IN THIS ISSUE Staying the Course - clf.org€¦ · that will loosen fossil fuels’ stranglehold on...

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Staying the Course The Journal of the Conservation Law Foundation www.clf.org SUMMER 2008 IN THIS ISSUE 2 From the President 4 Can’t Blame it on the Rain 6 Around the States 8 Personal Pledges In response to the growing climate crisis, exciting new legislation to curb emissions and promote renewable energy is progressing at a feverish pace in statehouses throughout New England. Informed by our energy legacy, CLF continues to work with legislators, businesses and communities to steer new policies toward increased investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy. 4

Transcript of IN THIS ISSUE Staying the Course - clf.org€¦ · that will loosen fossil fuels’ stranglehold on...

Page 1: IN THIS ISSUE Staying the Course - clf.org€¦ · that will loosen fossil fuels’ stranglehold on New England’s economy and environment. New England’s last holdout – New Hampshire

Staying the Course

T h e J o u r n a l o f t h e C o n s e rvat i o n L aw Fo u n d at i o n

w w w. c l f . o r g

SUMMER 2008 IN THIS ISSUE 2 From the President 4 Can’t Blame it on the Rain 6 Around the States 8 Personal Pledges

In response to the growing climate

crisis, exciting new legislation

to curb emissions and promote

renewable energy is progressing

at a feverish pace in statehouses

throughout New England. Informed

by our energy legacy, CLF continues

to work with legislators, businesses

and communities to steer new policies

toward increased investments in energy

efficiency and renewable energy. 4

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p 2 S ≈ C o n s e r v a t i o n M a t t e r s

In 1987, CLF co-published a groundbreaking report titled Power to Spare, which touted energy efficiency as the region’s best way to avoid the high power costs and pollu-tion from increasing electricity demands. Around the same time, CLF forged an un-

precedented partnership with the largest electric utility in the region, the New Eng-land Electric System – a partnership that shaped energy efficiency efforts across the nation. With these two events, CLF spurred regional initiatives that helped make New England a national leader for fostering en-ergy efficiency. Since then, for virtually ev-ery significant decision concerning energy policy in the region over the past 20 years, CLF has led the way in forging alliances and advocating for innovations that shifted the policy paradigm.

On July 2, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law the most far-reaching energy bill in the region. The new law will boost investment in energy efficiency mea-sures that reduce energy demand and de-liver savings to customers. Specifically, the law requires utilities to put energy efficiency first, before they purchase more expensive gas or electricity supplies. It also provides new funding resources to promote energy efficiency – including significant revenues from the sale of pollution permits under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) – and updates Massachusetts building codes to reduce energy consumption from new or renovated buildings. The new law will create stronger incentives for the development of renewable energy by requiring 15 percent of electricity to be supplied by new, green power facilities by 2020. It also establishes a pilot program for utilities to enter into long-term contracts with renewable energy developers to provide much needed finan-cial backing for green power projects.

CLF partnered with the SAVE Energy Coalition – a broad coalition of utilities, low-income advocates and green businesses – to help craft this groundbreaking new law. The Coalition created a unified vision of an en-ergy policy that would expand support and incentives for clean renewable energy and mandate a dramatic expansion in our use of the cleanest, cheapest and most readily available energy resource we have – energy efficiency.

Sue Reid, who directs CLF’s Massachu-setts energy and climate advocacy, lauded the sweeping energy policy for placing Mas-sachusetts “in the forefront of the clean

energy revolution.” She said: “The provisions of this new law will help spur the market-based solutions needed to reduce energy demand and promote green power.”

In New Hampshire, CLF has worked over the past year to advance legislation autho-rizing the Granite State’s participation in RGGI. Gov. John Lynch signed this bill in June, bringing New Hampshire into the ten-state RGGI collaborative. In addition to cutting global warming pollution from power plants, the NH RGGI bill ensures that a substantial portion of the funds raised through the auction of carbon pollution allowances through a cap-and-trade system will be used to fund investments in energy efficiency that will help lower electricity bills. The agreement, long championed by CLF, is an historic step forward in the state’s fight to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“RGGI is one of the best tools in the climate toolkit that finally allows us to begin to take meaningful action to solve the problem of global warming,” said Melissa Hoffer, director of CLF’s

New Hampshire Advocacy Center.

