March 2012 Edition

News & Views

from the

S u s t ai n ab l e S o u t h w e s t

In Praise of Restoration Ecology Transition Albuquerque Growing a future in the Community and on Campus The End of Pretend W here P rofits and V alues M eet How Green Is Your Landscape?

Local Economies H appy , H ealthy and W ise

Healthy Living issue

Water, Air and Land: A Sacred Trust March 2012

New Mexico’s Fifth Largest Circulation Newspaper

Vol. 4, No. 3

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

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Vol. 4, No. 3 • March 2012 Issue No. 35 Publisher Green Fire Publishing, LLC

Skip Whitson

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Contributing Writers

Joni Arends, Iginia Boccalandro, Joan Brown, Faren Dancer, Monica Gutierrez, Sasha LaPointe, Jack Loeffler, Annie McDonnell, Basia Miller, Marlene Perrotte, Bruce Poster,Vicki Pozzebon, Bonita Rickers, Seth Roffman, Erin Sanborn, GaryVaughn

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Anna C. Hansen, Dick Meyer, Seth Roffman

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Contents

In Praise of Restoration Ecology . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 5 Water, Air and Land: A Sacred Trust . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 8 New Map Documents Water Concerns in NM. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 8 Faren Dancer’s Unicopia Green: The Real Cost of Santa Fe’s “Cheap” Energy and Clean Air . . 11 The End of Pretend . . .. . .. . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .11 The Art of Change: Climate Justice and Indigenous Solutions Conference . . .. . .. 17 Sustainable Enterprises: Where Profits and Values Meet . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .19 How Green Is Your Landscape? . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .20 Sostenga: Culturally Appropriate Food for a Resilient Community . . .. . .. . .. . 23 Transition Albuquerque and Transition UNM. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 25 Responsibility, Sustainability and the Imagination . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 27 Affordable Energy Efficient Homes Have Arrived . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. 29 Electric Vehicles Can Revolutionize America’s Energy Use . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .29 What is Compost?. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .32 The Local Voice: Local Economies – Happy, Healthy and Wise. . .. . .. . .. . .. . 35 Retire Your Way: Planning for Your Retirement . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .37 What’s Going On . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .38

Distribution

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Green Fire Times

c/o The Sun Companies PO Box 5588 Santa Fe, NM 87502-5588 Ph: 505.471.5177 Fax: 505.473.4458 info@sunbooks.com www.GreenFireTimes.com © 2012 Green Fire Publishing, LLC Green Fire Times provides useful information for anyone: community members, business people, students, visitors—interested in discovering the wealth of opportunities and resources available in our region. Knowledgeable writers provide articles on subjects ranging from green businesses, products, services, entrepreneurship, jobs, design, building, energy and investing—to sustainable agriculture, arts & culture, ecotourism, education, regional food, water, the healing arts, local heroes, native perspectives, natural resources, recycling, transportation and more. Sun Companies publications seek to provide our readers with informative articles that support a more sustainable planet. To our publisher this means maximizing personal as well as environmental health by minimizingconsumption of meat and alcohol.

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Letter to the Editor • Water, Acequias, Population and Development

K

udos for focus ( January 2012) on acequias, a topic I covered for years for a major New Mexico daily. Based on that and a lifetime centered around water—from watching a family well dry up, to fighting two Colorado water projects—I share former NM Acequia Commissioner Wilfred Guttierez’ apprehensions about the threat to acequias in the early 21st century.

As warned by the Scripps Institute, the Pacific Institute, the National Academy of Sciences, the University of Colorado, author William deBuys and others, the Southwest is in the crosshairs of mushrooming population, drought and global warming. DeBuys writes: “If you live in the Southwest or just about anywhere in the American West, you or your children and grandchildren could soon enough be facing the Age of Thirst, which may also prove to be the greatest water crisis in the history of civilization.” I fear he understates the situation a bit!

The United States is the world’s third most populated nation behind only China and India, and despite Census Bureau efforts to obfuscate the fact, it grows—70 percent from immigration—by a whopping 1.1 percent a year, or a doubling time of 65 years or less. The Southwest is the fastest-growing region of that high-growth nation, and often experiences growth rates—between 2 and 3 percent per annum—matched only in Africa! We are almost identical in geographic size and climate to China, which was at roughly our current population of 314 million just one hundred years ago. We can anticipate a China-like population of one billion, possible by next century if current trends hold!

The Southwest is mostly dependent on the waters of just one river, the Colorado and its tributaries. It is today more an elaborate plumbing system than a river system. When the river was allocated—legally divided between Upper and Lower basin states in 1922—16.4 million acre-feet of water was allocated before it was determined only about 14.2 million acre feet flow in the river.

Further studies showed the average more likely to be 13.5 million acre feet even as, since 1922, the region’s population has exploded, with towns experiencing a thousand-fold increase in population to become mega-cities resting in the midst of five deserts with a population of 60 million, up from about two million or three million 100 years ago.

In the current drought—more likely just a return to drier norms after 1965-1996, the wettest time in the Southwest in 1,000 years—flows on the Colorado fell as low as 5.4 million acre feet, while levels at Lake Mead plummeted by 130 feet. Just seven feet above that would trigger a region-wide water emergency. A “fifty-year reliable water supply” in reservoirs disappeared in less than three years, which is part of why the National Academy, the Scripps Institute, myself and others increasingly insist that if there is insufficient water for the current population, it is irresponsible for our “leaders” (a word I always use with quotes) to push for more growth based on the mirage of conservation, “technofixes” or energy-intensive desalting.

Few doubt that acequias will be hit first, worst and hardest as the water picture grows ugly. Small, politically weak bodies won’t stand a prayer next to the demands of cities. Our leaders owe us acknowledgement of our nation’s exploding population and the regional implications of that growth on limited resources like water, plus the greater implications to the land-based cultures and traditions so many of us love so dearly. In short, it is time for them to acknowledge the consequences of their actions!

Kathleene Parker – Río Rancho, NM

Cover: The Río Grande near Embudo, New Mexico

Photo: ©Seth Roffman

Green Fire Times is not to be confused with the Green Fire Report, an in-house quarterly publication of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. The NMELC can be accessed online at: www.nmelc.org.

March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

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Environment

In Praise of Restoration Ecology

Jack Loeffler

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n 2009, I produced a documentary radio program entitled, Aldo Leopold in the Southwest. In my travels, I met Estella Leopold, youngest of the five children spawned by Aldo Leopold and Estella Luna Bergere Leopold, herself a native of Santa Fe, and member of the revered Luna family that have lived in New Mexico for many generations. Estella the younger is one of America’s most distinguished paleobotanists, now professor emeritus at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is also a wonderful folk musician whose repertoire includes dozens of Hispano folksongs recalled and sung by her family when she was a child.

When I recorded my interview with her in her home in Seattle, she recounted tales of her childhood that helped characterize both her father and mother, both of whom were wildly intelligent, deeply sensitive human beings whose commitment to family generated a model of conduct to which we should all aspire with mighty resolve. As we sat at her dining room table, Estella recounted the following recollection about how the seven members of the Leopold family reacted to the farm with its shack that Aldo Leopold bought in Sand County, Wisconsin where he wrote much of his magnum opus, A Sand County Almanac.

doing restoration ecology, which was the beginning of restoration ecology. We put prairie plants into the cornfield and after a while there were enough weeds and these plants that we could burn it off.

We set fire to it and right away the grasses began to expand because as the flames would come upwind, the grass would drop over behind the flames and drop the seeds on the fertilized ash and produce new plants. Pretty soon it became a tall grass prairie. It was wonderful.

Leopold Family Photos

“Then we began adding flowering plants to that prairie. But right now the deer get those, and it’s pretty hard to maintain that because you really need to live there and have a dog there all the time to keep the deer off. Otherwise you get what we have, which is a tall grass prairie. But at Nina’s [her elder sister’s] house where the dogs are, there are many, many flowers. There’s 250 native species in that prairie, so it’s a gorgeous garden of flowers every spring and summer. It’s just marvelous.”

T

his is one of my favorite stories of thousands that I’ve recorded over the last half-century because it contains elements necessary to not only heal habitat, but also heal our badly broken culture, especially as we try to peer through the opacity that clouds our view into the immediate future.

A story to not only heal habitat, but also our badly broken culture

“…When we first got there it was a cold spring day.

We had to drive around through the cornfield to get to the shack because the main road was under water and cold as heck. We got there and there was about three feet of manure in the corner of the cabin. We looked around and it was very bleak, lots of burrs. It was very open wasteland. The farmer had gone broke putting in corn after corn and left for Texas. And Dad got it for taxes at eight dollars an acre. So we got there and Mother looked around and said ‘Aldo, are you sure you want to bring the children up here?’ And Dad said something like ‘Yeah, we’re going to plant all this stuff. Put pinery up there on the ridge and put prairie out on the cornfield and won’t that be wonderful?’ And so it was. It was great. So we began work on the shack and it became our home away from home. No utilities, just our pump, and the Parthenon—the privy—down the way on the edge of the riverbank. Well, it was the edge of a terrace.

“We were there every weekend all the way through the ‘30s and the ’40s—just about every weekend.

Absolutely lovely. We built the fireplace and we fixed the roof and we put in windows and screens.

Finally we put in a floor because we had a clay floor first. Mother said we had to fix that so we did. We had bunks. We had a great time up there. We were

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Aldo Leopold came to the American Southwest in 1909 as a young forest ranger. Over the following years, he wandered by horse through the forest regions of the New Mexico and Arizona territories (they wouldn’t become states till 1912). He observed massive soil erosion and gradually came to attribute much of that to overgrazing by cattle and sheep, and to the presence of wagon trails carved through an arid landscape that is subject to seasonal torrential rains. Years later, he applied his growing ecological perspective to the farmer-burnt-out 80 acres that he had bought in Wisconsin, and thus, with the help of his family, initiated the practice of restoration ecology.

While Aldo Leopold may well have been the first within the context of Western culture to practice restoration ecology in America, he was certainly not the first to enhance habitat in the New World.

Here in the Southwest, there are examples of habitat enhancement that extend into antiquity among cultures such as the Hohokam with their irrigation canals in the Sonoran Desert of yore, the Río Grande Puebloans with water catchment systems that restore water to aquifers, the Hopis with carefully selected multiple breeds of corn that work within the arid habitat of the Hopi mesas, the

Top: The Leopold family with their dog, Gus. Brother Carl took the photo (about 1945).

Center: Building the first fireplace. Nina (l), Jeannie (Luna’s girlfriend) and Estella at pump.

Estella Leopold with Gus, watching the ice go out the Wisconsin River (1937) continued on page

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In Praise of Restoration continued from page 5 future health of the natural environment. He also re-invigorated the arts by funding artists of every persuasion to pursue their creative vision.

Thus, Roosevelt sought a means to recreate the handcrafted lifestyles that harkened back to the earliest days of young America, when people worked rather than held down jobs.

The Leopold family at the shack door. L-R: Aldo, wife Estella Luna Bergere, Estella, Flickie and Starker Leopold (1937). “I always thought we looked like a family on relief in the one,” Estella says. “One time a car drove by our shack on the muddy road and the kids hung out the window and said, ‘Look Mom. Somebody lives there!’”

Zunis with their waffle gardens, and the Hispanos with their acequia systems, and recognition of water and land as common pool resources that must not be privatized for financial profit.

Part of Aldo Leopold’s genius was to comprehend the potential of ailing land abandoned by a farmer who had egregiously over-worked the soil, then study the surrounding habitat to identify the indigenous plant and animal life, then invigorate a family practice of restoration ecology that not only reinstated health of habitat, but in-

stilled in every family member an understanding of the inter-relatedness of every aspect of the biotic community, and the absolute need for a system of ethics that includes the land as well as ourselves and other species within our cultural purview.

The profundity of this lesson is of such vast importance today that should we not heed its wisdom and contemplate its implications, we may fail to veer from our present course to disaster.

Restoration ecology is currently the next necessary step beyond conservation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to employ a myriad of the unemployed during the Great Depression of the 1930s by creating the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to create rip-rap in arroyos to retard erosion, build firelookout towers, re-plant seedlings in the wake of the onslaught of the timber industry, and other modes of conduct that he regarded as vital for restoring a failed economic system, and aligning that Aldo and daughter Estella planting a tree (1943). with an attempt to ensure Spring vacation was always planting week.

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Leopold took this a giant step further by putting the land first and involving his family in its ecological restoration. He did this in such a fashion that each family member not only adopted his perspective as their own, but also went on to evolve a collective body of work that remains an unprecedented contribution to a culture of practice that is itself culturally restorative. In the broader sense, restoration ecology and cultural restoration may be perceived as mutually inclusive, each vital to the other. And implicit in this clearly definable culture of practice is the de-secularization of habitat, the re-sacrilization of homeland.

Restoration ecology in conjunction with cultural restoration and re-sacrilization of homeland must be enshrined as fundamental to our greater human culture of practice. How this is accomplished is up to each individual.

It must certainly occur from within the grassroots of human culture; it lies beyond the ken of today’s corporatedominated political systems that are proven antithetic to this way of being.

Many, if not most, of today’s institutions are based on economic growth for its own sake, a principle that must be redefined.

Somehow, we must collectively foster a paradigm founded in a form of expanded consciousness that includes restoration of habitat, hard work on behalf of the greater good for the entire biotic community, and satisfaction with return to a hand-crafted lifestyle shaped by evolving imagination assisted by appropriate technology that is harmonious within the flow of Nature—all within a world of diminishing resources. This is a tall order in today’s political milieu that has shifted from that of a young, exuberant democracy of two centuries past, to the oligarchy that currently presides. Our present body politic is antithetic to the environmental standards that we must assume if we are to wend our

way through the stormy times ahead.

In 1969, the National Environmental Policy Act was passed by both the Senate and House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, and was signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on January 1, 1970. Its purpose appears in the preamble as follows: “To declare a national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation; and to establish a Council on Environmental Quality.”

Since 1970, the human population of our planet has nearly doubled. Our species’ perceived needs have grown proportionately. We abide within an economic system based on limitless growth. Our natural resources dwindle in direct proportion to our growth, and today, economics overshadows sound ecology by magnitudes within the Zeitgeist of modern global culture. In our quest for natural resources we have left a wake of devastation through natural habitats vital for the maintenance of a viable biotic community. We have committed an immense number of fellow species to extinction. We have created a body of law that gradually erodes our National Environmental Policy Act, many laws designed to define and defend the Policy of Limitless Growth that our capitalist system demands.

What a de-spirited legacy we are embedding in collective human consciousness. By celebrating the privatization of common pool resources for financial gain, we have gone un-Natural.

What can we do?

First, we must individually and collectively ingest the level of jeopardy to which we have exposed not just ourselves, but the entire biotic community.

Then we must determine the wellspring of the calamity, part of which resides in each and every one of us. Then, within the realm of regional and national politics, identify that which serves the greatest good for the entire biotic community and reject that which does not, continued on page

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The Río Grande from White Rock, looking northeast toward Black Mesa

A

comprehensive map documenting concerns about water resources on the part of New Mexico community and religious organizations was dedicated last month in the Rotunda of the State Capitol. The map shows how current and historical industrial activities have impacted water, air and land, as well as urban and rural populations and the health of wildlife, plants, birds and fish. The major waters of the state and areas that have been, and in many cases, continue to be compromised by the oil and gas industry, the nuclear fuel chain, and coal-fired power plants are detailed on the map. Areas affected by smoke plumes from the 2000 Cerro Grande wildfire and the 2011 Las Conchas Fire are also shown.

