Wildlife Promise » Kristy Jones

Good Jobs, Green Jobs Coming to the U.S.

Kristy Jones — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 21:18:59 +0000

I attended the Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Close to 1,500 people attended, and half of those were representatives from the United Steel Workers (very impressive). Folks gathering Tuesday and Wednesday came together to learn about current opportunities and efforts related to good, healthy green jobs in the U.S., and what is coming down the pike. And today was a lobby day for conference attendees to talk with their members of Congress about why climate change matters and the need to invest now to prepare our infrastructure and create good jobs for workers.

The opening session on Tuesday featured key note addresses by Leo W. Gerard from the United Steelworkers (USW) and Dr. David Danielson from the U.S. Department of Energy. The following panel featured Bryan Walsh from TIME magazine, Kevin J. Anton from Alcoa, Kevin Knobloch from the Union of Concerned Scientists, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island, as well as Mr. Gerard from the USW. The discussion focused on bringing climate change to the national agenda, a few highlights include:

• Kevin J. Anton from Alcoa – “If you want to go fast, go by yourself; if you want to go strong, go together.” The goal of making climate change a national issue, of getting Congress to address it needs to be a collective effort – all the groups gathered here today, the USW, Sierra Club, General Motors, Kaiser Aluminum, and others need to work together.
• U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse – Two things prompt legislative action – 1) disasters (like Super Storm Sandy), and 2) Executive action that forces the issue. This needs to change.

And the closing speaker for the morning was Jacqueline Patterson from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Jacqueline had many words of wisdom, inspiration, and hope for the future of the U.S. and greener, healthier jobs, but one thing she said stuck the longest and strongest: “We need to get money out of politics.” It’s true, but how?

My next stop during the day was a session under Tools for the Clean Economy on offshore wind, called “Build Here, Build Now: The Case for an American Offshore Wind Energy Industry.” Offshore wind is very important to me for a couple of reasons. I live in Virginia, we are a coastal state, and currently we have no wind energy – on land, or offshore. But we do have wind! Last fall, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Dominion Power a $4 million grant for an offshore wind energy test project. So wind is a real opportunity for Virginia, and other coastal states, as well as the Great Lakes.

This session featured future plans for developing offshore wind in the U.S., including a new project that will be launched soon in New Bedford, Massachusetts, “New Bedford Will Host Marine Commercial Terminal to Support Offshore Wind,” and also spotlighted existing offshore wind installations in Germany. We look to Europe for the expertise on offshore wind – Germany, Scotland, and others. Dirk Scheelje from the Ministry of Science and Research, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, talked about existing installations, future projects, and highlighted the point that this was an opportunity for the workforce not only on the coast, but throughout the country. Many of the presenters had great photos to share of offshore wind installations and components, but they were all from overseas, hopefully soon we will have some photos of our own to share. New Bedford should soon.

I also discovered a great new resource at the GJGJ conference, www.ChemHAT.org. ChemHAT — the Chemical Hazard and Alternatives Toolbox — is a new internet database designed to offer up easy-to-use information that can help protect individual workers, their families and co-workers against the harm that chemicals can cause; “ChemHAT is based on the simple idea that when we know how a chemical can hurt us we can take protective action.” You simply go to the website and enter in the chemical you want to learn about. I also learned some very unsettling facts about chemical management and effects:
• Our workforce is exposed to 10,000 different chemicals;
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) manages 16 of them;
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires a listing of about 200 others;
• 40,000 workers have died because exposure to toxins; and
• Women working in the auto manufacturing or plastics industries are 5 times more likely to get breast cancer.

The Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conferences was a great experience. It highlighted all the great work that is being done, but also revealed all the important work that still needs to be done.

Campus Conservation Nationals 2013 – Nation’s Largest Electricity and Water Reduction Competition Kicks Off February 4

Kristy Jones — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:09:08 +0000

Students at hundreds of campuses across the country will soon be taking very short showers, studying by flashlight, and cozying up by moonlight when the Campus Conservation Nationals begins its electricity and water reduction competition on February 4. Running until April 26, schools around the nation will duke it out to save electricity and water in their residence halls and classrooms by changing personal behaviors and building operations.

