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The Roof Over Our Heads

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• 100,000 – the number of Tucson houses over 50 years old – Today
• 200,000 – the number of Tucson houses over 50 years old – in 10 years
• 80% – the percent of houses inside the incorporated City of Tucson that will soon reach the age (about 50) when repair costs often exceeds many owners’ ability to pay them.

Have you or anyone else replaced the furnace, the ducting, the electrical service and the water and gas pipes? And, if the house was built in the 40s or 50s, add in electrical wiring

If not, it is likely that within the next 15-20 years – you will have to replace them all. Your cost: $20,000 – $30,000. Maybe more.

Neither the City, County, State nor Federal Governments can afford to pay the Trillions of dollars needed to repair all our old houses. It’s going to be mostly us, or not at all (Nationally, there are 56 million homes that will be at least 50 years old within 10 years.) But it costs several times that much to tear down and replace them. Even adding in maximum energy efficiency upgrades, it is cheaper to repair than replace.

The July Sustainable Tucson meeting will explore the needs and opportunities to repair our old houses. How can we train thousands of people to do the work? What needs to be done? And most importantly – how do we pay for it?

On Tuesday, you will hear:
• Robert Bulechek (Energy Management Consultant) – Can we make our homes MUCH more energy efficient?
• Scott Coverdale (Community Home Repair of Arizona) – What conditions are our homes really in?
• Chuck Gallagher (SkillsUSA, former construction teacher at Santa Rita High School) How do we teach the workforce we need to make Tucson more efficient?
• Rick Gibson (Sustainability Partners) How do we pay for all this?
• Tres English (Sustainable Tucson) Overview of Tucson’s housing stock

Join us for this important discussion that will begin the conversation about the future of – Keeping the “Roof Over Our Heads”.

Ward 6, 3202 E 1st St
6:00pm (doors open at 5:30pm)

Sustainable Development Goals for Tucson

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On 1 January 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force.

What are these goals, why do they matter, and how could they apply to Tucson?

– We’ll give an overview of each of the 17 SDGs
– We’ll relate each goal to Tucson
– You’ll explore and propose options to make the goals happen

Join us for this exciting and critical thought-provoking meeting. Get inspired to create a Sustainable Tucson for 2030!

Tuesday, June 11, 2019
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

Tucson City Council Ward 6 Office: 3202 East 1st Street · Tucson, AZ

Doors open at 5:30. The meeting starts promptly at 6.

Food Resilient Tucson – Our Future is Delicious

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Why should we want a Delicious & Resilient local food system?
• We get to enjoy the wide range of delicious local foods that show off our 4000-year history of growing food in the desert.
• We get to celebrate the unique history and multiple cultures that make Tucson special.
• We get to create thousands of local jobs based on everything from growing and preparing local food to learning to design and build the specialty tools that will help make Tucson a world leader in desert-adapted urban agriculture.
• And of great importance, we get to share delicious food with our neighbors and create community in the process.

Why do we need a Resilient & Delicious local food system?
• Most national food chains have adopted a Just-In-Time inventory system, so we have only a few days of food in our stores.
• The national distribution system brings us everything, every day, from 1000 miles away and could become a bottle neck, if anything goes seriously wrong with the communication, banking, power and fuel systems that run it.
• It will help us do our part to mitigate climate change and protect us from climate impacts, like unstable food supplies.

The May General Meeting will focus on two questions:
• What do we need to do to make Tucson more Food Resilient? And why do we need to make Tucson a more food-resilient community?
• What factors that led to our designation as a World City of Gastronomy can we use to grow and eat more local food?

We have an excellent panel of local experts who will give their perspectives on these questions, discuss their implications for Tucson, and lead us in a lively discussion.

Panelist are:
• Carolyn Niethammer – Cookbook author, specializing in local food
• Mohyeddin Abdulaziz – President of Tucson Organic Gardeners
• Erik Stanford – Owner of Pivot Produce, a local logistics company that connects local farms and restaurants
• Parker Filer – Member of Pima County Food Alliance and educator
• Michael Ray – Neighborhood activist and member of Building Resilient Neighborhoods
• Moderator: Tres English – Sustainable Tucson and local sustainability expert

Join us on Tuesday, May 14 at 6:00 (doors open at 5:30) at the Ward 6 office, 3202 E 1st St.

The Green New Deal – What Is It?

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U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, and U.S. Senator Ed Markey (R), Democrat of Massachusetts, speak during a press conference to announce Green New Deal legislation to promote clean energy programs outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC.
 Saul Loeb/AFP—Getty Images

You’ve been hearing a lot in the news about the Green New Deal. Politicians have been praising and criticizing it, pundits have been pontificating about it, and social media has been buzzing about it. But what is really in the Green New Deal? What does it promise and what isn’t covered?

In this month’s Sustainable Tucson meeting, with the help of the Sunrise Movement, we are going to dissect the Green New Deal to see exactly what it is all about. Please join us for this inspiring and informational discussion.

Tuesday, April 9, 2019 at the Tucson City Council Ward 6 Office. Doors open at 5:30 pm, program starts at 6.

