Youth Panel Speaks at White House Youth Sustainability Challenge Launch

The Challenge opened on May 2 and closes on June 1, 2012, in the lead up to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development that month. Through the online video challenge, the Obama Administration is calling on young people to tell the world what they are doing on their campuses and in their communities to foster sustainability and help create “an America built to last.” Winning videos will  be shown at the Rio+20 Conference and winners will be recognized at an exclusive White House event.

At the White House launch, a panel of senior-level government officials spoke about the importance of youth taking action. They stressed that young people have the power to help shape a sustainable future and that as future leaders, young people’s innovation, creativity, and mastery of new connection technologies can help demonstrate the fundamental link between economic, social and environmental progress.

Bob Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency remarked that “America’s youth have the power to inspire their communities,” and he called on young people to “challenge the U.S. and the world to do more.”

A panel of local college student leaders also spoke at the launch, telling of their experiences being change-leaders on campus. They stressed that sustainability is the defining challenge of this generation, and that the key to creating change is working with others, knowing how you fit into the puzzle and how others do as well.

You can view a video from the launch event on YouTube, here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Not all the wildlife that can benefit from a wildlife-friendly garden are songbirds, butterflies and cute, furry mammals. Some of them are slimy, slithery and nocturnal too, and they are no less important or cool to see (although hosts Jenna Wolf and Lester Holt still might not be convinced based on their funny facial expressions).

Watch the segment below and meet some of these non-traditional species, and then submit your garden to become a Certified Wildlife Habitat!

Special thanks to partner American Beauties Native Plants for providing the gorgeous plants for the segment.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a quick, fun way to get families outside this spring. Invite your neighbors for a community clean-up!

In our neighborhood, folks shared their yard tools and gave each other gardening tips, while parents and kids cleaned up trash from the nearby stream. Find out three tips to improve your community clean-up by watching my video diary:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Some photos from our clean-up:

Here's all the trash we collected, including this baby stroller and styrofoam grave from Halloween - all in a nearby stream!

Daughter and father cooperate on trash pick-up

Have you organized a community clean-up in your area? What worked for you?

If you enjoy organizing community events, you might enjoy our Community Wildlife Habitat program where you encourage your neighbors to garden for wildlife.

National Wildlife Federation’s Storytelling Video Diary Series shares the candid tales of nine NWF staffers from around the country; armed with their cameras in the Great Lakes, California, South Dakota, the Pacific Northwest, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC, these nine staffers will share with you their individual trials, epiphanies and stories as they unfold in their daily adventures.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What did YOU do to protect the planet this Earth Day? Let us know in the comments below.

National Wildlife Federation now has a paperless, mail-free way to support wildlife. Become a Green Leader today and test out our new, entirely online, paperless membership option.

To save gas, make sure your vehicle's speed doesn't exceed that of a pronghorn antelope. At up to 60 mph, pronghorns are the fastest land animals in North America. (Photo donated by Helena Reynolds)

If you, too, are looking for easy ways to avoid the gas station, here are some money and planet-saving tips.

1) Bum a ride – Carpool with reliable friends and colleagues. Or, look into safe rideshare options, like NuRide, that provide additional incentives for smart commuting. Alternatively, mass transportation will take you out of the driver’s seat altogether.

2) Work fewer days (in the office) – Ask your employer if teleworking or working a condensed schedule with longer hours (ex. 9 days on, 1 day off) are options. While you’re at it, see if there’s any flexibility with workday start or end times that might allow you to avoid gas and time-wasting rush hour traffic.

3) Think small – When renting a car for your next vacation, think small–or hybrid, if available–as they tend to be more fuel efficient. If you’re in the market to buy a fuel-efficient vehicle, try the U.S. Department of Energy’s Find-a-Car Tool.

4) Slow down and hang back – Aggressive driving (speeding, tailgating, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town.

5) Pump it up – You can improve your gas mileage by up to 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. For step-by-step instructions on pumping up your tires, visit wikiHow.