The Lucid Design Group, in partnership with National Wildlife Federation, the U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools, and the Alliance to Save Energy hosts this annual competition. In 2013, nearly 200 campuses (twice as many as in 2012) and over 250,000 students will compete and contribute to the goal of reducing 2 gigawatts of electricity and 2 million gallons of water. Last year students saved more than 1.7 million kilowatt-hours of energy—equal to removing 150 U.S. homes from the grid for a year, and saved more than 1.5 million gallons of water—about 10,300 hours of shower time.

“The growth and success of CCN really demonstrates that when people have access to the right information in the right context, they can have a significant impact on a building’s energy and water use,” said Andrew deCoriolis, director of marketing at Lucid. “Perhaps more importantly, CCN serves as a platform for students to connect their personal actions to broader impact.”

Another new aspect of CCN is the addition of the NWF Video Contest, which gives students the opportunity to creatively document their actions toward climate solutions. “We see our involvement in CCN as a natural extension of our Campus Ecology Program,” said Kristy Jones, sr. manager of campus climate education and action at NWF. “Through CCN we are giving students a platform to make measurable impacts on climate, and then use their experience to inspire campuses around the country to continue to push forward with actions to reduce their impact on climate change, thus reducing the impacts on wildlife and habitat.”

The campus that demonstrates the greatest reduction in water and energy usage will receive Lucid’s Building Dashboard(R) to monitor real-time electricity use on their campus. Participating schools will also have the opportunity to win carbon-offsetting renewable energy certificates (RECs) from Carbonfund.org and cash prizes as a part of NWF’s CCN Video Contest.

To learn more about the competition, visit: CompeteToReduce.org. To view entries for the CCN Video contest, visit Facebook.com/CampusEcology.

National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program hosted Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming from 2007-2011 to support and recognize campus efforts to reduce the carbon footprint. Check out Chill Out vides at: CampusChillOut.org.

How are community colleges advancing greener careers and campuses?

Kristy Jones — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:37:20 +0000

The Greenforce Initiative, a partnership of National Wildlife Federation and Jobs for the Future, hosted a virtual summit last Friday, November 2 – Advancing Greener Careers and Campuses.

The summit hosted several sessions including an employer panel with John Bradburn from General Motors; tips for creating successful employer-college partnerships; the importance of linking climate change science to STEM careers; and a closing plenary featuring Tom Hooper from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Close to 150 community college leaders (faculty, staff, administrators & students) and other education and economic leaders joined us for the summit.

Davidson County Community College, North Carolina

One of the most popular sessions was “Connecting Campus Sustainability to Green Career Pathways.” The session was facilitated by Julian Keniry, Sr. Director of Campus & Community at National Wildlife Federation. The featured speakers were Linda Chauncey from Seattle Central Community College, Holly Weir from Davidson County Community College in North Carolina, and Norman Christopher from Grand Valley State University in Michigan. Each speaker highlighted the ways each of their campuses is greening their operations and using those efforts to provide training opportunities for students. In Seattle, students are being taught by retired agriculture professionals – learning about where food comes from and how to grow sustainably; Seattle Central Community College is the first community college in the country to offer a food-focused sustainability program at a nearby farm. Norman Christopher from Grand Valley State University spotlighted the university’s green chemistry certificate The certificate provides students with the knowledge of green, benign chemistry and its principles. “A Certificate in Green Chemistry provides a major advantage to an applicant on the job market in the area of chemistry and environmental sciences. Entry-level positions in the field, such as chemical analysis, testing, quality control, and technical service are expected to list knowledge of green chemistry is desired ” (www.gvsu.edu). Holly Weir from Davidson County Community College wrapped up the session by talking about the various disciplines that are integrating sustainability into the curriculum and providing hands-on training for students. Holly shared examples including creating a green home out of an old dilapidated home as a capstone projectand campus landscaping.

