Online Course: Environmental Mechanisms and Impact Assessment Methods

This course explores how the various impact assessment methods are modeling the fate, transport & exposure pathways (causality chain, mechanisms) of emissions. The course allows participants to understand each impact category and why your results change when you use different impact assessment methods.

Solar Powered Schools In California

An increasing number of California's schools are using solar electricity installations as a teaching tool. The Foundation for Environmental Education has partnered with Pacific Gas and Electric Company to bring renewable energy education into under-served communities through highly-visible solar installation systems. The Foundation for Environmental Education is a non-profit organization that is seeking to build the next generation of thinkers who will carry the renewable energy torch far into the future. California's Solar Schools initiative will help the state save over $1.5 billion in energy costs over the next 30 years.

The UK's Sandal Magna Community Primary School

The Sandal Magna Community Primary School in Wakefield, England is one of the UK's most carbon efficient schools. Designed by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, the complex incorporates reclaimed materials, energy conservation, and renewable energy. The school recently won the RIBA award for both its green efforts and its unique looks.

2011 International Green Schoolyard Conference: Engaging Our Grounds

Between September 16th and 18th, the 2011 International Green Schoolyard Conference will be held in San Francisco and Berkeley. The green schoolyard movement is growing rapidly and flourishing around the world. Schools are re-imagining their grounds, replacing their extensive paved surfaces with a vibrant mosaic of outdoor learning and play opportunities. Schools in many different countries are leaders in this field, finding innovative ways to weave curricula into their landscapes, diversify their recreational offerings, enhance their local ecology, and reflect their unique location and cultural context.

Report from The Green Economy Action Roadshow

The Green Economy Action Roadshow took place on September 9 and 10, 2011, at Moraine Valley Community College, in Palos Hills, Illinois. This green event gave participants the opportunity to meet with businesses, public agencies and experts involved in the Green Economy. Presented by The Delta Institute and Mindful Metropolis, the Green Economy Action Roadshow is a two-day event designed to connect, transform and empower green business, government and lifestyles. The event is focused on helping people to find partners and other resources to help grow with the Green Economy.

NYU's Energy Efficient Power Generation

Energy Use in New York City schools is down 11% since 2008, and New York University's (NYU) super efficient CoGeneration power plant is now fully operational. NYU has been making their own power since the ’70s and they recently replaced their oil-fired CoGeneration power plant with a $125 million power plant that is 90 percent more efficient than their old plant. It creates 23 percent less carbon dioxide emissions and has twice the power output.

The Environmental Impact of 9/11 on Human Health Ten Years Later

In addition to the horrific cost to human life, 9/11 has had a devastating environmental impact that continues to harm human health. The felling of the twin towers in Manhattan on September 11th 2001, killed thousands of people, and the toll on human life continues to be felt ten years after the tragic event. First responders, those charged with cleaning up the carnage, and others who spent time on or near the 9/11 site continue to suffer from serious health effects.

Cornell University Questions the Economic Benefits of the Keystone XL Pipeline

Claims about the economic benefits of the Keystone XL pipeline have been contradicted by an economic analysis from economists at Cornell University’s Global Labor Institute. The new Cornell fact sheet analyzing the latest economic data about Keystone XL, concludes that the project is far too risky to undertake in a fragile economic climate.

Video: Al Gore Criticizes Obama's Decision to Withdraw the Proposed Ozone Standards

In his jobs speech President Obama said, "I reject the idea that we need to ask people to chose between their safety and jobs." However, on the Friday before labor day, President Obama asked EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw the proposed new national ozone standards, delaying the safeguards until at least 2013. President Obama said that he is putting the new clean air regulations on hold for jobs. However, Al Gore argues that the President's decision impacts human health and the health of the environment.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Excerpts of President Obama's American Jobs Act Speech
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Video: President Obama's American Jobs Act

Video: President Obama's American Jobs Act

On September 8, 2011, President Barack Obama asked Congress to act to provide jobs and spur the economy. Calling it an "urgent time for our country," the President asked Congress to "stop the political circus" and approve a nearly half-trillion-dollar plan to help the economy by cutting payroll taxes, raising taxes on the wealthy and rewarding companies that hire new workers.

