Do you know where your pension coming from? For some US teachers, it’s Chinese coal.

The Chinese coal industry is known for its lucrative returns: the China Shenhua Energy Co. gained 65% from July to September, and many investors claim they can’t afford not to be in China. In fact, 20% of Shenhua’s stock is held by U.S. investors — one of whom is the Teachers Retirement System of Texas.

But China’s coal is also a huge polluter. According to the New York Times, China uses more coal than the US, the EU, and Japan combined, contributing an enormous amount of CO2 to the atmosphere. Coal-fired plants emit more than 60 different hazardous air pollutants. The large amounts of sulfur dioxide produced by Chinese coal cause acid rain, which pollutes water sources. But because of China’s rapidly advancing economy, the country needs energy — fast and cheap. Coal-fired plants are much cheaper and quicker to build than natural gas, nuclear, or hydroelectric plants, and it’s widely available.

China’s booming coal industry is also harmful to its citizens, producing so much sulfur dioxide that the World Bank estimated 400,000 premature deaths happen each year due to pollution-related illnesses. Not only that, but as much as 40% of air pollution in South Korea and Japan is believed to originate in China, and many experts believe that pollution from China is reaching the western part of the United States.

Do Texas teachers know where their pensions are coming from? For that matter, are other teacher retirement systems investing in Chinese Big Coal? I checked out Missouri’s Public School Retirement System, in which my husband and I have each invested. With my little financial knowledge, I was able to determine that PSRS has invested with Merrill Lynch, which is a shareholder in Shenhua. Just how much of my money is in coal remains to be seen. Looks like it’s time to work towards divestment…

Source: Associated Press

On April 14, 2007, Step it Up 2007 facilitated over 1400 different rallies in all 50 states urging Congress to cut carbon emissions 80% by 2050. It was the largest day of citizen actions on global warming in history, and it truly was citizen action. Although Step It Up 2007 was the brainchild of Bill McKibben and several former Middlebury College students, the success of the event was contingent on grassroots efforts by everyday people concerned about the environment.

In McKibben and the Step It Up Team’s new book, Fight Global Warming Now: The Handbook for Taking Action in Your Community (Henry Holt, $13.00), the authors show how normal, everyday people, without any community organizing background, were able to create successful events to rally support for addressing climate change. Reflecting on the success of Step It Up allows the authors to repeat what worked–and discard what didn’t. Their seven tips (make it credible, snappy, collaborative, meaningful, creative, wired and seductive) are a framework for understanding how community organizing works in the 21st century.

The book is a quick read written in simple, conversational tone that empowers the reader. Really? Is it that easy to organize a rally? McKibben and group seem to think so, and highlight many anecdotes from the first Step It Up to show how novice activists can create powerful events. These anecdotes also serve as a type of scrapbook of the first Step It Up 2007, illuminating the hundreds of events and thousands of individual experiences. Just in case you might need some help with your own event, the authors clearly outline areas for concentration to establish credibility, drum up publicity, and finance your event. There’s also a resources page directing you to further reading on both climate change, activism, and other resources necessary for creating your own successful event. From online networking to how to create aeriel art, from media attention to attracting politicians, someone who did it for April’s Step It Up has advice for you.

McKibben and team make it seem so simple. How else can they get people to realize that we have everything we need to be activists? We don’t need to sit around and wait for Al Gore to organize a carbon-spewing concert. We all have within us the ability to lead, to create, to organize. They’re just providing a little push. If you’ve ever wanted to organize, but never thought you could, this is a must-read that will give you the tools you need to call yourself an activist and organizer. Step It Up is happening again on November 3rd. It’s never too late to get organized. In fact, the theme for November’s event is "Who’s A Leader?"

Fight Global Warming Now was released October 22nd.

When Amy wrote about green magazines, she mentioned GOOD as being one of her favorites. I, too, a self-described magazine junkie, am a big fan of GOOD since it’s inception last year. With all the depressing news out there on any given day, GOOD always reaffirms my faith in humanity. Its focus is, like its name implies, good stuff: those things that are making our world a little bit better, and when I’m feeling down about what’s going on around me, GOOD usually perks me up. It’s a rare magazine that doesn’t need an annual "green" issue: sustainability has been a priority since the magazine was founded.

