Welcome to Sustainable Tucson

We’re all familiar with the role of the ACC in setting our electricity rates. Many of you were probably at the ACC public hearing in Tucson on August 31 and may even have given testimony about TEP’s rate case now before the Commission. But do you know the full range of what the ACC does?

The Arizona Corporation Commission, known as the “4th branch of government in Arizona,” impacts our lives and the economy of the state in many ways — not just our utility rates. This meeting will provide an overview of all aspects of the ACC’s work. In November, we’ll be voting for candidates to fill three seats on the Commission, and this program will help ensure that we’re all informed voters as we make that decision.

Join Sustainable Tucson for our September Monthly Meeting, presented in collaboration with Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter. Speakers (confirmed to date) will be Sandy Bahr and Dan Millis.

Meeting Date: September 12, 2016
St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, in Geneva Hall, at 3809 E. 3rd St. (west of Alvernon, south of Speedway).
Doors open at 5:30 pm; program begins at 6:00 pm
Free parking in the church lots off 2nd St. (preferred) and 3rd St.

Join Sustainable Tucson for our monthly August meeting, focusing on rooftop solar and getting the community ready for the upcoming Aug 31 ACC hearing in Tucson on TEP’s rate request. The meeting will start with the movie “Catching the Sun”, followed by current information on TEP’s request, with background on rate requests by other utilities, the expected effect of the rate request — if approved — on all customers and the projected impact on the spread of rooftop solar in the region. Along with what to expect at the ACC hearing, the meeting will include the opportunity for letter-writing, to share our position on the rate request.

NOTE CHANGE of DATE, CHANGE of LOCATION, EARLY START TIME for this meeting!
August 22, 2016 Doors open 5:15 pm, Program starts 5:45 pm (to allow enough time for the movie)
St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, 3809 E 3rd St, Tucson, AZ (just west of Alvernon)
Free parking in church lots on 3rd St. and 2nd St.

………………………..

Save the Date! September 12
The September Monthly Meeting will again be held at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church.
Presented jointly with Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter:
The ABCs of the ACC: Understanding the Arizona Corporation Commission

Some of the themes from A Simpler Way will be explored in Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things in Life, for which Sustainable Tucson will be a Community Partner with The Loft Cinema, on July 19th at 7:30pm. This film looks at living minimally in all aspects of life, from our interaction with the environment to business, from music to design and architecture. As the film’s website explains, “minimalism is a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives—clearing the clutter from life’s path so we can make room for the most important things.” The film “explores various recipes for how to live a more meaningful, deliberate life. Not a perfect life, not an easy life—a simple one.”

A panel discussion after the film will include Tucson architect Frank Mascia, who is featured in the film.

For more information:

The Loft Cinema is located at 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson. Stop by the Sustainable Tucson table before the film.

July Monthly Meeting – Movie night
This month’s Sustainable Tucson meeting be a showing of A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity, a recently released feature-length documentary that follows an intentional community in Australia who came together to explore and demonstrate a simpler way to live in response to global crises. Throughout the year presented in the film, the group builds tiny houses, plants veggie gardens, explores their understanding of simple living, and discovers the challenges of living in community. Interspersed with segments showing how the community developed are shorts interviews with permaculture specialists, economists, authors, and other scholars, who explore those global crises and with the changes we all need to make in addressing them.

Written and produced by Jordan Osmond, founder of Happen Films, and Dr. Samuel Alexander, co-director of the Simplicity Institute, A Simpler Way was made on a limited budget, all of it crowdfunded by its many supporters. Here, Osmond writes of the motivation behind the film:

“The dominant mode of global development today seeks to universalize high-consumption consumer lifestyles, but this has produced perverse inequalities of wealth and – to an extent that is no longer possible to ignore – is environmentally catastrophic. We are called on to take shorter showers, recycle, buy ‘green’ products, and turn the lights off when we leave the room, but these measures are grossly inadequate. We need more fundamental change – personally, culturally, and structurally.