6) Plan one epic journey – Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as a longer multipurpose trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.

 More from Wildlife Promise:

Slacker’s Guide to Gardening for Wildlife

My Fling with the Chevy Volt

Want to Fix Pain at the Pump?

Feeling Stressed!!?! Visit Doctor Nature

Source: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

From Me to We, a new book by Bob Doppelt.

From Me To We: The Five Transformative Commitments Required To Rescue The Planet, Your Organization, And Your Life

What:

Book talk and signing by leading climate and sustainability practitioner and author Bob Doppelt, author of “From Me To We: The Five Transformative Commitments Required To Rescue The Planet, Your Organization, And Your Life” (Greenleaf Publishing UK). Here’s a summary of the book.

Who:

Bob Doppelt

Bob is the author of The Power of Sustainable Thinking: How To Create a Positive Future for the Climate, The Planet and Your Life (Earthscan Publishing, 2008), which in the summer of 2010 was deemed by Audubon Magazine to be one of the “eleven most important books on climate change.” He also authored Leading Change toward Sustainability: A Change Management Guide for Business, Government and Civil Society (Greenleaf Publishing, 2003), which just six months after its release was deemed one of the “ten most important publications in sustainability” by a GlobeScan survey of international sustainability experts.

When:

Monday, April 23 from 6:30-8:00 pm

Where:

The Cullen Room at Busboys and Poets, 5th and K, 1025 5th St. NW
Washington DC

Please join us for a very inspiring talk!

Contact Kendall Mackey at MackeyK@nwf.org if you have any questions.

If you are not in the area, don’t worry: you can still take action to save wildlife!

There are a lot of little moments throughout my life that made me this way and brought me to NWF, many of which took place outside my front door. This video is actually an indoor moment about a tiny little thing—that wasn’t hard to do or hard to grasp—that apparently made a big impression on me when I was about six. Are you dying to know what it was? You will probably be surprised! Watch this video and find out!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I guess the point I’m trying to get across is it doesn’t take a lot to build a connection with the natural world. I work on NWF’s Be Out There movement to reconnect kids with nature. Every generation says it, but it’s a different time. Getting a good healthy dose of outdoor time isn’t as easy as it once was and regardless of age, it’s so good for you! I’ll share some outdoor moments—old and new—along this crazy ride, and hopefully you’ll share some with me too.

National Wildlife Federation’s Storytelling Video Diary Series shares the candid tales of nine NWF staffers from around the country; armed with their cameras in the Great Lakes, California, South Dakota, the Pacific Northwest, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC, these nine staffers will share with you their individual trials, epiphanies and stories as they unfold in their daily adventures.

The Ford Focus electric (Photo: Ford)

To highlight EV news in your community — or in your garage — click here.

Here at NWF we’ve recently been part of the Plug-in Electric Vehicle Dialogue Group — a broad group of companies, utilities, NGO’s and government involved in  EVs  and convened by C2ES. At a a recent event the group released a joint action plan to help ensure consumers can smoothly fuel cars with electricity. The event is a great jumping off place to get a look at the latest news about EVs…

Why are so many people and industries excited about EV’s? Try this podcast! Nick Nigro of C2ES chats with me and Watson Collins of Northeast Utilities.  We’re talking about the PEV event, but also discussing why the technology is exciting today (cheaper electric rates, $1/gallon fill ups, JARVIS), so tune in.

Check out the event on the web, or on storify to see what participants had to say. Or check out the Action Plan itself if you’re interested in the details.

What’s happening now on EVs?

Is my state, city or town engaged?  Click here to see many that are.

What about…? Click on the links below to see what the many PEV Dialogue Group members are doing on EVs – and remember,  we’re just a slice of the many consumers, cities, auto companies, electric utilities, NGO’s and local governments involved in this transportation transformation.

Electricity isn't just for cars. US companies are building and using electric trucks and delivery vehicles as well. (Photo: NTEA)

*The role of these group members must be limited to technical contribution because of their organizational function
Who are we missing?  Let people know what’s happening with EV’s in your community – or your garage – by commenting in the box below.  Give us your city/town and a short description what’s going on on EVs.