The latest issue (Sept/Oct 07) is no exception. The issue, which commemorates their one-year anniversary, focuses on design solutions. A topic I covered a while back, green schools, gets a feature nod from Eva Steele-Saccio. Steele-Saccio highlights different schools’ efforts to reduce their footprint and become more energy efficient, and acknowledges that there are benefits beyond energy savings: "Green schools create a healthy atmosphere for learning that has measurable results. The combination of natural light, fresh air, open plans, and multi-use facilities that encourage community involvement has helped student test scores rise by 20% and reduced asthma rates by 39%."

There’s also a feature about a village in England that launched a community effort to reduce their carbon footprint, with the ultimate goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral village in the U.K. GOOD’s product reviews almost always include items produced with sustainability in mind, and in this issue, they create a proposal for better CFL packaging: create a package that can be used to ship burned-out bulbs back to the producer for proper disposal. There’s also a profile of Rogan Gregory, founder of clothing company Loomstate, who was virtually responsible for bringing organic cotton to the fashion industry though his work with Loomstate, and his other two companies, Rogan and Edun

Even subscribing to GOOD can make you feel good: 100% of your $20 subscription costs goes to your choice of twelve charities, including the World Wildlife Fund and Oceana. Good is printed on 30% recycled post-consumer paper that is EcoLogic certified, and 100% offset by projects Good is actually involved in.

The September/October issue of GOOD is on newsstands now.

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education announced on Friday four Campus Sustainability Leadership Awards in four different categories. Two other schools were named honorable mention. The awards were given during the 7th biennial Greening of the Campus conference held at Ball State University.

Chandler-Gilbert Community College (Chandler, AZ) won in the community college and other two-year institutions category. Green Mountain College (Poultney, VT) won in the four-year and graduate institution (under 1,000 students) category. Middlebury College (Middlebury, VT) won in the four-year and graduate institution (1,000-7,500 students) category. Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI) won in the four-year and graduate institution (over 7,500 students) category.

Chandler-Gilbert’s president, Maria Hesse, was one of the first presidents to sign the American College & University President’s Climate Committment. The College is part of a city-wide system that uses reclaimed water for irrigation. Two of Chandler-Gilbert’s campuses use energy management systems to ensure energy efficiency, and all new buildings will be built according to LEED standards.

For Green Mountain College, the environment and sustainability are unifying themes on campus. Environmental awareness is infused into every aspect of the curriculum, and all students must take courses in sustainability. Students installed a wind turbine to power the campus greenhouse and solar panels on the student center. The remaining energy needs are met partially by electricity generated from methane from local dairy cow manure.

Middlebury College has pledged to become climate-neutral by the year 2016. Bill McKibben is a scholar-in-residence there, and Step It Up 2007 was largely organized by Middlebury alumni. 25% of Middlebury’s dining budget goes towards locally grown and produced food, and the college recycles 60% of its waste. The campus uses solar and wind-generated power for portions of its energy needs, and has an Environmental Council, a committee of students, staff, and faculty, that advises the president of the college on sustainability policies.

Michigan State University has been a leader in large campus sustainability by committing to a 2% annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, along with meeting LEED standards for all new buildings on campus. MSU has an extensive recycling program, sustainability speakers, and funds student-designed sustainability projects. It even hosts a green roofs research program. One look around their extensive "Ecofoot" website tells you that this is a campus that takes its sustainability seriously.

Honorable mentions were awarded to Evergreen State College (Olympia, WA) and University of California, Berkeley.

So we know that bottled water is bad for our planet. We also know that cities are refusing to purchase bottled water for employees. Now, a school is joining that fight. Nerinx Hall, an all-women Catholic high school for girls here in the St Louis area, is taking bottled water out of its vending machines and giving the student body reusable bottles to stay hydrated. I applauded this decision, but apparently some people think the Constitution is going down with the Aquafina. In fact, I heard a friend’s parent (who has a daughter at the school) exclaiming what an outrage the ban was. Since Nerinx Hall is not so far from the school where I teach, I wondered if my school could do the same. Many states and schools have banned full-sugared sodas in schools, and water sales have increased as it replaces soda in vending machines. It’s become widely available, so how do you encourage both students and staff to give up the bottled water habit?

