(Note Special Location: Duval Auditorium
1501 N Campbell Ave)

Do you know that the production of electricity in Tucson accounts for over 60% of Tucson’s greenhouse gases?

Imagine the City of Tucson joined in a “clean energy partnership” with Tucson Electric Power and Southwest Gas, sharing a goal to reduce greenhouse gases in our region 80% by 2050 and “do our part” to stem the worst effects of global warming. Imagine the local jobs created in the solar industry, energy storage and clean mobility, energy efficiency, building retrofits and appro-priate design.

Imagine the partnership is made up of high-level representatives of TEP and SWG as well as from the Mayor’s office and City Council – with the Board be made up of decision-makers from their respective organizations.

Just such a partnership has already begun in Minnesota between the City of Minneapolis,
Xcel Energy (their electricity provider) and CenterPoint Energy (their natural gas supplier).

Sustainable Tucson and other Co-sponsors are bringing John Farrell, policy director at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and one of the participants in this first-in-the-nation partnership, to tell the story about how this came to be and what the future holds for Minneapolis.

Join us the evening of Feb.18th to learn about this important turn in City/Utility relationships and to show support for climate solutions here in Tucson. Stay tuned for the venue as we confirm a meeting place for this event.

Help bring John to Tucson.

Contributions to Sustainable Tucson are tax deductible and can be made through our fiscal sponsor, NEST Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit, and by using the Donate Now button on our webpage:
www.sustainabletucson.org.

If you are more of a time volunteer, we are looking for partners to table at outreach events like the Peace Fair, and participate in our annual Envision Tucson Sustainable festival. For helpful opportunities to create a more Sustainable Tucson contact: Paula Schlusberg at paulasch@mindspring.com

Global Justice Center, 225 E. 26th St.
(Note different location for this month’s meeting)

Sustainable Tucson begins 2015 with our usual optimism, continuing to believe that when we join our efforts, we can create a better world in which we all can live in peace, love, and joy. Our everyday lives provide us opportunity to nurture those attributes of health and well-being. And when we are secure in our individual worlds, we can use them as spring-boards to build our larger, supportive, and resilient communities.

We also live in an increasingly connected world with challenges larger than our local com-munity. Global Warming and problems associated with climate disruption are mov-ing more and more citizens to personal action.

Sustainable Tucson’s January meeting invites you to meet fellow Tucsonans who are engag-ing the problem of Global Warming at neighborhood, city, national, and international levels. We hope that hearing their stories and finding out about opportunities where you can en-gage will help strengthen and grow our joined effect to shift our community to a more sus-tainable model.

Speakers will include:

•  Mary DeCamp, participant in the 2014 Great March for Climate Action, and 2011 Green Party Tucson mayoral candidate.
• John Jorgenson, participant in the 2014 Great March for Climate Action, walking from Los Angeles to Washington, DC (March-November), and local educator.
• James Jordan, National Coordinator for the Alliance for Global Justice, participant in the recent Lima (Peru) Climate Summit.
• Vince Pawlowski, 350.org, Tucson Coordinator.

Information will also be available about recent activities of:

• City of Tucson Climate Change committee: recent recommendation to Mayor and Council to set a city goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
• Physicians for Social Responsibility: Building Resilient Neighborhoods: The Ex-treme Weather Challenge workshop.
• Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Tucson Chapter: Political will for a livable world. Creating national Carbon Fee and Dividend legislation.

Doors open at 5:30 pm. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 pm.

at The Loft Cinema, 3233 East Speedway Boulevard, Tucson AZ 85716

Start the New Year Right: Gear Up to Fight Climate Change!

The Yes Men Are Revolting

On Sunday, January 4 at 1:00 p.m., Sustainable Tucson will partner with the Loft for a special preview screening of The Yes Men Are Revolting, with the duo of pranksters tackling the urgent issue of climate change. Join us for a comic and thought-provoking film, followed by Q&A with Yes Man and co-director Andy Bichlbaum. Stop by the Sustainable Tucson table before the film and learn more about what’s happening in Tucson to fight climate change and promote a sustainable future, including details about our next General Meeting. Physicians for Social Responsibility will also partner for this event.

Click here for information about the film: http://loftcinema.com/film/the-yes-men-are-revolting/

Continue reading below for more perspectives on climate change and climate action.

