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PNM Resources Foundation Commemorates 30 Years of Community Involvement with $300,000 in Environmental Grants

Posted by admin on May 3rd, 2013

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The PNM Resources Foundation is launching a new grant program focused on
community environmental projects to celebrate its 30^th
anniversary. The Foundation will select 30 projects submitted by
nonprofits and award each one $ 10,000 to complete a project for the
environmental benefit of the public.

“Nonprofit organizations in New Mexico do wonderful work in our
communities, and we are pleased to support that work over the past 30
years. The environmental focus of the 30th Anniversary Grant
Program will positively impact our communities for many years to come”

The 30^th Anniversary Grant Program was launched today with
community leaders, employees and a variety of local nonprofits that have
current partnerships with the PNM Resources Foundation. Nonprofit
organizations throughout PNM’s service area are encouraged to submit
proposals.

“Nonprofit organizations in New Mexico do wonderful work in our
communities, and we are pleased to support that work over the past 30
years. The environmental focus of the 30^th Anniversary Grant
Program will positively impact our communities for many years to come,”
said Diane Harrison Ogawa, executive director of the PNM Resources
Foundation.

Proposed projects can be anything from water conservation projects to
community gardens. Project proposals must promote environmental benefits
and/or community improvements that are long lived, visible in the
community and beneficial to community members. Proposals will be
accepted until June 17, 2013. Projects must have a 2013 completion date.

Since 1983, the Foundation, which is funded by PNM shareholders, has
invested more than $ 11 million into helping to build strong, productive
communities in New Mexico.

Nonprofit organizations and the general public are encouraged to tweet
about projects they would like to see funded by using #PNMfund30yrs. PNM
will also tweet about proposals received using #PNMfund30yrs, so be sure
to follow @pnmtalk on Twitter or like the PNM Resources Foundation
Facebook page at Facebook.com/PNMResourcesFoundation or PNM’s Facebook
page at Facebook.com/PNMElectric to keep track of submitted projects.

For more information or to submit a proposal please visit
PNM.com/foundation.

With headquarters in Albuquerque, PNM is the largest electricity
provider in New Mexico, serving 500,000 customers in dozens of
communities across the state. PNM is a subsidiary of PNM Resources, an
energy holding company also headquartered in Albuquerque. For more
information, visit PNM.com.

In 1983, PNM shareholders created the PNM Foundation as a separate,
nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation governed by a board of trustees
comprised of PNM employees. In 2005, with the acquisition of First
Choice Power and Texas-New Mexico Power Co., the foundation expanded its
scope to include parts of Texas. No customer funds are part of the PNM
Resources Foundation endowment. For more information, visit PNM.com.

Business Wire Environment News

China and Montreal Protocol Team Up for Fast Climate Protection Equivalent of 8 billion tonnes of CO2 will be eliminated in China Bargain price less than 5 cents a tonne over 17 years

Posted by admin on April 26th, 2013

Washington, DC – The Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol will provide China $ 385 million over the next 17 years to completely eliminate its industrial production of HCFCs by 2030. HCFCs are industrial gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning, and insulating foams that both warm the climate and destroy the ozone layer.

“The Montreal Protocol once again demonstrated how important it is for climate protection by striking a deal with China this week to cut the equivalent of 8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions—for the bargain basement price of less than 5 cents a tonne,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development. “This is about the same climate mitigation as all the parties to the Kyoto Protocol have achieved through the first phase of that treaty.”

Zaelke noted that “the deal with China also provides significant protection for the stratospheric ozone layer and helps reduce skin cancers, cataracts, and suppression of the human immune system.”

Under the deal, the funding mechanism of the Montreal Protocol, the Multilateral Fund, is required to pay the “incremental costs” for developing countries making the transition from harmful HCFCs to more environmentally friendly substitutes.

China is the leading producer of HCFCs, with more than 90% of the capacity in developing countries, supplying much of the world’s needs in the refrigeration, air conditioning, and insulating foam sectors.

The Multilateral Fund will cover China’s cost of closing and dismantling its HCFC production facilities, which will include $ 95 million to cover the first stage of its HCFC phase-out plan. China is taking these steps to meet its mandatory mitigation requirements under the Montreal Protocol’s decision in 2007 to accelerate the phase out of HCFC specifically for climate protection, as well as ozone protection.