My first thought was, "Why is this such a big deal in the first place?" It wasn’t long ago that most people scoffed at paying a premium for what they can get for pennies at home. Remember that old joke that "Evian" was just "naive" spelled backwards? It’s been less than ten years since bottled water rose from a luxury product to a ubiquitous beverage of choice, yet mention banning bottled water, and "from my cold dead hands" cries ring out everywhere. When did we grow so attached to bottled water?

First off: provide an alternative. Nerinx Hall provided water bottles to its students, but it’s a private school, and I’m sure tuition could be adjusted to allow for Nalgene for every students. Public schools may have that option. See if your school store will sell reusable bottles with your school logo printed on it. If you don’t have a school store, maybe a student group could sell them for a fundraiser. I found them for just a few bucks here. Still better might be a school-wide incentive program for those willing to pledge to curb the bottled water habit–with the reusable bottles as the incentive.

Second: educate. Many people don’t realize that there’s a price to pay for that convenience: plastic bottles are made with petroleum. The light bulb goes off once people realize that the same stuff that causes climate change produces the bottles they throw away with little thought. Here’s a few articles that highlight just how harmful that seemingly-innocent bottle can be.

Third: check out the contracts you school has with vending machines. Do you have to have water in them? If not, get rid of it.

Four: point out the price factor. Most schools are pinching pennies. So why, at almost every meeting or professional development session, are we offered cold bottles of water (and, even worse, the tiny 8 oz, encouraging people to take more than one!). Why are we paying for this? We’ve got gorgeous refrigerated drinking fountains–get your school administration to purchase a few filtered-water pitchers for the teachers’ lounge instead.

Five: get students involved. I’ve blogged before about the impact of visiting a landfill or doing a waste audit of your school. Once they see the magnitude of the problem, they’ll be motivated to act. Who better than other kids to get students to say no to bottled water? Can your student council do an awareness campaign? Students and staff alike are more easily persuaded by student activism than teachers getting preachy.

I start school again tomorrow, and the kids don’t come back for another week, but I’ve already met with my Student Council: they want to continue to lead the way in creating a more environmentally sustainable learning environment. I can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with to tackle this problem!

Imagine my shock when I opened my mailbox to find the latest issue of Newsweek sporting a fire-glowing orb and the headline "Global Warming is a Hoax.*" It’s hard to believe (particularly for the GO family) that there are still people who deny that climate change is happening and caused by humans. With the influx of pro-green exposure in the media, many greens saw this past year as the tipping point in awareness and activism on global warming. Yet, "deniers" still exist, and Newsweek’s cover story (complete with tongue-in-cheek headline) aims to track the foundations of the denial movement, the major players behind it, and the motivations behind the well-coordinated effort to keep the American public doubting that global warming is real. (That asterisk? It noted "Or so claim well-funded naysayers who still reject the overwhelming evidence of climate change.")

"They patterned what they did after the tobacco industry," says former senator Tim Worth, quoted early in the article. The key tactic? Creating doubt in the minds of both policymakers and the public by disputing the science behind global warming. As soon as then-senator Al Gore brought global warming to Washington’s attention in 1988, groups with benign names such as the Global Climate Coalition and the Information Council on the Environment, which were actually lobbyist groups from the petroleum, steel, auto, and utilities companies, began an all-out war to contradict the overwhelming body of science that supported global warming.

The rhetoric changed as the science supporting global warming grew more and more conclusive. It started with "the science behind global warming is wrong", moved to "global warming is happening, but it is not the fault of humans", and ended with the current denier mantra, "global warming is happening, and we may be causing it, but it’s effects are hardly anything to worry about."

Also impossible to ignore in the article is the amount of money and power changing hands between lobbying groups, policymakers, and scientists. One Exxon-Mobil-backed group has offered $10,000 to scientists willing to speak out against global warming. And that might be what’s so depressing about the "deniers": it seems that from day one, their motives were entirely based on the acquisition or preservation of money and power. As Gore demonstrated in a graphic in An Inconvenient Truth, what’s more important: bars of gold, or the entire planet?

