Northeast Metro Climate Action invites you to an informational event on Tuesday evening June 4 at 6:30 pm. The topic of the event is “Recognizing and Reducing Our Collective Impact on Ocean Life”. World Oceans Day is observed in June – get info about issues facing the oceans at this event!

Guest speaker at the June 4th event in White Bear Lake will be Prof. Kevin Theissen, Associate Professor of Geology at the University of St Thomas. This forum will focus on issues facing the health of the world’s oceans, including the bleaching of coral reefs, the warming and acidification of ocean waters related to climate change, and more. Professor Theissen’s presentation will focus on the science, impacts, consequences, and responses related to the problem of ocean acidification. Ocean acidification is called the “equally evil twin of climate change” because like climate change it is occurring mainly due to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels.

Dr. Theissen’s research work applies geological and geochemical methods to study past climate and environmental change and he also does research related to climate change education, attitudes, and misconceptions. Dr. Theissen teaches courses in oceanography, paleoclimatology (past climates), and environmental geochemistry, all of which have strong sustainability themes.

Please invite friends to come to this event using this Facebook event.

AACA’s event was last week but we highly recommend this film. The history of scientific discoveries that led scientists to their overwhelming agreement today about the cause and acceleration of climate change are described for the average person. You can stream it on PBS by clicking on this link .

Another resource to to check out from this link:Science Friday

Monday April 29 at Shoreview Library, Dr. Steve Jorissen provided a great presentation about how any household can reduce its carbon footprint.

“Warming Planet’s freezing Message:

As Climate destabilizes Minnesota could see polar snaps more frequently.”

Minneapolis Star Tribune February 4, 2019

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/polar-vortex-what-is-the-2019-polar-vortex-weather-event-and-is-global-warming-to-blame/

Want to learn more about how humans do contribute to climate change and what each of us can do to help slow down its trajectory? Then Drawdown is the book for you, your friends and neighbors. Start a discussion by displaying it on your coffee table!

“In the face of widespread fear and apathy, an international coalition of researchers, professionals, and scientists have come together to offer a set of realistic and bold solutions to climate change. One hundred techniques and practices are described here—some are well known; some you may have never heard of…” New York Times review

On October 25, Connexus Energy held a ribbon cutting celebration for its new project that combines solar panels and storage batteries.  This project has two sites, one in the City of Ramsey and one in Athens Township. 

See more about this great new project in this article or this video from Community Television Network of Coon Rapids….

University of Minnesota Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Ned Mohan presented a two part series on confronting the seriousness of climate change and energy from renewables like wind and solar. Energy conservation was also discussed.

His presentation is an accurate and real depiction of how climate change is right now impacting families, communities and invaluable landscapes across the world. He also discusses the cause of climate change and solutions.

Below are a few visuals from his presentation. Click here to see the full presentation.

Winning awards and making a difference for generations to come… How Liberty Apartments and Townhomes and Hilton Garden Inn are Leading the charge in clean living.

How would you like to live in a cutting edge community development that not only cuts your cost of living, but makes a real difference to the future of our planet? The Liberty Apartments and Townhomes in Golden Valley is building a new template for multi-residential housing. They are creating a view into a better future by integrating sustainable solar energy into their new apartment complex project. The complex will consist of 55 townhomes, 200 apartments units and a community clubhouse equipped with pool that boasts 1,448 Solar Panels alone. 

One of many benefits of committing the project as a sustainable solar community from inception, is the labor and installation costs are greatly reduced versus trying to retroactively adapt to clean energy years later. Residents of the apartment complex will also see the benefits from day one, consuming clean energy and offsetting 5,325 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over 25 years. They can also track the amount of electricity they are generating by smartphone app or online.

The development of Liberty Apartments and Townhomes will create jobs and opportunity for local companies. Twelve local design and installation jobs, will be created and multiple local companies such as Werner Electric will be part of the project. The solar arrays, consisting of 900 PV panes and 280,000 watts of energy will be designed and constructed by TruNorth and connected to Xcel Energy distribution system.

This project stands as an example of what can be accomplished in our communities using solar integration. The excitement for the project is growing. It won the 2018 Environmental Initiative award and is creating buzz within the development community as a leader in what can be done. Through partnership (more than nine companies!) they are showing the world what can be accomplished with solar. Learn more at https://www.TruNorthSolar.com or visit www.LiveAtTheLiberty.com for more information.

Another local business getting props for sustainability and clean energy initiatives is Hilton Garden Inn in Maple Grove. They ranked the top in efficiency out of 27 hotels in their management group here in the Midwest. What makes this accomplishment so noteworthy is that they were able to achieve an 80 on Energy Star portfolio manager, not by new expensive technology, but by high staff engagement.

While guests will notice some LED lighting, they may not notice the due diligence of the staff behind the scenes. Efforts are made by cleaning, maintenance and kitchen staff to adjust thermostats, shut off lights, close windows and blinds, perform regular equipment repairs and shutt of exhaust hoods between breakfast and dinner service. These small but impactful efforts add up and make a huge difference in energy and cost savings.

Hilton Garden Inn is able to accomplish this through teamwork and a strong sense to do the “right thing” by the entire team, starting at the top. Team members have a say in the projects they take on, and management supports them by providing the tools to be successful and finally the results of their efforts. They use a Green Scorecard where they track more than 150 conservation items. A Green Committee with representatives for each hotel in the group as well as a Green Newsletter  are also used to initiate and promote new ideas.

What would our communities look like if all businesses had such insight, vision and the drive to do what is best for its customers and communities? Examples such as these allow us to visualize what a better future could look like. With such successes as Hilton Garden Inn in Maple Grove and Liberty Apartments and Townhomes in Maple Grove hopefully other businesses and future developments will hop on the clean energy and sustainability band wagon.