Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

Week of March 5, 2012

News from Across the USM Campuses

March 9^th - Dr. Stanley Kemp, University of Baltimore?-?"Baltimore's urban fish communities: Evaluating the potential of fish assemblage data to guide stream restoration efforts." Seminar will be held on Friday at 2 PM in the Technology Research Center, Room 206, on the UMBC campus, and is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Visitor parking passes for the TRC lot on the campus may be purchased for $4.00 in the CUERE office in TRC 102/105 shortly before seminar.

March 13^th - "Food and Sustainability at College Park" -?Colleen Wright-Riva, Director, Greg Thompson, Assistant Director, Dining Services. This event is a part of the series - Smart Growth Goes to School: Sustainability and the University of Maryland, Ralph Bennett, Prof. Em., Instructor?Co-Sponsored by the University Office of Sustainability, and ARCH 289i. Lecture will be held at?3:30pm on Tuesday, Lecture Hall, School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, on the University of Maryland, College Park campus.  

March 14^th - Grow Your Greens - Come learn how to construct, plant, and care for salad tables-portable gardens for greens-as you learn about the benefits of growing your own organic foods. UM's Vassie Hollamon, associate director for operations and maintenance, will help attendees develop an urban farming skill. Event will be held from 12:30-1:30pm at the SMC Campus Center Green Room, at University of Maryland at Baltimore, 621 Lombard St. Baltimore, 21201. Registration is required.

State of Maryland News

O'Malley seeks help on jobs, wind power from congressional delegation: Governor outlines federal priorities (By Danielle E. Gaines, The Gazette, 3/5/12)

Petroleum council goes on shale PR offensive: Study finds economic benefits for Garrett, Allegany counties (Matthew Bieniek, Cumberland Times-News, 3/5/12)

Harris: Bay cleanup should wait: GOP congressman says bad economy means can't afford to restore Chesapeake (By Tim Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun - B'More Green Blog, 2/28/12)

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

• Practices
• Programs
• Policies

• Presentations
• Climate Change Definitions
• Facilities Master Planning
• Statewide Sustainability Efforts
• ACUPCC National Benchmarking
• Useful Links and References

Alternative Fuels Expert Plans Coast-To-Coast U.S. Trip On 10 Gallons of Gas or Less (Science Daily, 3/1/12)

Victory: Grassroots Pressure Leads to Closure of Two Highly Polluting Coal Plants in Chicago - "Today we are ending over 100 years of pollution for profits and showing the power of community." (Common Dreams staff, CommonDreams.org, 2/29/12)

Counting the Family Carbon (By Craig Leisher, The New York Times - Green Blog, 2/29/12)

Utilities announce closure of 10 aging power plants in Midwest, East (By Juliet Eilperin, The Washington Post - National, 2/29/12)

Windfarms that float - or fly - could be the future of energy generation: Technology now on trial could pave the way for turbines in deep seas of Mediterranean and off the coasts of Japan and the US (By Ian Sample, The [UK] Guardian, 2/28/12)

Heartland associate taught 'biased' climate course at Ottawa university: Expert audit finds man connected with climate sceptic thinktank taught climate course to students at Carleton University (By Suzanne Goldenberg, The [UK] Guardian, 2/28/12)

Antarctic Ocean Alliance Calls for World's Largest Marine Reserve: "Now is the time to protect this amazing environment" (By Common Dreams Staff, CommonDreams.org, 2/28/12)