State seeks input on using carbon-credit auction revenue

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The state Office of Energy Resources is looking for comments on its plans for spending several million dollars it receives each year through its innovative auction of carbon credits that began last fall with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

The state received about $2.5 million in auctions last fall. If prices remain about the same, the state could receive another $5 million to $6 million in four auctions this year.

Starting Jan. 1, power plants in the 10-state RGGI cooperative must have allowances or credits for each ton of carbon they emit. In the last two auctions, all the credits were sold. In the December auction, the price was $3.38 per allowance. It raised $106.5 million, which was distributed to the cooperating states. The program may change because there are strong indications that the Obama administration wants a national cap and trade program.

According to the plan announced last week by Andy Dzykewicz, commissioner of the state Office of Energy Resources, here is how the proceeds will be spent:

•Up to $300,000 or 5 percent of the proceeds each year will be used to cover the department’s costs associated with participating in the RGGI program.

•60 percent of the remainder will be used for supplementing and expanding energy efficiency efforts designed to reduce long-term consumer energy demands and costs.

•40 percent will be on new partnerships, research and pilot programs designed to accelerate and broaden energy savings in Rhode Island.

Eligible parties and projects include state agencies, municipalities, small nonprofits, small commercial and industrial companies and institutions of higher education.

The energy office says it has already received proposals from the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission and Peoples Power and Light for an energy-efficiency program designed to reduce the need for a new transmission line for the island. It said Interfaith Power and Light has proposed providing financial assistance to improve energy efficiency at low-income houses of worship. Rhode Island Housing has proposed spending $800,000 to provide energy-efficiency assistant to low- and moderate-income residents.

The state Department of Environmental Management proposed energy efficiency retrofits for drinking water and sewage treatment plants and research into reducing the costs of capturing and sequestering carbon dioxide from fossil fuel electric-generation plants. The city of Providence also proposed energy-efficiency programs.

Comments may be mailed to the energy office at 1 Capitol Hill, Providence, R.I. 02908 or e-mailed to Charles Hawkins at [email protected]. They also may be presented at a hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, April 3, in Conference Room B at the Department of Administration Building.

The plan can be view at www.energy.ri.gov/documents/Proposed.pdf.

Hazardous-waste disposal Saturday

Rhode Islanders may dispose of household hazardous wastes from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 14, at the state’s Central Landfill in Johnston.

The service is free but must be made by appointment. To make an appointment, call (401) 942-1430, ext. 241.

The most common items selected include oil-based paints, propane gas tanks, paint thinners and turpentine, pesticides and fertilizers, automotive fluids, mercury thermometers, kerosene and lamp oil, pool chemicals and fluorescent light bulbs.

For more information, go to www.rirrc.org.

‘Green’ building event is March 27

The Rhode Island chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council is hosting a full day LEED workshop on Friday, March 27, at the New England Institute of Technology in Warwick.

The class, titled LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations Technical Review v2.2, covers the LEED rating system for commercial, industrial and institutional buildings using case studies and exercises.

People seeking LEED AP, accredited professional, designation have until June 30 to take the test. Afterwards, requirements change dramatically.

People who want to attend the workshop should sign up by March 13 to assure the class will be held. For more information and to register, go to: www.usgbcri.org/. The deadline to sign up for the exam is March 31, but people are encouraged to register early.

Conservation summit March 21

The sixth-annual Land & Water Conservation Summit will be held March 21 at the University of Rhode Island’s Memorial Union.

The day-long conference is one of the largest gatherings of Rhode Island’s conservation leaders. It provides the opportunity for networking and features a full day of speakers and a slate of more than 30 workshops to choose from.

It is geared for board members, staff and volunteers from watershed councils, land trusts, conservation commissions, town councils, planning boards and others interested in land and watershed conservation.

The keynote speaker will be ecologist and author, Tom Wessels, who will address the audience with stories of New England landscapes. Wessels is an ecologist and founding director of the master’s degree program in conservation biology at Antioch University New England. He is former chair of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation that fosters environmental leadership through graduate fellowships and organizational grants. He serves as an ecological consultant to the Rain Forest Alliance’s SmartWood Green Certification Program. In that capacity, he helped draft green certification assessment guidelines for forest operations in the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada.

Registration is $55 and includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Detailed conference program, registration forms and online registration can be found at www.landandwaterpartnership.org/summit.htm.

Produce donations hit record level

The Farm Bureau and its farm and ranch families last year raised more than $160,000 and donated more than 6.7 million pounds of food to Americans through the organization’s “Harvest for All” program. Both the money raised and food amount donated are both the highest annual totals in the program’s six-year history.

Rhode Island farmers have donated thousands of dollars worth of produce to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank as well as many soup kitchens throughout the state. Each year, the RI Farm Bureau has a food drive for the Ronald MacDonald House in Providence.

Tyler Young, RI Farm Bureau vice president, and the executive director, Al Bettencourt, met with Bruce Zarembka of the Food Bank to discuss having farmers donate more food this growing season.

The Farm Bureau’s annual Food Check-Out Week is devoted to helping teach Americans how to stretch their grocery dollars. To mark this year’s event, the RI Farm Bureau conducted a food drive Feb. 15-21 among local farmers for the Ronald MacDonald House. Donors were Pezza Farms, Schartner Farms, Arruda’s Dairy, Casey Farms, Steve’s Flowers, Hill Orchard and Confreda Farms.

For information, call the Farm Bureau and (401) 647-3570.

Flower Society has new director

Debra Edelstein is the new executive director of the New England Wild Flower Society. Edelstein will manage the society’s headquarters and staff at the 45-acre botanical museum Garden in the Woods in Framingham, Mass., Nasami Farm and Sanctuary in Whatley, Mass., conservation programs, education programs, and 10 sanctuaries throughout New England.

In her most recent position at NESCAUM, the regional organization that provides scientific and policy expertise to the air agencies of the eight northeastern states, she established a new collaborative effort by the states and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce diesel emissions, secured $15 million in new project funding, created industry workgroups and multi-state task forces and organized successful public workshops.

Edelstein holds a master’s degrees in city planning and in environmental policy and planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an AB in English from Bryn Mawr College.

Audubon lending library online

The riches of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island’s lending library are now one click away.

Eighteen book enthusiasts gathered at the organization’s Smithfield headquarters on Feb. 21 to catalog more than 2,500 titles.

Audubon’s Harry Hathaway Library of Natural History and the Teacher Resource Library, in the state headquarters on the Powder Mill Ledges Refuge at 12 Sanderson Rd. in Smithfield, offer a general collection with works on natural history, ecology, environmental issues, and outdoor activities as well as field guides on everything from lichens to mammals. Borrowers only need an Audubon library card, which is free.

Books may be requested by e-mail and picked up at Audubon’s Environmental Education Center in Bristol and Fisherville Brook Wildlife Refuge in Exeter as well.

Land Trust’s plant sale is May 16-17

Southside Community Land Trust will hold its 17th annual Rare and Unusual Plant Sale at City Farm, corner of West Clifford and Dudley Streets in Providence on Saturday and Sunday, May 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Advocates for urban gardening have seen an explosion of interest over the past few years,” says Katherine Brown, executive director at the land trust. “In Rhode Island today, where so many of our neighbors are dealing with financial struggles, giving people access to food, water and healthy soil is more important than ever. A small garden plot in the city can make a big difference for hungry families. They can grow healthy, fresh food and save money.”

All proceeds from the Plant Sale will support Southside Community Land Trust’s education and urban agriculture programs. For more information, visit www.southsideclt.org.