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Excerpts of President Obama's American Jobs Act Speech

President Obama is seeking to grow the economy and create employment through a combination of tax cuts, government incentives and reforms to entitlement programs. Obama's jobs plan is modeled on bipartisan initiatives that include transit projects that will help to build a 21st century transportation infrastructure. Specifically Obama called for faster trains, fuel-efficient cars and advanced biofuels. The President indicated that he will not forgo regulations that compromise the health, safety and security of the American people. The plan will help to build energy infrastructure such as power transmission, and it will support energy efficiency overhauls for public and commercial buildings. The President also called for improvements in water infrastructure and eliminating tax loopholes for oil companies. See excerpts of the Obama speech below:

Obama's Jobs Plan Emphasizes Education and Greener Schools

In an address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama emphasized the importance of education and green schools. The Thursday September 8, speech called for a $25 billion effort to modernize at least 35,000 public schools that includes making them greener.

Mississippi State University has the first LEED® Certified Chapter House in the US

Mississippi State is the first university to have a LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) chapter house in the US. The 16,000 square foot Pi Beta Phi chapter house maximizes open space, uses indigenous landscaping and bicycle storage. Plumbing and air conditioning systems incorporate water-use reduction features. The use of insulation and window glazing also optimizes energy performance.

Suffolk University's Green Efforts Include Building Design

Boston's Suffolk University has building projects that incorporate environmentally sound construction processes and sustainable principles in their design. New buildings use water conservation fixtures, energy-efficient lighting and HVAC equipment, and recycled materials. Suffolk’s 10 West Residence Hall, which opened in 2008, received LEED Gold certification.

Oil Spills Add to Concerns about the Keystone XL Pipeline

In addition to its massive footprint, resistance to the Keystone XL pipeline is due to concerns about the environmental destruction that would result from a spill. TreeHugger has called Canadian Tar Sands oil exploitation one of the most destructive projects on earth. If fully developed, the Alberta tar sands would be the second largest source of global warming gases in the world.

Nobel Prize Laureates Oppose Keystone XL Pipeline

Nine recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, have joined the protest against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Resistance to Keystone XL spawned one of the largest acts of civil disobedience ever in the US. More More protests are being organized for September 26 in Ottawa and the first week of October in Washington.

Green Campus Student Resources

Environmentally conscious university and college students nationwide are looking to take matters into their own hands and improve the state of the environment by making their campuses eco-friendly. Green Campus provides comprehensive resources to assist students with their green and sustainable projects.

Organizations and Groups in the USGBC's Center for Green Schools

The US Green Building Council's (USGBC) Center for Green Schools is dedicated to increasing the number of green schools. Here are some of their organizations, groups and initiatives.

Green School Buildings Offer Many Benefits

Green school construction offers many benefits including thousands of new jobs. Green schools use an average of 33% less energy and 32% less water than conventional schools. A 2006 study sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers, the American Institute of Architects, the American Lung Association, the Federation of American Scientists and USGBC found that building green would save an average school $100,000 each year in energy costs along – enough to hire two new additional full-time teachers, purchase 5,000 new textbooks, or buy 500 new computers.

USGBC's Center for Green Schools

The the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Center for Green Schools envisions green schools for everyone within this generation. To help achieve this objective the USGBC provides resources for green builders, school administrators, elected officials and community members.

The Campus Green Builder Online Portal

The Campus Green Builder (CGB) online portal provides information for academic institutions. this is a one-stop online resource on campus green building that is free and accessible to all higher education institutions. Though the information provided is relevant to all higher education institutions, the CGB is particularly geared towards under-resourced colleges and universities. It aims to level the playing field for all institutions of higher education to gain access to funding and technical resources for green building.

Fiske's Top 10 Colleges for Environmental Education

Here is a list of the top environmental colleges from the 2011 Fiske Guide to Colleges. This guide is published by former New York Times Education Editor Edward Fiske whose reviews include details on campus life and academics.

Keystone XL Protest Ends in Washington

A total of 1,252 peaceful protesters were arrested for opposing the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in Washington including 350.org founder Bill McKibben, and NASA's chief climatologist James Hansen.

Video: NASA's Leading Climatologist Addresses Crowd Before he was Arrested at the Keystone XL Tar Sands Protest in Washington

Jim Hansen, NASA's leading climatologist, addresses Tar Sands protesters shortly before his arrest. Over 1,000 people were arrested in front of the White House while protesting the Keystone XL pipeline and protecting our future!

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Keystone XL Protest Ends in Washington
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Video: Sustainable Case Study: Mount Wachusett Community College

Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Massachusetts moved from being a sustainable laggard to being a sustainability leader. Using innovative financing and thinking, the college switched to renewable energy sources. The campus-wide initiative also transformed the curriculum.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video: Sustainable Leadership from Higher Education

"We're in a very exciting time in thinking about conservation and sustainability. Higher education has to lead the way, and college presidents need to step up and demonstrate that they're willing to make this commitment."