“The phase-out of HCFC production in China means that all the developing countries will comply with the Montreal Protocol and that the Protocol will continue as the world’s best environmental treaty, and best climate treaty,” added Zaelke.

“China’s willingness to accelerate its phase out of HCFCs is a positive sign we hope will be matched by its willingness to avoid moving into the super greenhouse gas HFCs as replacements,” Zaelke said. “Such a move would cancel the climate benefit, and be a major setback for the Montreal Protocol.”

The China deal comes only a week after the Federated States of Micronesia and the Kingdom of Morocco on April 16 formally filed a proposal to use the Montreal Protocol treaty to phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), super-greenhouse gases that have global warming potentials hundreds to thousands of times higher than carbon dioxide, and have been the leading replacement for HCFCs in the developed countries. The North American parties, including the United States, Canada and Mexico, filed a similar proposal to phase down HFCs. Both proposals would reduce HFCs by 85-90%, and provide the equivalent of100 billion tonnes of CO2 in mitigation. Again, the cost would be pennies a tonne.

The proposals were filed two days after publication of research led by Dr. V. Ramanathan of Scripps Institution of Oceanography concluding that the rate of global warming could be cut in half by 2050, and sea level rise could be reduced by a quarter by the end of the century, through reductions of HFCs and other short lived-climate pollutants, including methane, tropospheric ozone, and black carbon.

“Reducing HFCs and the other SLCPs is critical for slowing both temperature increase and sea-level rise and similar impacts,” said Zaelke, “although cutting CO2 also is critical. “ Zaelke added that, “A failure to cut SLCPs will halt the impressive gains in poverty reduction of the past few decades, driving millions more into extreme poverty.”

Because three SLCPs are potent air pollutants, cutting them can save millions of lives every year, while significantly increasing crop yields, making this important for promoting sustainable development. In South Asia, for example, air pollution is the leading preventable cause of disease, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization.

***

The Micronesia and Morocco amendment is here.

The North American proposal is here.

A summary of the sea-level rise study is here.

The abstract of sea-level rise study is here.

IGSD’s Primer on SLCPs is here.

Contact Info: D. Zaelke (202) 498.2457, [email protected]
Erin Tulley (202) 338-1300, [email protected]

Website : Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development

ENN Network News – ENN

After five years of success, CEPF commits $10 million more to Indo-Burma hotspot

Posted by admin on March 26th, 2013

Bengal Florican is one of the many species to benefit from CEPF investment in Indochina (Allan Michaud)

Five years ago, in response to the environmental crisis engulfing mainland South-East Asia, the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) launched a $ 10 million grants programme to conserve the critical ecosystems of the Indo-Burma Hotspot.

The programme is guided by a strategy developed by hundreds of conservationists and researchers from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam, and coordinated by a Regional Implementation Team from BirdLife International.

Now grant recipients, donors and government partners from across the region have come together for a three-day workshop, to reflect on the lessons of the first five years, and look forward to an expanded second phase of investment.

To date CEPF has awarded more than 110 grants to international and national NGOs, universities, community groups and other types of civil society organisation. Collectively, the recipients of these grants have strengthened the management of conservation areas covering over 1.5 million hectares; established four new protected areas to fill key gaps in the region’s protected area system; integrated biodiversity-friendly management practices into production landscapes in the fisheries, forestry and agriculture sectors; and delivered tangible livelihood benefits to over 100 rural communities.

“Thanks to CEPF, the last five years have seen the emergence of a broader, more active and more confident conservation community in the Indo-Burma Hotspot”, said Jonathan C. Eames OBE, manager of BirdLife’s Regional Implementation Team. “We see local civil society most active in areas where international organisations are not, such as supporting livelihood-based conservation interventions, advocacy and education. Correspondingly, international organisations can be expected to play continued vital roles in applied conservation science and planning, capacities that local civil society organisations often lack and struggle to build.”

The second phase of CEPF funding will involve a geographic expansion to China and Myanmar, bringing the list of countries eligible for grants to six.

The list of CEPF-funded projects in Indo-Burma

Download the ecosystem profile for the Indo-Burma Hotspot

CEPF is a joint program of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank.

BirdLife Community

Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) Celebrates 45 Years of…

Posted by admin on March 25th, 2013

Boulder, Utah (PRWEB) March 25, 2013

BOSS, the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, is celebrating its 45th Anniversary this year.