Over a year in the making, the project was initiated by the Partnership for Earth Spirituality (PES) in association with Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety (CCNS) and the Multicultural Alliance for Safe Environment (MASE). The Catholic Sisters of Mercy–Northeast Community of the US, funded the project.

The organizations envision the map, corresponding brochure and websites as a resource and tool for community groups to educate and engage citizenry in protecting their communities. The map is being distributed to city, state and federal legislators.

“Water is a sacred trust and it is threatened. We must protect our water, air and land,” said Sister Marlene Perrotte, a PES board member. Sr. Joan Brown, Executive Director of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, who also worked on the project, said, “As we experience increased and longer droughts–an expression of climate change­–the precious gift of water becomes more threatened by pollutants. We are morally obligated to speak for the children, the Earth and the future ones whose voices are usually not represented. Actions addressing pollution from coal-fired power plants and calling for accountability in the oil and gas industry are expressions of an informed faith.” continued on page 14

New Map Documents Water Concerns in NM

Excerpts from the Map’s Brochure THROUGHOUT NEW MEXICO

As the Southwest becomes more arid due to growth and climate change, water resources become ever more stretched. As water quantity decreases, water quality is more easily compromised. Approximately 90% of New Mexicans rely on groundwater for drinking.

Oil and Gas Industrial Contamination

New Mexico ranks second in natural gas production and fifth in oil production within the U.S. During 2001, 69.9 million barrels of oil and 1.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas were produced.

• Safeguards such as the 2008 Pit Rule theoretically reduce contamination of shallow groundwater aquifers. Before 2008, the oil industry self-reported more than 700 cases of groundwater contamination due to oil and gas development.

• Hydrofracking is a method of injecting millions of gallons of clean water mixed with toxic chemicals and radioactive sand into a well. The pressure fractures the shale and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow more freely out of the well. The safety of the water is a growing concern.

• This process is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act. • Each coalbed methane well uses from 50,000 to 350,000 gallons of water.

• Deeper horizontal shale wells can use 2 – 10 million gallons of water per well.

NORTHWEST NEW MEXICO

The San Juan River Basin provides the majority of drinking water for the area.

Coal Cycle

Surface water and groundwater are contaminated during extraction of coal, its subsequent preparation and the disposal of mine waste if no mitigating measures are used.

• Sites have been abandoned without adequate reclamation.

• Coal mining and power plants utilize large amounts of water.

• In 2010, coal-fired power plants emitted 72.3 % of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the U.S.

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

• In 2010, the San Juan Generating Station produced more than 8.5 million tons of carbon air pollution and consumed more than 9.3 billion gallons of clean water.

• According to the EnvironmenPetuuche Gilbert of Acoma Pueblo, speaking at tal Protection Agency (EPA), the press conference for the map project at the the San Juan Generating Sta- New Mexico State Capitol Rotunda tion is the 18th highest nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide emitter of the 496 U.S. coal-fired power plants.

• O ver 90% of the state’s power-related GHG emissions occur at coal-fired power plants. The plants at San Juan and the Four Corners produce 75% of the total emissions.

• Because of intensive gas, oil and coal industries in New Mexico, the per capita GHG emissions are almost twice the U.S. average (42 v. 25).

WESTERN NEW MEXICO

Regional aquifers, springs and small rivers provide water for this area.

• Groundwater and soil in the Churchrock area is threatened and contaminated.

• New uranium mining is being proposed in the Grants uranium mining belt.

Uranium mining and milling

• About 40% of the uranium extracted in the U.S. was mined and milled in NM. • From 1952 to 1990, the Homestake Mill produced 21 million tons of uranium mine tailings.

• On July 16, 1979, the Churchrock Mill dam of uranium milling wastes collapsed, spilling 100 million gallons of radioactive liquid and 1,100 tons of mill tailings into the Puerco River.

• Today, years after mine and mill closures, contaminants affect aquifers, surface water, air and land. continued on page

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© Seth Roffman

© Anna C. Hansen

Water, Air and Land: A Sacred Trust

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March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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Threats to Water, Air and Land continued from page 8

NORTH-CENTRAL NEW MEXICO

In 2008 the EPA designated Española Basin as a sole source drinking water aquifer.

Nuclear weapons manufacturing and waste storage at Los Alamos National Laboratory

• O ver 21 million cubic feet of chemical and radioactive wastes have been buried in unlined pits, trenches, and shafts at LANL, with 2,100 sites that have the potential to release contaminants into canyons feeding the Río Grande and recharging the regional aquifer.

Roads

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They will retain the surfacing materials in place, eliminate washouts and erosion, eliminate mud holes, and harvest the road water runoff to increase forage. We employ the principles of surface hydrology in our design and construction of dirt road drainage systems.

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

CENTRAL NEW MEXICO

Aquifers and the Río Grande Basin provide drinking water for Central NM.

Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia National Laboratories

• At Sandia National Laboratories, 1.5 million cubic feet of radioactive and hazardous wastes are buried in unlined pits and trenches at the mixed waste landfill dump. No effective monitoring is in place.

• Both eight million gallons of leaked jet fuel as well as perchlorate from openair detonation and burning of rocket motors now contaminate Albuquerque’s aquifer.

Trinity Nuclear Weapon Test Site and White Sands Missile Range

• The first plutonium-based atomic device detonated at the Trinity Site on July 16, 1945, released 13.2 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium, of which 2.6 pounds fissioned. The remaining 10.6 pounds dispersed over farms, ranches, fields, milk cows and rainwater cisterns.

• Cancer mortality rates for the four counties surrounding the Trinity Site (Lincoln, Otero, Sierra and Socorro) are three to eight times the national rate.

SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

The Ogallala Aquifer lies under almost all of Eastern New Mexico and West Texas. The Pecos River is a major surface water body.

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)

• WIPP is the world’s first waste repository for nuclear and toxic materials from nuclear weapons that are hazardous for thousands of generations.

Uranium Enrichment, Processing and Deconversion Facilities

• In 2010, URENCO began enriching uranium, generating tons of depleted uranium (DU) hexafluoride waste near Eunice, where 5,016 containers can be stored on site.

• International Isotopes proposes a DU hexafluoride deconversion facility near Hobbs to deconvert DU hexafluoride to DU oxide, which would be disposed at a yet-to-be-determined location. y

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Energy

The Real Cost of Santa Fe’s “Cheap” Energy and Clean Air

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hough Santa Fe, New Mexico, and its constant stream of international visitors can take pride in some of the finest air quality of any US city, it comes at a notable cost to the inhabitants of the Navajo Nation, which is home to five coal power plants in and around the reservation.

The San Juan Generating Station, primary source for Santa Fe’s electricity, is rated as one of the most polluting coal plants in the US. Countless Navajo children are being born with asthma, and coal is also viewed as a culprit for high rates of chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart disease among the Diné (Navajo).

Toxins such as mercury, arsenic, formaldehyde and lead rain down on the environment and extract a tremendous toll. Coal mining on the reservation has a decades-long history of health effects on the miners, along with the resultant coal ash, which is placed in unlined holding bins to the tune of millions of tons annually. The coal ash, which contains many of the same toxic chemicals, continues leaching into the groundwater and poses a poten-

tial environmental hazard for generations to come. So, the question arises, isn’t it about time to clean things up and move toward a more sustainable means of generating electricity? It’s a known fact that NM averages over 300 days of sunshine annually.

Powers Square Off

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), given some real teeth under the Obama administration, recently targeted the most polluting coal plants in the US. The San Juan Generating Station and the Four Corners coal-burning plants, both located in northwest NM, have been determined to be two of the most polluting plants in question. This, along with recent California laws prohibiting utilities from investing in most coal-fired plants, has helped trigger an imminent shift in NM that regulators and environmentalists hope will lead to cleaner air for the entire Four Corners region.

Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), the main operator of the Four Corners plant, has committed to shutting down three of the five generating units that are the biggest polluters.

THE END OF PRETEND

Gary Vaughn

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’m sure you’ve already read PNM’S 218 page “2011-2030 Electric Integrated Resource Plan” (IRP) — hasn’t everyone? It was filed with the New Mexico Public Regulatory Commission last July. Formal protests to the plan were filed soon afterwards, and the PRC has already issued a formal “decision” on part of the plan.

All of this is fascinating, but the real reason you might be interested is that the IRP clearly lays out PNM’s vision for your energy future. Inquiring minds want to know what’s in store.

Those Green Fire Times readers with an executive mindset need only digest the IRP’s two-page “Executive Summary.” Here are the four “Themes and Observations” from page 1: • “Existing baseload resources [coal & nuclear] are least cost even when considering environmental compliance uncertainty.”

• “Natural gas, in combination with energy efficiency and load management, is the least cost future resource additions.”

• “Renewable resources are added to meet regulatory requirements, but increase cost and degrade system operation.”

• ” Environmental rules and regulations add significant costs to customers.”

Now you only need two more sentences from the executive summary to be able to come to the same conclusions that PNM has reached in the remaining 216 pages:

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The San Juan Station is owned and operated by Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), which also owns 13 percent of the remaining two units at the Four Corners Plant. PNM recently teamed with NM Gov. Susana Martinez to fight the EPA rulings and appears deter- Four Corners Power Plants mined to maintain the status quo at Instead of meeting this mandate, San Juan at all costs. Their perspective PNM’s most recent lobbying effort is that this source of “cheap” energy at the PRC has gotten the amount cannot be replaced affordably. Ironireduced to 5 percent. The fast-dwincally, despite PNM’s continuing misdling Renewable Energy Credits supsion to maintain profits for their inplied to residential producers of solar vestors, rate hikes have been granted electricity are being lobbied away by by the NM Public Regulatory ComPNM’s highly paid legal team at the mission (PRC) on a regular basis.

PRC. Of course, all these efforts and There has been a 45 percent increase expenditures are financed with ratein electricity rates since 2008. payer proceeds. Homeowners had received 13 cents a kilowatt-hour for all A NM state law passed during the renewable energy produced as recentRichardson administration mandated ly as 2010. The credit is now down to that PNM produce 10 percent of its 5 cents a kilowatt-hour and will soon electricity generation requirements disappear altogether. The fact that the from renewable sources by this year. continued on page 12

“The most cost-effective portfolio meets electric system demand, provides acceptable system reliability and operational flexibility, meets renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and other regulatory requirements, and minimizes financial cost to the customer.” “The most cost effective resource portfolio meets Renewable Energy Act (REA) RPS requirements up to the established cost limits.”

If you executives want to skip the amusing details, then jump down to the “Bottom Line” section below; the rest of you might enjoy trying to think like PNM.

FASCINATING CONCLUSIONS

PNM’s overriding objective—to meet electric demands in the “most cost effective way”—leads PNM to conclude that: 1) “The most cost-effective resource portfolio includes all existing resources since they are least cost.” (p. 3) [This obviously includes all PNM coal- and nuclear-powered generating plants, as well as all existing gas-fired plants— even the oldest and least efficient and most polluting.]

2) “Environmental regulations may increase costs for capital investments and/or resource operations; paying these costs and continuing to operate the existing facilities represents the overall least-cost risk mitigation strategy. The cost of other alternatives would be much greater to PNM customers.” (p. 10) 3) “Since renewable resources were not least cost alternatives, they are included in the portfolio to meet regulatory requirements.” (p. 3) 4) Coal, nuclear and natural gas resources are firm, dispatchable and reliable. Renewable resources are non-firm, unpredictable, intermittent and unreliable. (throughout) continued on page

March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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11

The Real Cost continued from page 11 NM Legislature approved a bill several years ago guaranteeing PNM’s profits for the next 30 years certainly doesn’t help the move toward renewable energy. Does any other private enterprise you know have a business model of guaranteed profits?

If PNM would commit to spending their (our) money to clean up their act, and NM’s environment, instead of funneling massive dollars into lawyers, lobbying efforts and PR spin, some progress certainly could be made. But, as mentioned, they are determined to continue fighting to maintain the same technology that has been polluting the Navajo Nation for the past 50-plus years.

The Energy-Water Nexus

Water is ultimately the most precious resource in the arid Southwest.

The San Juan Generating Station alone consumes 1.5 times more water than the annual usage of the city of Santa Fe. Despite PNM claims of water recycling, this amount of water consumption is unsustainable, especially now that both Santa Fe and Albuquerque are utilizing Río Grande water to supplement their municipal supplies. The San Juan River, water source for the San Juan Station, is a major tributary to the Río Grande.

A little-known and perplexing aspect of our antiquated power distribution system is that a mere 29 percent of energy production at the plants is typically available at point of use. This means that during the 223-mile transmission journey from the San Juan Station to Santa Fe, the other 71% is lost. It’s hardly an efficient system, especially considering the environmental and human costs involved. This level of inefficiency seemed permissible during our rise through the Industrial Revolution, the seemingly endless supply of cheap fossil fuel with little knowledge of the consequences.

We are now moving steadily forward in the 21st century, with maximum profits to investors being the primary reason to maintain a mid-20th century technology. So, the question arises…what might be the solution to this unsustainable mess?

Solutions

First of all, anyone with knowledge of PNM’s history and corporate mission to maintain the old ways at all cost, knows there’s a steep slope to

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

climb in overcoming this politically entrenched corporate monopoly. In many ways PNM represents what’s absolutely worst about single-bottomline, business-as-usual profiteering.

Profits from this “free enterprise” operation directly leave the state in the pockets of investors, creating a drain rather than a stimulus for our local economy. This, along with the nicely funded lobbying efforts and teams of lawyers, compromises the environment and typically, the will of the people, with undue influence in the legislative process. So what solutions may be present to begin the move away from dirty coal to secure a truly sustainable future for NM? For the second time in the past decade, there is a movement afoot to pursue the concept of a publicly owned, renewable municipal energy grid for Santa Fe and Santa Fe County. The first attempt, which had gathered much support and momentum, mysteriously fizzled out about six years ago. Changes in economic conditions appeared to be the culprit, but one can only wonder about the influence of the powers that be.

Now the time has arrived for another conscious attempt to bring this obvious solution into play. Locally owned and generated, renewable power would solve the issue of keeping proceeds in the community, would be a catalyst for potential green jobs, alleviate the issue of transmission loss and bring about the ultimate goal of clean energy as the source of our power. Boulder, Colo. recently passed a public referendum after conducting a feasibility study, and is now rapidly moving toward its own municipally owned utility. One can look at numerous, successful examples of this approach around the country. Help build the groundswell of public support in Santa Fe by signing a petition in support of this concept, whose time has come.

Go to www.unicopia.org and click Petitions. y Faren Dancer is an award-winning d e s i g n e r, b u i l d e r, educator and activist.

His UNICOPIA GREEN RADIO show is each Saturday at 4 pm on KTRC (1260 AM), simulcast at santafe.com. All the archived shows are available at www.unicopia.org.