Tucson’s Complete Streets Policy

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On February 5th, the Tucson City Council passed Ordinance 11621 – The City of Tucson Complete Streets Policy. What’s in the Complete Streets Policy? How was it created? What does it mean? How will it affect the future of Tucson? At our next meeting, we are going to answer these questions and more. We’ll look at the details of the new policy and how it was created. We’ll also have some expert opinion about how the policy will be implemented. Be sure to join us and get a glimpse of the future of Tucson!

Tuesday, March 12, 2019 from 6-8 pm at the Ward 6 community room. Doors open at 5:30.

Advocacy 101 – Working with our government

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RSVP

The 2019 Arizona State Legislature session is well underway, with legislators introducing bills that will, if passed, have significant impact on our lives and our rights. At the federal level, the new Congress is hard at work, and locally both City Council and County Board of Supervisors deal with matters of direct interest to our community. At all levels, it’s vitally important to make our voices heard on important issues that we care about and that affect us all.

Join Sustainable Tucson at our February Monthly Meeting for Advocacy 101, an evening of training and tips on effective ways to reach out to elected officials, focusing primarily on the State Legislature, with lessons learned that can apply equally well at the local or national level. Presenters from League of Women Voters Greater Tucson will give an overview of the state legislative process and provide details about the Request to Speak (RTS) process, an easy but effective way to communicate your position on proposed bills as they are reviewed in committee. Then Jana Segal, Sustainable Tucson’s Advocacy Chair, will present a description of ST advocacy and policy efforts and how you can (and should) get involved.

Along with an overview of RTS, the LWVGT presenters will teach us how to sign up for an online account to use the system. If you bring your laptop, phone, or whatever you use to connect to the Internet, you’ll be able to sign up right then and there. Alternatively, you’ll learn how to sign up online at home or where to go in Tucson to sign up.

This evening’s program is the first in a series that Sustainable Tucson will be presenting on effective communication with our elected officials — and with those who aspire to be elected. We’ll be looking ahead and getting prepared for communicating to candidates for the City Council elections this fall, and then for elections at multiple levels in 2020.

Tuesday, February 12
Doors open 5:30 pm; program starts at 6:00 pm.
Ward 6 Council Office, 3202 E. 1st Street

Celebrate Our Sustainable Future

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Come celebrate with us!

Share the bounty of the season at our holiday potluck. Non-alcoholic drinks provided by Sustainable Tucson. Save a dinosaur; bring your own flatware and glasses.

REASON TO CELEBRATE

If you read the recent IPCC study on climate change, you might not think there is much to celebrate this holiday season. The idea that climate change is progressing faster than first predicted can be quite a jolt, even if you’re already working to fight it. But it could also be an opportunity to come together as a community to envision and create a better, more sustainable and resilient Tucson!

At this year’s holiday party, Sustainable Tucson will be celebrating the possibilities by creating a festival atmosphere with street fair activities:

Design Your Dream Neighborhood: Create a walk-able, inviting neighborhood from a typical Tucson neighborhood map using blocks that represent elements of complete streets. (Model built by Changemaker High School students.

Creating Our Future: Draw the ways we can create a sustainable future for Tucson by 2038 on panels we will join together into a paper quilt.

Community Tree: Add leaves with your ideas about what we can do as a community to make Tucson Sustainable by 2038.

Time Capsule: Place your note to the future in our time capsule to be opened in a year: What are your hopes for Tucson or what will you make happen in Tucson in the coming year?

“Tales of Future” storytelling stage: Local Comedian Jeremy Segal will host impromptu stories about pursuing your vision for a sustainable future and other fun environmental stories.

You are invited to Sustainable Tucson’s holiday party.
Tuesday, December. 11, 6-8:30 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
Special location
St Mark’s Presbyterian Church, 3809 E 3rd St. Geneva Room
(Free parking in the church lots on 3rd St. or 2nd St. The 2nd St. lot is closer to the Geneva Rm.)

Sustainable Tucson’s holiday party: “Celebrate Our Sustainable Future.”

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You are invited to Sustainable Tucson’s holiday party. 

Tuesday, December. 11, 6-8:30 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)

St Mark’s Presbyterian Church, 3809 E 3rd St. Geneva Room
(Parking on 3rd St. and 2nd St. 2nd St. lot is closer to the Geneva Rm.)

Share the bounty of the season at our holiday potluck. Non-alcoholic drinks provided by Sustainable Tucson. Save a dinosaur; bring your own flatware and glasses.


REASON TO CELEBRATE
If you read the recent IPCC study on climate change, you might not think there is much to celebrate this holiday season. The idea that climate change is progressing faster than first predicted can be quite a jolt, even if you’re already working to fight it. But it could also be an opportunity to come together as a community to envision and create a better, more sustainable and resilient Tucson!
At this year’s holiday party, Sustainable Tucson will be celebrating the possibilities by creating a festival atmosphere with street fair activities:
Design Your Dream Neighborhood: Create a walk-able, inviting neighborhood from a typical Tucson neighborhood map using blocks that represent elements of complete streets. (Model built by Changemaker High School students.)
Creating Our Future: Draw the ways we can create a sustainable future for Tucson by 2038 on panels we will join together into a paper quilt.
Community Tree: Add leaves with your ideas about what we can do as a community to make Tucson Sustainable by 2038.
Time Capsule: Place your note to the future in our time capsule to be opened in a year: What are your hopes for Tucson or what will you make happen in Tucson in the coming year?