“The purpose of the documentary is to envision a way of life that positively responds to the overlapping global crises of climate change, peak oil, economic collapse, and consumerism. Genuine progress today means building a new, more resilient world based on permaculture, simple living, renewable energy, and localized economies. Most of all, we need to reimagine the good life beyond consumer culture and begin building a world that supports a simpler way of life. This does not mean hardship or deprivation. It means focusing on having enough, for everyone, forever.”

Please join us for this exciting film and for discussion afterwards addressing implications for our own lives and for our community here in Tucson and Southern Arizona.

As always, the meeting is at the downstairs meeting room of the
Downtown Main Library, 101 N Stone.
Doors open at 5:30. Movie starts at 6:00

We’re all familiar with the role of the ACC in setting our electricity rates. Many of you were probably at the ACC public hearing in Tucson on August 31 and may even have given testimony about TEP’s rate case now before the Commission. But do you know the full range of what the ACC does?

The Arizona Corporation Commission, known as the “4th branch of government in Arizona,” impacts our lives and the economy of the state in many ways — not just our utility rates. This meeting will provide an overview of all aspects of the ACC’s work. In November, we’ll be voting for candidates to fill three seats on the Commission, and this program will help ensure that we’re all informed voters as we make that decision.

Join Sustainable Tucson for our September Monthly Meeting, presented in collaboration with Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter. Speakers (confirmed to date) will be Sandy Bahr and Dan Millis.

Meeting Date: September 12, 2016
St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, in Geneva Hall, at 3809 E. 3rd St. (west of Alvernon, south of Speedway).
Doors open at 5:30 pm; program begins at 6:00 pm
Free parking in the church lots off 2nd St. (preferred) and 3rd St.

Join Sustainable Tucson for our monthly August meeting, focusing on rooftop solar and getting the community ready for the upcoming Aug 31 ACC hearing in Tucson on TEP’s rate request. The meeting will start with the movie “Catching the Sun”, followed by current information on TEP’s request, with background on rate requests by other utilities, the expected effect of the rate request — if approved — on all customers and the projected impact on the spread of rooftop solar in the region. Along with what to expect at the ACC hearing, the meeting will include the opportunity for letter-writing, to share our position on the rate request.

NOTE CHANGE of DATE, CHANGE of LOCATION, EARLY START TIME for this meeting!
August 22, 2016 Doors open 5:15 pm, Program starts 5:45 pm (to allow enough time for the movie)
St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, 3809 E 3rd St, Tucson, AZ (just west of Alvernon)
Free parking in church lots on 3rd St. and 2nd St.

………………………..

Save the Date! September 12
The September Monthly Meeting will again be held at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church.
Presented jointly with Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter:
The ABCs of the ACC: Understanding the Arizona Corporation Commission

Some of the themes from A Simpler Way will be explored in Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things in Life, for which Sustainable Tucson will be a Community Partner with The Loft Cinema, on July 19th at 7:30pm. This film looks at living minimally in all aspects of life, from our interaction with the environment to business, from music to design and architecture. As the film’s website explains, “minimalism is a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives—clearing the clutter from life’s path so we can make room for the most important things.” The film “explores various recipes for how to live a more meaningful, deliberate life. Not a perfect life, not an easy life—a simple one.”

A panel discussion after the film will include Tucson architect Frank Mascia, who is featured in the film.

For more information:

The Loft Cinema is located at 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., Tucson. Stop by the Sustainable Tucson table before the film.

July Monthly Meeting – Movie night
This month’s Sustainable Tucson meeting be a showing of A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity, a recently released feature-length documentary that follows an intentional community in Australia who came together to explore and demonstrate a simpler way to live in response to global crises. Throughout the year presented in the film, the group builds tiny houses, plants veggie gardens, explores their understanding of simple living, and discovers the challenges of living in community. Interspersed with segments showing how the community developed are shorts interviews with permaculture specialists, economists, authors, and other scholars, who explore those global crises and with the changes we all need to make in addressing them.