Best Wishes from Sustainable Tucson!

Three Articles to Start Off the New Year:

Best New Year’s wishes! Happy Holiday reading from ST!

While Sustainable Tucson will continue to focus on the economy, local production, and democratization of resource decisions, climate and energy issues will continue to dominate the global sustainability movement as well.

We have three excellent articles for everyone to consider, thanks to the efforts of the Post Carbon Institute’s “Resilience.Org” website.

The first is an interview with Naomi Klein, author of the new game-changing book, “This Changes Everything: Capitalism versus The Climate.” She exposes the inherent collision course of our extractive, growth-based economy with catastrophic climate change and shows how a bottom-up transformation could avert disaster.
Read at:
http://www.sustainabletucson.org/2014/12/climate-the-crisis-and-the-movement/

“What Climate Change Asks of Us” by Margaret Klein explores the human moral imperative to respond to this unprecedented danger with public expression and mobilization.
Read at:
http://www.sustainabletucson.org/2014/12/what-climate-change-asks-of-us-moral-obligation-mobilization-and-crisis-communication/

The third article by Richard Heinberg, ” The Oil Price Crash of 2014″ helps us understand what is happening in the global energy markets and geopolitics. While over-supply and low-cost oil from Saudia Arabia and the Middle East is squeezing out investment in U.S. high-cost tight (fracked) oil  and making renewable energy less competitive, the production costs of building clean energy systems may be declining.
Read at:
http://www.sustainabletucson.org/2014/12/the-oil-price-crash-of-2014/

 A PUBLIC BANK FOR ARIZONA?

How public banking can build Arizona’s

economy and benefit Arizona’s citizens.

Monday, December 8, 2014, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Doors open at 5:30 pm. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 pm.

Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Lower Level Meeting Room,

101 N. Stone, (free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

————————————

Following the Wall Street crash and the housing market collapse a few years ago, the Move Your Money campaign encouraged millions of Americans to take their money out of big commercial banks and hold the funds locally in credit unions and community banks.  In 2013, the Tucson City Council emulated the Move Our Money campaign by moving $5 million of the City’s rainy day fund from a big commercial bank to a community bank to encourage local business development–an action that spurred $9 million in loans to 16 local small businesses.  In May, 2014, the City Finance Department reported to the Mayor and Council that the program could be expanded to $10M.

Across the U.S., millions of dollars of taxpayer funds are held in big commercial banks such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America, and invested on Wall Street.  What if Arizona had a state-owned public bank—similar to the one in North Dakota—and the state’s rainy day funds were held and invested in Arizona?

Local investment of state funds would translate into jobs and a stronger economy…How? An Arizona public bank could create jobs by investing in public works projects; could boost entrepreneurship by backing small business loans through community banks; could build our state’s future by helping finance college loans—and much more.

Isn’t it time that Arizona invested in Arizona—instead of Wall Street?

Here are a few reasons why Arizona could use a public bank:

• Arizona has a crumbling infrastructure and “no money” to fix roads, bridges, and public buildings.
• Arizona’s entrepreneurs can’t get the capital they need to grow and innovate.
• Cities and towns are strapped for cash and have to sell bonds and pay high fees in order to get credit.
• Arizona has the 3rd lowest credit rating in the U.S., making borrowing extremely expensive.
• Arizona is among the 10 worst states in the country for home foreclosures.
• 10 Arizona banks have failed in the last few years.
• University tuition continues to increase, pricing young Arizonans out of the market for higher education.

————————————

Come to our next Sustainable Tucson public meeting on December 8, 2014 to learn more about alternative economic strategies such as public banking from our four presenters:

Jim Hannley and Pamela Powers Hannley, newly appointed co-directors of Arizonans for a New Economy, will discuss the benefits of public banking and what it would take to create a public bank in our state.

Silvia Amparano, City of Tucson Finance Director - Speaking about the Community Banking Program

Phil Lopes, Legislative District 27 – Addressing legislative strategies for a state-owned bank

Someone from Karin Uhlich’s Ward 3 office has been invited to give us background and updates on the moving of $5M of Tucson’s rainy-day fund into an Arizona-based community bank and how that helped fund 16 small, local businesses.