Email: Faren@unicopia.org

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March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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A GREAT ARIDNESS, A GREATER HOPE 2 Annual Faith and the Environment Conference Bill deBuys, Keynote Speaker nd

SATuRDAy, MARCH 24 ✮ SuNDAy, MARCH 25 The united Church of Santa Fe Saturday, March 24 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

Clean-up Santa Fe River Service Project with Santa Fe Watershed Association

12:00 pm

Lunch along the River

2:30 pm

Workshops by Environmental and Faith Communities

4:00 pm

Keynote Presentation – Bill deBuys, A Great Aridness

5:15 pm

Panel Discussion with Dr. Larry Rasmussen, Environmental Ethicist, Talitha Arnold, M.Div, Brandon Johnson, M.Div

6:00 pm

Book Signing with Bill deBuys

Sunday, March 25 8:30 & 11:00 am “Celebrate the Earth, Care for the Earth” Worship Gatherings 9:45 am

Forum: Bill deBuys, Dr. Larry Rasmussen, Rev. Talitha Arnold

Dr. Larry Rasmussen, Rev. Taliha Arnold, Brandon Johnson

All events free and open to the public.

Call 988-3295 to register for River Cleanup or Workshops.

Donations gladly accepted.

Current sponsors: New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light; New Mexico Trust for Public Land; Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute; Collected Works Bookstore; Santa Fe Watershed; New Mexico Center for Environmental Law. If interested in sponsorship, please contact Talitha Arnold (505-988-3295).

14

United Church of Santa Fe • 1804 Arroyo Chamiso (at St. Michael’s Drive) 505-988-3295 • unitedchurchofsantafe.org • Facebook, too.

Green Fire Times • March 2012

A Sacred Trust continued from page 8

“Water and life are inseparable,” said Sr. Rose Marie Cecchini, Director of the Office of Life, Justice, Peace and Creation Stewardship in Gallup, NM. “Here in the Southwest, we already see evidence of the erosion of the living systems of Earth, which will intensify with global climate change. This New Mexico map places the truth starkly before our eyes and impels us to change our cultural assaults on water, air, land and wildlife while we have time.”

Joni Arends, Executive Director of CCNS, spoke at the Capitol gathering.

She said, “When we look at the map we see contaminated areas around the state. It is es- Joni Arends sential to know that the safeguards to protect people and environment are based on a “Reference Man,” defined as a Caucasian man between 20 and 30 years of age, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing 154 pounds. He is a Western European or North American and lives in a climate with an average temperature of from 50 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.1 The Reference Man is not representative of the most vulnerable, such as pregnant women, infants, children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Nor does it take into account the lifestyles and food sources of Indigenous and land-based communities.”

The map, references used to create it, and additional information about how you can get involved, are available on the website www.SacredTrustNM. org. The website also provides additional information about the industries shown on the map and the operating permits issued by federal and state regulators, as well as links to non-governmental community and environmental organizations working to address pollution. y 1 Source: International Commission on Radiological Protection. Report of the Task Group on Reference Man. [ICRP Publication] No. 23. Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1975. Adopted October 1974.

Page 4.

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March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

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Climate Change

The Art of Change: Climate Justice and Indigenous Solutions

Institute of American Indian Arts to Host Spring Conference Monica Gutiérrez, Sasha Lapointe, Annie McDonnell, Bonita Rickers n some ways, climate change is the great equalizer. But in the unraveling of this balance in our climate systems that has already begun, there are some who are affected sooner and more deeply. Indigenous peoples around the world have contributed least to the outpouring of carbon in capitalistindustrial culture, yet they are most vulnerable to the changes in climate as many still depend directly on the local land and sea for their food, medicine and ways of life. Native peoples around the globe are rallying to find ways to preserve their cultures and the ecosystems that their cultures are embedded in. The Indigenous values and knowledge of interdependence with all of nature, and our responsibility to care for all beings are essential parts of the path ahead for all of us. This vision says that the strategies articulated in global climate agreements so far are not enough and will lead to catastrophic consequences. Instead, we need to articulate a new vision, one that challenges the current dominant paradigm of limitless consumption and growth, one that is based on equity and respect between people and the Earth. In Cochabamba, Bolivia at the World Peoples Conference on Climate Change, this vision was articulated in “The Universal Rights of Mother Earth.”

What does it mean to be a culture based on responsibilities rather than a culture based on individual rights?

What are the stories, values and perspectives that Indigenous peoples and communities offer in the climate justice movement? What are some ways art can speak to the shifts that are necessary to respond to climate change? What are some of the skills and practices that empower individuals and communities in responding to climate change? To explore some of these questions, the Institute of American Indian Arts will host a spring conference called The Art of Change: Climate Justice and Indigenous Solutions April 20 and 21 on the IAIA campus in Santa Fe. IAIA Student sustainability leaders explain some of the details below.

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Sasha Lapointe on Climate Justice:

Climate justice points us to the Indigenous and ancestral ways of being.

To move forward with more sustainable alternatives, it is necessary to look back at the ways of our own ancestors and Indigenous people all over the world. Rather than continuing to enable the commodification of the Earth and its resources, each member of every community can take part in finding ways to secure some kind of safety for future generations. That’s what our ancestors did. Rather than the pursuit of economic growth, development and wealth, previous generations perfected the art of living sustainably.

One of the similarities between the developed countries most responsible for climate change is a disconnection from the land’s Indigenous people, history and ancestral knowledge. In order to truly shift from the current destructive paradigm, we need to refer to the ancestral models of agriculture, knowledge and ways of life. For example, the basket weavers of my own coastal Salish tribe still practice the ways of their ancestors when it comes to gathering cedar. I often refer to this in my own daily life when thinking of necessity versus want or greed.

The way our ancestors collected cedar was in harmony with the environment and sustained them. Rather than strip one tree bare, they would move from tree to tree, in order to prevent taking too much and damaging any one tree.

I think of this traditional practice of sustainability and respect in comparison to the dominant model of capitalism that prioritizes efficiency and profit over the health of people and the land.

This ancestral way of gathering cedar reflects how we can relate to any of the Earth’s resources. What do we really need? How does our taking affect the health of the rest of life and ourselves?

How do we give back to sustain, not our resources, but the sources of life and well-being.

© Seth Roffman

I

Bonita Rickers on the Conference Themes and Keynote Speaker:

The Art of Change will focus on four main themes for affecting positive change in our communities. The themes can be viewed as “steps” for action, and they move in a circular fashion, reminding us of the cyclical nature of the Earth.

Culture and Stories will highlight the importance of ancestral wisdom, intercultural and intergenerational dialogue and connection to place. We will discuss how communities are responding to their own environmental issues, and how Traditional Ecological Knowledge can be connected to the dominant paradigm.

Creative Communication will address working with what is available, expanding ideas and selecting appropriate artistic mediums and practical resources to meet the needs of communities. We will explore how to effectively communicate with and inspire those who you are working with, as well as communicating with the web of life affected by these issues of climate injustice.

Skills and Technology focuses on building and working within your environment, particularly using what is immediately available. We want to highlight the importance of accessible forms of renewable energies.

We must also address the importance of strengthening connections within communities to bring all skills and resources together for a common goal.

Tools for Change concentrates on activist strategies, particularly strategies that have been successful and that are cross-cultural, accessible and empowering. What kinds of strategies effectively engage with policy and power to make real change? We will emphasize the importance of knowledge and documentation of the past, understanding present issues and articulating future directions. Lastly, we want to continue stressing the importance of bioregional solutions for climate justice.

Given the breadth and depth of the conference focus, straddling localism and globalism, the personal and the political, and vision and action, we are honored that Winona LaDuke, our keynote speaker, will help set the tone for the event. Winona’s tireless work bridges grassroots economic development and cultural preservation with national and international politics and policy formation. Winona is of the Anishinaabe Tribe of the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. She received her first degree from Harvard University in 1982 in rural economic development and went on to receive her Master’s in community economic development from Antioch University. In 1989, she founded the White Earth Land Recovery Project to pursue the restoration and protection of the land, protect wild rice from genetic modification and commoditization by mainstream agriculture, and to restore local food systems. continued on page

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IAIA continued from page 17

In September 2011 an IAIA delegation from the Student Sustainability Leadership class attended the 22nd Headwaters Climate Change Conference in Gunnison, Colo. Ms. LaDuke won over our hearts and minds at this event, and we were able to lure her to be our keynote speaker at the Art of Change conference.

Hill from Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture, a dinner of local, organic food

by Bon Appétit, and a special keynote presentation by Winona LaDuke in the LSC auditorium at 7 pm. Special guest, Mayan elder Flordemayo, one of the 13 Indigenous grandmothers, will open the presentation Friday evening with a prayer.

Monica Gutiérrez Explains Conference Details:

On Saturday morning, April 21, there will be several key presentations. Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network will speak about international Indigenous climate

On Friday afternoon, April 20, there will be a cob building workshop with IAIA students and Jonah and Lillian

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

justice issues and movements. Anna Rondon from Gallup Solar Group and Dave Melton of Sacred Power in Albuquerque will speak about renewable energy in local Native communities. Other guest speakers will speak about Native foods and farming as a strategy of resilience. An intergenerational panel will discuss the major themes of climate justice, art and stories, skills and technologies, tools for change, and current effects of climate change. In the afternoon, there will be a variety of different creative and

hands-on workshops in the Center for Lifelong Education building that participants can choose from to explore creative and practical responses to climate change and climate justice issues. After the discussion, IAIA’s Music Club will play around the campfire.

IAIA’s Student Sustainability Leadership hopes to see you there! y For updates and details, see the IAIA Climate Justice and Indigenous Solutions Facebook page, IAIA’s website (www.iaia.edu) or contact Annie McDonnell at 505.424.5733, amcdonnell@iaia.edu.

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Sustainable Enterprises

Where Profits and Values Meet

Erin Sanborn

I

n most people’s minds, for-profit companies are about making money and non-profit organizations are about “doing good,” and the two shall never meet. Truth be told, there are thousands of organizations, websites and available information that will inspire you, take you on journeys you never imagined and give you hope again. The level of creativity to make changes in our world is everywhere!

We don’t have a problem with creativity, examples, opportunity and financing. We have a problem with allocation, access to knowledge and focus.

The hybrids of the traditional nonprofit and for-profit companies are emerging everywhere: corporations are writing by-laws about the percentage of profits they donate to the causes/organizations they care deeply about; non-profits are buying patents, forming new companies, bringing products to market and those new companies are committing using those profits to fund education; new entrepreneurs are forming B-corps and social entrepreneurial companies; non-profits are diversifying their revenue streams; mega-corporations are instituting profit-sharing and

employee-ownership programs; philanthropy is focused on self-reliance; new types of funding and loan sources are ensuring ownership in the hands of the innovators and employees; new types of public-private partnerships are emerging; and the list goes on.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or an employee of an organization, small or gigantic, you can make a change to influence where profits meet values. You can make a difference. Let’s take the elephant in the room first: Walmart. If you are an employee, get involved in Walmart’s Green/Sustainability work. Apply for funds for a community project such as sourcing local food into the grocery department, grants for teaching children about healthy food choices, “green” your local store, ask the corporation to fund solar panels on all local schools, or develop a project close to your heart and ask this megalith of a corporation to help. This corporation has made a public commitment to such work and they just might fund your proposal.

If you are part of a large organization, convene a meeting with people from all levels of the organization and ask,

Green Potentials for Northern New Mexico

Dr. Richard Sayre, Director of the biofuels project at the New Mexico Consortium, which is working in conjunction with Los Alamos National Laboratory, recently provided an overview of his vision for algal research in Los Alamos. A speaker from the New Mexico chapter of the Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association (ETEBA) painted a picture of green business potentials in the region.

“How do our profits meet our values?

Are there ways we can improve the relationship between profits and values?

What are examples and what are our options?”

If you are an entrepreneur and either have a small business or want to start one, talk with a social enterprise consultant, find investment money through your local bank, credit union, the Permaculture Credit Union, La Montañita Loan Fund, crowd financing or other options. Study triple bottom line and sustainable businesses.

Meet WAV Links (Waste as Value Links), where one organization’s waste is another’s material supplier for their products. Consider writing a business plan that takes seriously and yet is lighthearted about how you will bring profits and values together.

Here are just a few resources to explore and to cultivate inspiration: • Read YES magazine, GreenBiz, Green Fire Times, or Paul Hawken’s book: Blessed Unrest, How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming • Research social enterprise, Biomimicry, Beyond Benign, Green Chemistry and Bioneers • Volunteer at a food kitchen, pantry or bank and be inspired and humbled • Go to AllocateYourTaxDollars.org and let the federal government know how you want your tax money spent • Check in with your favorite nonprofit organization, and ask them about sustainability

• Join the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce The changes in our world, where people are doing good things and earning a very decent living, are everywhere. First, together we must help each other open our eyes and share what we know. Second, every small action forward has a sister organization or an example somewhere. We are not alone. Others are traveling the same path. Third, there are those who will lend a helping hand and a good mind. Just ask and put the word out in places that may seem unusual. Follow your intuition. It is just as good as research. Do both. Finally, make a personal commitment to seek out the good news, the inspiring people, the quiet moments, and know that the world of profits for profit’s sake and the small minority of the wealthy is crumbling. Increasingly, products are being developed that have no waste, do not pollute the planet, take care of people and make scads of money!

Teach your children they can become an engineer or a lawyer, doctor, entrepreneur, scientist or teacher, and do what they are passionate about, earn a good living, not pollute the planet, and have a wonderful life. y Based in Taos, NM, Erin Sanborn provides Executive Coaching and consulting services through Collaborative Green. 575.770.2991, erin@collaborativegreen. com

The gathering took place at The Hive in White Rock, which provides resources to businesses and organizations in the green business sector. The event was presented by Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation in collaboration with the Green Business Cluster of Northern New Mexico, Regional Development C o r p o r a t i o n’s REDI Project, the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce, and the NM chapter of the Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association.

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March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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How Green Is Your Landscape?

Dick Meyer

I

s your landscape “green” if it conserves water? Is it “green” if you don’t use pesticides and herbicides to maintain it? Is it “green” if you harvest rainwater to irrigate your landscape? Is it “green” if you use mostly native plants? Is it “green” if you do all of the above?

When it comes to “green” landscaping, green, it seems, is an evolving color. Conserving water and reducing or eliminating the use of chemicals to maintain your landscape are certainly aspects of “green” landscaping. But new thinking about the capacity of our home, business, and public community landscapes suggest that there may be far more that can be done in our personal and community landscapes to reduce and remediate the deleterious effects of modern human activity on the global environment.

in our human landscapes, landscape designs and practices which increase plant size and density and which build soil are an important part of the new green landscape.

Give your landscape a score ranging from 0 to 20 points based on the degree to which your landscape design, construction, and maintenance practices capture and retain carbon ________ (Unless your landscape is a wilderness area, your score on this question should probably be less than 2.)

How green is your landscape? Take the “Green Landscape Test” and see. OK, this isn’t really a test on which you should try to give yourself a score. But a test is a great way to break down a complex issue into its essential components and look at each component separately. As you will see, there may be quite a bit more to creating a really green landscape than you had thought. So, are you ready? Here’s the test—good luck.

Does your landscape use a sustainable quantity of municipal, well, or other irrigation water?

Sustainable water use was the first major environmental issue that confronted the modern human landscape. The development and widespread adoption of xeric landscape design, construction, and maintenance practices have been very successful in proving that highly functional and attractive landscapes can be created that will thrive on sustainable quantities of irrigation water. Water use remains a crucial aspect of a green landscape so this question is worth 20 points.