Written and produced by Jordan Osmond, founder of Happen Films, and Dr. Samuel Alexander, co-director of the Simplicity Institute, A Simpler Way was made on a limited budget, all of it crowdfunded by its many supporters. Here, Osmond writes of the motivation behind the film:

“The dominant mode of global development today seeks to universalize high-consumption consumer lifestyles, but this has produced perverse inequalities of wealth and – to an extent that is no longer possible to ignore – is environmentally catastrophic. We are called on to take shorter showers, recycle, buy ‘green’ products, and turn the lights off when we leave the room, but these measures are grossly inadequate. We need more fundamental change – personally, culturally, and structurally.

“The purpose of the documentary is to envision a way of life that positively responds to the overlapping global crises of climate change, peak oil, economic collapse, and consumerism. Genuine progress today means building a new, more resilient world based on permaculture, simple living, renewable energy, and localized economies. Most of all, we need to reimagine the good life beyond consumer culture and begin building a world that supports a simpler way of life. This does not mean hardship or deprivation. It means focusing on having enough, for everyone, forever.”

Please join us for this exciting film and for discussion afterwards addressing implications for our own lives and for our community here in Tucson and Southern Arizona.

As always, the meeting is at the downstairs meeting room of the
Downtown Main Library, 101 N Stone.
Doors open at 5:30. Movie starts at 6:00

Along with The Loft Cinema and the UA Institute of the Environment, Sustainable Tucson will be co-presenting the film “A Time to Choose,” which will be shown June 15, at 7:30 pm, at The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Come early and visit with us at the Sustainable Tucson table on the patio. The film addresses worldwide climate change, looking at both the challenges and possible solutions.

For more information: https://loftcinema.com/film/time-to-choose/

Additional reviews (just to entice you to attend):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/a-time-to-choose-makes-an-eloquent-case-for-acting-to-save-the-planet-now/2016/06/02/433b17b8-2441-11e6-9e7f-57890b612299_story.html

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-time-to-choose-review-20160531-snap-story.html

Of all the things that we could do to make Tucson more resilient — better able to survive and thrive, no matter what the world throws at us — the “lowest hanging fruit” is probably — FOOD. Who woulda thunk it?

Come to the joint meeting of Sustainable Tucson and Ward 3 Neighbors Alliance this coming Monday (June 13 at 6:00) at the Downtown Main Library.

This meeting will focus on what Tucson is already doing to create a beautiful and healthy community that can provide a more secure food supply based on our renewable rainfall, ample land, year-round growing climate, and long tradition of unique local food.

A panel of local experts will discuss what Tucson is already doing that contribute to our food resilience, as well as what we might do to magnify our efforts. The panelists are:
• Nick Henry – Director of the Community Food Bank’s Food Resource Center
• Sarah Brown – Co-coordinator of Watershed Management Group
• Oscar Medina – Changemaker High School teacher in History, Civics, and Urban Agriculture Restorative Ecology
• Carolyn Niethammer – Author on the plants, food, environmet, and people of the Southwest
• Tres English – Director of Sustainable Tucson Food Resilience Project
The panel discussion will be followed by Q&A from the audience.

In addition to the panel, there will be an opportunity to talk with local vendors who are directly involved in local sustainability. Currently confirmed are:
• Tanks Green Stuff
• Iskashitaa Refugee Harvesting Network
• Tucson Organic Gardeners.
• Carolyn Niethammer – Local author on SW food, environment and people

Join us for lively discussion on an important issue facing Tucson.

As always, the doors of the downstairs meeting room open at 5:30 and the program starts promptly at 6:00. Parking is free in the parking garage below the Main Library.

Sustainable Tucson’s April General Meeting will provide an up-to-the-minute update on efforts to pave the way for creating a positive energy-economy-climate future for our region.

