Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

Week of March 28, 2011

News from Across the USM Campuses

March 31^st - University of Maryland Recyclemania Paper Purge - In celebration of RecycleMania, Facilities Management is holding a complementary door-to-door recycling collection to pick up your recyclable paper, magazines, cardboard, etc., and providing a shred truck for shredding sensitive documents on-site. From 9am-3pm - Door-to-door recyclable paper collection throughout main buildings and providing lobby drop-off points for paper collection in surrounding buildings. From 1pm-2pm - Shred truck available on-site for you to bring your sensitive documents.

April 1^st -?Dr. Tim Brennan, ?UMBC, Department of Public Policy -? "Can the Future Compensate the Present? Potential Limitations on Cost-Benefit Analysis in Climate Policy." This seminar, sponsored by the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education, will be held on Friday at 2:00pm in the Technology Research Center, Room 206, on the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus, and is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Visitor parking passes for the TRC lot may be purchased for $4.00 in the CUERE office in TRC 102/105 on the UMBC campus shortly before seminar.

April 3^rd - 5^th  - Smart and Sustainable Campuses, The Inn and Conference Center (LEED Certified), University of Maryland University College, College Park, MD. Colleges and universities are uniquely positioned to serve as living laboratories for sustainability.  The Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference is a comprehensive symposium that features sessions and workshops on smart growth and sustainable practices that serve the economy, the community, and the environment. This year's theme, Connecting the Classroom to the Campus to the Community, emphasizes the importance of the relationship between the physical space of campus buildings and infrastructure, curriculum, culture, capital, and community.

April 18^th - Sustainability: Reducing Our Carbon Paw Print - 3rd Annual Environmental Conference - Towson University in the University Union, 2nd and 3rd Floors - 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The annual conference is designed to raise awareness among students, faculty and staff about environmental topics, issues and solutions. Each year members of the campus community gather to hear presentations from faculty, students and environmental leaders in the Baltimore region. The conference addresses the impact of individuals and communities on the environment and actions that individuals and communities can take to positively impact the environment and create a more sustainable world.

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

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UMES to activate state's largest 'solar farm' Monday: Nearly 8,000 panels will meet about 15 percent of campus' electricity needs, officials say (By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun, 3/27/11)

Ice in Motion: As frozen lands disintegrate, researchers rush to catch the collapse (By Alexandra Witze, Science News, 3/26/11) Article quotes Robert Bindschadler and Michael Studinger, of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

State of Maryland News

Three all-electric buses to be part of Howard Co. public transit: Charging station at Howard Community College revives $4.7 million plan (By Larry Carson, The Baltimore Sun, 3/27/11)

Sitting atop huge gas reserve, Maryland debates drilling practice known as fracking (By Darryl Fears, The Washington Post, 3/27/11)

A low-tech 60 minutes to mark Earth Hour: Md. Science Center runs two exhibitions gadget-free (By Jonathan Pitts, The Baltimore Sun, 3/26/11)

Baltimore mayor urges lights off for Earth Hour: City Hall, skyscraper lights to be shut off Saturday night (By Yeganeh June Torbati, The Baltimore Sun, 3/25/11)

Concerns, assurances over Calvert Cliffs and Peach Bottom: Potential design issues, safety lapses spark criticism, but companies say nuclear power plants are safe (By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun, 3/21/11)

National and International News

April 6^th - "Knowledge Institutions and the Imperatives of Sustainable Development," by Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Dr. Pachauri will be the featured speaker in the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN) Dialogue Series at 7:30 p.m., in Mitchell Hall, on the University of Delaware campus in Newark, DE. His talk will focus on how the cumulative effects of industrialization have affected the health of our natural resources and ecosystems. Unsustainable growth is creating problems that not only affect the environment, but also, in some heavily industrialized areas, pose a serious threat to human health. For more information on this event, contact the DENIN office at 301-831-4335.

Libyan rebels capture key oil towns; Qatar recognizes rebel council (By Liz Sly, Tara Bahrampour and Mary Beth Sheridan, The Washington Post, 3/28/11)

In the dark over oil reserves: Shell says we're entering a 'zone of uncertainty' over oil supply - a frank admission it hasn't a clue what's going to happen (By Andrew Simms, The [UK] Guardian, 3/28/11)

Is New York really 'too New York' for cycling? Creating infrastructure and bike lanes is easy - the real challenge is changing perceptions about cycling and cyclists (By Matt Seaton, The [UK] Guardian, The Environment - Bike Blog, 3/25/11)

Nuclear crisis forces Japan to rethink energy needs: The March 11 quake and tsunami left much of Japan with a shortage of electricity and fuel. But the dark age has inspired creative ways to make do and save energy. (By Barbara Demick, The Los Angeles Times, 3/25/11)

California clean energy: "No on 23" is back (By Margot Roosevelt, The Los Angeles Times - Greenspace, 3/25/11)

Earth Hour 2011: Cities Around The World Go Dark Saturday (PHOTOS) (The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 3/25/11)

Envirosearch.org: A Search Engine That Helps The Environment (By Caleb Denison, The Earth Techling as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 3/25/11)

A siege against the EPA and environmental progress (By William D. Ruckelshaus and Christine Todd Whitman, The Washington Post - Opinions, 3/24/11)

A Race Against Time to Save Oiled Penguins (By John Collins Rudolf, The New York Times - Environment - Green Blog, 3/24/11)

Initial loss of well control doomed Deepwater Horizon (By Joel Achenbach and Steven Mufson, The Washington Post, 3/23/11)

German Energy Company Hits Headwinds in India (ByJack Ewing and Vikas Bajaj, The New York Times - Global Business, 3/23/11)

Health Effects From the Gulf Oil Spill One Year Later (By Erin N. Marcus, MD, The Huffington Post - Health Blog, 3/23/11)

After Gaining for 3 Days, Shares Slip on Oil Worries (By Christine Hauser, The New York Times - Business Day, 3/21/11)