April 4th
Environmental Leadership from the Next Generation: What Are Young People Doing and How Are They Doing It?
Today’s young environmentalists are becoming leaders in their own right as they create a vision for the future and how to get there. Hear how they view environmental activism and the connections they see with it and other topics like transportation, social justice and community design.
Rashid Williams-moderator, Interdenominational Theological Center
Tony Anderson, Morehouse College
Julian Gindi, The Weber School
Sarah Parsons, Emory University
Summary:
Rashid Williams of the Interdenominational Theological Center introduced April’s crop of environmental leaders. He fittingly noted how interconnected the environmental movement has become given the diverse geographical and educational backgrounds of this month’s SART speakers.
McNair Wagner, of Georgia State University, spoke about student involvement in a variety of movements including A Dream Reborn, and Focus the Nation. Beyond advocacy though, Mr. Wagner stressed the need for young people to become directly involved in the political process. Sarah Parsons, a regional director for 2020 Vision and a senior at Emory University, reinforced the idea of interconnectedness, noting the confluence of the environmental and social justice movements. Julian Gindi, of the Weber School, spoke about the Student Ecology Movement and its efforts to make the personal political by introducing students to environmentalism through service projects such as river clean ups. Finally, Tony Anderson, a senior at Morehouse College spoke about leading Let’s Raise a Million, a program that seeks to replace conventional light bulbs with compact fluorescents in underrepresented communities. Mr. Anderson also asserted the need to “deepen and widen” the environmental movement by speaking to people about the public health and living costs that are a byproduct of environmental degradation.
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May 2
Legislative Follow-Up
February's SART provided a comprehensive review of the environmental
issues in the 2008 Legislative session. May's SART
offers part two. Now that the legislative session has wrapped
up for the year, we will examine what was (or was not) accomplished
this year and the path ahead on water planning, transportation
funding and other issues.
Michael Halicki, moderator, Ahmann
Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, (D - DeKalb)
Jill Johnson, Political Director, Georgia Conservation Voters
Summary:
State senators and representatives convened at the February Roundtable to introduce and discuss the environmental initiatives under consideration in this year’s legislative session. The May Roundtable served as a follow up discussion on what was and was not accomplished. Jill Johnson, Political Director of Georgia Conservation Voters provided an overview of the outcomes of the legislative session. The good news includes changes in the development plans of Jekyll Island, a reexamination of land conservation tax credits, funding for retrofits for school busses that will curb diesel emissions, and the passage of an energy efficient and renewable energy tax credit. However, these successes were balanced by an under funded Statewide Water Plan that focused on increasing the supply of water via reservoirs rather than conservation, and falling three votes short of passing a transportation bill that would have created a penny tax across the Metro-Atlanta region to fund transportation projects.
House Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield added to Johnson's overview of the issues by providing her insider's perspective of the events as they unfolded. Benfield noted that the divide on environmental issues didn't fall along party lines, but was more of a rural versus urban split. When both sides were able to come together, as was the case with Jekyll Island, the environment won.
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June 6
Exploring Carbon Offsets
As public awareness about climate change heats up, organizations
are increasingly looking for ways to reduce or offset their
carbon footprint. Come learn about some strategies local
organizations have used to offset their footprints and how
they have navigated the pros and cons of identifying, and
buying offsets.
Ciannat Howett, Director of Sustainability Initiatives,
Emory University
Erin Meezan, Asst. Vice President, Sustainability, Interface
Samantha Putt del Pino, moderator, Project Manager, Climate
and Energy Program, World Resources Institute
Summary:
Samantha Putt del Pino from the World Resources Institute (WRI) began June’s Roundtable discussion with a brief description of the dynamic and controversial nature of carbon offsets and some of the problems and concerns that have arisen as carbon offsetting has become a more market driven system.
Ciannat Howett, Director of Sustainability Inititaives at Emory University, shared Emory’s experience with deciding whether or not Emory could, should or would go carbon neutral. Energy efficiency has been a major focus for Emory, but because Ms. Howett had a number of concerns with carbon offsetting, before the University could decide to purchase carbon offsets, the University needed to undertake a comprehensive examination of the opportunities available. Emory ultimately partnered with a multitude of local experts to come up with recommendations, and ultimately decided to pioneer a new national model for how entities can use carbon offsets in a way that is more readily verifiable as well as rely on more locally focused offset projects.
Interface’s Director of Sustainability, Erin Meezan, emphasized why corporations would want to invest in offsets and become carbon neutral. Interface has invested in carbon offsets primarily to support their overall goal of becoming a climate neutral product line. Although complete carbon neutrality is a difficult state to achieve and is a far off achievement for Interface, purchasing carbon offsets will be a central component to mitigate the unavoidable environmental impacts of the manufacturing process. Meezan noted that ultimately, Interface has set a corporate strategy of striving towards carbon neutrality that their competitors and other major corporations have since followed.
