The 2010 April edition of Green Fire Times includes the following articles:  Kidnapped by the House, A Call for Holistic Climate Policy, The NM Emissions Cap Petition, Excerpted Testimony of Paul R. Epstein, A Clear Alternative to Cap and Trade, Earth Works Institute Community Projects, Be Dense: Embracing Urban Green, Homebuilders – Remodelers – International Green Ideas Show, Not on Price Alone, What are Green Building Materials?, Solar Rights 2010, Solar Inverter Wars, Report from the Global New Energy Summit, Dreaming New Mexico – Agrifood Facts, Agricultural Collaborative Keeps it Local, An Agrarian Primer for the 21

40 Pages, 18,000 copies printed. Vol. 2, No. 4 (Issue #12).

Download the 2010 April PDF Issue here

Print PDF

Therefore, as the cartoon suggests, the issue of CO2 and anthropogenic warming may well be an esoteric, even moot point. The precautionary principle will require most well-intentioned people to acknowledge the need to restrict global pollution, and not just CO2. Furthermore, the principles guiding the global environmental community, vulnerable as they may be to subversion, are good in and of themselves, and do not require scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming to warrant action.
It is regrettable that the international scientific community has chosen to focus on CO2 to the exclusion of all the other major impacts of modern techno-industrial civilization. The overemphasis on this one often innocuous molecule has allowed the proponents of global climate action to appear simplistic, propagandistic and even self-interested. Those who overly focus on a cap and trade system that would personally enrich themselves must be recruited to a more holistic regulatory and capital markets strategy that is based on holistic science and balanced capital markets incentivization. Such a system would include taxes, policies and accounting rules on an equal footing with capital markets strategies like cap and trade.
To this end, we call upon the international political, financial and scientific community to reframe the global climate change debate in more holistic terms. A successful regulatory regime will adequately account for the role of other global warming gases, other toxins and other adverse aspects of human ecological impact. Only a holistic approach – which also acknowledges the impact of solar cycles – will achieve a scientific consensus and produce the kind of international system that takes into account all externalities. All “externalities” must be put back on the balance sheet of global industry and investment, such that capital and trade flows move naturally towards truly clean and green businesses.

Leland Lehrman is Managing Partner at Fund-Balance.com, a sustainable non-discretionary infrastructure investment advisory and policy shop in Santa Fe. 505.982.3609 or e-mail: leland@fund-balance.com

Print PDF

Not infrequently one of my many dear friends will tell me, “You’re toast man. They’re selling do-it-yourself solar systems at Lowe’s. Who’s going to pay you to plug something in?” Okay, thank you for that…but plugs can be tricky.

Then there’s my buddy at Bandwagon Solar (formerly Bandwagon Oil Shale PC) who lured me onto one of his roof installs, where we basked in mid-afternoon shade. “Darkness at noon. This is going to give you trouble,” says I, because photovoltaic (PV) solar modules need sun like a tanorexic. His smile alone was almost enough to fire up one of his shaded panels. “We’re talking Enphase baby, micro-inverters (“Texas T”), 240 AC all the way to the panel! Now who’s afraid of a little shade? And I hope I never see a string sizing program again!”

I won’t go so far as to call this blasphemy – “string sizing” is the holy liturgy of the high solar priesthood – but it certainly brought up some interesting issues.

This fellow, and the Lowe’s shopper, is all abuzz about a new product from a California start-up called Enphase Energy that promises (or threatens) to revolutionize the way solar systems are designed and installed. It’s called a “micro-inverter” because it’s tiny compared with the hardware it replaces. (Note to “dear friends” above: It actually looks more like a Panini maker than a toaster.)

Don’t touch the remote while we do a little background. When the Goddess of Electricity came up with the otherwise magical “photoelectric effect,” She neglected one thing: the juice we get from solar is Direct Current (DC), which is generally incompatible with the flat screen American Dream powered by Alternating Current (AC) ( and also supplied in deceptively cheap abundance by coal-burning PNM.)

In the “Olden Days” (or B.E., Before Enphase), the business of converting DC to AC was handled exclusively by large ground-based inverters that collected the combined outputs of all the solar panels on the roof and rendered them home and grid feed-back ready.

We called them “Sunny Boys” (one of several prominent brands), which may sound wimpy, but we always knew they were Real Men’s Inverters. For one thing they weigh more than a keg. Just getting them to stay on the wall presents anchoring challenges. They’re bombproof machines for sure, and they have big voltage appetites to go along. They like to make current at a point called the MPP where power (wattage) is maximized and voltage is a toasty 400 volts. But since each PV module only operates at around 30 volts, the modules need to be wired together in series on the roof (as in 13x 30 =390 volts).

