Mid-May meeting

The group continues our discussion of "Heat" and issues or solutions proposed there. The meeting for April 30 (Wednesday) at 4 pm has been moved to 2643 Engineering Hall based on scheduling problems.

Hello everyone-

Please come to the Memorial Union at 4pm for our 4th meeting of the transportation group. Meeting notes from the previous three meetings are on this website under the Working Group Topics - Transportation headings. Bring a transportation related article you'd like to share. See the reading list under Transportation group too for other ideas. See the TITU for exact room location.

Mike Clark
608 843 1168

The east and west groups agreed to combine to a single, larger group. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, April 2, 4-5 pm (or beyond if desired) in 3609 Engineering Hall.

We will start with the book "Heat" by George Monbiot, and examine the carbon dioxide reduction consequences of different changes proposed there.

I borrowed a library copy of "Degrees that Matter: Climate Change and the University" from another UW campus, and found it to be very readable and practical.

Here's my own partial summary:

ACTIONS
1. Increased efficiency
2. Alternative fuels & renewable energy
3. Reduced demand (behavioral changes)
4. Market approaches (emissions offsets & trading)
5. Preparation for climate changes

TACTICS
1. Understand decision-making process
2. Link to existing projects & priorities
3. Build on staff interests
4. Partnerships & allies (recycling, health/safety, cost containment)

Ann Hoyt forwarded this clever video from Nevada Power:

http://www.nevadapower.com/news/multimedia/media/winmedia/hamlit_NPC_e.w...

Lots of items will be of general interest to the community. Post what you note here, for others to see.

Learning/Action groups are planned with a variety of different emphases within the area of sustainability and energy issues. The topics given below received the highest levels of interest in the initial survey. While they have substantial overlap, this range is intended to allow participants to meet with other UW community members with similar interests. Depending on enrollment and scheduling constraints, there may be more than one group in particular areas. In addition, small special-interest groups may spin off from many of these as participant interest dictates.

The UW Gaia Project is an action-learning community for faculty and academic staff who are concerned about issues related to sustainability and global climate change. The Project offers participants the opportunity to learn about these critical issues and to take action on a personal, professional, campus, and community levels to address them.