Meet our new our new CCC Volunteer /
Highlights from our Community Resilience workshops / New DOE grant to create statewide energy registry
Our monthly sampling of news, resources, events and other items of interest from across the sustainability spectrum in Maryland.
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| Some Green Team members playing the "Game of Floods" at the SM Leadership Training in Hagerstown. Thank you to everyone who came out and participated, we hope it made planning for an impending environmental catastrophe more fun and approachable! |
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GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
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Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Program (AFIP)
(Maryland Energy Administration)
Deadline: February 1, 2018
Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Rebate Program 2.0
(Maryland Energy Administration)
Deadline: June 30, 2020
Deadline: Maryland Urban & Community Forestry Grants
(Maryland DNR)
Deadline:
semi-annual
More info
Charles County Forestry Grant Program
(Chesapeake Bay Trust)
Deadline:
Rolling
More info
Community Engagement & Restoration Mini-grants
(Chesapeake Bay Trust)
Deadline:
Rolling
More info
Prince Georges County Weatherization Program
Deadline: Rolling
Prince Georges County Raincheck Rebate
(Chesapeake Bay Trust)
Deadline:
Rolling
More info
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EVENTS CALENDAR
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Maryland General Assembly Session Opening
Date:
December 11
Location:
Annapolis
Building Innovation 2018
Dates:
January 8-11
Location:
Washington, DC
Cultivate the Chesapeake Foodshed Conference
Dates: January 11-13
Location: College Park
National Bike Summit
Dates: March 5-7
Location: Washington, DC
Link
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SUSTAINABLE MARYLAND COMMUNITIES IN THE NEWS
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Takoma Park Makes Finals Of National Energy Savings Competition
Easton Utilities Completes Solar Array
Sustaining the Future in Bel Air
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Local Job Opportunities
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Trillium Construction
(Riverdale, MD)
Environmental Coordinator
Maryland Department of Transportation, Maryland Transit Authority
(Baltimore, MD)
Environmental Planning Manager
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2017-2018 CCC VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: Marcus Glomset
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| Marcus Glomset, Chesapeake Conservation Corps 2017-18 |
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This month, the EFC is excited to introduce the second of our
Chesapeake Conservation Corps Volunteers,
Marcus Glomset (image left). Marcus graduated from Lawrence University in 2016 with a major in Environmental Studies and a concentration in government and policy. During his undergrad he studied abroad in Tanzania for several months, where in addition to taking classes he had the opportunity to conduct his own research on animal vigilance behavior.
Marcus hopes to pursue a career in energy finance or a related field, and his work with the EFC this year reflects this interest. So far he has contributed to a research project on energy efficiency investments for restaurants in Montgomery County, and starting in the New Year he will begin projects with focuses on emissions reduction on UMD campuses and statewide energy use transparency. His capstone will take the form of a document that can be widely disseminated for Maryland restaurants to use as a guide for participating in county and state efficiency programs.
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR RESILIENT COMMUNITIES LEADERSHIP TRAININGS IN CAMBRIDGE, HYATTSVILLE AND HAGERSTOWN
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More than 75 elected officials, county and municipal staff, Green Team members, consultants and sustainability advocates attended our recent
Building Resilient Communities: Making Local Government More Resilient workshops in Cambridge, Hyattsville, and Hagerstown last month.
Presentations included:
- Brandy Espinola from Sustainable Maryland provided a contextual overview of climate resilience issues and how local governments are being impacted through the discussion of disaster case studies, including the recent flood events in Houston and Ellicot City.
- Brian Ambrette from the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy who discussed some climate projections for the state of Maryland, highlighted specific impacts and threats faced by different communities, and provided management and planning tools for local actors to improve resilience to climate outcomes.
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Kristin Baja of the
Urban Sustainability Directors Network led attendees in the "
Game of Floods", a role playing activity focused on having participants think critically about municipal infrastructure when faced with potentially catastrophic environmental threats.
The full slate of presentations can be found
here
. If you are interested in playing
Game of Floods
yourself, and have at least 10 participants, Kristin Baja can provide additional, free facilitation and support for your organization to do so. She can be reached at kristinbaja@usdn.org.
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EFC RECEIVES DOE GRANT TO HELP CREATE STATEWIDE UTILITY ENERGY REGISTRY
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The Environmental Finance Center (EFC) has received a $50,000 grant from the United States Department of Energy to help launch a Utility Energy Registry in the state of Maryland. EFC staff will be convening stakeholders across the government, utility and non-profit sectors to determine the struct
ure and process of setting up a comprehensive registry of utility data that will be publicly accessible and regularly updated.
The goal will be an online platform that contains aggregate electricity usage data by municipality or zip code for different types of customers (residential, commercial, and industrial). Access to this information will enable communities to better understand their energy usage patterns and to develop energy and climate mitigation plans. EFC will be working in partnership with the Maryland Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) on this initiative, tapping into that age
ncy's longstan
ding relationship with the region's utility companies and government age
ncies. Stay tuned for more updates on our progress in the new year.
Left: Solar panels on the Town Hall of Cottage City, MD
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QUOTE
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"It's clearly a crisis of two things: of consciousness and conditioning. We have the technological power, the engineering skills to save our planet... But we lack the intellectual vision, the ability to change our minds. We must decondition ourselves from 10,000 years of bad behavior. And, it's not easy."
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Terence McKenna, ethnobotanist, author, psychonaut
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Sustainable Maryland is an initiative of the Environmental Finance Center at the University of Maryland. It is a free and voluntary program designed to help Maryland communities choose a direction for their sustainability efforts, improve access to resources needed to implement action, and recognize their accomplishments. Our sponsors include the Town Creek Foundation, US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Maryland Municipal League. For more information about how your municipality can register in the Sustainable Maryland program, plus customized Green Team training and access to student resources that are available to provide consultancy services for municipal planning, please contact 301-405-7956 or mikeh75@umd.edu
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Mike Hunninghake
Program Manager
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