In Rhode Island, CLF has worked as part of the Rhode Island Climate Coalition to promote a landmark bill to cut greenhouse gas emissions from all significant sources. Last November, the Coalition organized

Dear CLF Friends,It’s been quIte a season of CLf suCCesses! In the battle against climate change, CLF advo-cates have worked hard to advance new laws that will loosen fossil fuels’ stranglehold on New England’s economy and environment. New England’s last holdout – New Hampshire – has finally joined nine other Northeast states in capping carbon emissions from power plants by signing onto the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Maine has enacted a law that paves the way for the nation’s first limits on carbon dioxide emissions from next-generation coal gasification power plants. And Massachusetts has just adopted the Green Communities Act, putting energy efficiency on an even playing field with new power generation and mandat-ing long-term utility contracts with renewable energy suppliers.

Another resounding CLF victory came in our lawsuit against the Massachusetts Highway De-partment, a leading polluter of the Bay State’s waterways through its shoddy control of stormwater running off its roads and bridges. In a strongly worded ruling from the bench, Federal District Judge John Young found the state agency in violation of the Clean Water Act and required it to develop a clear plan for curb-ing this pollution menace.

And finally, passage of the Massachusetts Ocean Act has set the stage for first-in-the-na-tion comprehensive ocean resources manage-ment, providing a balanced framework for conserving ocean areas while allowing well-sit-ed renewable energy projects to go forward. CLF was at the cutting edge of formulating this law’s landmark provisions.

We’re working hard to protect New England’s environment. At the same time, we’re creating models for the nation in taming the global warming juggernaut and managing our ocean and freshwater resources.

Staying the Course continued from the cover

Recent legislation enacted around the region will create stronger incentives for the development of clean, renewable energy, like wind and solar power.

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the “Go Big little rhody” event to kick off a campaign for the bill, which would have required 20 percent reduction in green-house gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2020. While the bill did not pass the legislature during the current session, it has had widespread support, including from National Grid, the Rhode Island Attorney General and the Mayor of Providence, and is well-positioned to move forward when the legislature reconvenes.

CLF’s Maine advocates, too, are playing a front-and-center role in advancing the battle against climate change. This spring, Gov. John Baldacci signed into law a CLF-backed bill limiting carbon emissions from coal gasification power plants and refineries and imposing a three-year moratorium on licensing of such plants until regulations are developed.

Maine’s new law is one of the first in the nation to require new coal technologies to

actually reduce and limit their carbon dioxide emissions. It also will likely prevent further attempts to restart the Twin River Energy Center coal gasification and diesel refinery, proposed for the coastal town of Wiscasset, which was defeated by residents in a town referendum last fall.

Gov. Baldacci is also committed to pro-viding incentives for new renewable energy projects; a new report by the Governor’s wind task force released this year calls for an investment of at least 3,000 MW of clean, wind-generated power by 2020. CLF is a staunch advocate for proposed wind projects such as UPC’s Stetson Mountain Project, Endless Energy’s Black Nubble Wind Farm, and TransCanada’s Kibby Mountain Proj-ect. Combined, these projects could power 100,000 Maine homes.

And, in response to rapidly increasing energy costs, Maine has convened a pre-emergency task force this summer, including CLF staff, to develop strategies to reduce the state’s energy use in transportation, electrical energy and home heating.

“Today, as in past decades, CLF has spear-headed monumental changes in the way New England grapples with energy produc-tion and use,” says CLF’s Vice President for Climate Advocacy Seth Kaplan. CLF’s com-mitment to making New England a leader in energy efficiency hasn’t wavered since publishing Power to Spare 20 years ago. The exciting energy initiatives embarked upon this past year throughout New England demonstrate the fortitude of our advocates to craft a smarter, cleaner and better future that addresses global warming, rising fuel prices and the need for a new clean energy

S u m m e r 2 0 0 8 S p 3

economy. Now, says Kaplan, “New England’s legislatures are finally awakening to the enormity of the challenge we’re facing.”

