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In the news...

Events
T Dec. 9 @ 6-ish Discussion Group at Bread and Bagels
T Dec. 16 @ 5:30p HOLIDAY CELEBRATION at Verdi’s on the Square!

Happy thanksgiving to everyone! There is much to be thankful for this year, with the awakening awareness of all things sustainable in our own community and promises for more sustainable directions for our country from the newly elected administration.

Great friend to BGGreen, KY and the environment, Tom Fitzgerald, Director of KRC, delivered a highly relevent inaugural speech for the Sustainability Lecture Series at UK on Mindful Living. I encourage all to read his words. Thomas J. FitzGerald is an environmental attorney, graduate of the UK College of Law, and a recent recipient of the Heinz Award in the Environment.

Steve Beshear, Attorney General Jack Conway and U.S. Reps. Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth are to be commended for writing letters in opposition to the proposed changes to mountaintop mining disposal protocols. See Elected officials on right track on mining, BG Daily News, 11/20/08 On other matters, continued public input is vital. See KRC recent postings: KRC Statement on Beshear Administration Energy Plan and Request for Moratorium on Development of Trails and Access to State Natural Lands.

Founding friend Jim Embry, from the Lexington Sustainable Communities Network, recently returned from his trip to Terra Madre in Italy for the Slow Foods Conference, reports there were almost 20 delegates from Kentucky, 800+ from the USA, and 7,000 from 153 other countries! We plan for Jim to share news of his experience and what is happening in the international slow foods movement in Bowling Green early next year. If you can help in organizing for this, contact gogreen@wku.edu. From Jim:

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." ~Arundhati Roy

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable ... It comes only through the tireless efforts and passionate concern of dedicated individuals ... This is no time for apathy nor complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action."~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Nancy Givens, BG GBreen co-chair, had the fortune, along with Christian Ryan-Downing, WKUs Sustainability Coordinator, to attend the AASHE ’08 Conference. After the conference, Michelle McKay, Vice President of Second Nature spoke with Vandana Shiva, a keynote speaker, about her important work with “food democracy.” Listen here: Vandana Shiva Interview Another keynote speaker: hear Van Jones on the Green Jobs Revolution.

“Now is the time to confront this [Climate Change] challenge once and for all. Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response.”
-President-elect Barack Obama, on legislation for Climate Change

GREEN FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

To help raise money for projects, BGGreen has partnered with LetsGoGreen.biz. Buy Green and help raise money for BGGreen. All items are eco-friendly and designed to save resources and money. Just visit www.LetsGoGreen.biz on the web, choose your items. At checkout, select BGGreen Partnership as your partner group and 25% of proceeds will be donated to BGGreen. Visit often, even monthly, and thanks for your support!

Articles & Links

Longtime Head of House Energy Panel Is Ousted By John Broder, NY Times, 11/20/08
Rep. Henry A. Waxman unseated John D. Dingell to become chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. A very important development for future energy and environment policy.

ASES News: Climate Change Report Jan 31, 2007 Groundbreaking report on potential of renewable energy and energy efficiency to reduce carbon emissions in the US by 2030.

CASE HISTORY: Fitting Into a Mountain Environment, by Suzanne Johnson, Solar Today, Nov-Dec 2008 How a retired Silicon Valley executive built a house that soaks up the sun. And watch this VIRTUAL TOUR of the house, with architect David Arkin, Arkin Tilt Architects (arkintilt.com). Video courtesy of Dave Renné and Paulette Middleton, Aspen Hill Films (aspenhillfilms.com).

By Design: Blue Is the New Green NY Times, 11/2/08 It would be a mistake not to take advantage of innovations in water management technology, Allison Arieff writes.

Bowling Green (& surrounding area) Green Directory