(One important overlooked source of water for landscape use is the rain and snow melt that simply runs off your property after a rain storm or as the snow melts in spring. It is not unusual for 50-60% of a residential or commercial property to be covered by either the roofs of the buildings or related driveways, sidewalks, patios, or parking areas. If the rain and snow that falls on these parts of the property can be captured and channeled into the landscape, the result is an effective doubling of the natural rainfall for use by the landscape. But don’t try to score your landscape on how well it captures and uses storm water for this question—that’s a part of question #4.)

Give your landscape a score ranging from 0 to 20 points based on the sustainability of your landscape irrigation practices ________

Does your landscape maximize the sequestration of carbon in soil

and plants in order to offset the release of atmospheric carbon caused by the human activity of its occupants?

Increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide have been proven to be a major cause of global climate change in the minds of most climate scientists and related experts. The release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere remains a major environmental concern. The use of plants to reduce the energy consumption of buildings is one way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. But many experts think that there’s an even more effective way to address this environmental issue through your landscape. Plant tissues are the biosphere’s major carbon sink, so a significant increase in plant tissue volume within our landscapes could be part of a global strategy to reverse increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, this is only effective if those additional plant tissues remain in the landscape and are allowed to decompose in the soil— becoming soil carbon—carbon is what makes topsoil black, by the way. So if you have any significant amount of the euphemistically mislabeled weed barrier in your landscape, you should deduct a few more points from what is likely to be a low score on this item already, because it prevents sloughed seasonal and generational plant tissues from ever reaching the soil organisms which would normally lock up the carbon contained in those plant tissues in the soil as soil organic matter. Because atmospheric carbon is a serious problem which can be impacted

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

Does

your

landscape

sustain

plant, insect, bird and animal species

diversity

equal

to

or

greater than that found in the indigenous

ecosystems

geographic region?

of

your

While it’s not as widely discussed in the media as global climate change, many leading biologists think that species exGrasses and perennial flowers tinction is potentially as serious an environtend to be much “greener” choicmental problem as increasing concentraes for many of the common comtions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. mercial urban landscape spaces The problem of species extinction is combecause of their capacity to tolmonly thought to be connected to largeerate the heat, drought and traffic scale issues like rainforest deforestation, stresses of these environments. over-hunting and poaching of wild animals in third world countries, and overfishing of the planet’s oceans, but species extinction is likely going on in your own backyard.

The cause? The failure of traditional and contemporary landscape design philosophies to recognize the intricate and finely tuned interconnectedness of plants, insects, birds and animals, and microorganisms within an ecosystem. Most human landscapes can only be described as ecologically inept and incomplete. And, as if our traditional landscape designs weren’t inept and incomplete enough to cause species extinction, our chemical and physical sanitation of lawns and landscape plantings virtually insures that our landscapes are not going to support anything approaching the biodiversity of the indigenous ecosystems which our landscapes replace. Make no mistake about it, to get a perfect score on this test question will not be easy. It will require a greatly increased use of native plants in the landscape. It will require that we learn to appreciate and to enhance the durable beauty of natural landscapes. It will require that we learn to work with nature to create and maintain our landscapes, rather than to continually battle with nature to maintain the unnatural beauty pageants that our landscapes have become. But it will also require that nurseries grow and sell different plants—and that they grow and sell them differently. So getting a perfect score on this question will take some time. But answer the question anyway.

Give your landscape a score ranging from 0 to 20 points based on the degree to which your landscape supports sustainable biodiversity that is equal to or greater than the biodiversity of the indigenous landscape of your region ______

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Native plants can make green landscapes every bit as colorful as the more common contemporary landscapes.

Stormwater that urban landscapes often drain into streets can be easily and creatively captured.

Does your landscape capture and remediate (to the extent possible) the chemical and other pollutants that would otherwise be washed off the landscaped and paved surfaces of your property and into adjacent aquifers, rivers, and streams during a heavy rainstorm or during spring snow melts?

Human technology and industry have introduced into the planetary environment an almost unfathomable array of natural and unnatural substances to which living organisms had never before been exposed, or never before been exposed to at the levels now seen. The experience of those that have had to face the task of cleaning up entire polluted ecosystems such as lakes or rivers has been that the best long term solution is to remediate the polluting substances at the point at which they are created or at the point at which they might first enter the natural environment. Because many of these man-made substances are washed into the natural environment when rain accumulates and runs off of the lawns and landscape beds, driveways, and parking lots of our human landscapes, civil engineers and community planners are now requiring that large new public landscapes capture their stormwater on site and clean it up before releasing it into the streams and rivers of the local watershed. Soil microorganisms have proven themselves very adept at detoxifying most of the substances we humans have come up with to make our lives more convenient—stormwater management and on-site bioremediation take advantage of this proven capacity of the biosphere to protect itself. Rain gardens and bioswales are the initial conceptual attempts at workable solutions to this additional important functional requirement of the human landscape. The success of these recent landscape adaptations adds credence to the idea that we can at least begin to solve global environmental issues in our own backyard.

Give your landscape a score ranging from 0 to 20 points based on the degree to which your landscape captures and remediates the storm water that runs off your landscape and property in a heavy rain _______.

Does

your landscape fully provide for the functional needs of

the residents/occupants and other users of the property?

It’s not enough that your landscape solves all of the planet’s environmental problems.

In order to get a top score as a green landscape, it also has to be a highly functional landscape for the human beings that live in and around it day in and day out. Are the driveways and parking areas convenient and instinctive to navigate? Do the sidewalks and pathways take you where you want to go comfortably and with appropriate landscape experience? Are the patios, decks, and other gathering spaces sized and located functionally within the context of the landscape and the floor plan of the home? These are just a few of the measures of the functionality of a landscape. There should be no trade off between function and greenness in a landscape.

Give your landscape a score ranging from 0 to 10 points based on how well your landscape functions for those who use it both regularly and occasionally _______

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“Pathways” are an important aspect of the urban environment, and the landscape through which they travel can be green.

Do the visual and other sensual qualities of your landscape enrich the lives of its residents/occupants and other users of the property throughout the entire year?

Of course, a really green landscape should be visually attractive as well. That’s the original motivation for landscaping in the first place, isn’t it? In fact, there is every reason to think that a 100% green landscape will also have high visual appeal. Carbon sequestration requires both high plant mass and ecological health.

Species diversity also adds the color, interest, and movement of insects, birds, and small animals to the landscape canvas. Stormwater retention can bring a mini-wetland with its additional palette of bog plants and wildlife to even a fairly small home landscape, not to mention that it can sustainably increase the effective natural precipitation around which your landscape can be designed. So don’t grade your landscape on a curve just because it’s sustainable and green. Green and beautiful are not contradictory terms.

Give your landscape a score ranging from 0 to 10 points based on how well the visual and other sensual qualities of your landscape enrich the lives of its residents/users and neighbors ______ Unless you built your home in a wilderness area without disturbing any of the site that was not a part of the building or its driveways and sidewalks, it’s unlikely that your landscape would score higher than a 40% on this “Green Landscape Test”­—and most existing landscapes would probably score below 30%.

The point of this green landscape test is not to make you feel bad about your landscape. The point is to have you begin to think about the opportunity you have to do your share to live sustainably on the planet, and to do so without sacrificing anything in terms of the quality of your living environment. Too often we are led to think that living sustainably will require making significant sacrifices to the quality of our life.

But, to the contrary, there is every reason to believe that a fully green landscape will cost about the same as a traditional landscape to install, will cost less than traditional landscaping to maintain, and will have far greater livability and visual interest than traditional landscapes. y Dick Meyer is based in Santa Fe. He is an award-winning nurseryman who has worked in the residential and commercial landscape business for the past 30 years, mostly as the owner and manager of his own landscape design build firm. Meyer has actively explored issues of environmental sustainability through his work. 308.641.2010, dmeyer913@gmail.com

March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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In Praise of Restoration continued from page 6

honestly critiquing elected officials within our current two-party system, where truths are hidden in the shadows of hyperbolic rhetoric. Then we must vote accordingly.

Secondly, we must individually and collectively look to our respective homelands and seek both where jeopardy lies, and what homeland itself indicates to be the path to balance within. This is precisely what Aldo Leopold did on the family 80-acre farm in Sand County.

Third, we look to science to reveal and evaluate of our state of peril, and for the technology that is most applicable for our endeavor. Science is an essential tool for determining the truth, and its correct application is required if we are to clear the hurdles that lie immediately before us. However, although science is necessary for complete perspective, it alone will not save us from ourselves.

Chimney Cleaning, Woodstove RepaiR and installation, insuRanCe inspeCtions, peaCe of mind

Fourth, after strengthening both our perspective and resolve as bulwarks vital for maintaining the state of mind and discipline necessary for the task at hand, we may then initiate restoration ecology as a culture of practice, and in so doing allow ourselves to celebrate our cultural restoration as well, as we consciously realign ourselves with habitat. Thus, we re-sacrilize homeland.

The requirements for success include adopting a bioregional perspective from within which to operate as we intelligently proceed as restorers of homeland to ecological balance. For this, we can take a mighty cue from our Puebloan neighbors whose culture continues to survive relatively intact as it has have for centuries. We can look to traditional Hispano culture in the northern Río Grande watershed as a model of survivability and resilience relative to homeland. We can support local farmers’ markets and food cooperatives, wherein sound ecological practices are revealed in the arrays of homegrown foods in which we delight. A fine source of bioregional theory may be found in Gary Snyder’s superb book, The Practice of the Wild.

Fifth, we can only succeed by initiating a meaningful level of decentralization of political power relative to national and regional governing bodies that are largely under the sway of

22

Green Fire Times • March 2012

corporate economics. This may require civil disobedience. It may indeed involve a level of homeland protection that is not to be confused with Homeland Security. We must ever bear in mind that presently, political legislation often rules in favor of economics over health of habitat. In that sense, human law and Natural law are frequently at loggerheads.

If all of this seems overwhelming and beyond one’s ken, one can plant some tomatoes, set out water for the birds, and write a poem—and empower one’s self to interpret the voices of homeland in juxtaposition with what one reads in the Times or hears during the News Hour.

The level of self-discipline required of each of us as we proceed into the coming decade is profound. We must literally begin by becoming well informed.

I highly recommend reading A Great Aridness by William deBuys, Tropic of Chaos by Christian Parenti and Let the Water Do the Work by Bill Zeedyk and Van Clothier. I also recommend listening to the 14-part radio series, Watersheds As Commons, produced by Celestia Loeffler and myself, available to be heard by visiting our website at www.loreoftheland.org and reviewing Audio Downloads in the menu.

The Internet itself is a tool of extraordinary magnitude that may be used successfully in behalf of home habitat. But it must be visited judiciously and not over-used. Rather, we must spend as much time as we can out of doors, swimming in the flow of Nature, working to restore habitat, while contemplating the great mystery that urged life and consciousness into being on this lovely planet Earth warmed by our Sun— grateful for our brief link with Eternity. y Jack Loeffler is the author of numerous books, including Healing the West: Voices of Culture and Habitat. He is the recipient of the NM Governor ’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, and the Edgar Lee Hewett Award for Writing from the NM Historical Society.

He was honored as a Santa Fe Living Treasure in 2009. For more info, visit www. loreoftheland.org.

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Regional Foods

¡Sostenga! Culturally Appropriate Food for a Resilient Community

Camilla Bustamante

Introduced in 1973 by C. S. Holling, in the Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, Holling proposed resilience as a key aspect in evaluating ecological systems, and that one consider the qualitative as well as the quantitative aspects in this analysis. Resilience, in the ecological context, refers to an ecosystem’s ability to withstand disturbance while adapting and retaining essential form. In the social and cultural context, resilience can be described as the degree by which a society and its culture are capable of learning, adapting and self-organizing while maintaining common identity.

A food system is a direct link between environment and culture, dependent on both the environment that can naturally sustain their growth as well as the societal norms that will nurture and propagate it. So then how is a resilient and sustainable food system deemed to be culturally appropriate?

Ecologist, Jason Bradford, in an article for the Post Carbon Institute, stated that the current U.S. food system is largely influenced by government policy, financial pressure, fossil fuels and market forces, all of which present vulnerable points to the system. Threats to any one of these influences can result in localized food insecurity, even in those areas where the food is grown. Access to healthy, locally grown food continues to predominantly be afforded by those who can attend the “special event” of a farmers’ market, rather than to nearby neighbors or those

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whose hands have labored in their planting and cultivation.

Starting with a premise observed in nature, let us recognize that the more local and diverse, the more resilient a system. When considering cultural appropriateness of food on the local level, one must consider those foods that are easily grown and cultivated within geographical access. Resiliency refers not only to the types of foods capable of growing in within the 150-day frost free season of northern New Mexico, but also the nutritional diversity found in the various varieties of foods that have become staples in many households.

Integration of varieties of greens such as kale, chard and collards provide nutrient-rich options that, with the use of cold frames and greenhouses, can be enjoyed year-round. The integration of more varieties of food, as in the example of vegetable greens, provides the diversity that will support dietary need in the event that one variety of food was to become vulnerable to decline. Bradford points out, and it is observed in nature, more biodiversity equals more resiliency, given the ability to adjust against losses. Farms based on agro-ecological systems are less

dependent on outside inputs and less vulnerable to detrimental external influences.

Local, fresh produce has measurably demonstrated more nutrient value as well as socio-cultural benefits.

Though Whitney and Rolfes (2011) identified that the strongest influences on food choice are personal preference, habit, ethnic heritage and tradition, social activities such as seed exchange, acequia-cleaning, planting and harvest bring community together to provide the venue for food tradition.

Less daily activity and recognition that highly processed foods are less healthy require integration of health-

ier alternatives that are both ecologically amenable and culturally acceptable. Identification and integration of regionally available food varieties in the local diet as part of modified traditional recipes can be a hallmark of resilience, particularly in reclaiming traditional meals in a sustainable manner. From the environmental health perspective, healing from a century of high-fat, highly processed foods, consider ecologist Stuart L. Pimm’s (1991) definition of resilience as a measure of how fast a system returns to an equilibrium state after a disturbance. y Camilla Bustamante, PH.D., MPH, is Dean of Community, Workforce and CTE at Northern New Mexico College.

© Anna C. Hansen

W

hat if I proposed that social and cultural aspects of human behavior are not only an influence, but also an integral part of a natural system? It is often believed that environmental sustainability relies on the overall influence of our human behavior and impact on the ecological systems in which we live. Integral to the study of sustainability is the concept of resilience—according to Merriam Webster, resilience is an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change. It is widely recognized that resilience is at the core of what can be understood to be sustainable.

Sostenga Chard Burrito (makes 2-4 burritos) INGREDIENTS

2 lbs fresh chard ¾ cup chopped onion ¾ cup grated cheese (optional) 2 ¼ cup corn 1 tsp olive oil 1 clove garlic 2 cup green chile Salt and pepper to taste Large Tortillas DIRECTIONS Saute onions and add chard, chile, garlic and corn Add cheese, salt and pepper if desired Roll up in a yummy tortilla of your choice. Enjoy...