“Tales of Future” storytelling stage: Local Comedian Jeremy Segal will host impromptu stories about pursuing your vision for a sustainable future and other fun environmental stories.

Come celebrate with us!

Recycling and beyond

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Are you concerned about all the waste produced in modern society? Is “zero waste” a realistic goal? What can we do otherwise? Join us for a conversation with Master Recyclers, who will share insights and advice on effective recycling, one piece of the sustainability puzzle.

Post-presentation planning meeting, 7:30-8:00 pm: If you would like to be part of a new action team in Sustainable Tucson, we will be discussing local points of leverage for plastics reduction and other zero waste strategies. Sample points: no-straws-please, plastic tote bags, and green waste collection by the City. Join us for mindful activism in community!

Meeting: 2nd Tuesday of month
Tuesday, Nov 13, 6:00-7:30 pm,
Ward 6 office, 3202 E. 1st St
Doors open at 5:00

WHAT’S UP WITH THE PROPOSED ROSEMONT MINE?

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Sustainable Tucson’s October meeting

Sustainable Tucson’s October meeting

 

6:00 – 8:00 PM, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018

(Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)

Tucson City Council Ward 6

3202 East 1st Street · Tucson, AZ

If you’ve been looking at the newspaper recently, you will have seen an op-ed from the Tucson Chamber of Commerce saying that it is time for us all to stop “fighting” and for the Rosemont mine to start. That was followed by a number of letters to the editor that clearly explained why the mine is a really bad deal for southern Arizona.

In this talk Gayle Hartmann, president of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, will bring you up to date on what is happening and what is likely to happen in the near future. We’ll also screen a documentary about the Rosemont Mine by Frances Causey: “Ours Is The Land” is the new short film that depicts in moving and powerful detail the spiritual, cultural, and physical connection of the Tohono O’odham people of Arizona to Ce:wi Duag or the Santa Rita Mountains which are imperiled by the proposed creation of the mile-wide, half-mile deep Rosemont open pit copper mine. Desecrating this revered area with a mine would fundamentally alter the cultural landscape of the Tohono O’odham nation.

 

Sustainable Tucson at TENWEST!

At 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 14th, look for our tents at Discover Local Day in the Tucson Museum of Art Courtyard. “Discover Local Sustainability” Fun activities for all ages that show how our desert town can flourish in the future. Activities include:

  1. “Design your Neighborhood”: Create a walkable, inviting neighborhood from a typical Tucson neighborhood map using movable pieces that represent elements of complete streets. (Model built by Changemaker High School students.)
  2.  “Planning Tucson’s Future”: Draw your ideas of what we can do now to make Tucson a great place to live in 2038.
  3. “Understanding Our Groundwater”: Nothing is more important in the desert than water and the water we use in Tucson comes from underground. Understand how this works with an interactive groundwater model from Arizona Project Wet.
  4. “Note to the Future” letter-writing activity. Adult participants will be prompted to write a letter to a young person to be read 20 years from now, and young people will be prompted to write to a parent or other elder, looking ahead 20 years.
  5. “Tales of the Future”: Attendees will be inspired to tell their own 2-3 minute stories on their vision for a sustainable future for Tucson. The show will be hosted by local comedian Jeremy Segal.

 

TACTICAL URBANISM BLOCK PARTY

From 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 20th, you can find our tent at Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street (near EXO coffee.) “Design your Neighborhood” and “Understanding Our Groundwater” activities. Volunteers with vehicles needed to transport tables and activities. For more information call Jana at 325-9175.

SHADE FOR TUCSON

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September Sustainable Tucson Monthly Meeting

Tuesday, September 11, 2018     

One of the simplest and most pleasing ways we can adapt to climate change, while mitigating its effects, is to reforest our world. Globally, trees are dying off. But cities across the country are working to reverse this trend. Tucson is one of those cities. The goal: a shade canopy of 20% (we’re currently at 8%) by 2030.

At this Sustainable Tucson meeting, you can learn about the Shade for Tucson campaign, led by a network of non-profits who are reaching out to businesses, government agencies, and community groups to join in this massive effort. After brief presentations, leaders in this campaign will engage in conversation with all present as we envision and plan for the planting and care of one million trees across the city. Panelists include Tom Ellis, Executive Director, Tucson Clean and Beautiful; Katie Gannon, Program Director, Trees for Tucson; Kendall Kroesen, Community Outreach Coordinator, Mission Garden; and Tanya Quist, Director, UA Campus Arboretum.