“All of us at BOSS are thrilled to celebrate this milestone,” says Josh Bernstein, BOSS president and CEO. “We are grateful to the thousands of alumni who have spent time with us on the trail, learning how to do more with less, and we look forward to many more years teaching adventurous souls how to travel lightly on the land.”

Founded in 1968 in the small town of Boulder, Utah, BOSS has built a reputation around the world for its immersive, hands-on courses that teach people how to do more with less. Courses are 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, and 28 days long and are divided into five categories: Skills, Field, Training, Explorer and Custom courses. BOSS is best known for its Field courses, where students spend up to one month hiking through Southern Utah’s wilderness with expert instructors and little more than a blanket, a poncho, a knife and the clothes on their backs.

“Given the challenges offered on some of our trips, we recognize that BOSS courses are not for everyone,” says Bernstein. “But for the right person, with the right perspective and attitude, the wilderness challenge and expert instruction BOSS offers can be a life-changing experience.”

Over the past four decades, new courses have been added based on interest, including Skills courses where students hike less but learn more. This May 12-18, for example, BOSS will host the 9th Annual Slickrock Gathering, where students learn from expert instructors the art of primitive pottery, blacksmithing, hidetanning, flintknapping or bowmaking.

Full information about courses, including dates and prices, can be found on the school’s website.

Environment

Celebrating 132 Years of Humanitarian Aid: Lawyers at Console &…

Posted by admin on March 16th, 2013

Marlton, NJ (PRWEB) March 15, 2013

March has been celebrated as American Red Cross month annually since 1943, according to the humanitarian organization. Though the charity has become synonymous with blood donation since it first launched its World War II blood donation campaign in 1940, its efforts go far beyond this single lifesaving gift. In military conflicts and natural disasters both at home and across the world, the American Red Cross saves lives and eases the suffering of victims – and that’s just the start. In celebration of the organization during American Red Cross Month, attorney and managing partner Richard P. Console of Console & Hollawell applauds the valiant efforts of the charity and shares little-known information about the organization’s founding and current programs and services available.

“The Red Cross is both a humanitarian organization with a history that we as Americans can feel proud and honored to be a part of and an enduring symbol of hope in the face of disasters,” Console said. “Yet, despite nationwide familiarity with the name, few people know just how much the American Red Cross has to offer families affected by disasters, accidents, and wars.”

Having practiced personal injury law for nearly 20 years, Console has personally seen how significant an impact American Red Cross efforts can have on accident victims. In his latest article, “Five Things You Didn’t Know About the Red Cross,” Console delves into the organization’s rich history and the extensive and varied services that the charity offers. He urges every reader to become an everyday hero in his or her community by joining in the noble aspirations of the American Red Cross.

Environment

More than half of the UK public believe that rhinos will be extinct in the wild in 30 years

Posted by admin on March 4th, 2013

A poll conducted by YouGov and published today has found that 54% of people in the UK do not think that animals like tigers, rhino, and orangutans will exist in the wild in 30 years time.

This shocking statistic comes as Secretary of State Owen Paterson launches the year long ‘If They’re Gone…’ campaign, which has been designed to highlight the threats posed to four iconic endangered species – rhinos, tigers, orangutans and elephants

The campaign, which has been launched at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, involves more than 20 organisations from key wildlife organisations, zoos and safari parks. The campaign will provide more information on the plight of these species and give practical advice on how people’s decisions can help save these majestic animals from extinction.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said:

“Today, I am launching a very important campaign. ‘If They’re Gone…’ aims to raise awareness and encourage individuals to take action to protect four of the planet’s most iconic species, rhinos, elephants, orang-utans and tigers, from extinction.

“I don’t want future generations to think of these species in the same way I think of the Dodo. We must act now.

“It’s by working together that we show international leadership in the fight against the disastrous trade in wildlife and devastating impact of deforestation.”

Charlie Mayhew, CEO of Tusk Trust said:

“On average this year one rhino has been lost to poachers every 11 hours. If this poaching continues to escalate, a species, which has existed on this planet for 40 million years, faces the very real prospect of extinction in our lifetime. We cannot be the generation that allows this to happen and Tusk is working hard to preserve all endangered species in Africa.”