Caitlin Inglehart is CLF’s Web and Publication Manager

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2008 VeRmont LegisLatiVe Update This spring, the Vermont legislature and Gov. Jim Douglas passed a series of initiatives aimed at advancing energy efficiency, renewable energy and transportation choices.

The CLF-backed legislation included creating new means of improving home heating energy efficiency. Building on the tremendous success of Efficiency Vermont, a state-funded group dedicated to energy reduction and efficiency, Vermonters will now have a way to save millions of dollars and help fight climate change by improving the heating efficiency of their homes and businesses.

The legislation also includes expanded net metering, which encourages local renewable projects by allowing excess power to be sold back to the grid. In addition, it simplifies permitting for testing new wind sites and provides for fairer taxation of new wind projects.

Other enacted legislation directs Vermont’s transportation agency to ensure better integration of cleaner transportation choices such as rail, bicycles and public transit. With gasoline costing over $4 per gallon, CLF will continue working to ensure that wise investments are considered that will save money and reduce pollution, like public transit and rail, instead of expanding or building new highways, like the Circ Highway around Burlington.

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new, CLF-backed regional legislation is encouraging the development of clean energy, not the development and expansion of highways.

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can’t blame it on the rainAcross New England, stormwater pollution has emerged as the major pollution threat to the health of our rivers, lakes and streams. Some of the region’s most treasured waters – the Charles River, Great Bay Estuary, Lake Champlain, Blackstone River and Casco Bay – are suffering due to polluted stormwater runoff.

Dramatic growth in development and sprawl has eliminated natural landscapes and expanded parking lots and other paved areas. During rain storms, stormwater runoff flows from these paved areas, picking up oil, toxic metals and other pollutants, and gets dumped directly into rivers and streams with little or no treatment. This polluted stormwater increases nutrient levels of phosphorus and nitrogen, triggering toxic-algae blooms, and causes many rivers, lakes and streams to fail even basic water quality standards.

Using first-of-its-kind legal advocacy, CLF is working across the region to enforce the Clean Water Act and clean up polluted stormwater to restore New England’s treasured waterways. Not only has CLF’s clean water team held big box developers accountable for the impacts of construction, but our attorneys scored a major precedent-setting victory in May when a federal judge ruled the Massachusetts Highway Department had failed to properly clean up stormwater pollution on its 2,500 miles of roads and bridges.

Here’s a look at how CLF is leading the charge to combat stormwater pollution and protect some of our region’s most treasured waters:

New Hampshire – Victory for Great Bay estuary

Nitrogen pollution has been steadily rising in the Great Bay estuary, leading to an increased presence of nuisance algae that causes oxygen depletion and declines in critical eelgrass habitat. Great Bay now has nitrogen levels similar to those that led to the collapse of Chesapeake Bay. Last January, a legal settlement signed by CLF, the City of Portsmouth and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put Portsmouth on the path to long-awaited reductions in wastewater and nitrogen pollution flowing into the Piscataqua River – an important part of the Great Bay estuary.

In the settlement, Portsmouth agreed to include nitrogen removal as a key consideration in its ongoing assessment of future wastewater treatment options. Additionally, as part of the settlement, the City must conduct a detailed study, with input from CLF and EPA, of measures it can implement in the short-term.

Maine – Restoring the health of Long Creek

Long Creek is a tributary of the Fore River which flows into Casco Bay, and has consistently failed the state’s lowest water quality standards. Last March, CLF demanded that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) start regulating urban stormwater discharges that are polluting Long Creek in South Portland, Maine.

Under the Clean Water Act, EPA and state agencies must regulate stormwater discharges that contribute to violations of state water quality standards. Long Creek is in violation of basic water quality standards for dissolved oxygen levels, pollution from heavy metals and toxins, and loss of aquatic life, including the disappearance of native Brook Trout.