Tucson-based international economist Skip Laitner will report for the RENEW team on this important three-part community initiative. These include 1) intervening in the Arizona Corporation Commission’s current energy rate cases for southern Arizona; 2) high-level discussions with senior Tucson Electric Power staff; and 3) building community support for a sane and prosperous energy future.

RENEW (Ratepayers Expect New Economic Wisdom) is a collaboration of Tucson-based individuals, groups, and businesses who have begun the hard discussion of positive strategies that might strengthen the region’s economy at the same time we transition to clean, renewable energy sources.

Monday, April 11, 2016
Downtown Library, 101 N Stone
Lower level Conference room.
Program begins at 6:00pm. Doors open at 5:30

XXX

This is an urgent appeal to the Sustainability Community to show up and speak out for sustainability and reject an unnecessary road widening plan which will cost millions and do nothing for sustainable mobility and economic vitality.

XXXXX

We have limited opportunities to help shape decisions about urban form and public infrastructure which effect the way we live and generate climate-changing GHG emissions. This is one of them.

XXX

The Tucson Mayor and Council will decide at their April 19th Regular Meeting on how to proceed with the 30% design proposal on the table. We urge you to sign the popular “Vote No” petition below sponsored by the Broadway Coalition and ALSO submit your “negative” comments on the 30% Design here at the City’s website.

XXX

When: Tuesday, April 19th,  5:30 pm

Where:  Tucson City Hall Council Chambers

We Should Develop Historic Broadway NOT wastefully widen the roadway!

Say YES to smart development and NO to another bad alignment plan for Broadway. Why would we spend $75 million for no appreciable improvement in traffic?

On April 19th, the City of Tucson will vote whether to:

XXX

1) Widen Historic Broadway even though traffic hasn’t increased for 20 years,

2) Demolish 30+ buildings and businesses, and

3) Ignore the community’s overwhelming plea to design a vibrant, history and place-preserving, climate-friendly future where local businesses thrive and more people prefer to safely walk, bike, and use public transit.

XXX

The City’s alignment plan would set a horrible precedent for our economic future!

XXX

We need to stop wasteful public spending on unnecessary widening of roads when we need to:

XXX

1) Revitalize our historic places leading into Downtown Tucson.

2) Repave our unsafe, crumbling Tucson streets and roads.

3) Invest in alternatives to more cars – walking, biking, public transit.

4) Encourage and enable use of renewable energy – electric vehicles, Street Car extensions.

Our Petition Campaign has exceeded the first goal of 1,000 signatures with over 400 comments. Please add your name, comment if you like, and see what other Tucsonan’s are saying:

Time for Action is Now!

For background on Broadway Widening , references, articles, and research go here:

Why Are We Spending $74 Million

and

Destroying 30 Buildings in a Central Historic Area

while

Producing No Traffic Improvement?

By Dave Bilgray

The Broadway Improvement Project is not needed, and will provide no benefit to the residents of Tucson.  The City’s own data shows that widening Broadway will provide only a 6-second improvement in travel time.

The City of Tucson wants to bulldoze dozens of buildings, many of them historically significant, to handle nonexistent traffic increases which were projected 30 years ago, but did not materialize.

The effort started in the 80s, when City analysts predicted a substantial increase in Broadway traffic by 2005. This began a decades-long push to widen Broadway, despite a consulting firm’s analysis that widening would not improve traffic flow.  The reason is the delays at intersections.  The City got funding for the project in 2006, as part of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) proposition.

But the traffic increase didn’t happen, for two reasons:

1. Population growth, which had been primarily to the East, went to the Northwest instead.

2. Aviation Parkway was completed in the 90s, providing an alternative for residents in Southeast Tucson.

In 2009, a consultant’s study showed that Broadway traffic was essentially unchanged since the 80s. That should have squelched the project. But the City said it was obligated to do the job, because voters approved it as part of the RTA. (Not true. The RTA proposition said a change in the plan was permitted if there was “no degradation in performance”. That 6-second difference is 1 percent, which would certainly be within the limit.)