At first the rains come as a light drizzle, tapping out a soothing melody on rooftops and windowpanes. Soon the tempo quickens to a loud drum beat of impending danger. As the rain falls harder and harder the river begins to swell, slowly creeping up its banks. Even the levees that have been constructed to shelter communities from floods are not immune to the growing threat and soon water begins to spill into the land around the river. At one point this land was left free for flooding but then people began to develop along the river. Levees were built and vegetation removed which destroyed the natural processes of the river. With out the natural protection offered from the floodplain the water begins to swirl into the basements and living rooms of the houses. Furniture, family heirlooms, floors and walls are submerged by the flood waters as the residents have to evacuate in a hurry.

This is a scene that is played out over and over again throughout the years and across watersheds. Many homes were insured through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which provides subsidized flood insurance for those living in floodplains. The insurance makes it possible for people to rebuild in the same location after a flood. These rebuilt homes only continue to put their owners in danger from floods and negatively impact salmon. As of 2011 Washington state has had 833 repeatedly flooded homes(those that have been flooded three times or more) and cost tax payers $71 million in insurance claims.

A Possible Way Out

When people are flooded out of their homes it takes an emotional and financial toll on the families, many of which were unaware of the extent of danger that living in these areas presents. The FEMA buy out program is a long and complex process that offers the possibility of moving people out of floodplains and restoring the floodplain, helping people and wildlife. This video shows firsthand accounts of flood victims’ experiences with flooding and using the buyout program.

Bad for People and Wildlife

Developing in floodplains puts people in danger and destroys critical habitat for endangered salmon runs in the Puget Sound region. It is for this reason that the National Wildlife Federation is involved in a lawsuit against FEMA. Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) no federal agency can take actions that harm an ESA listed species. By promoting development in floodplains FEMA is violating the ESA and threatening endangered salmon runs and the orcas which rely on salmon for their primary food source.

Moving Forward

Instead of continuing to bail people out of flooded properties FEMA should make it easier for people to move out of the floodplain and to higher, safer ground. This is of particular importance in the face of Climate Change which will cause an increase in extreme events such as flooding. Properties that they do ensure should be safe for people and wildlife.

New efficient vehicle technology lets drivers take back control at the pump. Photo: shutterstock.com

It’s good news for wildlife to see a familiar vehicle that’s 5 times as energy efficient as the average car  today (today’s average is 22 MPG), and since it doesn’t use any gasoline at all, it’s drilling, tar sands and pipeline-free.

But with rumors of gas prices hitting $5/gallon this summer (never mind rumors, I just saw $4.99/gallon for premium in my neighborhood!), there’s another reason all electric vehicles and mostly electric plug-in hybrids are a big deal. Filling up your car with electricity costs about a dollar a gallon. 

Yes $1/gallon. This year, Ford, Chevy, Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and several other automakers will offer consumers electric or mostly electric plug-in hybrid cars.

Plug-in hybrids like the 2013 Ford Fusion Energi (above) and the Chevy Volt use electricity for most trips, but use gasoline for back up to go very long distances. Photo: flickr Happy Via.

But the current car and truck renaissance isn’t just electric.  I’ve blogged before on how strong new fuel economy standards mean savings right now (like for those trading in their old F150 pickup truck for the new more efficient 2011 or 2012 model) and are bringing increasing relief from pain at the pump for drivers of all kinds of cars.

Every year new cars will be more efficient than the year before until, in 2025, a new car or truck will use half as much fuel as a new car or truck today. That’s like a cut from 4 bucks to 2 bucks a gallon in what it costs to take that spring break road trip. Taking all our cars—new and used together—Americans will be spending almost 40% less for gas in 2030 than they would without the new standards and innovation that comes with them.

In a  global market for oil, new drilling and pipelines can’t bring relief to Americans hard hit by high gas prices. But innovative new cars and trucks can. Its time to take control at the pump!