Doors open 5:30 pm   Program starts 6:00 pm   

Ward 6 City Council Office  3202 E 1st Street

 

 

Complete Streets, Connecting Complete Neighborhoods, Creating a Complete City

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New construction is popping up all over Tucson: widening roads, new hotels and apartment complexes, and development of some of our most treasured architectural icons. At the same time, Tucson’s bicycle and pedestrian fatalities are on the rise. In recognition of the opportunities and problems, Ward 6 will be hosting a Complete Streets planning session on July 25th at 5:30 pm (see below).

In preparation for this meeting and to discuss the ramifications of some of the many development projects in the works or being proposed, we will be hosting a Complete Streets Primer at our July meeting (July 10 at 6 pm). Join us in thinking about



this topic in a broad and comprehensive way, including access to friends, neighbors, jobs, urban food production, services, resources, and entertainment in ways we can afford and that produce a lot less CO2.
We’ll present a selection of informative videos, followed by a discussion to envision building complete streets, complete neighborhoods, and a complete city in Tucson.

July 10, 6:00 pm (doors open 5:30 pm)
Ward 6, 3202 E. 1st Street

NOTE: Ward 6 no longer allows food or drink in the Community Room, so we can no longer provide refreshments at our meetings.

If you want to see what you missed, here are the videos we showed:

Sustainable Water – A mirage or our future?

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At this month’s Sustainable Tucson meeting we will continue our investigation of water sustainability in Tucson.

A five person panel of water experts from academia, government, and the community will present their viewpoints about what water sustainability means in Tucson and how we can achieve that goal. There will be a moderated question session and then we will open the discussion up to the audience.

There’s nothing more important to life in the desert than water, so be sure to join us for this fascinating and essential discussion.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018
6:00 pm (Doors open at 5:30)
Ward 6, 3202 E 1st St

March General Meeting

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Sustainable Water
Part 1

Our March Sustainable Tucson meeting will feature Beyond the Mirage: The Future of Water in the West, a film by Cody Sheehy, produced by the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and the Water Resources Research Center (WRRC).

As we in Tucson know all too well, “a water shortage is dogging all of the states in the Colorado River Basin. Beyond the Mirage: The Future of Water in the West reveals new technologies and challenges old ideas through interwoven stories that connect the Colorado snowpack to the bright lights of Las Vegas; presents the challenges facing and competition between the desert cities of Arizona, California, and Nevada and potential solutions being developed in Israel and China.” (IMdb)

Beyond the Mirage “is a journey deep into the … water shortage that is unfolding across the Western United States. Avoiding the mounting risk to our economic and social systems is possible, in large part by learning from countries like Israel that have already navigated successfully from water insecurity to abundance both for humans and the natural environment.”

We’re going to watch Beyond the Mirage, explore the additional footage on the Beyond the Mirage website, and discuss the film afterwards. Join us for popcorn and a thought-provoking evening.

March 13, 2018
6:00 pm (Doors open at 5:30)
Ward 6 Office, 3202 E 1st St.

SAVE the DATE: April Meeting: April 10: Panel on Water Issues


Start the year right – with Friends and Action

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What delicious food would you like to share with other STers? We’re looking forward to sharing good food with you at a potluck dinner at the next Sustainable Tucson meeting on January 9.

The January Sustainable Tucson meeting will be a working potluck dinner. Our goal is to get to know one another, and to start to develop the ST working groups.

In 2018 we will continue to provide excellent information programs. But it is time make sustainability the agenda that drives public policy, the local economy, and private actions. Beginning on January 9, we are forming working groups that will:

  • Organize important meetings on ways to make Tucson more sustainable
  • Help you advocate for sustainable public policies, local businesses and private actions
  • Expand the reach of Sustainable Tucson and “get the word out” about our sustainable future
  • Help you work with your neighbors so we can all create that “village” where we work together to create the beautiful and resilient future we all seek

We are starting now, and you can help make it happen. We need your help to make it happen

Join us for a delicious potluck. Bring something to share and your own tableware. We particularly hope you will look for local ingredients, since local food is critical to creating our sustainable future. You can check out farmers markets near you thru this Edible Baja Arizona list

We know 2018 will be an exciting year. Kick it off the right way – working with friends to create our sustainable future together.

Happy New Year.

January 9 Sustainable Tucson meeting
Working potluck dinner
Ward 6 office, 3202 E 1st
Starts at 6:00 (doors open at 5:30).

Aug 11, 2017 Jonathan Overpeck Interview

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Here’s the UA’s former Institute for the Environment  Director Jonathan Overpeck in his final interview with Metro Week. The August 11 program in which this interview was aired no longer appears on the UA’s podcast site for MetroWeek. Due to size limitations this 10 minute clip is presented in low resolution.

LowResOverpeck

 

 

August Candidates Forum

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How do we Build Our Sustainable Future Together?

See the Entire Forum

Sustainable Tucson, in collaboration with Local First Arizona and others, is hosting a City Council Candidates Forum on Wednesday, August 9, titled “Building Our Sustainable Future – Together”. All candidates from the three City wards with elections have been invited.