So the City’s plans continued. The original design was for widening Broadway to 8 lanes, 150 feet wide. That’s half the length of a football field. More than 100 structures would be demolished, mostly locally-owned businesses, including nearly everything on the North side of Broadway, from Euclid to Country Club.

There was strong opposition by thousands of citizens and several neighborhood associations.  This resulted in creation of a citizen’s task force, with representatives from business, neighborhood, and disabled communities. Between June 2012 and May 2015, the task force held 37 design meetings, coordinated by City staff and consultants. There were 5 Open Houses, each attended by several hundred people, and five Business and Property Owner Meetings.

In late 2014, a compromise was reached between the City, RTA, and task force, calling for 6 lanes, with an estimated 10-12 buildings to be torn down. City agencies and consultants were to work out technical details.

We have now received the revised plan. It calls for at least 30 buildings to be demolished — triple the City’s compromise estimate — including 2 blocks of houses in Rincon Heights.  Many other buildings will become inaccessible, and will likely be destroyed, because their driveways and/or parking lots will be wiped out.  There also are changes at intersections which impact nearby neighborhoods, by diverting or blocking traffic flow.

Will the Broadway Corridor be a gateway to our revitalized downtown, with locally-owned businesses, and human scale?  Or will it be a wide swath of asphalt, straddled by empty lots and the dream of big box stores?

Tucson got a black eye with Rio Nuevo.  Let’s not do it again.  The money can be spent on sidewalks, landscaping, and ADA compliance, which would enhance the area. Please tell your City Council member to reject this wasteful and harmful idea, once and for all.

For more info:   www.facebook.com/broadwaycoalition

Thanks to Margot Garcia, for providing background and chronological information; Les Pierce, for identifying important items in City and RTA documents; and Bob Cook, for wording suggestions.

Climate Change and Pima County Operations:

Mitigation and Adaptation through Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, and Renewable Energy

The Sustainable Tucson general meeting for March continues this year’s focus on climate change and local impacts and actions.

In Pima County, residents, businesses, and public services primarily rely on energy generated by natural gas and coal-fired thermoelectric plants and on water supplied by the Colorado River and transported by the Central Arizona Project (CAP).

The production and transmission of energy and water supplies are linked, and the costs of these resources are rising as a result of scarcity issues, growing demands. and regulatory uncertainty around renewables. Furthermore, energy and water supplies are vulnerable to the effects of climate variability, such as prolonged drought, which further influence costs. Electricity and water costs for Pima County are projected to rise 10-30% in the coming years. While existing County policies and tools have thus far kept rising costs at bay, new strategies and infrastructure need to be considered in the context of these increasing and compounded risks.

Speakers will include:

Dr. Julie Robinson, Pima County Sustainability Program Manager

Others to be announced.

Presentations will be followed by audience Q&A.

The event will take place in the downstairs conference room of the Joel Valdez Main Library in downtown Tucson. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for meet & greet begins at 5:30; the program will begin at 6:00.
Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone, Lower Level Meeting Room
(Free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

Continuing Sustainable Tucson’s theme of “Climate Change and Actions for Our Sustainable Future”, please join us at the February General Meeting to hear about the progress being made locally on the policy and actions front.

Find out what is happening within Tucson City government, Tucson’s Climate Change committee’s upcoming recommendation to establish a new carbon emission goal of “Net-zero carbon emissions by 2040”, and how it can be reinforced by putting a price on carbon emissions through national legislation promoted by the Citizen’s Climate Lobby.

Speakers will include:

• Ryan Anderson, Planning, Transportation, and Sustainability Policy Advisor, City of Tucson, Office of the Mayor
• Ben Champion, D.Phil., Director, Office of Sustainability, University of Arizona, Co-chair City of Tucson Climate Change committee
• Suzanne Tveit, Arizona coordinator, Citizen’s Climate Lobby

Presentations will be followed by audience Q&A.