March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

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Sustainability

Transition Albuquerque and Transition UNM

Growing a Future in the Community and on Campus Courtni Hale

Consider these four declarations: 1) Life with dramatically lower energy consumption is inevitable. It’s better to plan for it rather than be taken by surprise.

2) O ur settlements and communities presently lack the resilience to enable them to weather the severe energy shocks that will accompany peak oil.

3) We have to act collectively, and we have to act now.

4) By unleashing the collective genius of those around us to creatively and proactively design our energy descent, we can build ways of living that are more connected, more enriching, and that recognize the biological limits of our planet.

T

he Transition Network is a worldwide initiative that is helping real people (you and me) design successful strategies for their communities to address petroleum dependency and climate change. Transition founder, Rob Hopkins, a permaculture teacher from Totnes, England, wrote The Transition Handbook (2009) and The Transition Companion (2011), as well as online materials to help groups build consensus in their community and ready themselves for transitioning to less consumption of natural resources (oil, gas, water, trees, habitats). Less consumption can mean more interaction as a community (and more fun)—farmers’ markets, local business development, biodiesel cars, block parties, bike riding and bike lanes, gardens and chickens, public transportation, local purchasing, trading and bartering, co-ops, Community Supported Agriculture projects (CSAs), recycling and composting everything, and looking forward to the future.

“Transition supports community-led responses to climate change and shrinking supplies of cheap energy, building resilience and happiness,” says the Transition Handbook.

In Albuquerque, Transition has taken root at the University of New Mexico under the tutelage of Maggie Seeley, Jeness May, Pily Rodríguez and the University of New Mexico Sustainability Studies Program. It is one of more than 1,000 organizations in 34 countries working to bridge the gap between our

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present reality and a sustainable future by moving towards Transition.

We think Transition UNM may be the first University campus to create a Transition Initiative. One of Transition UNM’s goals is to inspire campuses across the world. Students of the class formed an official club and work in unison with Transition Albuquerque. They have demonstrated the incredible energy savings of using LED and CFL lights and by reducing “ghost loads” (turning off equipment in standby mode) in their “Education is Power” campaign at UNM. New recycling bins have been added to dormitories. Trash was turned into a sculpture. There is a campus bicycle program, which provides students with free bikes and helmets. In January 2011, La Montañita Co-op opened an 800-square-foot store beside the bookstore. Five food gardens have been planted. All projects are student-initiated.

Permaculture, Transition, Lobo Gardens and Farmers’ Market courses are being offered at UNM this spring.

neighborhood watch, and forming their own neighborhood association. One person suggested that we spend time getting to know each other, finding out about our skills and needs, before moving into a task or project. The next potluck is March 6.

Reserve the weekend of April 21-22 for a Transition Training in Albuquerque, on the UNM campus. Bill Aal, a dynamic Transition Trainer from Seattle, will co-lead the training. It will cost $175 for two days with meals, and includes receiving the entire Transition Training on

a flash drive. Students pay just $25. y If you are interested in becoming a part of Transition Albuquerque or want to attend the Transition Training, contact Jeness May at jenessmay@gmail.com or Maggie Seeley at MaggieSeeley44@gmail.com. To learn more about the Transition movement, email TransitionUNM@gmail.com, visit www.TransitionNetwork.org or www.

TransitionUS.org. You can also link to Jeness May’s article Transition Campus or her radio podcast interview about Transition: Progressive New Mexico.

Habitat for Humanity Celebrates 600th House in NM

Last month a commemoration ceremony took place in the NM State Capitol Building Rotunda as Habitat for Humanity announced the completion of the 600th Habitat House in NM. The house in the Tierra Contenta Community represents a statewide effort involving thousands of volunteers, donors and business sponsors to help eliminate substandard housing. Habitat built 6,032 houses in the US in 2010, making the organization the sixth largest builder of new homes in the country. Last year Habitat served 6,707 families in the US and Canada with better housing, including 2,324 house rehabs and repairs. Habitat is also celebrating its success around the world. The organization’s 500,000th house was recently completed in Kenya. For info, call 505.986.5880 or visit www.santafehabitat.org.

Transition Albuquerque is taking a second breath under the leadership of Jeness May, who is teaching the first sustainability class at Amy Biehl High School. One of the first steps in the Transition process is to establish a core group of people who are willing to volunteer, learn about each other through experiential exercises and develop an overarching plan for a better quality of life, less dependence on oil and more dependence on community. Transition is in the process of identifying the many organizations and groups in Albuquerque already contributing to low-carbon solutions. They intend to foster communication and collaboration.

Many people have found out about Transition through potluck dinners in the home of a friend, watching films such as “The End of Suburbia,” “Thrive” or “Tapped,” or by going to a farmers’ market. Twenty-eight people recently attended a recent potluck at the home of Robert and Christina Hoberg in southeast Albuquerque. Participants ideas included: more trees on the streets, work exchanges for food, having an option to work in a community garden, greywater usage, a

March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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Consider placing an ad in this award-winning publication. Call Skip Whitson (505.471.5177) or Anna Hansen (505.982.0155) 26

Green Fire Times • March 2012

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Sustainability

Responsibility, Sustainability and the Imagination Amanda Bramble

I

’ll never forget my friend admonishing me on my lack of imagination.

“You don’t have dreams? You have to have a dream! This is important!” He wasn’t talking about sleeping dreams.

He was talking about visions for the future, about the things we imagine, but that may seem unrealistic.

My friend’s dream was “to become a pirate,” the sort with an eye patch and a parrot on the shoulder. We were in our mid-20s, and I thought that I was grown up enough to not be expected to live in a fantasy world. I thought I was being a bit more realistic about my future. I smirked at his pirate dream, but upon reflection, I realized that I did have a dream. My dream was to live in community, growing food and having fun with friends and living in harmony with the land and each other.

I’ve always been the practical sort, and I learned early on that I was not interested in a project that was not a collaboration of others’ ideas and sweat. By my mid-20s I was done with the “one woman show” routine. But I didn’t want to vocalize my dream that day because to speak it is to give life to it. To give life to it, to me, held immense responsibility. I didn’t want the weight of having to make something happen. Especially not by myself. And one person can’t make a collaboration happen, right?

Now, 15 years later, I’m part of a collaborative project called Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center. We’ve been holding classes, internships and events here for five years now. It’s all very practical, focusing on the skills needed to create self-sufficiency and the resourcefulness we must develop to live within our actual means.

But lately I’ve been realizing that our work here is just as much in the world of the dreams, the imagination, the vision, as it is in the grounded, pragmatic material world. I’ve learned this through the people we touch with our work.

We couldn’t have built our infrastructure of running water from rain catchment, photovoltaic electricity, passive solar heating designs and community spaces

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without a vision. We have been able to imagine this center into being, and our imagination has grown into the next levels, like bioregional food systems and empowering experiential education.

Anything that has ever happened, started as an idea, started in the imagination.

Whether it was riding elephants, landing humans on the moon in flimsy foil contraptions, or figuring out that good sanitation decreases mortality rates – more than any other single factor – it started as a dream. It’s the same with every building we walk into, every meal we eat, every shirt we put on. Athletes use visualization to increase performance.

This technique generates real-world results. When we use our imaginations, we have direct, unmediated access to a potent place.

Any event in the mind, in the imagination, is real. It has internal structure and outward manifestation. Imagine something sad, or even easier, something that angers. The results can manifest nearly instantly in the heart rate, blood pressure, chemicals in the blood and brain.

That’s the power of imagination. It’s strong stuff.

We’ve seen people’s eyes light up with ideas that will be useful in their own homes. Some folks are so touched by the feel of being in an earthen house or by the excitement of showering with collected rain heated by the sun. So this is the seed in the imagination that we offer.

It all starts with a vision. For many, seeing others living a life they have imagined is very fulfilling. They thank us for holding this space because they hold the vision of this life too. At the same time, they appreciate learning how to back out a screw, grow food in the desert, collect rainwater, or design shelters that heat and cool themselves.

No matter how intertwined we are with the destructive industrial systems we seek to avoid, the seed of the next step toward sustainability is in the imagination. The Earth holds this vision within many of us.

There’s no doubt that this collective

dream of living in harmony with the Earth is growing stronger. We see it in the folks who come through here.

Just in the past year there are many who have gotten fed up. Their old Solar energy and rainwater harvesting at Ampersand adults? How does one seek a purpose lives became too in this world when you are numb to the unbearable. We are seeing a trend of impacts you make with each purchase, people deciding to simplify their lives each “exchange” with the institutions and go toward taking greater responsithat control your essentials? bility and living closer to the source.

It seems like there is a giant purging happening. Not only of stuff and attachment to it, but also of the attachment to what was the normal routine. Many people are replacing that with more dedication to truth and more meaning in their lives.

I’ve learned something about responsibility too. It’s not about the need to manifest my ideas. I’m not scared to express my vision for my land, my community, my world. I don’t need to make it all happen. Planting the seed of the idea is a contribution in itself, not a burden to carry. For me, responsibility has become about living with integrity. I’m talking about a responsibility to the basic call to being human. In the end we all want the same thing, don’t we? A family to belong in, to feel helpful and useful, to be appreciated, to be able to provide for and nurture one’s children...

But are we all the same in this way? It sure can be hard to see in others a real striving to be useful while at the same time recognizing humankind’s immense impact on the Earth and its people.

I see the collective dream for the Earth growing, and I also see a deep hopelessness, a feeling that every choice leads to desecration and destruction. There are plenty of products to help us care for our children, but the important ones are the hardest to provide: availability of healthy food, clean air, clean water, hope for a life of giving and appreciation. If we can’t give these to ourselves, how will our children cope with growing into

Perhaps our responsibility lies partially in holding the vision of the better way, planting those seeds and staying open to their growth. My pirate friend was right.

Honor the importance of the dream.

The dream is the vision, the imaginings, the beginning. If you have a dream of a life that embodies more respect for the Earth, more intimacy with the elements, more meaning in daily life, honor that.

Feed the vision, be the dream. Feel the power of your imagination connecting with the Earth. It’s our collective dream.

Join in and hold on. y Amanda and Andy Bramble are co-founders of Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center. www.ampersandproject.org

Ampersand Sustainable Learning Center Schedule

Ampersand is an off-grid demonstration site in Cerrillos, NM for sustainable living through permaculture, passive solar design, wise water systems and natural building.

April 29 – Volunteer Day. Help raise a tipi and do some landscaping May 12, 4-6:30 pm – Native Plant Hike with Amanda Bramble. $10-$15 May 20, 10 am-4 pm – Passive Solar Design and Solar Cooking. $60 May 26-27 – Land Stewardship and Erosion Control Workshop. Instructor: Steve Carson. Free. Organized by Ampersand and Quivira Coalition. Sponsored by Partners for Fish and Wildlife.

June 2, 10 am-4 pm. High Desert Gardening. $60 June 24, 10 am-4 pm. Wise Water Systems: Simple Rainwater and Greywater Techniques

505.780.0535, ampersandproject@yahoo.com, www.ampersandproject.org

March 2012 • Green Fire Times

27

The End of Pretend continued from page 11 5) “Renewable technologies are not cost effective additions to the system, since they cannot economically compete against dispatchable, full capacity value resources such as gas turbines.” (p. 145) 6) “Energy efficiency is a least-cost resource.” (p. 6) The IRP states that early studies of residential smart meters have shown energy savings of 5–20%, however “PNM believes that smart grid meters would not be implemented in the short term for its service territory.” (p. 112) 7) “New Mexico’s abundant supply of solar irradiance makes this a potentially attractive energy resource for PNM.” (p. 88) However, the IRP includes a detailed state map supporting PNM’s argument that “Solar radiation potential is the greatest in the SW region of New Mexico, but the value of solar generation is the highest in the north.” (p. 89) [What’s a utility to do?]

8) “Renewable additions in the action plan period were added exclusively for compliance with RPS mandates and in accordance with Rule 572 [cost cap] in its current form. If Rule 572 is modified, PNM will pursue renewable additions that are compliant with the modifications.” (p. 15) [It should be noted that PNM is pushing to reduce the current cost cap %.]

9) PNM plans to add additional natural gas facilities to meet demand growth.

The report states that modern combined-cycle gas plants have greater fuel efficiency and operational flexibility and lower pollution and CO2 outputs than the older combustion gas plants. PNM plans to add ZERO combined-cycle plants in the future, because they are more expensive to build than combustion gas plants. (p. 108) 10) The IRP acknowledges that wind and photovoltaic (PV) require little or no water, have no fuel costs, and emit no pollution or CO2 . However, PNM claims it would need additional natural gas-powered plants to back up these “unreliable” sources, so there is, in fact, significant pollution and CO2 directly associated with these RE resources. (p. 7)

11) In the event of an extended drought, PNM has a back-up plan to secure additional supplies of water in the Four Corners area for their water-intensive coal-powered plants. (p. 63) The San Juan Generating Plant already uses about twice as much water every year as the city of Santa Fe. The Palo Verde nuclear plant in Phoenix uses just as much water as an equal-sized coal plant, but that water use doesn’t count because it is treated “reclaimed” water from the municipal system [that would otherwise flow back into the ecosystem]. (p. 62) PNM claims that concentrating solar thermal plants [which they’re certainly not going to deploy] use more water than equal-sized coal or nuclear plants. (p. 62) 12) PNM has a back-up plan to buy Wyoming coal, to be delivered by rail. (p. 92) 13) PNM’s position is that the only meaningful impact of environmental upgrades is to increase cost. (p. 135) 14) PNM concludes that if it agreed to retire the San Juan coal-fired plant by 2017, the EPA would still require PNM to install $850 million [PNM’s estimate] in additional pollution controls by 2016, therefore PNM should keep the San Juan Plant. (p. 136) 15) PNM notes that greenhouse gas emissions and climate change are “polarizing issues.” In PNM’s opinion the real consequences of greenhouse gas emissions are that “the scope, direction and cost of emerging policy actions related to global climate change creates uncertainty for the electric utility industry.” (p. 23) continued on page

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Electric Vehicles: Some Hard Questions Remain

The Department of Energy estimates that the US will have about 1 million electric cars on the road by 2015. Is that good? Maybe.

According to a report released last month by the University of Tennessee, alternatively-powered vehicles may be worse for the environment and peoples’ health than gasoline-powered vehicles – at least in China. The researchers studied the environmental impact of the whole power chain there, where more than 75 percent of power is generated by coal, compared to 50 percent in the US. Unlike the US, China has a large population that lives near coal plants. Coal power plants emit many different fine particle pollutants that have clear health impacts.

While electric cars easily beat gas- and diesel-powered vehicles when it comes to carbon emissions alone, Chris Cherry, one of the UT researchers, says that electric vehicles are not emission-free. Also, they have to rely on an advanced battery, which eventually has to be replaced, requiring mining and fossil fuel expenditures. Cherry thinks it makes sense for the US to switch to electric cars for the energy independence factor, not necessarily for environmental gains.

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

An article in last month’s Christian Science Monitor asks, “Is an electric car a true alternative if its drivetrain is ultimately powered by coal, nuclear power and lithium strip mines? A more fundamental question has to do with the ecological impact cars in general have on suburban development. Cars enable people to spread out and create sprawl, a fact even efficient electric vehicles can’t resolve.

In many places, being truly sustainable would seem to require more durable options, such as making cities more vibrant, affordable, pleasant places to live by designing walkable neighborhoods, bicycling infrastructure, carpooling, traffic calming and comfortable public transit.