Five candidates are confirmed, so far:
Ward 3

  • Felicia Chew (D)
  • Paul Durham (D)
  • Tom Tronsdale (D)
  • Gary Watson (I)

Ward 6

  • Mike Cease (G)
  • Steve Kozachik (D)

This free forum will be held at Changemaker High School, 1300 S Belevedere, starting at 6pm. It is open to the public. Current sponsors are: Local First Arizona, Pima County Food Alliance, Progressive Democrats of Arizona, Community Water Coalition, and Changemaker High School.

The August 9 Candidates Forum will ask the candidates to discuss their views on the City’s role in four areas:

  • Assuring renewable water that serves Tucson’s priorities
  • Climate-ready and affordable transportation
  • Relocalization and economic redevelopment, and
  • Public awareness and involvement: Making sustainability our way of life

Candidates will be asked to discuss how they see the challenges that the city faces in these areas, and what role the City government has in helping to prepare Tucson for the challenges ahead.

Sustainable Tucson is an 11 year old non-profit organization that educates Tucson on the challenges and opportunities we face in the years ahead. At recent monthly meetings, we have covered topics ranging from Building Resilience by Building Community to Community Banking to Living with Urban Wildlife. Other projects include the 7th Annual Envision Tucson Sustainable Festival this November, and Feeding Tucson, a program to promote community resilience through a strong local food system.

Forum:
6:00 to 8:30, August 9, 2017
Changemaker High School
1300 S Belevedere Ave

Doors open at 5:30

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July Workshop
What are our best opportunities for action?
What’s next? How do we get governments, businesses, financial organizations, educational institutions, and just plan folk to work together to make Tucson more sustainable and resilient?

One answer is to know what we want … and then talk “amongst ourselves” – every chance we get.

Come to the next Sustainable Tucson meeting, July 11 at Ward 6 office from 6-9pm, and help create the next step in developing “Principles for Our Sustainable Future”. Please register now, so we know how many people to plan for and can provide additional materials for next Tuesday’s meeting.

At this workshop, we will build on the principles developed at the June Sustainable Tucson meeting. These principles were developed by over 40 people in a 3 hour workshop and cover five areas – water, transportation, local jobs and businesses, green redevelopment, and financing.

At the July workshop, you will help identify overlaps and connections between these principles and then craft community-wide opportunities that the City of Tucson could help promote. (Example connection)

The results of this meeting will guide our City Council Candidates forum on August 9. The goal will be to identify 4-6 such opportunities and ask the City Council Candidates to discuss the City’s role in making Tucson more resilient and sustainable, using these opportunities as examples. These principles and connections may also be used in candidate forums for the Board of Supervisors, next year.

This should be a fun evening. You will be working with other creative and caring Tucsonans who want to make Tucson a better place for all of us. So put on your creative cap, and join in the fun. Register now.

“Chasing Ice” Outdoor Film Screening

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James Balog’s “Chasing Ice” is the Emmy-winning story of one person’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. This documentary brings to light the global life force of glaciers and the alarming rate at which they’re disappearing.

Prepare for the People’s Climate March by joining the journey of a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.

What: Chasing Ice Outdoor Film Screening (watch the trailer here)
When: Thursday, April 27, 2017, 6 p.m. (Film starts at Sunset)
Where: Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, 4831 E. 22nd Street, Tucson, AZ 85711 (map)
RSVP

Food, Water, And Traditional Knowledge In Arid Lands

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The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Southwest Folklife Alliance are screening a 15-minute documentary — produced by the College of SBS and SFA — titled “Food, Water, and Traditional Knowledge in Arid Lands.” The film emerged from the Food and Water in Arid Lands conference held at the UA this spring.

Following the free film showing — which will be held at the Loft Cinema on April 23 at 2 p.m. — a panel of community experts, including people from the film, will dicuss “Tools for policy, organizing, and action.”

Description of the film
Human beings are putting more stress on our food and water delivery systems than ever before. While some may look to emerging technologies, there is a growing acknowledgement that Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous practices hold tremendous promise for food security in times of population growth, economic inequality, and changing climates.

In this film, practitioners and teachers of Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge from the Southwestern United States and around the globe share their insights on multigenerational, community-based, and culturally-embedded models of food and water sustainability in arid lands.

These models are important for food and water security, but even more, they can also help ensure social justice, economic justice, human rights, and political autonomy across the globe.

Loft Cinema, Sunday April 23, 2:00 pm
Free Admission. Post-film Q &A
https://sbs.arizona.edu/event/film-screening-panel-food-water-and-traditional-knowledge-arid-lands

Decision Support for Uncertain Climate Futures: The Confidence Trap

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For more than 200 years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has had primary responsibility for water resource operations on most major U.S. river systems. Managing the impacts of climate variability and change is a significant challenge; projections of specific, possible threats and impacts to regional scale hydrology are still uncertain enough that explicit guidance is needed on their interpretation and use. This talk will describe new approaches to helping decision makers understand uncertainties in managing real river systems, aiming to avoid communication issues about confidence while respecting uncertainties.

Jeff Arnold is senior scientist and lead climate scientist at the USACE, where he integrates climate change considerations, including both adaptation and mitigation, into water resources applications. He co-directs the USACE National Climate Preparedness and Resilience programs and is coordinating lead author for adaptation in the Fourth U.S. National Climate Assessment.

