;
Wind Power & Wildlife: The Missing Links;
More...

Save The Date:
Go Green Workshop & Tour;
The 2007 Massachusetts Smart Growth / Smart Energy Conference

Sustainable Book Club:
The Rural Life by Verlyn Klinkenborg

Island Plan Update:
Lynn Benander, the manager of Co-op Power

Sustainability Update:
Who You Gonna Call?

Biodiesel Update:
Biofuels get a boost on Cape and off

Climate Change Update:
Big food companies accused of risking climate catastrophe
LOCAL NEWS
CSA to stay at Thimble Farm!

"Rusty and I are pleased and relieved to report to you that a buyer who is very supportive of the CSA has just reached agreement with Lawrence Benson to purchase Thimble Farm. This individual will secure the Farm while we create a master plan that will preserve it for food production. He is dedicated to working with the CSA, and to improving the Thimble infrastructure in ways that will make a more efficient CSA possible in 2008 and the future. We have a lot of work to do to restore Thimble Farm to what it should be, but we can now begin that effort with enthusiasm and confidence."

Go to the Sustainability section for the rest of the letter.
A Father’s View of Thimble Farm
Thimble Farm was preserved from development in the 90's through the purchase of an agricultural preservation restriction, (APR) by the MV Land Bank. But it was not preserved from falling into the hands of a private individual for strictly private use, as for example a horse farm. Until yesterday!

Go to the Sustainability section for the rest of the announcement.
Feature

Energy boost
By Peter J. Howe
Globe Staff
November 8, 2007
Boston Globe

Wide-ranging bill aims to promote wind, water power sources and curb harmful greenhouse gases

After months of negotiations with Governor Deval Patrick and business and environmental groups, House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and legislative leaders are unveiling a sweeping bill today to promote energy conservation and innovation.

The wide-ranging bill would require the state by 2020 to quintuple - to 20 percent - the percentage of electricity it generates from renewable sources such as wind, hydroelectric, and crop-based fuels while cutting emissions of climate-affecting greenhouse gases by 20 percent.

http://www.boston.com/news/
local/articles/2007/11/08/energy_boost/

Ideal Bite
Energy Tip
Deciding what kind of toilet paper to buy is a delicate issue. Is it possible to protect both the earth and your bum? According to the NRDC, if every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll (500 sheets) of virgin-fiber toilet paper with 100 percent recycled TP, we'd save almost half a million trees. There are several nationally available brands of recycled TP: Seventh Generation, Green Forest, and Whole Foods' brand 365 Everyday Value. According to the NRDC's shopper's guide (and the TP packages), those brands are all 100 percent recycled fiber, at least 40 percent post-consumer fiber, and processed chlorine-free.

 

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Calendar
Seed Cleaning Project
Tues, Nov 13, 2007, 9-11 am
Hoft Farm Field Station, Lambert's Cove Rd., Vineyard Haven. The Nature Conservancy needs help cleaning and sorting seeds from native plant nursery. Also Nov. 16, 1-3 pm. 508-693-6287, ext. 15.
Starfish and the number five
Wed, Nov 14, 2007
From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Free Public Library as part of their Wednesday evening lecture series. A talk by Fred Hotchkiss, director of the Marine and Paleobiological Research Institute (MPRInstitute.org), will be given This MPRI lecture is funded in part by a grant from the Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council in collaboration with the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Questions? Contact Fred Hotchkiss, Director 508-693-3122 hotchkiss@MPRInstitute.org
Wind Power & Wildlife: The Missing Links
Wed, Nov 14, 2007
7 p.m. at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Presentation focuses on understanding how wind power impacts wildlife. Sponsored by Cape and Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative and Mass Audubon. The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is located on the west side of Route 6, immediately north of the Eastham/Wellfleet town line. Call (508) 349-2615 for information.
Alpaca Farm Days
Fri, Sat, and Sun, Nov 16,17 & 18, 2007
12PM-4PM, 1 Head of the Pond Rd., Oak Bluffs. Meet the alpaca, see the new babies. 508-693-5554. www.islandalpaca.com
Seed Cleaning Project
Fri, Nov 16, 2007
1-3 pm, Hoft Farm Field Station, Lambert's Cove Rd., Vineyard Haven. The Nature Conservancy needs help cleaning and sorting seeds from native plant nursery. 508-693-6287, ext. 15.
Workshop on Ag Commissions
Sat, Nov 17, 2007
MVC sponsored, Workshop on Ag Commissions, for all interested town boards and members of the agriculture community to discuss the concept and benefits of an Agricultural Commission(s). 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM at the VTA Administration Building - MV Airport Business Park. Invited guests from Carver and Falmouth Agricultural Commissions will talk about their experiences.
Arboretum History Walk
Sat, Nov 17, 2007
11 am-1:30 pm, Polly Hill Arboretum, State Rd., West Tisbury. Walk with staff member, learn history of native trees, soup-making demo with author Cathy Walthers. $30; $25 for members. 508-693-9426.
Massachusetts & New England Global Warming Action Conference
Sun, Nov 18, 2007
The Sixth MCAN Annual Conference. 9:30 am to 5:30 pm MIT Stata Center, 32 Vassar St, Cambridge, MA Speakers: Ian Bowles, Secretary, MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: Rob Pratt, Senior Vice-President-Climate Change/Energy, Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and lead catalyst for the Cambridge Energy Alliance Warren Leon, Director, Renewable Energy Trust, MA, and co-author of the important and popular book, The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices. This event is your best local source of activist training, networking opportunities, and motivation. Also included are three workshop tracks with 24 total sessions! Register online here: http://www.acteva.com/go/mcan
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Save The Date
Go Green Workshop & Tour