CLF’s petition to the EPA asked the federal agency to curb Long Creek’s pollution problem by requiring existing developments – including the Maine Mall area, big box stores, theaters, car dealerships, hotels and restaurants – to install stormwater treatment and begin using best management practices.

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MAssachusetts – CLF Forces Cleanup of Polluted Water off Highways

In a precedent-setting decision on May 30, 2008, a federal court judge ruled from the bench that the Massachusetts Highway Department violated federal clean water laws by failing to develop an adequate stormwater cleanup plan for its 2,500 miles of roads and bridges. The decision, by Judge William G. Young, stems from a lawsuit filed by CLF, the Charles River Watershed Association and Leominster Land Trust charging that MassHighway was not properly implementing a provision of the federal Clean Water Act requiring them to control and clean up polluted water that flows off their roadways into neighboring lakes and streams.

The state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation had recently negotiated a settlement with CLF and agreed to clean up polluted stormwater runoff, but instead of negotiating MassHighway chose to confront CLF and the watershed groups in court. After six days of trial, Judge Young ordered MassHighway to commit to a two-year schedule for adopting a new, stormwater pollution cleanup plan for existing roadways and planned construction projects. The Judge also said the agency must quickly move to address pollution hot spots in Leominster and the Charles River watershed.

Vermont – A better way to build near Lake Champlain

Lake Champlain suffers from a deluge of polluted stormwater and industrial runoff, causing toxic algae blooms which appear in the lake’s most popular bays and coves. When a Lowe’s Home Supply store was proposed in South Burlington near one of the lake’s tributaries, CLF intervened to ensure that the building process would be environmentally sound and prevent further pollution from entering the waterways. The January 2008 opening of the Lowe’s Home Center store in South Burlington successfully capped seven years of CLF’s efforts to demonstrate that Vermont can clean up Lake Champlain and its tributaries while still allowing responsible development.

Through settlement with CLF, Lowe’s committed to a higher cleanup standard than the state had required. These measures include improved stormwater retention ponds and a filtration system for runoff from the nearby Kmart Plaza – remedies that in combination will effectively eliminate the development’s impact on a tributary known as Potash Brook. CLF and Lowe’s also agreed to consult on sustainable water quality design for future projects.

Rhode Island – Ensuring Blackstone River is swimmable

The Blackstone River begins in Worcester, MA and flows southerly through several Rhode Island communities and into Narragansett Bay. For years, the river has been unswimmable due to contamination from stormwater and sewage treatment plants. CLF has been actively involved in the Blackstone River Initiative, working together with the Blackstone River Coalition (BRC) toward the shared, ambitious goal of making the Blackstone River fishable and swimmable by 2015.

Over the past three years, CLF has assisted with the cleanup of the Blackstone through two primary strategies. First, CLF attorneys established an overall legal framework by which the major sources of pollution in the Blackstone River could be addressed and ameliorated. Second, our Rhode Island Advocacy Center worked to develop innovative tools that empower local concerned citizens, acting through watershed councils, to become actively involved in reducing pollution in the Blackstone River by identifying pollution sources using online mapping resources and reporting the polluters to environmental officials.

Solutions to a Pervasive ProblemWhile CLF’s advocacy focuses on holding polluters accountable to the Clean Water Act’s requirement to control stormwater runoff, there are many other ways businesses, residents and local communities can help reduce stormwater pollution through existing and cost-effective solutions.

Individually, we can all do our part by reducing the amount of pesticide we use in our yards, properly maintaining septic systems, composting our yard waste, and maintaining our cars to make sure harmful chemicals and debris stay out of our waterways.

Lowe’s Home Center in Burlington is an example of solutions, like retention ponds and filtration systems for runoff, which must be implemented to create less environmental impact on surrounding waterways. Porous pavement, which allows rainwater to seep into the ground, and construction of trap nets in stormwater drains that filter out solid waste are other important measures. CLF will continue to focus on the enormous threat stormwater pollution poses to our rivers, lakes and streams and, at the same time, will partner with businesses and others to encourage research and development of innovative solutions to combat this growing problem.

