News stories tagged with "sustainability"

(09/27/11) This summer, the St. Lawrence County legislature considered a measure to create a climate action plan. The plan would find ways to save money while reducing the county government's carbon footprint. That could include anything from energy audits in county buildings to anti-idling policies in county parking lots. The legislature tabled the matter because it wanted a better cost-benefit analysis of the plan.

Clarkson University professor Stephen Bird hopes to provide that analysis. Bird studies energy and environmental policy. He's working with faculty and students at all four universities in Canton and Potsdam. Bird told David Sommerstein that climate change models project significant changes for the North Country in the future.

(09/22/11) The Cooperative Extension Learning Farm in Canton hosts the annual Local Living Festival this weekend. It's two days of workshops, demonstrations and performances of simple living, rural resources and "do-it-yourself" skills. The event will focus on renewable energy, green building, food, gardening, farming, land management and animals. Bryan Welch, Mother Earth News publisher, is also a farmer and will be one of the guest speakers at the Local Living Festival. He told Todd Moe that he'll share thoughts from his book, Beautiful and Abundant - Building the World We Want, and his vision for the future based on innovation, creativity and optimism.

(07/08/11) Beginning farmers from both sides of Lake Champlain gathered at the Grange Hall in rural crossroads of Whallonsburg in late June for a sort of mixer.

The mixer was organized by the Greenhorns, a nonprofit group that works on behalf of young farmers. The day included area farm tours, workshops, food, a puppet show, and camaraderie. Typical old grange-style stuff. But it wasn't farm business as usual.

Sarah Harris found the young farmers there are on a mission to change agriculture in America. more

(04/04/11) Tonight and tomorrow, community leaders from around the region gather for the 9th Annual North Country Symposium. They'll try to learn lessons from a hardscrabble town in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

About ten years ago, people in Hardwick started opening businesses related to local agriculture. Today, there are community-supported restaurants, a tofu maker, a seed company, fruit, vegetable, and meat growers, a food coop, and a not-for-profit composting agency. Hardwick's been featured on national TV, in the New York Times, and many other newspapers.

Author Ben Hewitt wrote about the Hardwick revival in his book, The Town That Food Saved. He's the keynote speaker at the Symposium.

Hewitt told David Sommerstein part of Hardwick's success is owned to a spirit of collaboration and a diversified entrepreneurial economy.

(10/19/10) A recent report from the agency that monitors New York's electric grid says the state can quintuple the amount of wind power pulsing through the system by 2018. But wind developers say the chances of hitting that mark are slim.

Wind farms are having trouble making profits for their owners. As the Innovation Trail's Zack Seward reports, more incentives may be needed if the state wants to meet its renewable energy goals. more

(04/26/10) In the ultra-competitive world of college admissions, a university can live or die by how it looks. The grounds are a huge part of sealing the deal for prospective students and parents. But universities are also trying to save money and reduce their impact on the environment. Tonight at 7, St. Lawrence University hosts a discussion about sustainable groundskeeping. One of the featured speakers is SLU grounds manager, Marcus Sherburne. Sherburne has sculpted golf courses and universities for more than a decade. In the last few years, he's begun changing his practices to reduce energy and use less pesticides and fertilizers. Sherburne took David Sommerstein for a ride in his four-wheeler to show him the difference.

(08/04/09) A group in the Adirondacks is getting serious about a greener more sustainable world. Todd Moe talks with Gail Brill, of Saranac Lake, about plans for a community store, the Adirondack Green Circle, Transition Towns initiative, and passing "traditional" skills like gardening, canning and baking bread to the next generation.

(04/23/09) A quartet of cyclists has spent most of this month on the road, cycling from central Vermont to the North Country to raise awareness of climate change. The Cycling for a Sustainable Future Tour left Norwich,Vermont two weeks ago and will arrive in Canton tomorrow. They will have logged 350 miles on their bikes. The four cyclists will be guests at St. Lawrence University and the Sustainable Energy Fair this weekend. Jim Merkel is an author, volunteer and engineer who moved from the military industry to a simpler, more sustainable way of life in the Northeast. He spoke with Todd Moe.

(04/02/09) Martha Foley talks with Jeff Yost, president and CEO of the Nebraska Community Foundation. He's in Canton today to speak to St. Lawrence County community leaders as keynote for the North Country Symposium.

(11/17/08) We're asking people to think big, for the Obama Administration. Michael Shuman thinks big, about small things: small business, local economies. He's brought his ideas about local economies to North Country sustainability symposiums. His books include Going Local: Creating Self-reliant Communities in a Global Age, and The Small-mart Revolution - how Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition. As an economist, Shuman speaks the language of high finance, but applies it to the most local of transactions. He's proposing a massive DE-regulation of microfinance, while the rest of the world is focused on increasing regulation on macrofinance. In conversation with Martha Foley, Shuman said the most important thing the Obama Administration needs to understand is that revitalizing America's economy requires revitalizing the Main Street economy.