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Sustainability

Affordable Energy Efficient Homes Have Arrived Why Aren’t Corporate Builders Building Them?

Alan Hoffman

O

n a recent call to Centex Homes in south Santa Fe I asked, “How energy-efficient are your homes?” and I was told “very energy-efficient, all our homes are HERS 70.” I love it when salesmen throw around numbers and a bunch of letters; it sounds like they know what they are talking about, but do they? Interestingly enough, in this case they did. A HERS rating is a calculation that considers insulation, building tightness, and the efficiency of the appliances and lighting, among other energy-efficient considerations. There has been much made about the city of Santa Fe’s energy-efficient building requirements and the fear by some builders that these requirements would price Santa Fe out of the new home market.

But, lo and behold, Centex Homes, a large-scale merchant builder, when required, can deliver at tract home prices, fully verified energy savings of at least 30% compared to a modern code-built home. Considering that modern codes are far more efficient than older codes, a HERS 70, the Santa Fe city requirement, isn’t that bad.

But how good is a HERS 70? Over the years I have represented experienced green builders, including Artistic Homes and Renaissance Builders, and found that advanced framing techniques use 20% less lumber, 20% less labor, have 20% less heat loss, and with properly installed insulation and efficient equipment can get around a HERS 53 or a savings of 47% compared to a home built to the existing code, known as the International Energy Conservation Code. With the cost of gas and electricity fluctuating wildly over the last five years and the cost of upgrading a home from code to HERS 55 at between 2% and 3%, why doesn’t everyone build using the newest techniques to attain those savings?

I can only guess that these corporate builders have decided they care about the minimal cost advantage, and their customers don’t know how substantial these savings can be as the cost of energy begins to rise again.

er and the cost increase becomes even less significant. The modern custom home built by experienced green builder Renaissance Homes attains a HERS rating of around 52 from efficiency and conservation alone, and with the addition of photoelectric panels, can get to HERS ratings of around 20, meaning a savings of 80% in gas and electricity use. Add to this the Renewable Energy Credit paid by PNM, and these homes can approach or exceed the Net-Zero Energy cost. (PNM is trying to get rid of the RE Credit at the Public Regulation Commission). In a home built in Oshara Village and upgraded with solar-thermal and solar-electric packages, we estimate that the house approaches a HERS 20, but the couple living in the home are aware of their energy use and conserve energy whenever possible. A recent analysis of their utility bills found that they are doing better than zero, and net around $72 a year above their energy costs.

And when you move from tract houses to custom homes, the savings get great-

When you look at your monthly expenses, there is only one that is fixed

for up to 30 years; that is your mortgage. As the baby boomers are beginning to retire, there is increased concern about out-of-control energy costs.

The idea of building future energy costs into today’s mortgage is starting to make more sense. And it is possible to oversize a solar-electric array on a house, buy one of the new plug-in cars and build future transportation costs into today’s mortgage as well. y Natural Homes, Renaissance Builders and Trend Magazine are sponsoring a reception on March 17 at their newest solar home on Coyote Ridge Road in Santa Fe. Two Sundays of presentations on sustainable building will follow. For info, call 505.316.0449 Alan Hoffman has built homes and communities in Santa Fe with sustainability in mind for thirty years.

He believes that the answers to our greatest challenges are already here. Hoffman may be contacted at 505.316.0449 or village@newvillage.com

Electric Vehicles Can Revolutionize America’s Energy Use International Green Ideas Show • March 17-18, Expo New Mexico

“Business can become more competitive, profitable and resilient by leading the transformation from fossil fuel to efficiency and renewables. This transition will build a stronger economy, a more secure nation and a healthier environment.”

– Reinventing Fire: Blueprint to the New Energy Era by Amory Lovins

A detailed plan that could revolutionize America’s energy use is outlined in Amory Lovins’ new book. He shows how the largest gain could be made in the transportation sector. Americans burn 13 million barrels of oil a day, the majority imported, costing drivers $2 billion directly and $4 billion in additional hidden costs. Lovins shows how, by changing over to electric vehicles (EVs) and by using non-cropland biofuels, renewably produced hydrogen and environmentally conscious natural gas, $3.8 trillion could be saved in transportation, with $0.7 tril-

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lion net possible savings for buildings and $0.5 trillion net savings for industry— creating $5 trillion in savings, a 158% increase in our economy—with zero energy produced from coal, oil or nuclear by 2050.

In order to garner wide support, Lovins advocates targeting foreign oil imports from hostile suppliers through tariffs. He says that this would also help small local fossil fuel companies better compete and make it worthwhile for them to implement cleaner environmental practices. There is also need for an offset of the renewable energy (RE) short-term tax breaks and utility paybacks, which are winding down. By switching to REsupported electric transportation, the payback time on RE investment will be less without any tax subsidies, creating a larger base of support for RE.

The current bottleneck for do-ityourself EVs, commercially produced EVs and hybrid plug-ins is the lack of a network of convenient charging locations. These are now beginning to be installed nationwide at businesses, car dealerships and other sites. Some are partially powered by photovoltaics.

Recently, Monte Ogdahl, president of NM Solar Energy Association (NMSEA), and Skip Dunn, president of Northern NM Electric Vehicle Association (NNMEVA), along with about a dozen members from both groups, discussed how to best expedite plug-in charging stations in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Los Alamos and beyond. They are planning future gatherings for further discussion of this topic. Email Ogdahl at solpwr@ plateautel.net or Dunn at skipdunn@ newmexico.com for details.

The NMSEA, NNMEVA and many green vendors will be at the International Green Ideas Show (part of the Home Showcase Lifestyle Festival) March 17-18 at Expo NM in Albuquerque. The new commercial EVs and hybrids, various DIY-EVs, plug-in hybrids and other alternativepowered vehicles will be displayed, with presenters explaining how one may fit your needs. Nearby, there will be an area for kids to race model cars, including some youngsters who have designed and built model hydrogen racecars. Model solar and electric remote-controlled cars will also be demonstrated. The NMSEA will have displays and information on economical ways to green your life and habitat.

NMSEA’s Spring Solar Social will be at the Green Street Park on Saturday afternoon. y

March 2012 • Green Fire Times

29

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NEWSBITES Federal Housing Administration 203k Loan Program

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) administers single-family mortgage insurance programs that operate through FHA-approved lending institutions. The lenders fund mortgage loans, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development insures. The FHA 203k loan program is the Department’s primary program for the rehabilitation and repair of single-family properties. It is basically a home improvement loan. As such, it is an important tool for community and neighborhood revitalization and for expanding homeownership opportunities.

The program can be used to purchase a dwelling and rehabilitate it; purchase a dwelling on another site, move it onto a new foundation on the mortgaged property and rehabilitate it; or to refinance existing indebtedness and rehabilitate a dwelling.

The 203k streamline loan offers borrowers up to $35k to rehabilitate a home that may be in need of repair, either the home they currently live in or that special fixer-upper opportunity. Borrowers may include owner-occupants or non-profits. Investors are not allowed. Eligible properties include single-family dwellings, condominiums, townhouses, mixed-use (storefront) buildings or 1-4 unit buildings. For more info, call 505.346.6465 or email NM_Webmanager@hud.gov.

Rural Energy for America Program Deadlines

The REAP program provides grants and loan guarantees to promote non-residential energy-related projects by agricultural producers and rural small businesses. REAP deadlines are as follows: 1. Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Grants and Loan Guarantees: for energy efficiency improvements (changing out lighting, freezers, boilers, pumps, insulation, roofing, etc. for more efficient ones and the purchase and installation of renewable energy systems (wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and others—including flexible fuel pumps). Applicants can be agricultural producers, small rural businesses, corporations formed under Section 17—or those similarly organized, and rural electric and telephone companies and certain other utilities. Deadlines: For grants and grant/loan guarantee combinations, March 30, 2012. For loan guarantees (without grants), applications are accepted on an ongoing basis, but to compete for Fiscal Year 2012, applications must be submitted to USDA Rural Development by June 29.

2. Renewable Energy Feasibility Study Grants: Grants for feasibility studies for renewable energy projects. Applicants can be agricultural producers, small rural businesses, corporations formed under Section 17—or those similarly organized, and rural electric and telephone companies and certain other utilities. Deadline: March 30.

Any potential applicant should contact a NM Rural Development office immediately to ensure that they are eligible and request an application. Call 505.761.4952, email jesse.bop@nm.usda.gov or visit www.rurdev.usda.gov.

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March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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What is Compost?

Compost Contest in April

C

ompost, that magical soil enhancer, is simply decomposed organic plant material or animal matter. While the creation of compost may seem mysterious or complicated, it’s really a very simple, natural process that continuously occurs in nature without any human assistance. If you’ve ever walked in the woods, you’ve experienced compost in its most natural setting. Animals of all sizes—from larger mammals, birds and rodents, to worms, insects and microorganisms—consume both living plants and annual plants that die at the end of the season. The result of this cycle is compost; a combination of digested and undigested food left on the forest floor that creates rich, usually soft, sweetsmelling soil. Mother Nature does it without additives, tilling, petrochemical fertilizers or landfills.

Backyard composting is the intentional and managed decomposition of organic materials. It is fundamental to good gardening. Anyone can effectively manage the composting process. In fact, if you

have organic matter, it’s virtually impossible to prevent decomposition. The trick is to maximize the natural process while avoiding the unpleasant effects of the decaying matter. Compost is good; sloppy garbage heaps and rotting food are bad.

One of the great aspects of composting is that the key ingredients are often things that you’d be tempted to throw away. According to the Garden of Oz web page (http://www.thegardenofoz. org/composting101.asp), a great resource to get you started, compost is also an act of environmental responsibility. It saves money, reduces the landfill wastestream and helps sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Leading research is pointing to building soil and growing biomass as the fastest way to mitigate climate change.

Compost is facilitated when you provide the right mixture of key ingredients for the millions of microorganisms that do the dirty work. These microorganisms

will eat, multiply and convert raw materials to compost as long as the environment is right. The environment doesn’t have to be absolutely “perfect,” Compost pile at El Rincon farm in Chimayo so you don’t need to be a ples can be brought to the college from microbiologist or chemist. You just need April 13-15 to be inspected under mito provide food, water and air. croscope. Samples of this “brown gold” will then be given to as many people SFCC to Host as possible to create more. Compost Compost Contest is alive, like a yogurt culture, so why At last year’s Carbon Economy Series not spread it around? Rodale Institute Soil Food Web workshop at Santa Fe Chief Scientist Dr. Elaine Ingham Community College, participants diswill judge the contest. Cash and other covered that of the over 60 local soil prizes will be awarded to the winners. samples evaluated under microscope, La Montañita Co-op and other local NONE had healthy, diverse, robust businesses are sponsors. biological life! With good compost, that can be changed.

That weekend, sponsored by the Santa Fe Farmer’s Institute, Dr. Ingham will And so, the Compost Economy Series also teach her acclaimed course on the and Santa Fe Community College are soil food web and compost tea. y encouraging widespread participation in a compost contest they are hosting For more information, visit www. to find the highest quality compost and carboneconomyseries.com or call learn how it was made. Finished sam505.819.3828

giggle. wiggle. groove.

An eclectic mix of informative and entertaining programs await you on KUNM – your passport to the worlds of news, music, community and culture. Publicly supported. Publicly responsive. KUNM is an essential part of New Mexico’s day.

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

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© Seth Roffman

Iginia Boccalandro

The End of Pretend continued from page 28 THE BOTTOM LINE

Okay, so what is PNM telling you via their IRP about their plans for your energy future here in PNM-land?

1) All existing PNM coal, nuclear and natural gas plants, decrepit as they already are, will still be operating 20 years from now. There will be new natural gas plants added to meet demand, and all of those will be the least efficient, most polluting and cheapest natural gas plants available.

2) Air, water and solid-waste pollution control mandates increase electricity rates without adding value for PNM. There are no lines in PNM’s spreadsheets for health and environmental benefits. PNM will install the minimum amount and lowest quality of air, water and solid waste pollution controls possible.

3) The “smart grid” lives in mañana-land. You can forget about “smart meters.”

4) RE is intermittent and expensive and it degrades PNM’s system reliability.

PNM will add no additional PV or wind resources unless it has to.

5) Remember the NM RPS requirements for 10% renewable energy by 2011, 15% by 2015 and 20% by 2020? Forget those. It’s 2012 – PNM is at 5.5% RE. PNM says it may reach 10% RE by 2020, but only if it’s forced to.

6) Permission for residential and third-party PV grid-tie interconnects will be much harder to come by. You can kiss Renewable Energy Credit (REC) payments goodbye.

7) Energy efficiency may play a future role, but only if PNM can figure out how to make money at it.

8) Since the climate change debate is contentious, PNM plans to continue doing nothing about it aside from fighting any attempt to regulate CO2 emissions.

9) Electricity rates? Do you really have to ask?

10) What’s good for PNM is good for all New Mexicans.

LET’S DO SOMETHING!

So what should Green Fired-up readers’ next move be? Offer helpful energy efficiency suggestions to PNM? How about serving PNM’s Board of Directors a heaping plateful of hot SOLAR CC cookies? Are PNM executives simply misinformed—in desperate need of a few info-filled presentations by NM RE experts? Let’s just politely say that I’m highly skeptical.

Santa Fe Community College to Lead NM Centers of Excellence in Biofuels Under a $1 million NM Dept. of Workforce Solutions State Energy Sector Partnership grant, Santa Fe Community College has been named to lead the statewide Centers of Excellence in Biofuels and Green Building/Energy Efficiency.

The partnership grants were established by the US Dept. of Labor to stimulate green jobs training programs. Students enrolled in SFCC’s Biofuels and Green Building/Energy Efficiency programs will benefit from up-to-the-minute curriculum, new equipment and, in some cases, free tuition.

“As a Center of Excellence, we will provide students with the next generation of biofuels production and algae cultivation technology as well as state-of-the-art green building expertise,” said Randy Grissom, SFCC’s Dean of Economic and Workforce Development and Director of the Sustainable Technologies Center.

“This will equip students with a higher skill level, making them more attractive to industry.”

To increase educational opportunities in green jobs training, SFCC is partnering with Central New Mexico Community College, Doña Ana Community College and Luna Community College, among others, to boost existing training programs, making them more relevant to today’s green job opportunities.

Biofuels training includes lectures and hands-on opportunities for developing biodiesel, ethanol and algae production skills and workplace competence.

The Green Building/Energy Efficiency programs will ensure that all curricula is OSHA compliant and will add new certifications established by the Building Performance Institute; a national standards development and credentialing organization for residential energy efficiency retrofit work. To match training with industry need, SFCC will coordinate with the NM Mortgage Finance Authority, Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association, Build Green New Mexico, the city of Santa Fe, and counties of Santa Fe and Bernalillo, HomeBuilders of Central New Mexico, PNM, NM Gas Co., and Grow Raton.

For more information, call SFCC’s Biofuels Center of Excellence at 505.428.1332, the Green Building/Energy Efficiency Center at 505.428.1805 or email www. greentraining@sfcc.edu.