For more information about CLF’s stormwater cases around the region, visit www.clf.org.

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Around the Statesfor adoption of the nation’s first limits on carbon dioxide emissions from coal gasification power plants and refineries. The new law, which CLF advanced together with Midcoast residents opposed to the proposed Wiscasset coal gasification plant, also imposes a three-year moratorium on licensing of such plants until the new regulations are developed.

The law closes a major loophole in existing laws which would otherwise allow increased and unlimited emissions of carbon dioxide - the primary pollut-ant that causes global warming - from coal gasification plants. That loophole would have opened the door for the Twin River Energy Center, a proposed coal gasification and diesel refinery in the coastal town of Wiscasset. If con-structed, Twin River would have instantly become Maine’s largest source of global warming pollution. In 2007, CLF worked with the Back River Alliance and others to defeat a zoning ordinance in Wiscas-set that would have allowed the Twin River facility to move forward.

“The science is clear: to avoid the disastrous impacts of climate change we must focus on the solutions that will deliver the greatest reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” said CLF Staff Attorney Steve Hinchman. “The Governor’s recent wind power task force set us on a path toward a cleaner energy future and the coal gasification bill ensures that we will stay on track by not constructing new sources of carbon dioxide pollution.”

Massachusetts

Landmark Ocean Management Law a Blueprint for the NationIn May, MA Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law a historic ocean management act to balance commercial and recreational use with wildlife protection. The new law will lead to a first-in-the-nation ocean man-agement plan to guide all development activity, including renewable energy, in state ocean waters.

CLF’s Ocean Conservation team played a key leadership role in devel-oping the new MA ocean management law which was the result of three years of negotiation and collaboration between legislators, environmental groups, fishing organizations and other ocean users.

“This landmark law provides the foun-dation for sensible planning in our ocean waters that balances economic growth with protection of marine wildlife and underwater habitat,” said Priscilla Brooks, Director of the CLF’s Ocean Conservation Program. “This is a critical step forward in stewarding our ocean’s health for future generations.”

The new ocean management plan, which must be completed by Dec. 31, 2009, will be developed by a 17-mem-ber ocean management commission, including state agency representatives, state legislators, municipal officials, and environmental, fishing, and marine in-dustry stakeholders. A science advisory board will also work on the plan’s cre-ation. Under the new law, the state’s energy and environment secretary will retain all authority for managing and coordinating ocean activity under the management plan.

Maine

First-of-its-kind law limits carbon emissions from coal gasification plantsLast April, Gov. John Baldacci signed into law a bill that charts the course

Spotlight on: CLF Ventures

Wind power represents one of the region’s most promising sources of clean energy. By boosting development of wind

power projects throughout New England, and increasing the availability of green power, we will be one step closer to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and eliminating our dependence on fossil fuels as an energy source.

Currently, only 57 Megawatts (MW) of wind power have been built and are operating in New England states, which puts the region far behind New York’s 425 MW of wind power, Iowa’s 1,295 MW and 5,317 MW in Texas. Lack of transmission to carry the new green power over electricity lines and into homes and businesses, public opposition and constantly shifting state policies have created hurdles for encouraging more wind power in the region.

To confront these challenges, CLF Ventures is working with industry and environmental partners to launch the New England Wind Collaborative (NEW). NEW will advocate for wind power development within the New England states while also supporting development of other significant renewable energy resources. Modeled after successful organizations in other parts of the country, NEW will be a partnership of the wind industry, public interest environmental organizations and other energy companies who share a common vision of clean, renewable and environmentally responsible power development.

4 To learn more about CLF Ventures, visit www.clfventures

a landmark new ocean management law will provide a balance of economic growth and protection of sensitive marine wildlife.

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Rhode Island

Better contracts for clean energy in Rhode Island

CLF scored a major victory in the Rhode Island General Assembly when the Long-Term Contracting (LTC) bill for renewable energy passed by a veto-proof margin in the House and unanimously in the Senate. LTCs are crucially important to renewable energy developers because they are often necessary for the developers to obtain funding for their projects.