Where
University of Arizona ENR2 building
1064 E. Lowell Street
Agnese Nelms Haury Lecture Hall, Room S107

Great Tide Rising: Toward Clarity and Moral Courage in a Time of Planetary Change

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Join us for this powerful talk with environmental advocate, philosopher, and award-winning author Kathleen Dean Moore, Ph.D as we examine our motivations and obligations to extend engaged compassionate action toward the environment.

Climate change may be an economic and technological problem. But fundamentally, it is a moral problem, and it calls for a moral response. In this talk, Dr. Moore, author of Great Tide Rising: Toward Clarity and Moral Courage in a Time of Planetary Change, and co-editor of Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril, takes on the essential questions:

Why is it wrong to wreck the world? What is our obligation to the future? What is the transformative power of moral resolve? How can clear thinking stand against the lies and illogic that batter the chances for positive change? And always this: What stories and ideas will lift people who deeply care, inspiring them to move forward with clarity and moral courage?

Where
UA Environment and Natural Resources 2 (ENR2)
1064 E. Lowell Street Tucson, AZ 85719
United States

Public Meetings About Proposed Interstate 11- May 2 & 3

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Tuesday, May 2 — Arizona Riverpark Inn, 777 W. Cushing Street
Wednesday, May 3 — Marana Middle School, Cafeteria, 11285 W. Grier Road, Marana

The Arizona Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration are hosting public meetings to present corridor alternatives for the proposed interstate 11 between Nogales and Wickenburg.

More information and talking points will be available from Coalition for Sonoran Desert Preservation closer to the meeting date.

Sign-making Workshops — People’s Climate March – Tucson 2017

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Come one, come all. You don’t have to be artistic! We will have examples of slogans or bring your own! Bring art supplies or donate them. We will have some too.

Workshop 1
Friday, April 14, 3 pm – 7 pm
Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery and Workshop
218 E. 6th Street
Workshop 2
Thursday, April 20, 5 pm – 8 pm
Ward One Council Office (Regina Romero)
940 W. Alameda Street
Workshop 3
Monday, April 24, 5 pm – 8 pm
Brother John’s Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ
1801 N. Stone Avenue

Tucson Earth Day Festival

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Tucson Earth Day Festival

Saturday, April 22, 10:00 am-2:00 pm — Tucson Children’s Museum, 200 S. 6th Avenue

Free and open to the public, with free admission to the Museum all day
Eco-friendly exhibits and hands-on activities — for kids of all ages!

Interested exhibitors can register through April 7.
www.tucsonearthday.org

Chasing Ice — Outdoor showing — film begins at dusk

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Thursday, April 13, 6:00 pm — Unitarian Universalist Church, patio, 4831 E 22nd Street
Free and open to the public

Chasing Ice is the Emmy winning story of one man’s mission to change the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Patio: film begins at dusk.
www.tucsonsolidarity.org/calendar

For more information, email contact@tucsonsolidarity.org

Watch the trailer
The film will also be shown (same time & place) on April 27
RSVP

Food Resilience Project POTLUCK – Next step to resilience and delicious, local food

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Join future friends from around Tucson who want to Learn to Grow, Eat and Share lots of delicious local food, at the kickoff Community Potluck of the Food Resilience Project of Feeding Tucson/Sustainable Tucson. The potluck is March 25 from 4:00 to 6:30 near County Club and 22nd.

Find out more at the Food Resilience Project kickoff event . Please bring a dish to share, preferably one made with some local ingredients, either from your own garden or local farmers markets.

Building Resilience by Building Community

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How can we build supportive relationships with our neighbors in a world that is fragmented by everything from automobiles to zoning to the internet to globalization? How do we remain secure in a world where we have almost no things stored here (like food) and nearly everything we have is made someplace else in the world and then shipped here, all using fossil fuels?

The March Sustainable Tucson General Meeting is Building Resilience by Building Community. It is the second of our The Opposite of Helpless series. At this Building Resilience program, we will explore many of the ways that Tucsonans are working together to build community and resilience in local food, care for the elderly, education, and climate readiness.

The meeting format is:
* Brief presentations by groups on their current activities and volunteer opportunities
* Panel discussion on how their work can help promote community connections and what Tucson can do to dramatically expand the sort of work they are doing.
* A “Volunteer Fair” so you can find out how to help these organizations, develop a future general meeting program, or develop a Sustainability Agenda for Tucson.

Currently scheduled groups are:
• Food Resilience Project
• Pima Council on Aging’s Neighbors Care Alliance
• Building Resilient Neighborhoods
• Community Food Bank’s Garden program
• Changemaker High School
• Watershed Management Group

Find out how you can get involved, and what we need to do to make Tucson a more Resilient and Sustainable community at the Sustainable Tucson March 14 General Meeting, 6:00 at Ward 6, 3202 E 1st St. (Doors open at 5:30).