The event will take place in the downstairs conference room of the Joel Valdez Main Library in downtown Tucson. Meet & greet begins at 5:30; the program will begin at 6:00. Doors open at 5:30 pm.

Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone, Lower Level Meeting Room,
(Free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

Sustainable Tucson is co-sponsoring a special movie at the Loft Theater – “This Changes Everything” by Naomi Klein.

The presentation also features a post-film panel discussion with Luis Alberto Perales of Tierra y Libertad, Bob Cook of Sustainable Tucson, and Diana Liverman of UA Institute of the Environment.

This presentation is part of Science on Screen at The Loft, an initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation, with major support from the Alfred P. Sloane Foundation. Movie starts at 7:00pm. Loft Theater, 3233 E. Speedway.

On October 12th, the Sonoran Permaculture Guild and Sustainable Tucson host a special evening to view a new documentary,
INHABIT: A Permaculture Perspective.
Permaculture is a unique design system for human settlement that mimics natural ecosystems. This thought-provoking film shows how Permaculture principles help communities become more sustainable and resilient.

Following the film, a panel composed of local permaculture design professionals will answer your questions and discuss how permaculture principles can be applied to our Sonoran desert. Panelist are:
* DAN DORSEY – lead teacher and designer for Sonoran Permaculture Guild, LLC, teaching Permaculture Design certification and related workshops such as Water Harvesting, Growing Food at Home, Bee Keeping, and Aquaponics.
* JUSTIN BRAMHALL – teacher with the Sonoran Permaculture Guild, specializing in sustainable design and implementation of landscapes using water harvesting and Permaculture design principles.
* SYLVIA LINDEMAN – licensed contractor, and owner of Grow With the Flow Landscaping Company LLC, specializing in design and implementation of low water use Permaculture type landscaping.

The event will take place in the downstairs conference room of the Joel Valdez Library in downtown Tucson. Meet & greet begins at 5:30, the 90 minute film will begin at 5:45. You can view the trailer at: inhabitfilm.com.

Join us at this year’s 5th annual Envision Tucson Sustainable Festival, October 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the YWCA, 525 Bonita Avenue. The Festival will showcase the many features of sustainable living in Tucson and our desert Southwest.

We’re very excited about the great variety of activities and exhibits at this year’s event. Over 40 exhibitors, demonstrators, and vendors will be sure to provide something for everyone.

A few of the highlights of this event:
** The Festival is the starting point for PAG Solar Partnership’s neighborhood Solar Tour.
**The Tucson Electric Vehicle Association will display a wide variety of electric vehicles
** The Southern Arizona Green Chamber of Commerce will present this year’s Climate Leadership Challenge recognition awards.
** In recognition of National Co-op Month, the ‘Co-op Cluster’ will showcase local co-ops that use this sustainable business model.
** The Festival is the kick-off event for 10West, a weeklong celebration of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.

Throughout the day, local and native foods will be featured in food preparation demonstrations. Examples of solar cooking will demonstrate an exciting way to be sustainable. Visionary speakers will be looking at how we can attain the sustainable future we need and want. The Annual Green School Recognition will again honor a local school that promotes ecological education, school gardening, and related activities. This year, that award goes to Davis Bilingual Magnet School. And we’ll dedicate Phase 2 of the Festival-installed vegetable garden at the YWCA.

Admission and parking are free, or come by bike and Living Streets Alliance will provide a Bike Valet service for those who come by bike.

Come to the Festival! Explore what’s going on now in our community, get more involved, learn new skills, and share your own vision of a sustainable community.

For more information: www.envisiontucsonsustainable.org and like us on Facebook at Envision Tucson Sustainable, or contact Paula Schlusberg .

[ Friday, September 20, 2013; 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Saturday, September 21, 2013; 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. ] Free lecture Friday evening at the TEP Unisource Building, 88 East Broadway, Tucson AZ

Saturday conference at the Tucson Convention Center (details below)

Tucson will be hosting a climate change conference focused on public health and climate adaptation in September, sponsored by Physicians for Social Responsibility and 35 other local and national organizations. The following guest [...]