The most recent Greenhouse Gas Inventory (2012) for our region has recently been released, showing a slight decrease since its peak in 2010. Nationally, this same trend is attributed to reduced emissions from electricity generation, improvements in energy efficiencies, reduction in travel and yearly fluctuation in prevailing weather conditions. For the Tucson region the two largest sources of GHG emissions are Electricity (63%) and Gasoline (22%).

Meanwhile, the latest AR5 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is endorsing a “carbon budget” or limit to how much carbon can be put into the atmosphere. Given current rates of fossil fuel burning, we will burn through that budget by 2040. And even if we do transition to a zero-carbon culture by that time we will only have a 50/50 chance of stabilizing a 2 degree C rise in temperatures.

To date the planet is experiencing less than a 1 degree rise, producing changes outside “normal” including increasing temperatures, decreasing water supply, increasing health and social problems, increasing intensity of wildfires and flooding, and greater demands on our infrastructure including electricity production and mobility. If we put 2 and 2 together, the climate change picture is definitely not pretty – the challenge huge and “solution” – imperative.

Minneapolis just reached a milestone agreement to partner with their electricity utility to reach their goals to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2050.

http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2014/10/17/minneapolis-utility-fight-ends-with-unique-clean-energy-deal/

Could Tucson do the same? What would it take? Where will leadership come from?

Join Sustainable Tucson’s public meeting to find out more about the latest GHG inventory and the potential to leave future Tucsonans with a habitable climate and sustainable future.

Speakers will include:

Suzanne Cotty, Senior Air Quality Planner and report author

Tucson Electric Power Co representative: invited

Come to Sustainable Tucson’s November 10th meeting to find out more.

Doors open at 5:30 pm. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 pm.

Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Lower Level Meeting Room,

101 N. Stone, (free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

From Garbage to Gold: Turning Organic “Waste” Into a Valuable Resource

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

• Compost is a good alternative to chemical fertilizers…It doesn’t pollute groundwater, wells, or waterways.
• Compost keeps organic materials out of landfills, reducing methane gas emissions.
• Compost sequesters carbon deep in the soil.
• Compost promotes healthy microbial activity in the soil, providing micro-nutrients to plant roots and discouraging soil diseases.
• Compost improves soil structure, thereby protecting topsoil from erosion.
• Compost helps soil retain more rainwater.
• Compost helps grow plants rich with nutrients that sustain good health.
• Compost manufacturing supports green jobs.
• Composting is easy and it’s satisfying.
• Composting turns food scraps into new food!

Come to our next Sustainable Tucson general meeting on October 13, 2014 to learn more about composting from our four presenters:

CHET PHILLIPS, Project Director of the UA Compost Cats, will talk about their innovative student-run program, in which they collaborate with the City of Tucson, the Reid Park Zoo, and the San Xavier Co-op Farm to turn more than 1.5 million pounds of food waste into a valuable agricultural resource.  In 2013, Compost Cats received the Recycler of the Year Award from the Arizona Recycling Coalition.

EMILY ROCKEY, the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Fairfax Companies, which includes Tank’s Green Stuff, will tell us about their large-scale composting operations.  Tank’s Green Stuff rescues local plant material that would otherwise be considered “waste” and transforms it into something valuable: a rich, water saving, nutrient filled organic compost.

LINDA LEIGH, Co-owner with partner Doug Shepherd of Vermillion Wormery, will talk about the use of worms for composting, aka vermicomposting, to achieve their goal of zero organic waste.  They partner with restaurants and friends, taking kitchen scraps and feeding them to earthworms to produce a beautiful, full-of-life soil amendment called vermicast.

JOY HOLDREAD, Proprietor and resident of Joy’s Happy Garden, will be sharing with us her creative low-cost, low-water, low-labor composting strategies for sustainable desert living.  Her goal to encourage folks to compost, reduce waste, and conserve water locally is a great plan for a more sustainable Tucson.  Joy is a passive-aggressive desert gardener!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————
PLEASE NOTE:  Because of the number of presenters, we are starting earlier than usual this month.  Doors will open at 5:00 pm and the program will start promptly at 5:30 pm.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Monday, August 18, 2014, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Lower Level Meeting Room, 101 N. Stone

(free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

HOW CAN TUCSON THRIVE IN THE FACE OF ONGOING ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL MALAISE?

