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| April 2009 Volume 3, No. 8 |
Celebrating Earth Day: Messages in Honor of Our Planet
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by Mayor Jerry Abramson
We’ve had an incredible opportunity in Louisville to witness the power of Mother Nature over the past year – from a record-setting snow in March 2008, to Windstorm Ike in September and the massive ice storm in January. Each of those forces served as a reminder that we are still guests here on this planet.
Earth Day gives us an opportunity to consider the ways we can be better stewards of our environment. Last year, I announced the creation of the “Go Green Louisville” initiative, which outlined five goals for our city:
-- Reduce energy usage in government buildings by 10 percent by 2010.
-- Decrease city government fuel consumption by 5 percent by 2010.
-- Increase recycling rates throughout the city by 10 percent by 2010.
-- Expand green spaces, including planting 1,500 trees and adding 25 miles of biking and walking paths by 2010.
-- Encourage citizens and businesses to be more environmentally responsible using www.louisvilleky.gov/gogreen as a portal for education.
I’m pleased to report that we’re making progress on each of those goals. Louisville Metro Government has made progress in the past several years in environmental stewardship, including reducing the city’s vehicle fleet, consolidating government facilities, and purchasing more “green-friendly” products and vehicles.
Perhaps the most significant step we’ve taken so far is partnering in the launch of the Kilowatt Crackdown, a citywide contest for building managers to improve energy efficiency in buildings over the next year.
We’re continuing our very successful partnership with Energy Star, and we have been held up as a model city on their Web site so other cities may follow our lead.
Going green is more than just a buzzword in our city. We’re taking measurable steps to effect change – not only by making improvements in city operations, but also by reaching out to the people of this community. We’re also going green to save green, because many environmentally-friendly practices also save money in the long run.
We have learned that we can’t do it alone. Just like the recovery from Windstorm Ike or the ice storm, we need everyone’s help to reach our goals of improving the care of the planet.
Mayor Jerry Abramson is the mayor of Louisville Metro.
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by Dr. James Ramsey
As Earth Day 2009 approaches, we are entering a new era in which developing sources of green energy will be critical in shaping our future.
President Barack Obama has pledged that the federal government will invest $15 billion a year to develop new energy technologies. His $787 billion stimulus plan seeks to double the amount of renewable energy produced in the next three years, give tax breaks to companies working to develop this energy, create green jobs and save taxpayers more than $1 billion by slashing energy costs in public buildings and private homes.
The University of Louisville stands ready to help make all of these changes happen. In recent months, we’ve taken a series of giant steps to strengthen our commitment to being green – steps aimed at moving us well past the talking stage and into the doing stage. Our collaboration with Louisville Metro Government and Jefferson County Public Schools through Partnership for a Green City has helped prepare us for this role.
In January, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear named us as the state’s “go-to” place for renewable energy research, a move made possible with a $20 million gift from UofL alumnus Henry Conn and his wife, Rebecca. Scientists at our new Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research and Environmental Stewardship will study how to make the most of wind, solar, geothermal and biomass power, a step that will benefit not only Kentucky but the entire nation.
We’re now working with a private company, Siemens Building Technologies, to conduct a massive energy audit of 84 buildings on our Belknap Campus, a project that promises to save as much as $50 million in energy costs over the next 12 years.
Our university’s strategic plan now contains measurable goals for improving our sustainable practices through 2020.
Our new Sustainability Council is coordinating a wide variety of “green” efforts on our campus, such as integrating sustainability into our curriculum. By helping our students become “environmentally literate,” they’ll be better prepared to handle the many challenges ahead.
In still another initiative, we’ve launched a joint project with the University of Kentucky and Berea and Centre colleges, Energizing Kentucky, to encourage Kentucky’s leaders in government, business and education to think and act strategically about energy.
Protecting the earth is a responsibility we all share. UofL brings outstanding assets to this endeavor: a team of world-class researchers, a highly talented student body and a strong record of community service. We’re ready to do even more in the years ahead.
Dr. James Ramsey is the president of the University of Louisville.
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by Sheldon H. Berman, Ed.D.
Last fall, I was privileged to participate in an expedition to Manitoba to view polar bears as they live on their native tundra. The excursion was sponsored by the Louisville Zoo in conjunction with its mission to educate the community about the impact of climate change. The experience was simultaneously exhilarating and sobering, given that the existence of these beautiful creatures is threatened by the melting of the polar ice cap. I returned to Louisville with a renewed commitment to support the weaving of environmental issues into the fabric of daily life in our district’s PreK-12 classrooms.
Ensuring that students understand such issues as climate change, energy usage, and resource conservation is integral to the mission of the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), and every school incorporates these and related concepts throughout the standard curriculum. However, several JCPS schools now provide (or will in the near future) an extensive curricular emphasis on the environment, offering unique experiences not available at other sites. For example, excitement is mounting about the environmental studies magnet programs that will be launched this fall at Cane Run and Portland Elementary schools. Selected middle schools (including Frost, Lassiter, Ramsey, and Westport) have already adopted an environmental focus. And by 2010-11, Moore, Valley and Waggener High schools will offer extensive coursework that prepares students for careers in science, the environment, and medicine.