Materials and resources featured during the summit will soon be available at www.greenforceinitiative.org/summit.

The Greenforce Initiative is an effort to strengthen the capacity of community colleges to green the skills of the modern workforce.

Special thanks to Sara Gassman, our NWF Campus Ecology Intern, for contributing to this post.

NWF Calls for Campus Case Studies on Sustainability Efforts

Kristy Jones — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 15:48:05 +0000

National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program is calling for case studies on campus sustainability efforts and green jobs training programs from the 2011-2012 academic year; case studies are due on August 3, 2012. NWF’s Campus Ecology program has published case studies each year since 1989, making this our 23rd annual call.

Georgia Institute of Technology - 2011 Case Study on Game Day Recycling

Benefits to campuses include:

Sharing campus efforts with colleges and universities nationwide;
Published case studies will be shared with NWF’s campus contact list of more than 25,000 students, faculty and staff, plus our social media networks;
Our database is a great resource to help campuses document their efforts; the database is searchable by topic, state, year and school and has more than 650 case studies!
National press release promoting the 2012 case studies.

Each year NWF’s Campus Ecology program publishes case studies contributed by its members and partners showcasing their campus sustainability practices and global warming solutions for the past school year (2011-2012). NWF will release these illustrated reports in Fall 2012 in our online, searchable case study database, one of our most popular resources. Colleges and universities throughout the U.S. have made great strides toward addressing global warming and protecting wildlife and habitat. We invite you to share your success stories and let other campuses learn from you!

Click here to review the case study guidelines and use our template to get started.

Schools are welcome to submit more than one case study on multiple projects in different areas of sustainability and green workforce development. Case studies can focus on completed projects/programs or projects still in development.

Contact Campus Ecology with any questions:
campus@nwf.org
703-438-6000
www.CampusEcology.org

Germanna Community College’s New LEED Silver Science & Engineering Building

Kristy Jones — Thu, 24 May 2012 20:12:48 +0000

Germanna Community College in Virginia opened their new green, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver building in early May. The new science & enginneering building, located at Germanna’s Fredericksburg campus, features:

Germanna Community College's Science & Engineering Building Grand Opening

~ Low maintenance landscaping;
~ Vegetative roof;
~ A rain water harvesting system, with the pump and cistern located underground, allowing the capture of rain water for use to flush the toilets;
~Integrated shading and daylight sensors which automatically adjust the need for artificial lighting by turning off unnecessary lights and adjusting window shades to utilize the right amount of natural light;
~ A wind turbine capable of providing enough energy to power 15 laptops and charge 100 cell phones;
~ Laboratory exhausts using an energy recovery system harnessing heated or cooled exhaust air to supplement the main HVAC air supply thus saving 50% on heating and cooling costs; and
~ Low-flow fixtures controlled by sensor-operated valves that will reduce water consumption.

Vegetative roof on new green science & engineering building

One additional feature of Germanna’s new building is their student tour guides. Students will be available to give tours to fellow students, faculty, staff and community members sharing the green features of the building. This educational awareness effort is in part funded by the Greenforce Initiative, a partnership of Jobs for the Future and the National Wildlife Federation. Germanna Community College is a partner in the Greenforce Initiative, an effort to strengthen the capacity of community colleges to green the skills of our modern workforce.

The three story, 52,000 square foot green building will provide laboratories, instructional resources, student services and more to the Germanna community and the broader Fredericksburg community.

David A. Sam, Germanna’s President, Rob Wittman, U.S. Congressman, Ann Heidig, Chair of the

Germanna's LEED Silver Building, Fredericksburg campus

Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, and Glenn DuBois, Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System attended the opening ceremony along with more than 150 students, faculty, staff, and community residents.

Read Germanna Community College’s News Blog, New Germanna building teaches, too.

Learn more about the Greenforce Initiative in Virginia.

