Vineyard Conservation Almanac

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In This Issue:

Local News:
Nicholas A. Robinson Environmental Award;
Six Simple Actions to help improve water quality by recycling

Feature:
As Fuel Prices Fall, Will Push For Alternatives Lose Steam?;
Bailout (and Buildup)

Calendar:
Native Seed Cleaning Project;
Senior Discussion Group;
Environmental Lecture Series;
more...

Wildlife Update:
Swat team takes to trees;
Migrating Alaskan pollock are creating the potential for a new dispute with Russia

Climate Change Update:
Climate warming linked to illness

Wind Update:
Island farms receive wind turbine grants

Energy Update:
U.S. to boost geothermal energy use on federal lands

Land Conservation Update:
Martha's Vineyard Land Bank balks at permit fee

LOCAL NEWS

On Monday October, 27, Brendan O'Neill, Vineyard Conservation Society Executive Director, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, were awarded the Nicholas A. Robinson Environmental Award at a ceremony in New York. The award was established to recognize significant contributions in public service in the environmental field by a graduate of the Environmental Legal Studies Program at Pace University School of Law.

It is named in honor of Professor Robinson, the Gilbert and Sarah Kerlin Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law, founder of the Pace Law School’s environmental law program, and chair of the Commission on Environmental Law of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Go to the Environmental Education section for the PACE article on Brendan.

The following is part of the VCS “Clean Water Initiative” intended to inform Vineyarders on ways to protect our Island’s water resources. This article is excerpted from the Island Blue Pages, A Guide to Protecting Martha’s Vineyard Waters.

Six Simple Actions to help improve water quality by recycling:
Precycle, Use Cloth Diapers, Avoid Disposables, Reuse Writing Paper, Tote Bags, Buy Smart

Go to the Water section for these helpful hints

Feature

As Fuel Prices Fall, Will Push For Alternatives Lose Steam?
By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 20, 2008; Page A01

Just four months ago, a conference here on electric cars drew four times as many people as expected. District fire marshals ordered some of the crowd to leave, and the atmosphere was more like that of a rock concert than an energy conference. A brief film depicted an electric car owner driving off with a beautiful woman to the strains of "The Power of Love" while her original companion struggles to pay for gasoline. The audience cheered.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wp-dyn/content/article/2008/
10/19/AR2008101902073.html

Bailout (and Buildup)
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: October 21, 2008
NY TIMES

The 2 is back. Last week, U.S. retail gasoline prices fell below $3 a gallon — to an average of $2.91 — the lowest level in almost a year. Why does this news leave me with mixed feelings?

Because in the middle of this wrenching economic crisis, with unemployment rising and 401(k)’s shrinking, it would be a real source of relief for many Americans to get a break at the pump. Today’s declining gasoline prices act like a tax cut for consumers and can save $15 to $20 a tank-full for an S.U.V.-driving family, compared with when gasoline was $4.11 a gallon in July.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/
opinion/22friedman.html?ref=opinion

Winterizing on a Budget
Oct 2008 While there are many ways in which you can reduce your home’s energy use, these five projects can deliver the quickest payback on your purchase: Insulate your attic: It is relatively easy, yet very cost-effective, to add insulation to your attic. The Department of Energy (DOE) suggests a minimum attic insulation level of R-38 (R-value is a measure of resistance to heat flow), equivalent to 12 to 15 inches of insulation. Seal air ducts: Weather stripping, door sweeps, window shrink wrap, and other materials can be purchased at your local hardware store for $50 or less, and can save you as much as 10 percent in energy costs. If you have an old fireplace, consider installing glass doors (which can cost a couple hundred dollars or more) to help prevent heat from escaping out the chimney when not in use. Seal heating ducts: Leaky ducts from forced-air or heat pump systems can allow up to 20 percent of the warm air to escape. While most ductwork is hidden in walls and floors, you can seal duct leaks on your own in attics, basements, or garages, and in areas where ducts meet floor or wall vents. The DOE estimates that sealing leaky ducts can save you up to $140 annually. Install a programmable thermostat: An Energy Star-qualified programmable thermostat can cost as little as $30 but save you $100 or more each year on heating costs by automatically turning the heat down when you are asleep or away (so you don’t have to remember to do it yourself). Upgrade your furnace: If your heating system is more than 10 years old, consider replacing it with an Energy Star-rated model to cut your energy costs by up to 30 percent.

Calendar

Native Seed Cleaning Project

Tues, Oct 28, Native Seed Cleaning Project Hoft Farm Field Station, Vineyard Haven. 10-12 pm, Final step of cleaning seeds with The Nature Conservancy's Massachusetts Islands Program. Beverages and snacks provided. Also Oct. 30, Nov. 3: times vary. To sign up, e-mail eloucks@tnc.org or call 508-693-6287, extension 15.