CLF had been pressing for long-term renewable energy contracts for several years, and this was one of CLF’s major legislative priorities in Rhode Island. In 2005, CLF was instrumental to having the RI Public Utilities Commission make long-term contracts a requirement for utilities to meet the state’s Renewable Energy Standard, which calls for16 percent of electricity to be generated byrenewables by 2020. But in 2006 and 2007, CLF was forced to litigate against National Grid when Grid’s renewable energy procure-ment proposals did not include any LTCs. One year after litigating against Grid, CLF was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Grid in the General Assembly working for passage of an LTC bill that mandates more LTCs for renewables at earlier dates than the original 2004 Renewable En-ergy Standard, and provides a modest financial incentive to the utility to enter into LTCs.

Providing financial incentives to align utility interests with the public interest has become commonplace, but the LTC bill sets a major national precedent in how the incentive is structured. If enacted, the bill would tie utility incentives to the actual purchase of electricity from renewable resources, thereby making the utility an eager partner in getting new renewable projects producing electricity. Unfortu-nately, in June Gov. Garcieri vetoed the bill. Now, CLF and other groups are urging the General Assembly to override the veto.

Vermont

Keeping Vermont’s roadless roadless areas pristineIn response to opposition from CLF’s Vermont Advocacy Center and local concerned residents, the United States Forest Service has abandoned plans to cut more than three miles of snowmobile trails in a roadless area of the Green Mountain National Forest (GMNF). The proposed “Natural Turnpike” project would have allowed snowmobile traffic to traverse a previously non-motorized area, potentially causing increased forest fragmentation, loss of species habitat, increased air pollution, soil erosion, stream sedimentation, and invasion of exotic species.

While hailing this victory for Vermont’s forests and wildlife, CLF recognizes that the protection of the GMNF, one of only two National Forests in New England, is at a critical juncture. The damaging ef-fects of climate change have rendered forest ecosystems increasingly sensitive to human alterations. And as conversion of private forest land to residential de-velopment quickens across the region, protection of roadless areas on public lands like the GMNF is essential to the viability of more reclusive threatened and endangered species.

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CLF’s Clean Water and Healthy Forest program is making sure that the green mountain national Forest, other public lands and wildlife are protected for years to come.

New Hampshire

NH joins regional global warming pact

With the stroke of a pen from Gov. John Lynch last month, New Hampshire joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. RGGI – a pact negotiated by Northeast governors to reduce global warming pollution from power plants in the region. CLF hailed the agreement as an “urgently needed and historic step forward in the state’s fight to cut greenhouse gas emissions.”

“RGGI is one of the best tools in the climate toolkit that allows us-finally-to begin to take meaningful action to solve the problem of global warm-ing,” said Melissa Hoffer, director of CLF’s New Hampshire Advocacy Center. “The time to act is now. We can no longer ignore the rising cost of climate change.”

A recent study by the Natural Re-sources Defence Council estimates that, nationally, under a business-as-usual scenario, climate-related impacts due to hurricane damage, real estate losses, energy costs, and water costs will total $1.9 trillion annually by 2100. Using an innovative cap-and-trade system, RGGI will combat global warming and miti-gate climate-related damage by setting limits on the carbon dioxide emissions produced by power plants in each par-ticipating state. For each ton of carbon dioxide a plant emits, it must purchase one allowance. RGGI’s market-based approach will reward plants that reduce emissions,since they will save money by purchasing fewer allowances. It has served as a model for federal legislation, as well as for other countries seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Importantly, New Hampshire’s RGGI law ensures that a substantial portion of the funds raised through the auction of carbon pollution allowances will be used to fund investments in energy effi-ciency that benefit residents by lowering electricity bills.

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Conservation Law Foundation works to solve the most significant environmental problems that threaten New England. CLF’s advocates use law, economics and science to create innovative strategies to conserve natural resources, protect public health and promote vital communities in our region. Founded in 1966, CLF is a nonprofit, member-supported organization.

