Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

Week of May 14, 2012

News from Across the USM Campuses\

May 17^th - Rooftop Community Garden Grand Opening - Newcomers and old friends, please join us to celebrate the long-awaited public opening of the South Campus Rooftop Community Garden! Hear about the garden's history, see what we have growing, and find out what's on the horizon. This event will be held from 5:30-6:30pm, Second Floor of South Campus Dining Hallon, on the University of Maryland, College Park campus.

May 17^th - Dr. James Cloern, US Geological Survey, "What drives the fast pace of environmental change in estuarine-coastal ecosystems?" This event is a part of the CBL Distinguished Scholar Seminar Series - 2012. The lecture will be held on Thursday at 3:30pm in Nice Hall, at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory.

SU's Horton Earns Prestigious MPT 'Outdoors Maryland' Award (Salisbury University Press Release, 5/11/12)

Rare wildflower saved to bloom another day (By Tim Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun - B'More Green Blog, 5/9/12) [Article cites work of plant specialists at University of Maryland, College Park]

State of Maryland News

May 18^th - Bike to Work Day - More information about Maryland locations - The League of American Bicyclists began Bike to Work Day as part of Bike Month in 1956. Over the years, Bike to Work Day has grown into a widespread event with countless bicyclists taking to the streets nationwide in an effort to get commuters to try bicycling to work as a healthy and safe alternative to driving alone. In the Metropolitan Washington region, Bike to Work Day has grown from a small group of a few hundred in 2001 to 11,000 participants in 2011. This year the annual Bike to Work Day will be held on Friday, May 18th.  Rain or shine!

Emails show O'Malley's close ties to Perdue lawyer (By Tim Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun - B'More Green Blog, 5/9/12)

Drought Watch in Effect for Western, Central and Eastern Maryland: Southern Maryland, areas served by Baltimore City and Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission public water remain in normal status (Maryland Department of the Environment Press Release, 5/8/12)

Takoma Park Celebrates Bike Month (By Erkin Ozberk, Takoma Park Newsletter, May 2012) [PDF]

USM Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change Initiative

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Walk Score Launches Bike Score (By Sarah Goodyear, The Atlantic Cities Blog, 5/14/12)

Living Planet Report 2012 From WWF Looks At Ecological State Of The Earth (The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 5/14/12)

Carbon capture leak simulated in sea off Scotland: Thousands of kilos of carbon dioxide will be injected into the seabed to simulate effects of a leak on the marine ecosystem (By Erin Hale, The [UK] Guardian, 5/14/12)

Clean Energy as Culture War (By David Roberts, Grist.org, 5/14/12)

North Dakota: riding the oil rush - Oil has brought money and jobs to this sparsely populated region - but residents fear a ban on fracking will stop the boom (By Suzanne Goldenberg, The [UK] Guardian, 5/14/12)

Heartland Institute's Insurance Project To Depart After Controversial Billboard Campaign (The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 5/11/12 updated 5/14/12)

An Inconvenient Lawsuit: Teenagers Take Global Warming to the Courts (By Katherine Ellison, The Atlantic Magazine, 5/9/12)

Antarctica Oil Spill: Endless Sea, Wrecked Brazilian Ship, Leaking And Trapped In Ice (By Federico Quilodran, The Associated Press as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 5/9/12)

Why There's No War Between Drivers and Cyclists in the Netherlands (By Sarah Goodyear, The Atlantic Cities, 5/8/12)

Conservative thinktanks step up attacks against Obama's clean energy strategy: Confidential memo seen by Guardian calls for climate change sceptics to turn American public against solar and wind power (By Suzanne Goldenberg, The [UK] Guardian, 5/8/12)

Yes Merle-The Good Times Were Really Over for Good: Cheap Oil Built 'The American Way' but All the Cheap Oil is Gone (By Guy Gold, Yahoo Voices, 5/7/12)

The Only Thing That Will Stop Global Warming Is A Massive Economic Downturn (By Liz Klimas, Business Insider, 5/7/12)