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Clean Air-Cool Planet is the Northeast's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming.
 Featured Links
Northeast Indicators of Climate Change report
Massachusetts Clean Powered Campuses
Energy Efficiency and Renewables incentives
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Oakhurst Dairy Oakhurst Dairy (Portland, ME) is northern New England's largest family-owned dairy; as part of a commitment to health and the environment, all of its suppliers pledge not to use artificial growth hormones. Since partnering with CA-CP in 2001, Oakhurst has completed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory; undergone a formal energy audit; and worked to make their sales and distribution fleets more environmentally friendly. 
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What's Happening in the Northeast  News, Events and Updates Museum of Science, Boston presents a conversation about biodiversity, Oct. 3 The Museum of Science, Boston will present Sustaining Life: A Conversation with Eric Chivian and Edward O. Wilson on Friday, October 3 at 7:00 p.m. This program is part of the Museum's distinguished Celebrity Science Series. The Earth's biodiversity—the rich variety of life on our planet—is disappearing at an alarming rate. And while human health depends, to a larger extent than we might imagine, on biodiversity, this essential relationship is rarely addressed. Don't miss this lively discussion about why we can no longer see ourselves as separate from the natural world, nor assume that we will be unharmed by its alteration. Whitehouse's Global Warming Panel at URI on August 21 With a dire warning about how global warming might damage the Ocean State, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has organized a local session of the Senate committee in charge of such environmental issues. "This issue is real, time is of the essence, and action is called for," Whitehouse said in a news release announcing that he will convene a panel of experts on global warning at the University of Rhode Island later this month. If it is "left unchecked," Whitehouse said, global warming will change Rhode Island and the entire world "in ways we are only beginning to understand." Democrat Whitehouse is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which produced a global warming bill -- based on a complex system of anti-pollution taxes known as "cap and trade" -- that died in the Senate this year. He will act as chairman of what he bills as a "field briefing" of the panel, featuring an all-Rhode Island group of state officials, academics and environmental activists. The session will begin Aug. 21 at 10:30 a.m. at URI's Corliss Auditorium on South Ferry Road in Narragansett. Governor’s Climate Task Force Holding Listening Sessions CONCORD, NH – People interested in New Hampshire’s planning for addressing energy and climate change will want to attend listening sessions in August. Four roundtables begin next week, and are put on by the Governor’s Climate Change Task Force. The sessions in Durham, Keene, Conway, and Meredith will allow citizens to share opinions and ask questions of task force members about the work in progress, in order to better inform the task force’s recommendations to Governor Lynch. Final recommendations are due to Governor Lynch after November. Each roundtable is scheduled from 6:45 to 9 p.m. and is open to the public. Members of local energy committees are especially encouraged to attend. The dates and locations of the listening sessions:
Representatives of Local Energy Committees are helping to host the listening sessions. Local Energy Committees began forming in towns after citizens passed a climate change resolution in a majority of town meetings in 2007. DES staff and members of the Task Force will attend each listening session. Joanne Morin, Climate and Energy Program Manager, will open each roundtable with a brief overview of the responsibilities of the Task Force, chaired by NH DES Commissioner Tom Burack. “These roundtables will focus on answering questions and discussing opportunities people feel are available to address the energy and climate issue in New Hampshire, as well as the options that exist to best take advantage of those opportunities,” explained DES energy and transportation analyst Chris Skoglund. According to representatives of the Local Energy Committee Working Group, more than 90 local energy committees have formed in New Hampshire. “Town citizens are measuring municipal carbon and energy footprints, and taking steps to address energy costs through conservation, efficiency and fuel switching projects,” explained Roger Stephenson of Clean Air-Cool Planet. “With soaring oil prices and a global climate emergency at hand, New Hampshire has to get this right. Moreover, the time for community energy initiatives is now.” Many towns are posting their efforts and results at www.nhenergy.org. For more information about Local Energy Committees and documents related to the Governor’s Task Force visit www.carboncoalition.org. Green Roundtable offers homeowners guidance for going green The Green Roundtable’s NEXUS Green Building Resource Center will start having weekend hours on the second Saturday of each month beginnning July 12, 2008. The Center will be offering information on the newest and most innovative green home building products. This is an ongoing event, falling on the second Saturday of each month from 10:00am until 2:00pm. The Green Roundtable’s NEXUS Center, is at 38 Chancy St., 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02111. The events are free and open to the public, but an RSVP is requested. Please RSVP to Aaron Desatnik at aaron@greenroundtable.org with “Nexus Second Saturdays” in the subject line or call 617-374-3740 x127. Click this link for more information. Ride for the Climate Ten states urge the FTC to set marketing guidelines for carbon offsets Debra Kahn, Greenwire reporterAttorneys general from Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Vermont asked FTC in a letter last Friday to define terms like "carbon neutrality" and "baseline emissions." The commission is considering revisions to its environmental marketing guidelines. First on FTC's agenda are carbon offsets and renewable energy credits, both of which have seen a boom in sales as consumers seek to reduce their carbon footprints. The public comment period on offset guidelines ended Friday. The agency is planning to hold more public hearings on other aspects of environmental marketing before it issues a decision on offsets, FTC attorney Hampton Newsome said. Most of the other comments posted on FTC's Web site also called for more regulation. Michael Gillenwater, of Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs, said consumers were confused by the murky terms of the emissions-reduction industry. "It is unreasonable to expect consumers to be sophisticated about these matters. It is up to entities such as the FTC and standard setting and policing bodies to simplify choices for the consumer." Forest Service employee Amanda Cundiff, representing her own views, said that offsets should not be used for reforestation projects on public lands, as "when carbon credit retailers fund projects on public land, it means that green consumers are stepping in to make up for lower appropriations from Congress for reforestation of federal lands." The legitimacy of offsets has become a political issue on Capitol Hill. House Minority Leader John Boehner's office is trumpeting a story in today's Washington Post questioning $89,000 worth of offsets purchased as part of House Democratic leaders' $4 million "Greening of the Capitol" initiative. "It is outrageous that [House Chief Administrative Officer] Dan Beard would unilaterally waste taxpayer dollars on carbon 'indulgences' with no accountability whatsoever," said the Ohio Republican's spokesman Kevin Smith. "It's the height of irresponsibility, and most Americans would be infuriated if they knew it was happening." Click here to view the letter from 10 states to FTC. 
Mass joins Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
UCS report offers new assessment of climate change impacts in the Northeast 
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action. One hundred Climate Riders will pedal 320 miles from New York City to Washington D.C. Along the way, expert speakers will educate and inspire Climate Riders about the science, the policies and the solutions to the climate crisis. To learn more and sign up visit 