The fast-becoming-competitive RE offerings in wind and PV are already changing the rules of the utility game. New Mexico’s own SW Public Service Company (SPS), along with large electric utilities in Colorado, Arizona and Utah, already realize that fact. Other utilities, like PNM, have decided to pull back, squawk, flap their wings and bury their heads in the sand. If just one of a dozen promising R&D efforts involving increased PV conversion efficiencies pans out, then things will change even faster—with or without REC payments and tax credits. We’re just one energy-storage breakthrough away from making PNM’s 2011 IRP strategy a classic textbook case of utility mismanagement. But those tipping points ain’t quite here yet, so we need to keep on “a-hollerin.”

Spread the word about PNM’s plans. Support organizations that are actively pushing back, such as the NM Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy (CCAE), the Río Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Fund, the San Juan Citizens Alliance, the Western Resources Advocates and New Energy Economy. And keep in mind that the upcoming PRC decisions and PRC district representative elections will be critical to all New Mexicans’real renewable energy future. y Here’s the link to PNM’s plan for the next 20 years: http://www.swenergy.org/news/news/ documents/file/PNM_IRP_2011-2030_July_2011.pdf Here’s the link to the formal protest from the CCAE, Sierra Club et al: http://nmsierraclub.org/sites/default/files/Protest%20 PNM%20IRP%208-17-11%20FINAL.pdf Gary Vaughn is a licensed Professional Engineer in New Mexico, a renewable energy advocate, and vice president of the New Mexico Solar Energy Association. www.nmsea.org

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

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Local Economies

The Local Voice Local Economies: Happy, Healthy, and Wise

Vicki Pozzebon xcept for a couple of brief stints in the for-profit world (more on this later) I have lived nearly my entire adult life in the non-profit world. The work I was doing within the non-profit world always made me happy—from directing social-justice-themed theatre productions to organizing communities around local economy issues. What wasn’t making me happy was how I was working. I was becoming an unproductive, burned-out-from-exhaustion, surly, snarky, stressed-out mess of a human being. Sure, I was making a decent living and doing work I was deeply passionate about, but so what? If I could barely make time to hike or have dinner with good friends, what good was my work, really? The why of my work all made sense to me. The how and the when? Not so much.

On a recent trip to Newark, NJ, I met a business owner named Medina whose office is the entire loft space he’s rented in a sustainable neighborhood called Lincoln Park. Medina chose to move his life and business to Newark from Brooklyn because it was a slower pace and he was ready to slow his life down.

The offices for the design company are on the ground floor of his live/work loft, and upstairs he greets clients with wine, cheese and even some pop-culture TV in his living room. He’s designed his entire loft to be his business and his home. “It’s not hard to separate work from life because I love my work, and it’s who I am and I am it,” he explained. How Zen is that?

It makes sense for a design firm, actually. You walk through his studio and learn a lot about Medina’s style and esthetics. He invites his clients to sit down for a chat so he can learn about them too. Downstairs, his employees roll in whenever they feel like it, work through the night, if they are so inclined, or work all day. There are no rules in this office. If you need a nap, take one on the couch upstairs while your tea is brewing. This started to sound to me like all those Silicon Valley tech start-ups you read about or Google’s HQ. It even reminded me of the brief five months I spent at a

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dot.com in 2001 that, with millions of dollars in capital funding, provided organic and local lunches for employees every Friday, paid for extravagant gym memberships and yoga instruction, bought healthy snacks from what was then a little-known company called Odwalla, encouraged employees to bring their dogs to work, and to come to work sweaty from mountain climbing before dawn or a bike ride at lunch because “look, we have showers with organic soap!” This dot.com was once a locally owned bookstore, bought by a large corporation that owned several online magazines and travel sites. The little bookstore blossomed into a large online outdoor/adventure travel bookstore. Within those five months I witnessed millions of dollars of burned capital and an office that resembled an echo chamber after half of the 45 employees were let go. I promptly quit and went back to the non-profit world where I felt safe from corporate-imposed happiness-inducing culture.

Localized economies lead to a higher Gross National Happiness.

But the thing about Medina is that he is not a corporation. He’s a small business owner with a few employees who love him, and he treats them like family. I asked one of the young graphic artists how it worked for him, working like this. “I love it. I can come and go whenever I please and go to the gym in the middle of the day, and I have my volunteer hours I can go do, then come back at 8pm if I want.” This was the embodiment of the why, the how, the when of work.

I was inspired. But I was concerned.

What about those in the retail world, or those with storefronts or servicebased businesses where it’s simply not possible to let your employees come and go as they please? How do you create a culture that focuses on your employees’ happiness and health? Is it possible that the simple act of opening your own business and the very being of being a locally owned business

could create a culture of happiness economics?

© Anna C. Hansen

E

King Jigme Singy Wangchuck, 2008

Consider this: In 1972, Bhutan’s King Jigme Singye Wangchuck used the phrase “Gross National Happiness” to signal his commitment to building an economy that would serve his country’s Buddhist-influenced culture. The Centre for Bhutan Studies, under the leadership of Karma Ura, set out to develop a survey instrument to measure the Bhutanese people’s general sense of well-being. Ura collaborated with Canadian health epidemiologist Michael Pennock to develop Gross National Happiness (GNH) measures across nine domains: time use, living standards, good governance, psychological well-being, community vitality, culture, health, education, ecology. Since then, dozens of communities have employed the indicator in their own communities. The UK and Thailand are both measuring their country’s well-being through surveys and tracking mechanisms. The documentary film “The Economics of Happiness” maintains that Gross National Happiness is achieved through the localization of economy, politics and culture. That’s right. Localized economies lead to a higher Gross National Happiness.

And now consider this: A recent study by LSU and Baylor University concluded that US counties and parishes with a greater concentration of small, locally owned businesses have healthier populations—with lower rates of mortality, obesity and diabetes—than do those that rely on large

companies with “absentee” owners.

Many sociologists agree that locally owned businesses—unlike chain retail “big box” stores and large manufacturing plants—have a greater investment in the community. They have more at stake when it comes to the well-being of employees, customers and other local citizens. The LSU and Baylor researchers, who analyzed national population, health, business and housing data, found that the greater the proportion of small businesses, the healthier the population.

What this means is that locally owned businesses contribute to their employees’ happiness and health by being good employers: paying good wages, providing meaningful work, providing time for volunteerism, doing whatever it takes to retain employees because turn-over in employees is costly. Locally-owned businesses are contributors to our social capital, providing more time for volunteerism, contributing more donated dollars to nonprofits, and of course contributing more to our local tax base through the multiplier effect because they spend more money within the community, which gets recycled into the community over and over again.

My point here is that we don’t require millions of dollars in capital from a corporate parent business to buy our happiness at work. We are emerging in this new economy as a culture of employees and employers who care about the why, the how and the when of work, and it’s time our own GDP include the happiness factor because it is our locally owned businesses that are re-building our economy, one happy healthy employee at a time.

Check out www.theeconomicsofhappiness.org online for more information about the upcoming conference March 23-25 in Berkeley, Calif.

Check out www.medinaciti.com for their philosophy on work. y Vicki Pozzebon practices bold localism in her independent consulting business, Prospera Partners, LLC.

March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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JAIN STUDY CIRCULAR THE JAIN STUDY CIRCULAR HAS BEEN POSTED AT WWW.JAINSTUDY.ORG.

Please go our website and study the articles presented in the new issue.

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

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Transitions

Planning for Your RETIREMENT

Bruce Poster

I

n last month’s column I described what I mean by the “New Retirement.” This is a transition into a new stage of life in which one can find selfrenewal. Many people are not seeking the old form of retirement, in which they are put out to pasture and on a kind of permanent vacation. Rather, the New Retiree has an opportunity to design his own retirement in a manner that fosters life-enrichment, self-ownership, physical wellness, selfesteem and positive involvement.

Your Life Purpose

I have met many recent retirees who lack a sense of purpose. Some stay busy for six months or a year, taking that special vacation they have long desired or going through their list of “honey-do” home repairs. But eventually, retirees will have to face the fact that they may live for another three or four decades and won’t be satisfied with a regimen consisting only of television, golf, bridge and travel.

The key to a successful retirement is having a clear life purpose for oneself. This may manifest as a new way of expressing a previously defined life purpose (e.g. educating children) or it may appear as an entirely new life purpose. I view retirement as an opportunity to do those things one has always wanted to do but never gotten around to, whether that is: • Running your own business • Traveling to exotic locales • Moving to a new community • Learning a language • Taking up a musical instrument • Spending time with your grandchildren • Doing volunteer work As someone who has recently “retired,” from the business I owned (but is still working part-time), I now have the opportunity to volunteer in the community, where I am working with United Way of Santa Fe County to create a district-wide parent involvement committee for the Santa Fe Public Schools. I also have more time now to exercise, meditate and travel.

And I am taking a class in improvisation, which is giving me an opportu-

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nity to take risks, be more spontaneous and work as part of a team.

I encourage anyone approaching retirement to develop a personal mission statement for yourself. This will enable you to prioritize the demands upon you, utilize your gifts and skills, and stay focused on what is important in the long run. This mission statement will have three main elements: • A statement of who you are • A statement of what you’d like to do • A statement of where you are going For example, my personal mission statement could be: “I am an active member of the Santa Fe community who uses my facilitation skills to help parents be more effective in supporting their children’s success.”

Once you get something down on paper, read it out loud to see whether you resonate with it. Tell a few friends what your mission is and see whether it “feels” right to you as you share it.

Your Retirement Plan

ness, you might need to take a computer or bookkeeping class first. Or, if you intend to travel in Latin America, you may wish to take a Spanish class.

purchase a retirement home in a warm climate, while the woman assumed they were going to spend a lot of time at home with their grandchildren.

Retirement Planning For Couples

Can the potentially conflicting needs of a couple be reconciled? Yes, but only if they communicate their needs and find ways to accommodate one another. Creating a retirement plan for the couple is a great way to do this. Such a plan will incorporate the life purposes and needs of each partner in a win-win plan that allows them each to retire their way. Thus, whether you are single or part of a couple, a retirement plan will be essential to your future success.y

Retirement can bring about many changes for a couple. I like the quote that, “I married you for better or worse, but not for lunch.” Men (and women) who had busy careers may suddenly be hanging around the house during the day in what had been the personal space of their partner.

Thus, the need for retirement planning is even more critical for couples than for singles, as couples need to accommodate the potentially disparate needs of both parties. It is a sad fact that many couples are not good at communicating with one another. Each partner may make assumptions about retirement without discussing them.

For example, I worked with a couple where the man assumed that they were going to travel abroad extensively and

Bruce Poster is a Certified Retirement Coach who has lived in Santa Fe for 34 years and previously owned Southwest Planning & Marketing.

He can be reached at 505.690.8921 or bruce@ retireyourway.biz; or you can visit his website: www.RetireYourWay.biz

This mission statement will serve as the launching point for your retirement plan. The retirement plan is your roadmap to where you are going in retirement. Ideally, you should create your plan several years before you expect to retire. The plan will help you make the transition from your current lifestyle to your retirement lifestyle.

Many people think that a “retirement plan” is the same as a “financial plan.”

While a financial plan is critical to a successful retirement (and will affect when and how you can retire), it is only one element of your retirement plan. Your plan should also address other life arenas that I will discuss in future columns. These include: • Work reorientation and replacement of work functions • Health • Leisure interests and travel • Dependents and relationships Your retirement plan will address specific actions that you will take prior to and during your retirement. For example, if you intend to start a small busi-

March 2012 • Green Fire Times

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What's Going On! Events / Announcements

March 10, 10-2; March 11, 12-4 Personal Textile Art Workshop Domenici Education Center, NHCC, 1701 4th St. SW Weave art from discarded clothing. Jennifer Zona, an accomplished textile artist will guide you through the process and teach construction techniques, weaving with recycled materials. $50. Info, registration: 505.850.9791

ALBUQUERQUE March 7, 10 am-noon USDA Rural Development Loan Guarantees and Grants Workshop USDA RD State Office 6200 Jefferson NE, Rm. 145

Free Training for rural small business and agriculture producers on obtaining support for renewable energy and energy efficiency systems. RSVP to 505.761.4953 or kim.giang@ nm.usda.gov. Info: www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs

March 7, 11:30 am-1 pm USGBC-NM Monthly Luncheon Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th St. NW

“Demystifying the On-site/Off-site Renewable Energy Credit for LEED” presented by Sarah Zisa, Manager with 3 Degrees, Inc. $25 members, $30 non-members, $18 emerging green builders. Register: www.usgbcnm.org

March 7, 4-6 pm Digging In: How to Find Land to Grow On Bernalillo County Extension Offices 1510 Menaul NW Learn about strategies for finding and using farmland. Workshop attendees will hear from Central NM LandLink staff and farmers. Free. 505.247.1750. To register: www. abqmarkets.org

Mar. 7, 5:30-7:30 pm Green Drinks Hotel Andaluz,125 2nd St.NW – Valencia Rm.

NM Green Chamber of Commerce hosts its monthly networking event. Legislative debrief with NM Rep. Brian Egolf and NMGCC CEO Allan Oliver. Info: 505.916.1247, celerah@nmgreenchamber. com, www.nmgreenchamber.com

March 8, 11:30 am-1 pm Green Building Webinar Hartman & Majewski Design Group, 120 Vassar SE

Renewable Energy: Top 5 strategies to meet energy demand. One hour webinar with discussion following. $10 members; $15 nonmembers. Register at www.usgbc.org. Pay in advance through Paypal.

Questions: execdir@usgbc.org

March 9-10, 8 pm Dancing Earth Disney Center for the Performing Arts, NHCC, 1701 4th St. SW “Nights of Stars-Moon-Water” - Awardwinning international indigenous contemporary ensemble. 12 dancers, musicians, plus songstress Sina Soul, performers from SF Indian School Spoken Word Team and special guests. Tickets: $15-$25 at NHCC box office (505.724.4771) or www.nhcccnm.org

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March 10, 6 pm Four Generations of NM Poets Domenici Education Center, NHCC, 1701 4th St. SW Free event celebrating poetry and the NM Centennial. Young and older New Mexicans read their own poetry as well as writing by prominent NM women writers.

Info: valerie@littleglobe.org

March 14, 4-6 pm Land & Water Use Regulations Bernalillo County Extension Offices, 1510 Menaul NW Free workshop presented by a panel of city and county officials familiar with zoning, acequia use and agriculture well permitting.

They will speak on issues such as purchasing, leasing or converting land for agricultural use. To register: www.abqmarkets.org

March 17, 10 am-5 pm; March 18, 10 am-4 pm International Green Ideas Show Expo New Mexico

Part of the Ultimate Home Showcase and the Construction and Architectural Suppliers Show. Renewable energy exhibits, alternative fuel vehicles, electronics recycling opportunity. NM Green Chamber of Commerce and NM Solar Energy Assn. are participating.

Those who ride bikes or a bus to the event get in free. http://hbashowcase.com

March 21, 4-6 pm Finding a Farmer & Putting Your Land into Production Bernalillo County Extension Offices, 1510 Menaul NW Free workshop covering leasing and other land-use arrangements to legalities and liability, tax benefits, conservation easements.

Strategies for working with local farmers.

Speakers include Central NM LandLink staff. 505.247.1740, www.abqmarkets.org

March 23-24 Spiders’ Market Albq. Garden Center

Exhibition and sale of textile arts sponsored

by Las Arañas Spinners and Weavers Guild.

