Poster child: Dana Rubin shows off her silly side at work

One of our busier interns this summer has surely been Youth Liaison Dana Rubin.  She leads an extensive effort to introduce ideas about energy efficiency to young people in Cambridge.  Dana doesn’t play teacher here though–the idea is to get the right sort of educational materials into the right hands.

Ever since May, Dana’s been researching and compiling ideas for lesson plans, which present concepts related to energy use in bite-sized and fun ways.  The lessons are geared towards kids age 9-13 and are very much hands-on or crafty.  In one deceptively simple lesson, the children build paper pinwheels and stick them outside to twirl in the wind.  At the most basic level, these toys… [view entry]

This is a busy week for the Earth.  One year ago today, the BP Deepwater Horizon spill took place, killing 11 rig workers while leaving a massive wake of environmental and social devastation, impacts of which are still being felt today.  What have we learned one year after such a monumental tragedy?  Friday, April 22nd, marks the 41st anniversary of Earth Day and I’m honestly not certain how much we’ve learned.  BP’s profits are strong and plans to resume deepwater drilling in the Gulf continue while many in Congress adamantly deny climate change even exists.  In fact, just last week, the US Senate and House of Representatives stood at a near stand-still over budget cuts to public programs, like the EPA.

Still, all hope might not be lost for the… [view entry]

As delegates, politicians and heads of NGOs from around the world gather in Cancun, Mexico this week and next for the COP16 conference, the follow-up to the climate talks in Copenhagen, or COP15, many are wondering what will result from these talks, and more importantly, what, if any, internationally binding climate contracts will be made.  Many speculate that any progress at COP16 will be frozen by continued immobility on the parts of China and the United States, who held their own separate talks earlier this fall, however refuse to budge on overarching climate agreements unless the other moves first.

Reports have suggested that the Cancun talks are only a stepping stone to the 2011 conference in South Africa with little tangible action expected to result.  Nevertheless, climate change must be… [view entry]

During the swap, residents learned about other ways to cut their carbon emissions—seasonable tips also available—and many signed up for a two-month long competition to see who can reduce them the most.

The results are in!

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In an effort to dramatically cut energy use at one of the country’s premier academic and research institutions, NSTAR and MIT are teaming up to launch the single most aggressive efficiency project in NSTAR history. Dubbed “MIT Efficiency Forward,” the program has a goal of cutting electricity use by 15 percent over three years through innovative programs, substantial student, faculty, and staff engagement, and the piloting of new technologies and approaches at MIT.

Read the rest of the press release.

MIT’s energy conference begins tomorrow, featuring a free Energy Showcase from 5–8 PM:

The Energy Showcase is a free event open to the community at large and is designed to bring together cutting-edge energy research and inventive businesses that are contributing critical knowledge, products and services toward actionable and scalable energy solutions. It also provides a wonderful opportunity for people interested in energy to inform themselves about the state of the art and the directions that the industry will follow in the future.

As a special Energy Showcase treat this year, get up close and personal with the Formula 3 race car which is “powered by chocolate, steered by carrots, has bodywork made from potatoes, and can still do 125mph

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During the second Climate Congress, 75 delegates convened to develop recommendations to the city for addressing climate change, but also organize and develop citizen generated solutions.  Highlights from the second congress include:

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On December 12, 100 Cantabrigians from a high school student to a climate expert spent the day at City Hall developing proposals that included eliminating all street parking by 2020 and incorporating landscaped or reflective roofs into building codes.

The ideas seemed rather ambitious, but if the city plans to start meeting its greenhouse gas reduction goals it will likely need to get creative.  In 2002 city officials launched a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2010. Earlier this year, however, they announced that despite their best efforts emissions… [view entry]