Map and directions

Climate at the Core: Reconstructing Past Climate to Understand the Future Using Tree-Rings

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Presenter: Jessie Pearl, PhD student, Department of Geosciences

In this talk, Jessie will describe the science of dendrochronology— tree-ring dating — that was created at the world-renowned Laboratory of Tree Ring Research here at the University of Arizona. She will discuss the interpretation of tree-rings and show how this technique can provide especially valuable information to her region of study: the northeastern United States. Jessie will show how coastal trees can provide a pre-historic temperature record and discuss climate influences that remain to be interpreted from the data. These records will help inform policy makers and ordinary citizens about rising temperatures and future storm scenarios for the New England region.

Borderlands Brewing Co. Science Café
119 E Toole Ave

Pima County and the Next Economy: How Energy Planning Can Recession-Proof Our Region

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The Office of Sustainability and Conservation is very excited to announce that local resource economist guru, Skip Laitner, will be our featured speaker for February’s Sustainability Brown Bag! He’ll be discussing his experience as the co-creator of Luxembourg’s strategic economic plan and how Pima County can use features of this plan to create a more energy-efficient, sustainable, and robust economy in the face of imminent uncertainty.

“Transformational Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation and Water Sustainability in the Colorado River Basin”

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Seminar by UA Center for Climate Adaptation Science & Solutions: “Transformational Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation and Water Sustainability in the Colorado River Basin”

February 8 at 4:30 p.m.

UA Campus, ENR2 Bldg. Room S0107, 1063 E. Ft. Lowell St.

Speaker: Dave White, Professor, School of Community Resources and Development, Arizona State University

Drawing from use-inspired sustainability science and decision making under uncertainty, this talk will address the overarching question: Given environmental and societal uncertainties, how can cities dependent on the Colorado River Basin develop transformational solutions to implement water sustainability transitions? Managing transitions toward urban water sustainability will require innovative approaches to water governance that are anticipatory, adaptable, just, and evidence-supported.

Tucson Citizens Climate Lobby

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Saturday Jan. 14th 2017 at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E Adams St, Tucson, AZ 85719.

Please join our greater Tucson CCL group for our monthly meeting that starts with welcome and coffee at 9:30, our chapter meeting from 10:00 to 11:00am, followed by our international call. Meeting adjourns at 11:45.

This month’s guest is Yoram Bauman, founder of Washington’s carbon tax initiative – yeson732.0rg.

  • What are the lessons we can learn from the defeat of the Washington state carbon tax referendum, Initiative 732?
  • Bauman holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Washington and is known as the “Stand-up Economist.”
  • He is co-author of the 1998 book Tax Shift that helped inspire the revenue-neutral carbon tax in British Columbia.
  • In 2012, he co-authored with Shi-Ling Hsu an op-ed in the New York Times, The Most Sensible Tax of All.

Communicating Climate Change

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Our January General Meeting focuses on issues of how we communicate on Climate Change. To stimulate our discussion, we will view selections from a lecture titled “Climate Change in the American Mind,” by Anthony Leiserowitz, the Director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.

The program includes a reading by Susan Feathers (one of the founders of Sustainable Tucson), from her newly released novel Threshold, which looks at Tucson and the Southwest in the not-so-distant future under the impacts of climate change.

Please join us to be part of the discussion and explore ways in which we can communicate more effectively on this vital issue.

Note new day of the week and new location for 2017 General Meetings.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Ward 6 Office, 3202 E 1st St. (one block south of Speedway, one block east of Country Club)
Doors open 5:30 for networking. Program starts 6 pm.

Further References:

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication:

http://climatecommunication.yale.edu

Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz – full March 2015 lecture:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmcJDr3KX8

Key Climate Scientists

Dr. James Hansen, 2016 lecture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42wtAennn8w

Dr. Kevin Anderson 2016 Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck_Ev8oqBh0

COP22: A Multimedia Presentation and Discussion about the UN Climate Talks in Marrakech

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Speaker(s):
Remy Franklin, Masters Candidate, School of Geography and Development
Location:
ENR2, Rm S230

School of Geography and Development MA Candidate Remy Franklin tells the story of COP22 from his perspective as an activist and observer with the youth advocacy organization, SustainUS.

Sponsored by the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice.

Light refreshments will be served at 5:45pm.

Localizing Our Economy

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Please join Sustainable Tucson for the November General Meeting, “Localizing Our Economy.” We’re excited to present speakers on two innovative tools for financing local entrepreneurs and stimulating the local economy.

• Jim and Pamela Powers Hannley, from Arizonans for a New Economy, will speak on the benefits and possibility of creating an Arizona State Bank, a system designed to support local needs and local control of financial activity.
• Chris Squires, of Ten 55 Brewing, will speak on crowd-funding, equity investment, and the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act, a law that adjusted various securities regulations in order to encourage broader opportunities for funding of small businesses.
•
Discussion and Q&A will follow the presentation

6pm-8pm (doors open at 5:30)
St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, Geneva Hall
3809 E. 3rd Street (free parking in church lot on 2nd St.)

Religious response to environmental issues

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Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, 602 N. Wilmot Road, will discuss global climate change and the impact to the environment with five speakers, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29. An optional Mass begins at 8:30 a.m.