WHAT AILS OUR TUCSON ECONOMY?

HOW CAN TUCSON THRIVE IN THE FACE OF ONGOING ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL MALAISE?

WHAT CAN LOCAL BUSINESSES DO TO HELP THEMSELVES?

These are a few of the questions that will be addressed by Thomas H. Greco, Jr., renowned economist, author, and lecturer in his presentation:

BUILDNG HEALTHY COMMUNITIES IN THE NEW ECONOMY!

“As the national and global institutions break down, it is becoming increasingly important to re-localize our economic activity and work to make our communities more self-reliant and resilient.”

Mr. Greco’s presentation will highlight the crucial importance of creating local liquidity based on local production. He asserts that “Banks no longer do much to provide essential credit to local small and medium-sized businesses, and when they do, the terms are onerous, requiring collateral, burdensome repayment schedules, and high rates of interest.” He will describe the processes by which the credit of local producers can be mobilized to provide them with the means of payment that are abundant, reliable, locally controlled, and at a fraction of today’s costs.

Learn how communities around the world have started to monetize the value of local production and creativity to “pump the blood of commerce to all parts of the economic body.”

Tom will help us explore the opportunities and issues involved in creating our own exchange media and complementary currencies; discussing for example: “What would it look like, how would it be created, earned, managed and recycled, what are the relevant metrics, how will it be funded, and how do all of the pieces fit together?

WHEN: Monday, August 18, 6pm-8pm (Doors open at 5:30)

WHERE: Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Lower Level Meeting Room, 101 N. Stone Ave., Tucson

Tom’s Websites: www.beyondmoney.net; www.reinventingmoney.com

Inquiries: Norman Soifer. 326-6792. norman@re-energizers.com

[NOTE EARLIER START TIME: 5:00 pm]

We don’t need to be expert economists to recognize the dramatic disparity in wealth between the rich and, well, everyone else. Since the 1970s, the gap between rich and poor has steadily widened, exacerbated by the recent financial crisis but tracing its roots to policies put in place several decades ago.   How can we better understand those policies and their impact, to better prepare ourselves as advocates and fighters for change?

Join us for a thought-provoking meeting, with a showing of the film Inequality for All, featuring Robert Reich, former US Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton and now a professor at UC Berkeley.  Prof. Reich examines the widening income inequality in the US, exploring not just its impact on the US economy and threat to the American middle class, but even its disruption of life in the country overall.

Please Note: Because of the length of the movie, we are starting earlier than usual this month.  Doors will open at 5 p.m., and the program will start promptly at 5:30 p.m.

“We make the rules of the economy – and we have the power to change those rules.” – Robert Reich

As always the meeting is at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Lower Level Meeting Room, 101 N. Stone (free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

Tucson CAN Have Abundant Urban Food Production

Monday, July 14, 5:30-8:00 pm

Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Lower Level Meeting Room, 101 N. Stone

(free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

Urban agriculture is becoming much more common — in many forms, not just backyard gardens. Voters of Tucson recently adopted a General Plan that endorses urban food production, and City of Tucson is developing a Sustainability Land Use Code that supports urban agriculture, while still maintaining appropriate nuisance and noise regulations. We need urban food production (including distribution/sale) to flourish, legally, in Tucson  — as it has in so many urban areas around the country and around the world.

Many things will need to happen to bring this about, but at least one important thing is for City regulations to allow it to happen. For example, under current codes, up to 24 chickens are allowed almost anywhere — as long as your lot is over 100’ in all directions (very rare within the city). Over the past few years, much work has been done to develop appropriate regulations, with numerous opportunities for public input. But now, because of misunderstandings, the whole process may get dropped, leaving the city with its current, restrictive and/or confusing regulations.

Tucson needs pro-food-production regulations and a vision of a community with an abundant, flourishing local food system. The July Sustainable Tucson meeting will provide an opportunity to join the discussion of that vision and what is needed to make it happen.

The program will begin with short videos showing some ideas of what has succeeded in other cities — and could be possible here. Then, Merrill Eisenberg, retired professor, UA College of Public Health, will provide a brief overview that summarizes work to this point and contrasts current and proposed regulations. We will then discuss how to get appropriate regulations passed and how to promote a community vision for creating a secure and sustainable local food supply for Tucson.