Ideas for these schools include the cultivation of schoolyard gardens, exploration of the Ohio River, investigation of community habitats, and annual field studies that serve as capstone experiences. Students will find themselves exploring mines, spelunking, inventorying and planting trees, and paddling down Harrods Creek. Not only will these schools have the advantage of a wide array of literature, maps, and other resource materials that focus on the environment (including special facility features such as solar power), they will also harness technology to expand students’ opportunities. For example, such tools as webcams, digital photography, and a global positioning system may be used to teach students how to collect data from local soil, air, and water and then engage in national or even international discussions of their findings.
But education is about more than textbooks and homework. It’s about the development of attitudes toward the application of classroom-based knowledge. As teachers and curriculum specialists expand and strengthen schools’ environmental programs over the next few years, they will also be seeking to develop specific perspectives in their students—students who will one day assume responsibility for the earth we share. Like the mama polar bear standing over her cubs, our students need to see themselves as protectors, conserving natural resources and defending our planet against unwise human behaviors. And, again like the polar bear, our students must recognize that they have tremendous power and that they have the capacity, individually and collectively, to apply that power as citizen scientists in contributing to a sustainable and just world for future generations.
Dr. Sheldon Berman is the superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky.
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by Councilman Stuart Benson
Just as the New Year gives us the opportunity to make a resolution to be more fit or improve some aspect of our lives, we can use the passage of Earth Day to examine our daily activities in search of more environmental approaches to cleaning our surroundings or reducing our energy use.
While the simple act of turning off a light in an unused room, carpooling or purchasing a more energy efficient appliance may seem to have little effect on the environment – those acts add up when you consider the many people who together can reduce their energy usage by being savvy.
Local Government, like the citizens we serve, can also learn a thing or two about reducing pollution and saving energy. As a member of the Metro Council, I have sought more right hand turn lanes in our streets to reduce congestion and needless idling and we are funding traffic studies meant to help move people as they travel from place to place. Over the course of the past year, Metro Government has begun to switch from older light bulbs to new energy efficient compact florescent bulbs. We have changed streetlights from bulbs that were ten times as wasteful and lasted approximately one year with LED bulbs that require less energy and maintenance. We are also using programmable thermostats to again save taxpayer dollars while reducing energy use.
Going green can be about more than just taking care of our environment. By addressing wasteful practices, taxpayers can see savings that can prevent additional budget cuts and may even lead to expanded services. While Metro Government has made progress in reducing our energy use, we are always looking for new ideas. If you have an idea about how we can help promote more efficient use of your tax dollars – let us know. I continue to be amazed by the many common sense ideas that citizens have brought forth and I am always looking for opportunities to bring common-sense energy saving projects to Metro Government.
Councilman Stuart Benson represents District 20 on the Louisville Metro Council.
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by Jameson O. Bowden
It has been said to every complex problem, there is a simple solution--and it's wrong. While I agree that this is usually true, there is one simple act that could help our country with several environmental issues simultaneously. All that needs to happen is that politicians show the courage to enact solutions over the protests of those who are short-sighted or self-serving.
Most Americans know that air pollution is an issue, and most know that our supply of petroleum is not limitless, but I would suggest that understanding and concern for these issues does not go much deeper than that. This is not to say that we are ignorant or selfish, but rather that we have many concerns to attend to: fixing the leaking roof, checking the kids' homework, working hard to keep our jobs. We have a lot going on and most of us don't have time to ruminate on issues that don't seem so immediate.
At the root of many environmental problems is cheap gas--and it always has been cheap, even when it was over four dollars a gallon. We need to make it a little less cheap, by raising the taxes on gasoline. Higher gasoline prices would increase the use of mass transit (which it was shown to do when gas prices were higher), while the taxes on it could be used to further develop mass transit, including, but not limited to, light rail. Of course these developments would reduce air pollution caused by automotive exhaust, the leading cause of air pollution in most US cities. Higher gasoline taxes would encourage consumers to buy more efficient cars (buying new cars would have the additional benefit of helping our economy), as indicated by the sales of the most wasteful SUVs having stayed low since gas prices rose. Further, because it is true that some drivers alter their driving habits when gas prices were higher, by driving less, and spending less money at the pump, they were, in turn, sending less money into the state and federal treasuries--a higher tax would offset that loss of revenue--revenue that is needed to maintain roads and bridges. A related benefit is that roads and bridges would be slightly less stressed by the presumably lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. I hope that the political will is there to do the right thing--it WILL be unpopular--but it would be the best thing for us and our children.
Jameson O. Bowden is a science teacher at Myers Middle School.
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Global Connections: Staying in Touch with Culture and Environment is a monthly publication of the JCPS Office of Equity, Diversity and Multicultural Education and the JCPS Center for Environmental Education. All submissions to the newsletter must be sent to Catherine Collesano, Editor, at catherine.collesano@jefferson.kyschools.us or fax (502) 485-3762 the Monday before the publication date. If you are interested in becoming a subscriber or a contributor to Global Connections, please contact the editor at the above email address.
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