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July 11
The Role of Energy Efficiency in Meeting Our State's Energy
Needs
Part II in our series on climate change will examine the
role that efficiency plays in energy independence and combatting
climate change.
Jay Hakes, Director, Jimmy Carter Presidential
Library, former Administrator of the US Energy Information
Agency
and author
of "A Declaration of Energy Independence" link
to Amazon for this book
Ben Taube, Executive Director, Southeast
Energy Efficiency Alliance
Dennis Creech, moderator, Executive Director,
Southface Energy Institute
Summary:
The July Sustainable Atlanta Rountable was the final discourse in a two part series on climate change. Dennis Creech, Executive Director of Southface, introduced July’s Roundtable discussion by stating that if six of the Southeastern states were considered a nation, it would be the 7th largest producer of greenhouse gasses in the world. In the U.S., over 40% of greenhouse gasses are emitted from the building sector. Furthermore, relying solely on increasing supply options is a problem in the South. Recent Southface research indicates that energy efficient measures are cheaper than investing in electricity or natural gas. As such, there is a great potential for improvement specifically by increasing energy efficiency for buildings and making sure future power plants are energy efficient.
Ben Taube, Executive Director of South Eastern Energy Alliance (SEEA), continued the discussion with an explanation of the role SEEA plays, and the challenge the organization faces with Southeast region currently spending only one fifth of what is spent nationally on energy efficiency. Covering 11 states, SEEA’s mission is to reduce the demand of electricity and gas by 50% in 20 years through consumer outreach education, working with the private sector, and through policy efforts. The mission will include energy improvements in residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors in the Southeast region. Mr. Taube’s presentation focused on how the Southeast can incentivize energy efficiency by state incentives and utilities receiving return on investments.
The final speaker, Jay Hakes, Director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and former Administrator of the US Energy Information Agency, wrapped up the roundtable describing energy efficiency measures from a federal government perspective over the last few decades. Mr. Hakes mentioned that there is a strong national interest in stopping coal power plants, and that the federal government has a primary role in creating appliance efficiency standards. There also have been innovative regional programs in the Southeast to improve energy efficiency, such as time-a-day pricing, but Mr. Hakes noted that the program needs to be expanded to a residential level as a strategic matter with the anticipated advent of the plug-in hybrid. Mr. Hakes concluded the presentation by emphasizing the need for strong builder incentives to build beyond code, while not compromising utilities to lose profits.
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August 8th
Getting Georgia to be Water Wise: Metro Atlanta and State Water Conservation Plans
Using water more efficiently is on everyone's mind given the population growth projections, increase in water demand, and the frequency and duration of drought conditions. Come hear Water Conservation Plans for the State and Metro Atlanta and learn about local advocacy efforts in the Chattahoochee River Basin
Sally Bethea, Executive Director, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper
Alice Miller Keyes, Planning and Policy Advisor, GA Environmental Protection Division
Pat Stevens, Environmental Planning Division Chief, Atlanta Regional Commission
Shana Udvardy, moderator, Water Program Manager, Georgia Conservancy
Summary:
Water Efficiency and Sustainability of Water Resources
Water Program Manager for the Georgia Conservancy, Shana Udvardy, introduced the August SART by pointing out that there is overwhelming evidence that water demands will be increasing in the near future. Ms. Udvardy said that the major challenge the state of Georgia faces is to provide enough clean water downstream for endangered aquatic species, and for our neighbors, Florida and Alabama. Although we have a long way to go, she emphasized that local water utilities and communities have stepped up to the governor’s 10% mandate and pointed out that there has been an increased focus towards conservation and efficiency advocacy at the state, regional, and local level.
Alice Keyes, the Planning and Policy advisor for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, was the first speaker of the morning. She talked about the development of a cost effective management strategy for long term water resource management. Ms. Keyes described how the recent state wide water management plan adopted in February 2008 by the governor, set up the creation of the Water Conservation Implementation Plan headed by the EPD. Ms. Keyes explained what the DNR and EPD are doing and has been doing to create a roadmap for water conservation in Georgia, specifically listing the process, purpose, and providing examples of some of the aspects we might see in the plan. The draft of the plan is expected to be completed by the end of this year with a public comment period early next year. Ms. Keyes closed with a national and international perspective on water conservation, emphasizing that no other state has embarked on a comprehensive water implementation plan.
Pat Stevens, Environmental Planning Division Chief, Atlanta Regional Commission followed the discussion by describing what the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District has done to provide a framework for water conservation and what the local government is doing to implement the measures. The Metropolitan Water Planning District was originally formed in 2001 to prepare a water supply, wastewater, and storm water conservation plan to protect water resources within the Atlanta region, as well as the upstream and downstream regions. The Water Planning District set up a framework to ensure the plan is implemented by working in concert with affected local government and stakeholders. Local governments will then take action once the EPD approves the plan. Ms. Stevens stated that a popular misconception is that heavy water users are from the industrial sector, when in reality 55% of water use occurs in homes. Water conservation measures, adopted in 2003 by the Water Planning District, are therefore focused primarily on residential water conservation.