The article is fascinating and puts a face (and clear strategy) on the campaign against the planet. This issue of Newsweek is on newsstands now, and the entire article can be found on Newsweek’s website.

Joining multiple established sustainability-focused MBA programs across the US, Colorado State University unveiled its new Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise program this spring. The program, which begins in August and includes 23 students from around the world in its first class, will combine a traditional MBA with core coursework in social, environmental, and economic sustainability. Students will particularly examine the global problems of poverty, environmental degradation, and community health.

The program’s mission, according to it’s website, is to take business to a level "where business innovations lift up the human condition and rebuild our planet’s capital." All students will spend a summer doing fieldwork that involves implementing sustainable business projects created during their time in the program. "At the core though, this program is about studying, creating and leading innovative new organizations that see these great challenges as great opportunities," said Paul Hudnut, director of the program.

Colorado State has a long tradition of addressing needs in developing countries: the Peace Corps has roots there, and engineering and business students more recently collaborated to create new sustainable technology such as a cleaner-burning biomass stove that generates energy stored in a battery for later use, to be implemented in the Philippines, India, and Vietnam. CSU is also the birthplace of EnviroFit’s two-stroke engine retrofit kit, designed to reduce emissions of tricycle taxis in the Philippines.

Ontario's Liberal Party unveiled its plan for statewide environmental sustainability education, Education Minister Kathleen Wynne announced yesterday. "We must help students build on the knowledge and leadership they have already shown on climate change issues," said Wynne. "Our government is committed to reaching every student with an environmental education that inspires them to take positive action."

The Canadian province's plan infuses environmental education in all grade levels across disciplines, as well as creates an optional Grade 11 course focuses exclusively on environmental education. Ontario previously had mandatory environmental education, but that initiative was eliminated in 1998. The new initiative will cost $4 million.

The plan was partially in response to a report issued by the Ontario Ministry of Educations's Curriculum Council and their Working Group on Environmental Education that recommended the standardization of environmental lessons and inclusion of parents in that education. The report, titled Shaping Our Schools, Shaping Our Future, is available online.

The plan is just part of a string of environmentally-friend initiatives the Ontario government has supported, including the EcoSchools program, two green-themed websites targeting high school and elementary students, and a Clean-Air and Climate Change artwork and essay contest.

Image source: Washington University

Washington University in St Louis has made a $55 million dollar investment in sustainability, focusing on the development of the International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES). the university annouced Monday.

I-CARES will foster "institutional, regional and international research on the development and production of biofuels from plant and microbial systems and the exploration of sustainable alternative energy and environmental systems and practices." The center will also focus cleaner processes for utilizing Missouri's abundant coal resources, as well as improved combustion processes and emission reduction.

I-CARES will create five new endowed professorships to attract top-tier research leaders in energy, environment, and sustainability. Research will also include international partner universities, all of which recently issued a "call to action" on energy and sustainability.

The program will also support a sustainability officer and the means to apply green technology to improve energy efficiency in the university's operations. Roger N. Beachy, president of the Danforth Center, which will collaborate with I-CARES, noted,

The I-CARES initiative is an outstanding commitment by Washington University to seek solutions for a critical factor that faces the world this century, namely creating abundant and environmentally sustainable energy sources. It also adds an important component to the regional initiative to establish St. Louis as a leader in the development of renewable energy.

Washington University is a member of Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, which works to promote sustainability in all sectors of higher education.

Is there a more eco-friendly way to package milk besides plastic jugs and gable-top cartons? A UK company seems to think so. Greenbottle is a new two-part milk packaging system that was recently test-piloted in Asda supermarkets during a one-week trial. The bottles quickly sold out.

Designed by Martin Myerscough from Framlingham, Suffolk, the bottle consists of a pulped recycled cardboard outer (think cardboard egg cartons) and a corn-based bioplastic bag liner. After the milk is gone, the bioplastic bag can be removed and composted, and the outer shell can be recycled or composted.

The UK produces over 3 million metric tons of plastic waste each year, of which only 7% is recycled. The vast majority of plastic ends up in landfills.

During the test run, the milk in Greenbottle's jugs cost the same as milk in traditional containers, although the packaging cost the company 30% more to produce, although they expect that margin to drop significantly as the packaging's distribution expands.