According to press materials, speakers include:

Katie Hirschboeck, associate professor of climatology for the University of Arizona’s tree-ring lab and a Catholic Climate Ambassador.
Clark Hansen, a regional organizer for Bread for the World.
Marco Liu, director of advocacy and outreach for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona.
Angel Wang from the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona’s committee on creation care.
The Rev. John Leech, associate priest of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.

To RSVP, email hsieh@dakotacom.net by Tuesday, Oct. 25.

For more information, visit smallangelstucson.org or call 886-7292.

UN Conference in Tucson on Food & Water in Arid Lands

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A Food and Water Conference, and a Celebration of Place

WHAT: The 2016 ITKI ● UNESCO ● City of Gastronomy Conference in Tucson, Arizona, USA: Food and Water in Arid Lands: Dialogues across Contemporary and Traditional Knowledge

WHEN: Opens on Friday, November 4, 2016 and concludes on Saturday, November 5 at 5pm, followed by a closing celebration to which all are invited. Additional programming before and after the Conference also available for those interested.

WHERE: The Conference will be held on the University of Arizona Campus, largely in the Student Union Memorial Center.

COST: Absolutely free, but registration required. Space is limited. Please join us!

Please join us for this opportunity to learn about efforts across the globe to create sustainable and thoughtful futures informed by place, history, Traditional Knowledge, and other ways of knowing.

As the world undergoes climate change, urban and rural communities in arid lands need effective adaptive strategies for ensuring resilience in the face of increasing environmental variability, changing weather patterns, dwindling water resources, and intensifying strains on food systems and food security. Join us November 4 and 5, 2016 for discussions with expert panelists about their experiences with water management and water scarcity, their work toward just food systems and sovereignty, and their insights on the roles of local knowledge in adaptation and climate change.

In addition to the Conference, panelists, distinguished guests, and attendees are encouraged to join a number of excursions that highlight both the uniqueness of our region’s cultural and food heritage, as well as our unique scientific inquiries into Earth’s living systems. Click here for more on our Friday night dinner and reception with James Beard Award winning Chef Janos Wilder at the Carriage House, and our Sunday morning brunch and programming at the Desert Museum.
For more on Tucson as a ‘culinary capital’:

Tucson becomes an unlikely food star (New York Times, 23 August 2016)
Tucson, Arizona, cultivates its foodie reputation – with a nod from Unesco (The Guardian, 17 July 2016)

Institute of the Environment – Fall Fest 2016

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The Institute of the Environment’s annual Fall Fest is back and better than ever, with a graduate student poster competition, amazing door prizes, good food and drink, and remarks from this year’s featured speaker, Rebecca Tsosie, on “Climate Justice, Indigenous Sustainability, and an Ethic of Place.” Come catch up with colleagues and enjoy the festivities in ENR2, the UA’s newest LEED platinum building!

Location: ENR2, Room S107, 1064 E. Lowell Street

Solidarity Rally – resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline

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Join Rising Tide Tucson and others for a Solidarity Rally with the water protectors of Standing Rock resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline. We will be gathering on Wednesday September 14th at 4:30 at Bank of America downtown (33 N. Stone, between Congress and Pennington). Bank of America is one of many financial institutions investing in the pipeline. Bring signs showing your solidarity with the indigenous-led resistance and calling out Bank of America for its support of environmental destruction.

Last week, the Red Warrior and Sacred Stone camps issued a call for two weeks of solidarity actions targeting companies responsible for the Dakota Access Pipeline from Sept. 3-17. Let’s make a statement that Tucson stands strong in solidarity with this historic movement.

The proposed pipeline will bring oil from North Dakota to Illinois, crossing the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, critically endangering water resources for the tribe and desecrating sacred lands containing burial sites and cultural artifacts. The resistance at Standing Rock has brought over a hundred tribes together in a historic display of strength and unity. Bulldozers have already torn up sacred lands, and the people fighting to protect them have been met with pepper spray and attack dogs. Though the Obama administration issued a statement earlier today halting construction in the area until further review, continual pressure is needed to stop this pipeline from becoming a reality.

INTEGRATING SUSTAINABLE BUILDING AND LIVING WITH NATURE

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In the first part of his talk, Dr. Fitch will define sustainable and regenerative building and why the concept is so important to society, natural environments, and the Earth’s Biosphere. He will then outline the steps and technologies of sustainable, regenerative building, using the solar-powered home he built in Redstone Canyon, Colorado, as an example. Lastly, he will discuss the environmental, economic, and societal advantages of this type of building including the spiritual benefits.

Dr. John H. Fitch has a long-term interest and career in ecology, wildlife biology, ecosystems conservation, animal behavior, environmental policy, and sustainability. He has worked on these topics in government, academic, and nonprofit organizations. He received a BA in anthropology and zoology from the University of Kansas and a MS and PhD in ecology and zoology from Michigan State University.

Sponsored by Institute for Noetic Sciences
Join us in exploring human consciousness: The most compelling frontier of our time.

Friday, November 4, 2016 at 6:30 PM
Open to the Public — Admission cost: $5
Unity of Tucson, 3617 N. Camino Blanco
off River between Swan & Craycroft

A Time to Choose

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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