Senior Discussion Group

Tues Oct 28, Senior Discussion Group 9:30-11 am, Howes House, West Tisbury. Bret Stearns: "The Wampanoag's Latest Environmental Contributions."

Environmental Lecture Series

Wed Oct 29, Environmental Lecture Series 7-8 pm, Vineyard Haven Library. Today's Energy Reality with Peter Cabana. "Oil." Weekly through Nov. 26. 508-696-4211.

Native Seed Cleaning Project

Thurs Oct 30, Native Seed Cleaning Project 2:30-4:30 pm, Hoft Farm Field Station, Vineyard Haven. See Oct. 28 To sign up, e-mail eloucks@tnc.org or call 508-693-6287, extension 15.

Shaping the Cape's Coast - One Decision at a Time

Thurs Oct 30, Shaping the Cape's Coast - One Decision at a Time, A Conversation with Scientists and Regional Environmental Leaders, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve Visitor Center, 149 Waquoit Highway/Route 28, E. Falmouth. Join us for dessert and a lively panel discussion as we reflect on key decisions that have influenced the management of coastal resources on Cape Cod and look at how today’s decisions will affect our communities twenty years from now. A panel of experts will help trace the evolution of some key developments that have impacted the coastal environment. This program is the final one in the Reserve’s 20th anniversary celebration series. For more information, please call 508-457-0495.

Whippoorwill Farm CSA Survey Planning Meeting

Thurs Oct 30, Whippoorwill Farm CSA Survey Planning Meeting is from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the Howes House opposite Alley's store in West Tisbury.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Friday, Oct 31.

Volunteer Gardening

Sat Nov 1, Volunteer Gardening 9 am-12 noon, Mytoi, Chappaquiddick. Help The Trustees of Reservations get Mytoi garden ready for winter. No experience necessary. 508-693-7662.

Wildlife Update

Swat team takes to trees
By Carolyn Y. Johnson
Globe Staff / October 18, 2008
Boston Globe

WORCESTER - Dangling from a tree branch high above a neat suburban yard, Jackie Beebe scanned the bark for the scars and tell-tale boreholes that would be this maple's epitaph.

Finally Beebe, a US Department of Agriculture tree climber, found what she was looking for - a bit of bark where an Asian longhorned beetle had chewed out a pit and laid its tiny egg.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/
2008/10/18/swat_team_takes_to_trees/

Migrating Alaskan pollock are creating the potential for a new dispute with Russia
By Kenneth R. Weiss, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 19, 2008
LA Times

DUTCH HARBOR, ALASKA -- America's biggest catch lands here and at nearby ports every year: more than 2 billion pounds of Alaskan pollock to feed a global appetite for fish sticks, fast-food sandwiches and imitation crabmeat.

The tightly managed Alaskan pollock fishery has been a rare success story in the U.S., which has seen the collapse of species such as New England cod and now imports 80% of its seafood.

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/
environment/la-na-pollock19-2008oct19,0,6362925.story

Climate Change Update

Climate warming linked to illness
By Kari Lydersen
Washington Post / October 21, 2008

WASHINGTON - When a 1991 cholera outbreak that killed thousands in Peru was traced to plankton blooms fueled by warmer-than-usual coastal waters, linking epidemics to climate change was a new idea.

Now, scientists say, it is a near-certainty that global warming will drive significant increases in waterborne diseases around the world.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/
washington/articles/2008/10/21/climate_warming_linked_to_illness/

Wind Update

Island farms receive wind turbine grants
October 23, 2008
Cape Cod Times

A pair of farms on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket have received a total of $330,000 in federal grants for wind turbines.

Morning Glory Farm Inc. in Edgartown received $50,000 for a 50 kilowatt turbine, and Bartlett's Farm in Nantucket was awarded $280,230 for a 250 kilowatt turbine, said Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman for the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

http://capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20081023/NEWS/810230322/-1/NEWS01

Energy Update

U.S. to boost geothermal energy use on federal lands
Wed Oct 22, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department said on Wednesday it would make more than 190 million acres of federal lands in 11 western states and Alaska available to energy companies to develop geothermal energy resources for generating electricity.

http://www.reuters.com/article/
environmentNews/idUSTRE49L75320081022

Land Conservation Update

Martha's Vineyard Land Bank balks at permit fee
By Nelson Sigelman
Published: October 23, 2008
MV Times

A drive along Middle Road offers glimpses of Martha's Vineyard's pastoral history, when much of what is now up-Island woodland was open field and pastureland for sheep and cattle.

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank's Tiasquam Valley Reservation sits on the north side of Middle Road just west of the West Tisbury town line and near pastures where sheep, horses, and a pair of frequently photographed oxen graze.

http://www.mvtimes.com/marthas-vineyard/
news/2008/10/23/marthas-vineyard-land-bank.php

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