It gives me great pleasure to share with you all that is happening on The FARM and introduce our summer programs. I invite you to read through the summer program brochure [PDF], discover new programs for you and your family, and sign up today.

http://www.farminstitute.org/programs/
2009summer/2009summerbrochure.pdf
Rob Goldfarb, Development Director

Will get 20% of the sales price of any of Anna Edey’s Collection of Exquisite, Hand-Knotted, Semi-Antique Persian Tribal Rugs Through February 14
Mon – Sat, 3 - 6 pm at the former Belushi-Pisano Gallery, VH

Further info: call Anna (508) 693-3341, (774) 563-0898

The Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Alliance has been created by representatives of organizations and individuals involved in agriculture and aquaculture on the Island.The aim of this informal group, inspired by the Water Alliance, is to foster greater communication and working relationships to improve all aspects of farming and aquaculture, including implementation of strategies identified in Island Plan efforts. It will meet regularly at the MVC and function with staff support from the MVC. For 2009, the Ag Alliance will focus on two primary goals. Work with towns to draft a Right-to-Farm By-law. Work with Conservation Commissions, Planning Boards and Boards of Health on the proposal to create the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Commission, made up of representatives from each town and the five Island ag-related organizations, with staff support from the MVC.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s (WHOI) Sea Grant Program is seeking pre-proposals for its 2010-2012 funding cycle. The theme areas for this cycle are fisheries and aquaculture, environmental technologies, and estuarine and coastal processes. Those interested are encouraged to attend the WHOI Sea Grant open meeting on February 11 at 2:00 p.m. in Redfield Auditorium. For details, see the WHOI Sea Grant website. Pre-proposals are due by March 2.

CZM expects to release a Request for Responses (RFR) soon seeking applications for funding under the Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP). CELCP provides state and local governments with matching funds to purchase significant coastal and estuarine lands, or conservation easements on such lands, that are considered important for their ecological, conservation, recreational, historical, or aesthetic values. Applications will be reviewed and ranked for nomination to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for evaluation and potential Federal Fiscal Year 2010 CELCP funding. For details, stay tuned to CZM’s Jobs & Grants web page.

ROSENDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- A mysterious and deadly bat disorder discovered just two winters ago in a few New York caves has now spread to at least six northeastern states, and scientists are scrambling to find solutions before it spreads across the country.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BAT_DIE_OFF?
SITE=MAHYC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-02-04-00-58-11

Coal River Mountain and the Heathrow Airport runway remind me how important it is to keep our eye on the ball.Coal River Mountain is the site of an absurdity. I learned about Coal River Mountain from students at Virginia Tech last fall. They were concerned about Coal River Mountain, but at that time most of them were working to support Barack Obama. They assumed Barack Obama would not allow such outrages to continue.

The issue at Coal River Mountain is whether the top of the mountain will be blown up, so that coal can be dredged out of it, or whether the mountain will be allowed to stand. It has been shown that more energy can be obtained from a proposed wind farm, if Coal River Mountain continues to stand.

http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/
2009/20090203_CoalRiverMountain.pdf

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will review the growing threat of ocean acidification within the context of the Clean Water Act. By filing a petition and threatening the EPA with litigation in 2007, the Center for Biological Diversity provided the legal catalyst necessary to begin tackling “global warming’s evil twin.” Ocean acidification is the decrease in seawater’s pH due to the ocean’s absorption of excess atmospheric CO2. Since the world’s oceans store 50 times more CO2 than the atmosphere, the majority of terrestrial carbon dioxide emissions wind up in seawater. From 1750-1994, surface ocean acidity has risen by 30% and it is this rising acidity that threatens a wide diversity of marine life. Increasing acidity would be detrimental to shelled marine animals, as well as coral reefs. Some of the most fundamental organisms in the marine food chain, such as plankton, would be vulnerable to the impacts of ocean acidification.

http://biologicaldiversity.org/news/
press_releases/2009/ocean-acidification-01-27-2009.html

WASHINGTON - Many damaging effects of climate change are already largely irreversible, researchers declared yesterday, warning that even if carbon emissions could somehow be halted, temperatures around the globe will remain high until at least the year 3000.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/
2009/01/27/some_climate_damage_irreversible_study_says/

WASHINGTON — President Obama ordered the Energy Department on Thursday to immediately draft long-overdue standards to make a variety of appliances and light bulbs more energy efficient.

Over the last three decades, Congress has demanded stricter efficiency standards on 30 categories of products, as varied as residential air-conditioners and industrial boilers. But successive administrations have failed to write regulations to enforce the laws, even when ordered to by the courts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/
us/politics/06energy.html?_r=1

Aside from the overriding need to stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to stabilize climate, there are several other compelling reasons for countries everywhere to restructure their transport systems, including the need to prepare for falling oil production, to alleviate traffic congestion, and to reduce air pollution. The U.S. car-centered transportation model, with three cars for every four people, that much of the world aspires to will not likely be viable over the long term even for the United States, much less for everywhere else.

http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/
Seg/PB3ch11_ss5.htm