Reggie Heyworth, Owner of Cotswold Wildlife Park

“Rhinos are perhaps the iconic species at Cotswold Wildlife Park, and the recovery of the White Rhino population in the 20th Century from near extinction proves that we can save these magnificent animals. We must not let the poachers and the illicit traders win in the 21st Century: Rhinos now are under dreadful pressure but we can make a difference. The tide has been reversed before and we can do it again. We are all diminished as human beings by the poaching of these magnificent animals, and we must all do what we can to save them”.

Together all the campaign partners will help to raise awareness and encourage individuals to take action to protect the four species that are being highlighted. As such the campaign calls on the public to:

Think before you buy anything that could be made from or contain body parts of endangered species;
Ask where products have come from and if they have been produced sustainably;
Get involved and support wildlife conservation programmes;
Spread the word – tell your friends and family about tigers, rhinos, elephants and organutans and how important it is to help protect them; and
Report any suspicious activity concerning the buying and selling of wildlife products to your local police.

Owen Paterson added:

“Together we can all make a difference by finding out if products have been produced sustainably and not buying goods made from illegal body parts or ivory.

“There are no medicinal benefits to traditional Asian medicines that contain animal parts and by turning your back on them you can help to protect these iconic animals”

The launch of the ‘If They’re Gone…’ campaign coincides with the first day of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) conference in Bangkok. At this conference Defra is calling for maintaining the ban on ivory sales and to protect rhinos by introducing stricter measures on the export and re-export of rhino horn. Currently it’s estimated there are only 28,000 rhinos left in the wild.

The ‘If They’re Gone…’ campaign will run for a full year and starts with a focus on rhinos. Every three months the focus will switch. A poster competition aimed at primary school children and an extensive programme of activity by all partners will run during different parts of the year. For more information visit the ‘If They’re Gone…’ Facebook page www.facebook.com/IfTheyreGone

You Gov Poll – All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,704 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 24th – 25th February 2013. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

Defra News

Public concern for environment lowest in 20 years

Posted by admin on February 28th, 2013

Adam Vaughan

Heavy air pollution in China : heavy fog in Hefei, Anhui province

Vehicles running slowly in heavy fog in Hefei, central China’s Anhui province. Photograph: Str/AFP/Getty Images

Public concern in environmental issues including global warming, the loss of species and air pollution has dropped to its lowest level in two decades, according to an international poll released this week.

The GlobeScan poll, undertaken last summer before superstorm Sandy hit the Caribbean and New York, showed levels of public concern in 12 countries over environmental problems – which also also included fresh water shortages and depletion of natural resources – were even lower than 1992, when the first Earth summit was held in Rio.

The decline has come in a period when the signs of environmental degradation have become clearer and the science stronger, from species going extinct faster than new ones can evolve to dramatic climate change impacts such as the shrinking of Arctic sea ice in 2012 by 18% against the previous record.

Doug Miller, chairman of GlobeScan, said in a statement: “Evidence of environmental damage is stronger than ever, but our data shows that economic crisis and a lack of political leadership mean that the public are starting to tune out.”

On average globally, only 49% of people said climate change was a “very serious” concern, with 50% saying the same for biodiversity loss and the highest level being 58% for shortages of fresh water. The poll shows concern for most issues was rising through the noughties and declined since around 2009 when a major UN climate summit in Copenhagen failed to reach a strong deal.

Graham Thompson, a spokesman for Greenpeace, told the Independent: “The public can see that the response of our politicians is completely inadequate to the threat scientists have revealed, and that dissonance is reflected in these polls.”

Around 1,000 people in each of the 22 countries taking part in the poll were quizzed on their attitudes, with 12 countries having been polled since 1992. A total of 22,812 people in the following countries were polled: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, US, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Kenya, Panama, and Turkey

Environment news, comment and analysis from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

Rodney Hailey Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Prison for Selling $9 Million in Fraudulent Renewable Fuel Credits / Owner of Clean Green Fuel falsely claimed his company produced 23 million gallons of renewable fuel (HQ, DE, MD, VA)

Posted by admin on February 22nd, 2013

Release Date: 02/22/2013
Contact Information: Stacy Kika, [email protected], 202-564-0906, 202-564-4355

WASHINGTON - U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Rodney R. Hailey, of Perry Hall, Md., today to nearly 12 years and six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for selling $ 9 million in renewable fuel credits which he falsely claimed were produced by his company, Clean Green Fuel, LLC.

“When invalid renewable fuel credits are ‘produced’ and sold, it undermines the integrity of an important program designed by Congress to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and to grow the nation’s renewable energy industry,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s sentence shows that there are serious consequences, including jail time, for defrauding the renewable fuels program for personal gain.”