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A CLF supporter “walks the walk” through clean energyRecycle. Turn off the lights. Cut down on car trips. When asked, most people can name important ways to cut energy use and be more environmentally conscious. Others, like CLF supporter Sara Molyneaux, are taking their environmental commitment to bold and innovative levels: This past year, Sara, who also serves on the CLF Board of Trustees, demonstrated her passion for energy conservation by installing three arrays of photovoltaic panels on her lawn to generate much of the energy consumed by her family of four.

The arrays each support ten solar panels (shown right) which can generate 6.5 Kilowatts of electricity, and use a single axis tracker system, allowing the panels to follow the sun’s trajectory. Essentially a small power plant, the arrays work on a “net metering” system, whereby the kilowatts generated are used first to meet electric requirements (e.g., appliances, lights) in Sara’s Dover, MA home. If more electricity is produced from the solar panels than the home needs, the extra kilowatts are fed into the utility grid.

Sara’s interest in solar energy began years ago, she says, while working as a research scientist focusing on biomass-to-energy technology. “My love of energy research made me want to do a solar project for my home.” Now, with the solar panels in operation, Sara’s

family has cut the amount of electricity they purchase from the grid almost in half.

Sara’s solar project is an admirable example of the ways in which CLF supporters are making exciting, innovative commitments to clean energy and environmental stewardship. What’s the best way for YOU to practice what you preach? “Efficiency and conservation are huge,” notes Sara, who has also replaced every light bulb in her home with more efficient compact fluorescents. “I only drive when combining trips; I drive a hybrid and try to use public transportation whenever possible. And I try to instill these principles into my family and the people around me.”

Philip Warburg, Esq.PresidentMichael B. MoskowChair, Board of TrusteesPaula W. Gold, Esq.Vice Chair, Board of TrusteesJohn M. Teal, Ph.D.Vice Chair, Board of TrusteesEugene H. ClappTreasurer, Board of TrusteesThaleia Tsongas SchlesingerSecretary, Board of Trustees Jon A. Lund, Esq.Chair, Maine BoardJohn B. French, Esq.Chair, Massachusetts BoardMartin L. Gross, Esq.Chair, New Hampshire Board Louise Durfee, Esq.Chair, Rhode Island BoardMaximilian W. Kempner, Esq.Chair, Vermont Board

CLF Maine 14 Maine St., Suite 200 Brunswick, Maine 04011-2026 Phone 207/729-7733CLF Massachusetts 62 Summer St. Boston, MA 02110-1016 Phone 617/350-0990CLF New Hampshire 27 North Main St. Concord, NH 03301-4930 Phone 603/225-3060CLF Rhode Island 55 Dorrance St. Providence, RI 02903-2221 Phone 401/351-1102CLF Vermont 15 East State St., Suite 4 Montpelier, VT 05602-3010 Phone 802/223-5992

Editor: Caitlin Inglehart Graphic Design by Jason Fairchild, The Truesdale Group

Web site www.clf.orgCopyright © 2008 Conservation Law FoundationPrinted on 100% post-consumer content recycled paper with soy-based Inks

CLF reLies on your support to protect new england’s natural resources and communities. Give your region a healthier future by becoming a member of CLF.

CLF members understand that threats to the environment are complex, requiring sophisticated, innovative solutions. Join the growing number of people whose support makes a critical difference in preserving new england’s environment.

As a member of CLF, you will receive Conservation Matters, our quarterly journal that explores the region’s most pressing environmental issues; CLF’s monthly e-mail newsletter that keeps you up to date with CLF’s latest news; and invitations to special member events. you also have the opportunity to join CLF’s active and engaged online community by participating in Action Alerts and other vital online campaigns.

to join CLF, please use the enclosed envelope or visit us on the Web at www.clf.org/donate. thank you!

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Personal Pledges:

CLF Trustee Sara Molyneaux and her son Sam stand beneath the arrays of solar panels gracing their backyard. The panels generate a total of 6.5 KW and have cut their electricity bills almost in half.