505.250.0393, lasaranas.org/annual_sale.htm

April 3, 9:30 am-1 pm NM Food & Agriculture Policy Council Meeting Location TBA

2012 legislative policy review, how to participate, what’s next for the Farm Bill? RSVP: 505.473.1004, ext. 12, www.farmtotablenm. org, kathleengonzaleznm@gmail.com

April 3, Noon-4:30 pm NM Food Policy Civic Engagement Education and Training Initiative Location TBA

To provide support for communities that

Green Fire Times • March 2012

have formed or would like to form local food policy councils. NM Food & Ag Policy Council. For more info and to RSVP, contact Kathleen at 505.473.1004, ext. 12 or kathleengonzaleznm@gmail.com

SF Creative Tourism. 608.792.5746, RSVP: www.santafecreativetourism@gmail.com

April 4, 4-7 pm Growing Local Mixer Alvarado Urban Farm, 101 Silver SW (100 Gold SW #204 if inclement weather)

Presented by Home Grown NM, 505.473.1403 or homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com

Land seeker/Landholder mixer. Mix & mingle with area growers and farmland owners if you are interested in finding farmland or if you have farmland you’d like someone to use.

Free. RSVP required. ABQ Growers Market Alliance: 505.369.6758, www.abqmarkets.org

April 5, 6:30-7:45 pm GMO Panel Discussion Albuquerque Academy Simms Auditorium

Genetically modified organisms are increasingly appearing in our food supply and the food supply of our livestock. Panelists including economist Dr. Doleswar Bhandari, geneticist Vaishali Katju, medical doctor Sally Fisher and local grower Michael Reed will answer questions regarding the impacts of GMOs. Free. Info: gilbert@aa.edu. Register at www.aa.edu/communityacademy

April 21, 9 am-5 pm Recycled Art Fair Open Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors Blvd. NW

Call for Artists and Vendors deadline April 1. Free. Presented by Parks & Recreation Dept. 505.897.8831, kselving@cabq.gov, www.cabq.gov/openspace

April 26-28 NM Public Health Assn. & UNM Natl. Health Disparities Conf.

Crowne Plaza Hotel

Integration, Innovation & Inspiration: Creating a Healthy NM. Info: www.nmpha.org

Xeriscape Guide Available

A comprehensive list of plants and trees best suited to the climate and soil of the Middle Río Grande region including the East Mountains. Revised by landscape designer Judith Phillips. How-to info on garden planting, plant selection efficient irrigation, rainwater harvesting, xeriscape basics, etc. Available at local libraries, nurseries, home garden centers and community centers or by calling 505.245.3133. More info: 505.768.3655.

Rain Barrels Available

Bernalillo County Barrels are offered to property owners in unincorporated areas who are not customers of the ABQ Bernalillo Water Authority.

To qualify, residents must sign up for a home water conservation survey. $40 for a 100-gallon barrel. 505.768.2500, wainfo@abcwua. org, www.abcwua.org

SANTA FE

Through March 27 Business Assistance Classes for Artists

SF Community Gallery, SF Community Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy A series of evening classes and one-on-one consultations by appointment for artists, artisans and craftsmen interested in working with the Creative Tourism program. Offered by the city of SF Arts Commission and

March 3, 10-11:30 am Garden Seed Starting Class Railyard Community Room

March 5 Application Deadline Local Sustainability Matching Funding

Eligible entities: Partnership between sustainability directors and local, place-based foundations. In partnership with the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN), the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN) has announced the Local Sustainability Matching Fund. TFN is a membership organization that helps grant makers across North America advance strategies to create fair, prosperous, and sustainable regions and communities. Info: http://www. fundersnetwork.org/files/misc/Local_Sustainability_Matching_Fund_RFP_111213.pdf

March 6, 8 am-5 pm Santa Fe Watershed – Climate Change: An Interactive Workshop SF Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy

Discuss the future of the SF watershed in light of potential effects of climate change.

Topics include water supply, quality of life, agriculture, land use. Speakers include UNM climatologist Dr. Dave Gutzler, author Bill deBuys, LANL research ecologist Dr. Nathan McDowell, climate change expert Dr. Karen MacClune and others.

Free. Registration required. 505.982.0405, amychilderslewis@earthlink.net

March 6, 6-7:30 pm Leading by Being® Intro Evening Academy for the Love of Learning, 133 Seton Village Rd., Seton Village

Cultivate the capacity to respond and act in these changing times. This is the Academy’s foundation course in transformational learning. Free. RSVP: 505.995.1860, programs@ aloveoflearning.org, www.aloveoflearning.org

March 11, 10 am Community Farm Volunteer Day Presented by 505.983.3033, gmail.com

Home Grown NM. homegrownnewmexico@

March 12-16, 7:30 am-5:30 pm Spring Break Camp Genoveva Chávez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Rd. For boy & girls ages 6-12. Activities such as swimming, skating, court sports, social games, arts & crafts and outdoor recreation. $135 for full week. Basketball camp: $55, combo camp: $155. Registration at the GCCC. Registration forms: www.chavezcenter.com Info: 505.955.4014 or 955.4005.

March 14, 11:30 am-1 pm Green Building Webinar Palo Santo Designs, 2356 Fox Rd., Ste. 200 Renewable Energy: Top 5 strategies to meet energy demand. One hour webinar with discussion following. $10 members; $15 nonmembers. Register at www.usgbc.org. Pay in advance through Paypal. Questions: execdir@usgbc.org

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What’s Going ON! March 14, 6 pm Home Grown NM Potluck Plaza Contenta

Come to learn about the Plaza Contenta Community Garden & Orchard. Presented by Home Grown NM. 505.983.3033, homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com

March 15, 9 am-noon Nonprofit Financing Workshop SF Community Fndn., 501 Halona St.

Getting the most from banks and new financial cash-flow opportunities with Drew Tulchin and bankers. $35. 505.988.9715

Railyard Park Community Room

Hands-on workshop about water, the SF River, SF Watershed and restoration through art, writing and science. Intro to “Rivers Run Through Us” project. Info/reservations: Bobbe Besold 505.988.9244

March 24, 10 am Cool Season Planting Class Community Farm

April 12-13 Design-Build Institute of America Conference Eldorado Hotel & Spa

Garden to keep SF’s public space vibrant and beautiful while learning about life in the high desert. Free. 505.316.3596, Alana@railyardpark.org, www.railyardpark.org

505.473.1403,homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com

March 24-25 Solar Forum and Home Tour Eldorado

Panel presentation/community discussion on how your investments can help make a difference. No charge. Registration: www. santafecf.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=871

Everything you ever wanted to know about solar thermal, solar photovoltaics, financing and energy conservation will be provided through workshops and panel discussion on Saturday, 1-4 at the Performance Space at La Tienda.

Solar Home Tour on Sunday, 10-3. Presented

by Sustainable Eldorado Residents Alliance.

505.466.6707, mkjsantafe@comcast.net, http://jandeligans.com/EldoSolarTour2012/

March 15, 5-8 pm; March 24, 4-6 pm Community Brainstorming Wise Fool Studios 2778 Agua Fria, Unit D

March 24-25 Faith and Environment Conf.

United Church of Santa Fe 1804 Arroyo Chamiso

March 15, 5:30-7 pm Ethical Investing Panel SF Community Fndn., 501 Halona St.

Planning for procession/community event at Railyard Park on April 28 in support of national and global events. Create art for social change.

505.992.2588, wisefoolnewmexico.org

March 16-17 Natural Oddities Program SF Public Libraries

The Harrell House of Natural Oddities, a free program for children and families. 3/16, 4 pm at the La Farge Library, 3/17, 10:30 am at the Southside Library and 1:30 pm at the Main Library. 505.955.6783

2nd annual conference. “A Great Aridity, A Greater Hope” Keynote Bill deBuys, Sat. 4 pm.

Workshops, river project, Sunday celebration.

505.988.3295, unitedchurchofsantafe.org (See ad, page 14)

March 27, 6:30 pm Monthly Community Homesteading Potluck Santa Fe Complex

Presented by Home Grown NM, 505.473.1403, homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com

March 28 Hydraulic Fracturing Conf.

Inn & Spa at Loretto

Features experts from the legal, environmental, energy, scientific and governmental communities. Presented by CLE International. $495 per person. 800.873.7130, www.cle. com/product.php?proid=1321&src=Feature d&page=Hydraulic_Fracturing

March 17, 4-7 pm Zero Energy Home Reception Coyote Ridge Rd.(115 Coyote Ridge Ct.)

Natural Homes, of Logic Real Estate, working with Renaissance Builders premiere their latest “cost-effective” custom solar home.

505.310.0449, Village@NewVillage.com

March 18, 25, 1-5 pm Solar Home Tours & Workshops 700 Coyote Ridge Road

Alan Hoffman of Natural Homes, Dennis Niedermier of Renaissance Builders and other presenters will inform attendees about technology to build affordable custom and conventional solar homes. (See ad, page 13)

March 22, 11 am-12 pm Learning Landscape Spring Tour Academy for the Love of Learning 133 Seton Village Rd., Seton Village

March 28, 7 pm “Bag It” Screening SF Farmers Market Building

SFFM Film Series. The unknown consequences of plastic grocery bags. Speakers, discussion.

Moviegoers meet, greet and collaborate while enjoying locally grown foods. $12 general public; $10 SFFM Inst. members, seniors & students.

March 29-30 Law of the Río Grande Inn & Spa of Loretto

12th annual conference. Standards & strategies of 3 states & 2 counties on 1 river. $795 per person. Presented by CLE International. 800.873.7130, www. cle.com/product.php?proid=1318

March 31, 10 am Garden Planting Class Plaza Contenta

Presented by Home Grown NM, 505.473.1403, homegrownnewmexico@gmail.com

Explore the “Learning Landscape,” incorporating principles of observation, reflection and awakening. A cutting-edge model of Earth stewardship. Suggested donation: $10 RSVP: 505.995.1860, programs@aloveoflearning.org. Info: www.aloveoflearning.org

March 31, 10 am-3:30 pm Santa Fe River Tree Planting

March 24, 9-11:30 am Railyard Yardmasters Orientation

March 31, 1-3:30 pm Community Water Workshop Railyard Park Community Room

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Volunteers needed to help create healthier environment and new habitat. Register online at www. wildearthguardians.org. Info: 505.988.9126, ext. 0.

Registration fee: $10 includes lunch.

“Design-Build Goes Green in the Land of Enchantment” 8th annual conference for DBIA-SW Region members, affiliated industry professionals, public & private project owners, students and professionals who want to learn more. www.dbia-sw.org/conference_sw.html

April 13, 7-9 pm lecture; April 14-15, 9:30-4:30 Workshops The Soil Food Web SFCC Jemez Room

Learn about soil biology,compost,compost tea technology and more from Dr. Elaine Ingham, Chief Scientist at Rodale Institute. $10 for lecture. $175 for Intro to Soil Food Web Saturday workshop. $175 for Soil Food Web & Compost Tea Technology Sunday workshop. Info & registration: 505.819.3828, www.carboneconomyseries.com

April 14, 9 am-1pm E-Waste Drop-off Day www.keepsantafebeautiful.org

April 28-29 La Tierra Torture Mountain Bike Race La Tierra Trails, NW Quadrant (just north of 599 at Cam. de los Montoyas)

Short track racing on Saturday, cross-country racing on Sunday. This family-friendly event has raised $31,000 for local charities over the past six years. brent@bonwell.org, www.latierratorture.com

Biodynamic Compost

Made from manure from alfalfa-fed cows, available for pick-up or delivery. 505.9826879. For info, see Susan Waterman’s My Own Garden article in March 2011 GFT.

Santa Fe Creative Tourism Initiatives

Artists and craftsmen who offer workshops and classes within SF County are invited to list their offerings with Santa Fe Creative Tourism at www.SantaFeCreativeTourism.org. See “Get Involved” tab to list. This service is free and provided by the city of SF Arts Commission.

HERE & THERE Through March 13 “Menu for the Future” Los Alamos Co-op, 95 Entrada Dr. Los Alamos, NM

Seven session discussion course explores connections between food and sustainability.

Dinner & Discussion Series hosted by Los Alamos Cooperative Market. The food we eat, its history and by-products of our food systems. $25 for members, $30 non-members. 505.695.1579, www.facebook.com/ LosAlamosCoop and www.losalamos.coop

Through March 20 Public Comment Period for LEED 2012

The green building program rating system/certification continues to evolve.

202.742.3738, Usgbc.org/LEED2012

March 15-16 Good Jobs, Green Jobs Western Regional Conf.

Los Angeles, CA

This 5th annual conference is billed as the nation’s premier event for sharing ideas and strategies on building the new green economy. People attending from across the country have included business, community and elected leaders, union members, environmentalists and opinion makers. Also in Philadelphia 4/3-4. Info: 202.706.6910, AshleyH@bluegreenalliance.org, www. bluegreenalliance.org

March 21, 5:30-7 pm Opportunities for Española Valley Business in Green Markets JCI Building, Northern NM College, 1021 Railroad Ave., Española This free event will bring together business owners, economic development, business support services and associations familiar with emerging opportunities, for info sharing, advice, access to resources and networking. Presented by the REDI Green Business Cluster of Northern NM and NNMC. 505.989.8004, www.nnmredi.org

March 22, 11 am Remarkable Women of Taos Kickoff Harwood Museum of Art, Taos

Self-guided tours, itineraries, art exhibitions and screening. A yearlong celebration of Taos’ past and present. Free screening at noon, 505.764.4444, ext 222, http://taos.org/women; Agnes Martin Centennial birthday party (fundraising event at RanchosTrading Post Cafe at 6 pm). Info/tickets ($150$250): development@harwoodmuseum.org

March 22-24 Drylands Design Conference Burbank, CA

Retrofitting The West: Adaptation by Design.

Innovations in planning, landscape, engineering and architecture. Presented by Arid Lands Institute, Woodbury University. 818.394.3335, aridlands.woodbury.edu, drylandsconference.com

March 23 Land, Water, People, Time Premiere Northern NM College, Salazar Performing Arts Center, Española

Film celebrating northern NM’s multicultural identity. Honoring of film stars and grantees.

Presented by the No. Río Grande National Heritage Area. 6-6:30 pm reception; Screening: 6:30-8 pm; Post-screening reception: 8-9 pm.

505.753.0937, www.riograndeha.org

March 31 Gully and Rill Erosion Control Volunteer Workshop Mesteño Draw Ranch, Mountainair, NM

Learn how to build structures like the Zuni bowl, media luna, rock rundown and one rock dam. Info and signup: joan.bybee@ gmail.com, www.quiviracoalition.org

April 6 Application Deadline 2012 NM Watershed Forum

The Watershed Forum is going on the road.

Workshop application proposals are due 4/6 Call 505.827.2793, www.nmenv.state.nm.us/ swqb/wps/2012WatershedForum

April 14 Taos Triathlon Taos Youth & Family Center 407 Paseo del Canon East

Super sprint (2.1-mile run, 9.6-mile bike and 400-yard swim) and children’s triathlon. $45 to register, $85 per team, $15 children. Benefits Taos Land Trust. Registration: www. active.com/triathlon/taos-nm/tritaos-2012, Info: www.taos.org

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Green Fire Times • March 2012

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