Maryland's Public System of Higher Education

Week of January 6, 2014  

News from Across the USM Campuses

January 12^th - Deadline for application for paid UMBC sustainability internship - University of Maryland, Baltimore County is hiring a paid Sustainability Outreach Intern for the Spring 2014 semester. The Sustainability Outreach Intern at Off-Campus Student Services will promote, support, and raise awareness about sustainability as it relates to commuter students. To accomplish this, the intern will assist in the design and delivery of social and educational events related to alternative transportation (e.g., UMBC Transit Shuttles, MTA public transportation, carpooling, zipcar, etc.) and recycling. Also, the intern will collaborate on events with other UMBC department and student leaders. Through social media and other digital advertising avenues, the intern will promote UMBC's sustainability initiatives and assist with UMBC's new Casual Carpooling community. See details and application information.

Maryland cracks down on oyster poaching: Radar system helps track illegal shellfish harvesting (By Sarah Polus, SoMdNews.com, 1/3/14) [Article quotes Don Meritt, Director of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's Horn Point Laboratory]

Air regs have helped water quality more than previously thought: Nitrate concentrations in 9 forested watersheds decreased between 31.9 percent and 72.6 percent. (By Karl Blankenship, The Bay Journal, 1/1/14) [Article cites University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science staff Keith Eshleman, Katie Kline and Robert Sabo]

State of Maryland News

March 2^nd - 5^th - Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference?- The sharing economy: no place is this more evident than on our campuses.  Students are rethinking vehicle ownership, swapping clothes, trading books, and participating in MOOCs.  In other words, finding ways to make their limited funds go further.  Campuses must also find opportunities to conserve limited resources, make college more affordable, and make our communities more resilient to economic and environmental change.  A sharing economy is leading to more sustainable consumption, operations, services, and lifestyles in our communities and on our campuses.  Come share with us. This conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, in downtown Baltimore, MD.

Roscoe Bartlett: The Congressman Who Went Off the Grid (By Jason Koebler, Politico.com, 1/3/14)

Bay advocates say state lax in monitoring county stormwater controls: Law calls for state review every three years; some haven't been done since 1990s (By Alison Knezevich, The Baltimore Sun, 1/3/14)

Pipeline may affect drinking water, activists fear: Construction to cross 39 streams that feed into Loch Raven (By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun - B'More Green Blog, 1/1/14)

National and International News

Is 'Polar Vortex' Attributable to Climate Change? Yes. - As temperatures plummet, a reminder: 'Every weather event in the modern world is attributable to climate change.' (By Jon Queally, CommonDreams.org, 1/6/14)

Investigation Confirms Widespread Fears about Fracking: Despite roadblocks by industry and state officials, well water contamination found in four states (Sarah Lazare, CommonDreams.org, 1/6/14)

Will a New Global Climate Pact Pushed By John Kerry Kill the Keystone XL Pipeline?

As a fossil fuel export-enabling project, Keystone XL is a big, fat, square peg aimed at the round holes of Kerry's global climate policymaking efforts. (By Tina Casey, Clean Technica as reported by Alternet.org - Environment Blog, 1/6/14)

Ford announces plans for solar powered electric vehicle (By Bob Sheth, Electric Forum as reported by Environmental News Network, 1/6/14)

The global warming Hot List for 2014 (By Peter Dykstra, The Daily Climate, 1/6/14)

60 Minutes Hit Job On Clean Energy Ignores The Facts (By Joe Romm, ThinkProgress.org - Climate Progress Blog, 1/5/14)

Water Pollution From Drilling Confirmed In At Least 4 States, Casting Doubt On Safety Of Boom (By Kevin Begos, The Associated Press as reported by The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 1/5/14)

Earth's New Normal: Wild Weather 2014 (By Dr. Reece Halter, The Huffington Post, 1/4/14)

California Researchers Find Drastically Low Snowpack, Spelling Danger For 2014 Water Supplies (By Ari Phillips, ThinkProgress.org - Climate Progress Blog, 1/4/14)

Our Climate Hangover: 5 Reasons to End America's Fossil Fuel Fiesta in 2014 (By Kassie Siegel, ThinkProgress.org - Climate Progress Blog, 1/4/14)

Climate coverage ballooned last year, except at The New York Times (By John Upton, Grist.org, 1/3/14)

Dear Donald Trump: Winter does not disprove global warming (By Chris Mooney, Grist.org, 1/3/14)

This plastic is made out of carbon sucked from the air (By Sarah Laskow, Grist.org, 1/2/14)

Climate Change Worse Than We Thought, Likely To Be 'Catastrophic Rather Than Simply Dangerous' (By Nick Visser, The Huffington Post - Green Blog, 12/31/13)