“Any government program that is based on trust is vulnerable to a fraudster like Rodney Hailey,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. “The only thing Rodney Hailey’s ‘Clean Green Fuel’ business produced was the dirty money he used to fund his lavish lifestyle.”

Judge Quarles enhanced Hailey’s sentence upon finding that he obstructed justice by concealing, selling and spending assets that were protected by court order. Judge Quarles also ordered Hailey to pay restitution of approximately $ 42.2 million to over 20 companies and forfeit $ 9.1 million in proceeds from the fraud, including cars, jewelry, his home and bank accounts, already seized by the government.

Hailey, age 34, was convicted on Jun. 25, 2012, of eight counts of wire fraud, 32 counts of money laundering, and two counts of violating the Clean Air Act. He has been detained since the guilty verdict.

According to evidence presented at the six day trial, Hailey owned Clean Green Fuel, LLC, located in the Baltimore, Md. area. Hailey registered Clean Green Fuel with EPA under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program as a producer of bio-diesel fuel, a motor vehicle fuel derived from renewable resources. To encourage the production of renewable fuel and lessen the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, all oil companies that market petroleum in the U.S. are required to produce a given quantity of renewable fuel or to purchase credits, called renewable identification numbers (RINs) from producers of renewable fuels to satisfy their renewable fuel requirements.

Between March 2009 and December 2010, Hailey engaged in a massive fraud scheme, selling over 35 million RINs (representing 23 million gallons of bio-diesel fuel) to brokers and oil companies, when in fact Clean Green Fuel had produced no fuel at all and Hailey did not have a facility capable of producing bio-diesel fuel.

Federal law enforcement agents investigated the scheme after a Baltimore County police detective working with Maryland’s federal financial crimes task force received a report about the large number of luxury cars parked in front of Hailey’s house. The financial crimes task force contacted EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and initiated a criminal investigation.

Two civil inspectors from EPA’s Air Enforcement Division visited Clean Green’s headquarters on Jul. 22, 2010, to inspect Hailey’s bio-diesel production facility, in response to a complaint alleging that Clean Green had been selling false RINs. Hailey was not able to provide an exact location for the bio-diesel fuel production facility, nor any records to support claims that Clean Green Fuel had produced bio-diesel fuel. When asked to explain his method of production, Hailey falsely stated that he paid employees and contractors to recover waste vegetable oil from 2,700 restaurants in the “Delmarva” area, a peninsula that includes parts of Delaware, Virginia and Maryland, and bring it to his production facility where he converted it to bio-diesel fuel. Hailey claimed that only the drivers who picked up the oil knew the names of the restaurants, and Hailey could not provide the names of the drivers.

Hailey made more than $ 9.1 million from selling the false RINs. Hailey used the proceeds of the scheme to purchase luxury vehicles, including BMWs, Mercedes Benz, a Rolls Royce Phantom, a Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati and others, as well as real estate and more than $ 80,000 in diamond jewelry. In all of these transactions, Hailey generally used cash or checks drawn on accounts he controlled to make the purchase, including a check for $ 645,330.15 to buy his home in Perry Hall, Md.

The loss to the traders and major energy companies who purchased Hailey’s false RINs is more than $ 40 million, but the loss also extends to small bio-diesel companies, many of which, as a result of Hailey’s scheme, were unable to sell their RINs and have been forced out of business.

EPA recently proposed a voluntary quality assurance program to verify that RINs generated under the RFS program have been validly generated. EPA expects that this will promote greater liquidity in the transfer and use of RINs, helping to make the RFS program more efficient and effective.

More information about the Renewable Fuel Standard: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/index.htm

More information about RFS enforcement: http://www.epa.gov/enforcement/air/renewable-fuels/fuel-novs.html

U.S. EPA News

English Heritage: 100 Years of Protecting the Past

Posted by admin on January 31st, 2013

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Search for listed buildings and other heritage assets in England

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info4local Subject Documents

125 years of National Geographic

Posted by admin on January 15th, 2013

1909, Alaska, US: washing his films in iceberg-choked seawater was an everyday chore for the photographer Oscar D Von Engeln during the summer months he spent on a National-Geographic-sponsored expedition in Alaska

Photograph: Oscar D Von Engeln/National Geographic Stock