Come to Sustainable Tucson’s July 14th meeting and be part of the discussion.

Doors open at 5:30 pm. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 pm.

BUILDING RESILIENT NEIGHBORHOODS:

Eco-villages and Social Cohesion

Monday, June 9, 2014, 5:30 – 8:00 pm

Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Lower Level Meeting Room,

101 N. Stone, (free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

With climate change increasing the likelihood of heat waves, flooding and other emergencies that may overwhelm first responders, and when “sheltering in place” becomes the default response, will your neighborhood be a caring and sharing place? Do you have a neighborhood association or group projects?

What is the level of trust on your street? How meaningful are conversations with your neighbors? Do you recognize your neighbors? Are they trustworthy? Do they keep to themselves?

Whether at an Eco-village start-up in Avra Valley, or an Tucson urban neighborhood the challenges and opportunities are great.

Join Sustainable Tucson’s public meeting to explore the value of community cohesion. It may move you to organize where you live.

Speakers will include:

David Burley, organizer at Tortillita Eco-village, Avra Valley. This rural effort to create community can teach us much about starting from scratch including the fundamentals of sharing water and gardening.

Joanie Sawyer, teacher and community activist, past City of Tucson PRO neighborhoods facilitator, Sustainable Tucson core team founder.

Michael Ray, Limberlost Neighborhood Association, President; Inventor and owner of Nurse Tree Arch, LC3.

Both Joanie and Michael are members of the Vulnerable Communities and Neighborhoods Task Force, 2014 (an outcome of the 2013 Climate Smart Southwest national conference).

Come to Sustainable Tucson’s June 9th meeting to find out more.

Doors open at 5:30 pm. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 pm.

Sustainable Tucson’s May Meeting:

CAN MUSHROOMS SAVE THE WORLD?

Monday, May 12, 2014,    5:30 – 8:00 pm

Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Lower Level Meeting Room,

101 N. Stone, (free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

What do human health, environmental detoxification, consumer waste recycling and a great-tasting and healthy locally produced food source have in common? – MUSHROOMS! Learn about the current state of the mushroom industry, its potential for growth, the health implications for mushrooms in our diets, and their potential role in environmental cleanup and recycling.

Join Sustainable Tucson’s public meeting to explore the value of mushrooms to our environment, economy and enjoyment.

Speakers will include:

Barry M. Pryor, PhD, Associate Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in the School of Plant Sciences. Dr. Pryor is internationally renowned for his work studying fungi in the genus Alternaria, and this research includes study in Alternaria ecology, biology, systematics, mycotoxicology, and the role of Alternaria in childhood-onset asthma. Additional research programs include disease management in agricultural and horticultural crops, characterization of fungal communities in native ecosystems, and cultivation of edible mushrooms and their co-utility in landscape and consumer waster recycling.

Andrew Carhuff, Old Pueblo Mushroom Growers. OPMG is growing oyster mushrooms and selling at 3 local farmers markets as well as to local eateries. All this is being done using local growing materials with efficient water use. Andrew is willing to share his experience as a Tucson business start up with this “growing” sustainable crop.

Come to Sustainable Tucson’s May 12th meeting to find out more.

For an excellent 17 minute introduction to 6 ways mushrooms can save the world, watch Paul Stamets on TED Talks:

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world

Doors open at 5:30 pm. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 pm.

Welcome the Third Economic Revolution

A talk on converting from a Consumer Killer Economy to a Sustainable Green Economy
by John ‘Skip’ Laitner, featured speaker at Sustainable Tucson’s December 2013 General Meeting.

Skip is a Resource and Energy Economist, International Economic Conversion Consultant, and Visiting Fellow to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Hear how he is advising the Government of Normandy, France in their conversion to an Energy-Efficient Economy NOW. They are not waiting until all of Greenland’s ice is in the sea.

SUNDAY, APRIL 20 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Milagro Cohousing Common House at 3057 N. Gaia Place in the Tucson Mountains
Refreshments, Q A, Tours of this eco-designed neighborhood following the talk.