Rescheduled for Sat, Dec. 1 9 AM - 2:30 PM, Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Route 28, East Falmouth, MA Residential and Small Business Applications Workshop: Please register (suggested donation $10, includes locally grown lunch from Coonamesset Farm) Space limited, please register: Laurie Tompkins 508-457-0495 ext.108, laurie.tompkins@state.ma.us 2:30-3:30 PM: Tour of Waquoit Bay Reserve Renewable Energy Installations & Coastal Impacts of Climate Change Field Walk (free).
The 2007 Massachusetts Smart Growth / Smart Energy Conference
Dec 7, 2007, DCU Center, Worcester, MA
You are encouraged to attend this fifth annual Commonwealth event dedicated to providing an opportunity for elected and appointed officials, public agency staff, non-profit agencies, private groups and individuals to gather to learn about and discuss a variety of topics related to land use, development, and conservation. Register now at: http://www.eot.state.ma.us/smartgrowth/
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Sustainable Book Club
The Rural Life by Verlyn Klinkenborg

November meeting in Edgartown. The book is The Rural Life by Verlyn Klinkenborg. Discussion is Tuesday, Nov. 27 at 7p.m. at the Edgartown Public Library. Please join this island-wide book group, reading and discussing books that examine our relationship with nature. The group is sponsored by all six island libraries, Felix Neck Sanctuary, Polly Hill Arboretum and The Vineyard Conservation Society.
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Island Plan Update
Lynn Benander, the manager of Co-op Power

Wed, Nov 14, Lynn Benander, the manager of Co-op Power: A consumer – owned energy cooperative, will be meeting with the Livelihood and Commerce Work Group of the Island Plan at 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, at the MVC offices. We encourage all interested members of the Livelihood & Commerce, and the Energy & Waste Work Groups to attend. Co-op Power is a consumer-owned energy cooperative serving New England and New York. They work with communities across the region to build community-owned renewable energy resources. Their unusual concept is compelling, and it should be an interesting gathering. For more information go to www.cooppower.coop.

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Sustainability Update
Who You Gonna Call?

An immigrant family from Central America shows the city of San Francisco how to clean up its infestations with creative thinking, not just chemicals

Using a stethoscope in a hospital is not such a strange thing to do, unless, of course, you're an exterminator, which Luis Agurto is.

Agurto, who owns the San Francisco–based pest control company Pestec, stands on a ladder and presses his stethoscope to the wall.

http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/
07fal/frontlines3.asp
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Biodiesel Update
Biofuels get a boost on Cape and off
By Susan Milton
STAFF WRITER
November 06, 2007
Cape Cod Times

ORLEANS — Want a little soybean oil in your furnace?

Last month, Snow's Home and Garden became the third fuel-oil heating company on the Cape to offer a blend of treated vegetable oil and normal heating oil to its heating customers.

In a month, 500 customers — most existing oil customers — have signed up to get the blend, marketed as "Bioheat," which is 5 percent biofuel, Snow's fuel division manager Jim Kelly said. A year ago, only 35 of its 1,500 heating oil customers showed an interest in the product.

http://capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20071106/NEWS/711060305
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Climate Change Update
Big food companies accused of risking climate catastrophe
John Vidal
Thursday, November 8 2007
Guardian
The rush to palm oil and biofuels threatens to release 14 billion tonnes of carbon from Indonesia's peatlands

Many of the largest food and fuel companies risk climate change disaster by driving the demand for palm oil and biofuels grown on the world's greatest peat deposits, a report will say today.

Unilever, Cargill, Nestlé, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, as well as all leading UK supermarkets, are large users of Indonesian palm oil, much of which comes from the province of Riau in Sumatra, where an estimated 14.6bn tonnes of carbon - equivalent to nearly one year's entire global carbon emissions - is locked up in the world's deepest peat beds.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/
2007/nov/08/climatechange.biofuels?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
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