Note: Established by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

National Wildlife Federation keynotes at Gyeonggi Green Campus Global Forum in Korea

Kristy Jones — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:09:26 +0000

Julian Keniry, National Wildlife Federation’s Senior Director of Campus & Community Leadership, traveled to Seoul, Korea this week to keynote and host a workshop at the 3rd annual Gyeonggi Green Campus Global Forum. The Green Campus Global Forum, first held in 2010, is an opportunity for college and university leaders from around the world to share best practices, network with peers, and discuss challenges facing the international green campus movement. On May 24-25, 2012, representatives from the United States, South Korea, Germany, United Kingdom, and other countries are coming together with the collective goal of sharing best practices in campus sustainability, developing strategies to network with campuses internationally, finding solutions to connect with private organizations and companies interested in the green campus movement, and identifying roles for local government to help grow the movement.

Julian Keniry is giving a keynote on the role of colleges and universities in the conservation and sustainability movement and how each stakeholder on campus – students, faculty, staff and administrators – are key to the success of the institution becoming more sustainable and reducing their global warming pollution. Julian is also hosting a workshop focused on student leadership, highlighting student roles in greening the campus curriculum and operations, while also educating the campus community and the broader community on their efforts.

Learn more about how NWF’s Campus Ecology program advances sustainability on campus.

Check out NWF Campus Ecology’s online guides focused on student leadership, Student Sustainability Educators – A Guide to Creating and Maintaining an Eco-Rep Program on Your Campus, and Generation E – Students Leading for a Sustainable, Clean Energy Future.

This Friday is Endangered Species Day, do you have any on your campus?

Kristy Jones — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:38:44 +0000

On Friday, May 18, 2012 join National Wildlife Federation in recognizing Endangered Species Day, a day to learn about the imperiled birds, fish and plants in your area and also share the importance of wildlife conservation with friends and family.

College and universities across the country have committed, and are taking action, to protect wildlife and habitat through conservation easements, habitat restorations including tree plantings and stream clean-ups, native gardens, curriculum, research and more. University of Central Florida in Orlando has the Gopher Tortoise calling its campus home; in Florida the gopher tortoise in on the endangered species list and categorized as threatened. Oregon State University offers a course, Endangered Species, Society and Sustainability; the course provides a background on endangered species biology, and the social and economic implications of the legislation enacted to conserve endangered species, i.e., the Endangered Species Act and, CITES Treaty (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Coastal Carolina University’s (South Carolina) Burroughs & Chapin Center for Marine & Wetland Studies educates on the threats to sea turtles including two endangered turtles, the Kemp’s Ridley and Leatherback, and two threatened, Green and Loggerhead sea turtles.

Check out NWF’s Endangered Species Day webpage to see how you can recognize this very important day!

Learn more about colleges and universities protecting wildlife and habitat on their campuses through NWF Campus Ecology’s campus sustainability case study database (search Habitat).

Rappahannock Community College Hosts Green Vendor Fair in Gloucester, VA

Kristy Jones — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:00:09 +0000

At the end of April, Rappahannock Community College in Virginia hosted a green vendor fair, in partnership,

Green Vendor Fair hosted by Rapphannock Community College, photo taken by National Wildlife Federation staff

with the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce. More than 15 green vendors attended highlighting their environmentally friendly products and services available to the community of Gloucester. Employers (vendors) present included Dominion Power, Phillips Energy, Green Planters, Gloucester Toyota, Lamb Exterminating, Rappahannock Community College and more.

Rappahanock Community College’s table featured their green workforce development course offerings including “Harnessing the Sun – Solar Systems: Installation and maintenance”, “Harnessing the Wind – Wind Power Systems: Installation and maintenance”, and a course specifically geared for kids, “Elementary Lego® Engineering 2 ‘Going Green’” for students (ages 11-12) to creatively build and modify machines applying basic engineering principles and green technology.

The Green Vendor Fair not only helped the community learn what products and services are available (including educational services available through Rappahannock Community College), but for the companies (potential employers) to highlight what green skills are in demand and how the educational providers (i.e., Rappahannock Community College) can help develop training programs to ensure they are meeting this demand. The Green Vendor Fair was partially funded through a grant of the Greenforce Initiative, a partnerships of Jobs for the Future and National Wildlife Federation. The Greenforce Initiative works in six regional across the country, including Virginia, to help advance greener workforce development at community colleges and bridge campus sustainability efforts as hands-on training opportunities for students. Rapphannock Community College and ten other community colleges in Virginia are partners in the Greenforce Initiative.