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video: Colleges and Universities are Crucial to a Sustainable Future

Second Nature, a national non-profit based in Boston, sees schools and students as critical components of achieving their goal of creating a healthy, just, and sustainable society. By transforming higher education, they envision a world in which all current and future humans are healthy, live in socially vibrant communities, and are personally and economically secure within a flourishing and sustainable life support system.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Video: Green Street Environmental Program

While we expect business and government to play their roles in increasing sustainability, students and others also have a crucial part to play. Green Street is an environmental education program for Canadian Schools that was launched about ten years ago. Green Street brings together environmental educators to explore ways of bringing about a sustainable shift in the way we live. For more information or to join the discussion go to Green Street www.green-street.ca

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved

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Conestoga College Post Graduate Environmental Engineering

Conestoga College in Cambridge Ontario is an environmental engineering college. They offer a program which responds to increased concern regarding the protection and management of the environment.

Top Five Green Master Degree Programs

In 2010, Master Degree Online.com published their list of the five of the best sustainable schools. (This list has been updated by The Green Market for 2011).

Ashridge Masters in Sustainability and Responsibility

This practice based program is for students who want to an education in responsible and successful business. It is intended for people working in businesses, consultants, activists, public sector managers and NGO professionals.

Hult International Business School Launches Master in Social Entrepreneurship

Hult business school has launched a degree at their London campus in the emerging academic discipline of using business solutions to solve social problems. Hult is well known for its one year MBA program which is ranked in the top 30 in the world by The Economist and among the top 100 by the Financial Times.

Online Green MBA Programs

Here is a list of online green MBA programs assembled by The Green Economy Post:

US Green MBA Program Directory

The Green Economy Post, is one of the premiere green and sustainable business sites on the Web, their directory of Green MBAs features profiles of over 80 programs from across the United States.

To find MBA programs click on the state you are interested in from the list below:

World's Best Green MBA Programs

In an article titled The Top 5 Green MBA Programs in America (Probably the World), Karin Kloosterman suggests that despite a slow economy there are opportunities for those with who pursue sustainability oriented degrees. She quotes a Bloomberg Businessweek article about the surge of green MBA programs, "sustainability represents one of the few potential bright spots in an otherwise dismal recruiting environment."

Here are Kloosterman's top green MBAs:

Stony Brook University's Sustainability focused BA Degrees

Stony Brook University now has five new sustainability-focused BA degrees. Stony Brook University's Sustainability Program Director, Martin Schoonen, Ph.D., says, "Our students will be exposed to many of the challenges facing today’s world, and through critical examination explore possible solutions to create and define sustainable models for future generations."

See the program description for each of the five BA degrees: Ecosystems and Human Impact, Environmental Humanities, Sustainability Studies, Environmental Design, Policy, & Planning and Coastal Environmental Studies.

Harvard Corporate Sustainability Distance Learning Course

Harvard University is offering an open enrollment, distance learning course on sustainability. The fall 2011 course is focused on Corporate Sustainability.

This course explores sustainability from a corporate perspective with a focus on the global marketplace. The course covers all three responsibilities of sustainability: environmental stewardship, social well-being, and economic prosperity.

E-Learning Course on the Legal Frameworks of Sustainability

A new online course is being offered for those who want to deepen their expertise by knowing more about the legal frameworks surrounding sustainability. The course is being offered from October 10 to November 4, 2011. The four week e-learning course titled "Legal Preparedness for the Green Economy," costs 350 euros or 505 USD.

The overall objective of this e-learning course is to enable self-paced training which aims to enhance the capacity of legal experts, and those in the public and private sector.

Course Descriptions for Green Courses at San Diego State University College of Extended Studies

Here are the five course descriptions from San Diego State University College of extended studies:
1. Fundamentals of Green Building Design and Construction
2. Green Building Commissioning
3. Introduction to Renewable Energy
4. Energy Efficiency, Evaluation and Design
5. Overview of Sustainability

Green Education at San Diego State University College of Extended Studies

San Diego State University College of Extended Studies understands the value of a green education. The college offers professional Certificates in three sustainable areas: Green building, energy management and sustainable practices. Students also have the option to customize their green courses to better fit their career objectives. These training programs are Military Spouse and Workforce Partnership approved.