Bring a Friend and learn how we can achieve prosperity by reducing energy consumption through conservation, efficiency and renewables and  reduce our climate changing greenhouse gas output!

More information from Holly at 520-743-1948

Sustainable Tucson’s April Meeting:

Local Water – Localized Food?

Monday, April 14, 2014,    5:30 – 8:00 pm

Joel D. Valdez Main Library, Lower Level Meeting Room,

101 N. Stone, (free lower level parking off Alameda St.)

How much local food can Tucson produce? And how much local water is available to produce it?

For several thousand years the Tucson region has been producing food for its human population using renewable rainwater and surface flows. Now our food supply is almost entirely imported from long distances, at great energy cost and with potential for disruption. Many Tucsonans are growing food locally for a variety of reasons, and these efforts will tend to make Tucson more resilient should those disruptions come.

But how much is Tucson’s locally grown food dependent on the water supplied by the Central Arizona Project canal with its huge carbon footprint and diminishing supply? Is it possible to grow local food from our seasonal rainfall and, if so, how much? What about water-supplied agriculture from our watershed and aquifer?

Come to Sustainable Tucson’s April 14th meeting to find out.

Speakers will include:

Jay Cole: Off-grid Water Harvesting at the residential scale

Victoria White: Gardening in Avra Valley

Tarenta Baldeschi: Avalon Organic Gardens and Ecovillage, Tumacacori; Community-Scale food production

Doors open at 5:30 pm. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 pm.

Sustainable Tucson’s March Meeting:
Preparedness for a World of Change

Monday, March 10, 2014,    5:30 – 8:00 pm

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

Join the Sustainable Tucson community and extended network to hear Nicole Foss, world-renown lecturer and co-creator of TheAutomaticEarth.Com speak from their DVD on Preparedness. Time will be taken to discuss this important subject which all of us are interested in.

Topics include Navigating an Epic Predicament, Psychology of Contraction, De-Globalization, Community and Society, Energy and Resources, Goods and Services, Nutrition and Health, Entertainment and Education, Be Prepared with Hard Goods, To Rent or Own, Community Building, Depression-proof Employment, and Building Robust Systems.

This General Meeting should begin the conversation of what we actually should start doing and acting on.

We hope to see you all there.

Doors open at 5:30. Program begins at 6:00 until 8;00pm

In addition to the General Meeting on Monday, March 10th, there will be an online Whole Earth Summit March 11 -13th, featuring 42 global sustainability leaders including Tucson’s own Brad Lancaster. To see the schedule of speakers and get more info on how you can connect, go to:

    www.WholeEarthSummit.org

This should be an unforgettable convergence of like hearts and minds considering: What’s your vision for a resilient world? How are you creating it now? Food + water + community + regenerative design + social transformation!

Sustainable Tucson’s February Meeting:
IS YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD READY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE?

Monday, February 10, 2014,    5:30 – 8:00 pm

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

Last November 14th, the State of Arizona ran a simulation of an emergency event that included a 72-hour power outage – the kind of event climate change may visit upon the Tucson region.

Within the first hour of this mock climate emergency county officials realized hospitals would be overwhelmed by those seeking shelter from the 110+ degree heat. With no power for air conditioners or water delivery, and with severely curtailed communications capacity, hospitals became the first option for the most vulnerable seeking safety and shelter.

In the meantime, local emergency response teams with generators powered limited operations but (as in most emergencies) the general public is left to their own resources to manage until outside help arrives. For most, the physical setting of home is where they will wait out the event.
This mock exercise was an eye-opening experience for those who participated – driving home the fact that healthy connections between neighbors will be essential to best outcomes during such an event.

But are Neighborhoods able to respond in such circumstances? Do residents feel part of a community and trust they can turn to their neighbors for assistance?  Who makes sure the most vulnerable are taken care of? Is there a method for neighborhood communication when commercial communications go down? What supplies should be stored and available?

Come to Sustainable Tucson’s February 10th meeting to find out.

Speakers will include:

Louis Valenzuela:  Pima County Health Department

Donna Branch-Gilby:  Climate Smart: Ready or Hot? Building Resilient Neighborhoods working group, and

Donald Ijams:  Neighborhood Support Network

Doors open at 5:30 pm. The meeting will begin promptly at 6:00 pm.

[ 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 — [...]