Learn more about Rappahannock Community College’s green workforce development offerings.

Check out National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology case study database for best practices in green workforce development.

Northwest Earth Institute Releases New Course, Powering A Bright Future

Kristy Jones — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:39:20 +0000

Northwest Earth Institute’s (NWEI) two-session course, Powering a Bright Future, explores issues related to the current energy crises, and what can be done to take action as individuals and communities interested in promoting energy sustainability.

Powering a Bright Future contains solution-based curriculum providing discourse on energy use and extraction, peak oil, fossil fuel subsidies, energy efficiency, equity, energy policy and even low carbon food tips. Authors include Lester Brown, Richard Heinberg, Amory Lovins, Sandra Steingraber, and others. This new resource can be integrated into college and university curriculum in the areas of science, economics, sustainability, environmental policy and more.

What you need to know about this new resource:

This mini-course can be offered as a stand alone two-session course, or used as a supplement to complement any of NWEI’s other courses.
Cost is $10, and this course is only available in PDF format.
Due to the inherent connections between climate change and energy use, NWEI is offering this new mini-course in conjunction with Global Warming: Changing CO2urse. (You can now participate in both courses for $15)

Since 1993, NWEI has been leading the curious and the motivated to take responsibility for Earth. Through discussion courses and the annual EcoChallenge, NWEI helps engage communities in meaningful conversations that lead to “Aha!” moments about the way people live, work, create and consume. Learn about other NWEI discussion courses.

Check out National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology resources on energy, climate change, and sustainability.

Skidmore College Students Key to Success in Campus Sustainability Program

Kristy Jones — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:34:18 +0000

Student Sustainability Educators: A Guide to Creating and Maintaing an Eco-Rep Program on Your Campus, features New York’s Skidmore College’s “S-Rep” Program, also known as an Eco-Rep program.

Sustainable Skidmore

Sustainable Skidmore’s student Sustainability-Rep (S-REP) program, established in 2008, increases awareness about sustainability and inspires behavior change through programming and educational initiatives in the residence halls. S-Reps offer information on sustainability topics, serve as sounding boards for sustainability concerns in the dorms and host activities related to sustainability. Currently, Skidmore supports 10 S-Rep positions each academic year and all S-Reps live in the residence halls where they will be working.

Topics covered in the S-Rep program include: waste reduction and recycling, climate change and energy conservation, food and composting, and more. S-Reps participate in training before the start of the academic year and meet biweekly throughout the semester to learn about selected topics and to discuss and plan activities for their dorms.

According to Skidmore, the most successful element of their S-Rep program is the creation of the Student S-Rep Manager position. By creating a position for a person that had previously been an S-Rep, there is an understanding of the challenges faced by current Eco-Reps that the Sustainability Coordinator (staff) may not have. The most successful S-Rep-initiated program on campus is “Skidmore Unplugged,” where residence halls compete to reduce their individual energy consumption over a period of three weeks every November. (An excerpt from Student Sustainability Educators).

Authored by Dr. Christina Erickson, Sustainability Director at Champlain College in Vermont, and co-published by National Wildlife Federation and AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education), Student Sustainability Educators can be downloaded for free, at www.nwf.org/EcoReps.

Student Sustainability Educators features examples from 18 campuses highlighting their efforts to design, implement and evaluate Eco-Rep Programs. Readers of the guide will find:
• Step-by-step action items and tips for creating, maintaining and evaluating a campus Eco-Rep program
• Brief descriptions of actual programs and their best practices
• Case studies of successes and roadblocks
• Activity, event, marketing and outreach examples
• Eco-Rep recruiting tools, sample job descriptions, and other resources

Reference:
In addition to Student Sustainability Educators, blog content includes highlights from the Sustainable Skidmore website.