See the online video archive of the entire conference at nytenergyfortomorrow.com
ENERGY FOR TOMORROW – BUILDING SUSTAINABLE CITIES
A NEW YORK TIMES CONFERENCE
IN COLLABORATION WITH RICHARD ATTIAS AND ASSOCIATES
APRIL 25, 2013
THE TIMESCENTER, NEW YORK CITY
 
THE CONCEPT
According to U.N. data, the worldwide urban population over the next 40 years will increase by 3.1 billion people. Where will [...]

Phoenix in the Climate Crosshairs
by William deBuys
 
If cities were stocks, you’d want to short Phoenix.

Of course, it’s an easy city to pick on. The nation’s 13th largest metropolitan area (nudging out Detroit) crams 4.3 million people into a low bowl in a hot desert, where horrific heat waves and windstorms visit it regularly. It snuggles [...]

How President Obama Can Beat The Odds And Make Good On His Commitments
from Edgar S. Cahn, CEO TimeBanks USA,
Distinguished Professor of Law, UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
In his Inaugural Address, President Obama made some commitments that seem to defy fiscal reality:
  “A little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has [...]

Eco-Health Relationship Browser
EPA Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) Research News Flash
September 25, 2012
The EPA Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program is pleased to announce the launch of the Eco-Health Relationship Browser, an easy-to-use new online tool from the SHC program.
The Eco-Health Relationship Browser illustrates the linkages between human health and ecosystem services—benefits supplied by nature. [...]

Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math
Three simple numbers that add up to global catastrophe – and that make clear who the real enemy is
by Bill McKibben (350.org)
This story is from the August 2nd, 2012 issue of Rolling Stone.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719
If the pictures of those towering wildfires in Colorado haven’t convinced you, or the size of your AC bill [...]

Documents: Industry Privately Skeptical of Shale Gas
Over the past six months, The New York Times reviewed thousands of pages of documents related to shale gas, including hundreds of industry e-mails, internal agency documents and reports by analysts. A selection of these documents is included here; names and identifying information have been redacted to protect the [...]

An audio recording of Dr. Jonathan Overpeck’s presentation at DuVal Auditorium in Tucson February 13th 2012 is now available here on the Sustainable Tucson website.
To listen or download, please go to the first comment on ST February Meeting – Climate Change in Tucson and the Southwest – Dr Jonathan Overpeck.

Sustainable Tucson’s statement of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement and Occupy Tucson
The mission of Sustainable Tucson is to create a community-wide network of people and organizations facilitating and accelerating Tucson’s transition to sustainability through education and collaborative action.
A sustainable community embodies social justice and economic justice as well as environmental justice. Our vision [...]

6 Burning Questions About the Violent Crackdowns on Occupations Around the Country
By Lynn Parramore, AlterNet Posted on November 15, 2011 http://www.alternet.org/story/153083 /6_burning_questions_about_the_violent_crackdowns_ on_occupations_around_the_country
Occurring without provocation, the Occupy crackdown gives the appearance of an orchestrated effort to thwart an emerging protest movement. Early morning Tuesday, in New York City, hundreds of police officers, many in riot gear, swept [...]

Sustainable Tucson comments on proposed Rosemont Mine
Sustainable Tucson is a non-profit, grass-roots organization that builds regional resilience and sustainability through awareness raising, community engagement and public/private partnerships. We recognize the need to focus on sustainability within the Sonoran bioregion.
The proposal by the Augusta Resources Corporation to develop a copper mine in the Santa Rita mountains [...]

Buying Underwear, Along With the Whole Store
By AMY CORTESE
 
SARANAC LAKE, N.Y.
 
THE residents of Saranac Lake, a picturesque town in the Adirondacks, are a hardy lot — they have to be to withstand winter temperatures that can drop to 30 below zero. But since the local Ames department store went out of business in 2002 — [...]