The Executive Director of the Upper Chattahoochee River
Keeper, Sally Bethea, concluded the discussion emphasizing
that the Atlanta Metropolitan Region is not investing
enough financially and politically in stopping water
waste and controlling water demand. Although citizens
were alarmed last year as Lake Lanier fell, she stated
that we should not have been surprised as evidence from
various agencies and scientists have been saying for
decades that Atlanta would begin to run out of water
when our population reached 5 million people given our
geography. In order to avoid further crises, Ms.
Bethea stated that we must take smart and aggressive
steps now and use water and energy more efficiently.
She described the Boston metropolitan region as a prime
example of improving water efficiency, because the region
focused investments into water conservation that not
only improved the region’s economy but also the
surrounding environment. Ms. Bethea emphasized
that there is no one single water conservation ‘silver
bullet’, but various measures that are essential
to yield millions of gallons of water per year once implemented. Steps
such as fixing leaky pipes, retrofitting old toilets,
and implementing permanent water restrictions for all
users in various sectors are some of the major actions
necessary to conserve water in our region. Ms.
Bethea followed by illustrating some of the major impediments
that are preventing progress in the region. She closed
on a positive note, stating that the Upper Chattahoochee
River Keeper is focusing efforts and placing faith in
individual cities and local governments to lead the way
in improving our water efficiency.
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Confronting Atlanta's Sprawl - A Symposium on Controlling,
Shaping and Managing Growth
Since the mid-1990s, the Atlanta region has had a tsunami
of growth - almost a million new residents as well as
a huge accompaniment of businesses, visitors and public
and private investments - which has swept aside capacities,
plans and resources needed to meet the demand. Three
linked Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable sessions will bring
in a number of notable
professionals to discuss the impact of Atlanta's historic
growth and what can be done to ensure a more livable
future.
September 5
Challenging the Growth
Discussions of growth management
frequently include the question, “Is
it possible to confi ne our growth by
slowing it down?” Scott Bernstein
from the Center of Neighborhood
Technology in Chicago will discuss
where slow growth methods have
been tried and with what results.
Scott Bernstein, Founder and President, Center for Neighborhood Technology
Leon S. Eplan, moderator, Principal, EplanConsulting
Summary
Leon S. Eplan, Principal of EplanConsulting and moderator for the September Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable, introduced the first SART of a three part series discussing ways in which our region and other metropolitan areas are controlling, shaping, and managing growth. Mr. Eplan started off by posing a few questions; the first question was whether or not we could learn lessons from other regions. The second questions raised was whether our region can find common ground without being distracted by our differences, and if we as a community could determine the mechanism we use to take advantage of our commonalities to manage growth.
Scott Bernstein, the Founder and President for Center for Neighborhood Technology, based in Chicago, followed by talking about growth management and how to make cities more environmentally and economically sustainable. The primary point that Mr. Bernstein emphasized was the importance of transportation savings to increase affordable housing in cities. The traditional view of housing affordability never took transportation cost as a percentage of household income. When these costs are included and taken into account, the amount of affordable housing decreases. Mr. Bernstein mentioned that the economic benefits with increased density in planning as well as efficient and effective transportation can reduce household cost of living, and free 10 to 20 percent of an average person’s income tax. By enhancing metropolitan areas through these aspects, property values will increase, the tax base as well as the use of scarce public capital will improve. Furthermore, studies show that increasing density and improving transportation can also reduce foreclosure risks as well as travel delays. Mr. Bernstein gave several examples of various cities, such as Portland and Milwaukee, which have improved transportation systems and effective land use planning, resulting in more affordable housing. An improvement in transportation will also directly impact the environment, since passenger vehicles are the largest transportation source of CO2. The fact that transportation is also the number two household expense means that the problems and the solutions are directly connected. The major theme in Mr. Bernstein presentation was to focus on how to get to high rise economy. Essentially stating that our communities have to be smarter on how we use resources, produce goods and services, and how we can make sure more people participate in the newly expanding global economy.
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October 3rd
Design and Management of Growth
Accepting the probability that Atlanta’s growth will
continue at its rapid rate, this session will examine how
design and more creative management tools might be used to
produce a more livable future, using innovative work in Newton
County as a model.
Michael Dobbins, moderator, Professor, Georgia Tech College
of Architecture
Kay B. Lee, Director, Center for Community Preservation
and Planning, Newton County
Randy Roark, Professor Emeritus, Georgia Tech College of
Architecture
Summary
Comming Soon
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November 7th
Region-wide Responses to Growth
Lastly, we will examine some of the sizable and growing
number of initiatives underway in the region to confront
Atlanta’s growth. Session III will look at examples
of tools, resources and public, private and non-profit leadership
being used in dozens of Atlanta locales.
Dan Reuter, Chief of Land Use Planning, Atlanta Regional
Commission
Myles Greene Smith, moderator, Former manager of Community
Development and Urban Affairs, Georgia Power
Summary
Comming Soon
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