Determining the size of those strings is a bit of an art; too many modules in series can produce too much voltage on a cold day (not a typo: PV loves cold as it loves sun), too few and on a hot day DC input drops below the operational window. Then there’s also that tricky little bit about getting this combined voltage safely off the roof without killing anybody.

So, in the heroic days of the big strings, when large DC voltages could cause arc flashes and fires, and polarity miscues could blow otherwise bombproof inverters off the wall, and sizing mistakes could cripple a system’s output on a summer day, only the well qualified (and those willing to buy Personal Protective Equipment safety gear) dared sally forth.

Now we have the Bandwagon Boys. Enphase has changed the game. No more scary DC voltages with their attendant expensive disconnects. No more string sizing headaches. With a baby inverter on its back, each module is a string unto itself with it’s own MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking), thereby alleviating the fatal flaw of a multi-module string: just like with those old Christmas lights, if one module in a string goes off-line (and it takes a ridiculously small amount of shading to do that), the output of the entire string is compromised. With Enphase, the shadow of a chimney, for instance, can mosey across an array all day but only affect one module at a time. And now modules don’t have to be matched sets by brand, orientation, age or even temperature for optimum power. No longer constrained by string sizing (usually 8 to 13 modules each), you can start building a PV system as small as one panel, then add one a year, like contributing to an IRA. In fact, an Enphase solar array can be a crazy quilt of oddball panels picked up at the Restore and slammed up all over a roof by some weekend warrior. You can make your house look like a solar armadillo. Who needs friendly neighbors?
Not everyone likes this picture. No doubt there is still a place (a sunny, unshaded place where qualified technicians cater to clients who can afford their ideal system) for the tested technology of traditional inverters. You’ve still got to have installers who can get most of those modules pointing in the right direction (that would be south) and get them to stay put on the roof for 30 years. And that’s the kind of experience that usually goes with string inverter expertise.

So maybe part of the unease among solar professionals is guild mentality: the string theorists want to protect their turf. It’s like when a seasoned skier sees a novice snowboarder flash by and thinks: that’s too darn easy. There are legitimate aesthetic (armadillo) and accountability (yahoo) issues. After what went down with solar thermal in the seventies, the industry wisemen say we can ill afford another black eye.

On the technical score sheet, Enphase has defused the old efficiency bugaboo by announcing a 95.5 % efficiency rating right up there with the big boys. Then they pointed out enhanced system efficiency (plus 5 to 25%) by eliminating string shading effects. On price, micro-inverters add 50 cents per watt but save on hiring more expert personnel for the install. Enphase has a great website that let’s you keep tabs on each individual module, but it costs $10 per month, roughly the output of two panels.

Skeptics usually fall back on longevity concerns. Enphase hasn’t been around long enough, and by that they mean not only the hardware but also the company itself. Will they be able to honor their 15-year warranty? Or will the rash of failures at year five sink the whole enterprise? That said, if Enphase builds on its early success, it may be the Sunnyboys (can’t help thinking: big like dinosaurs, or mainframes) that adapt or die. SMA, German parent of Sunnyboy, recently purchased a micro-inverter firm of its own. A few years back this might have set off alarms of a General Motors buying up battery technology in order to kill it, but in this case it seems more like running to catch up. Enphase is already here. You can get it at Lowe’s. You plug it in. Of course, you might want to call in qualified personnel: 240 Volt AC can still toast you good.

John Gwynn is a NABCEP certified solar installer (“string theorist”) and a managing partner of Bellasolar.net in Santa Fe. He has both Enphase and Sunnyboy on his home. Cont

Print PDF

April 9-11, Albuquerque Convention Center

Ask a NM homeowner why he or she loves living in their home state, and you may get any number of responses. However, one key reason the Land of Enchantment is such an enchanting place to live has to do with the variety of ways New Mexicans care for their homes and natural environment. The Homebuilders, Remodelers and Green Ideas Showcase will offer dozens of practical ideas.

Show producer Rick Shoudt has secured experts in every aspect of green living to provide New Mexicans with the most current products and services available. In addition, he is bringing together innovators who are pushing the envelope in expanding the country’s awareness of environmental issues. One featured speaker is Chris Paine, best known as the writer and director of the noted documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?” Paine’s films encourage Americans to look critically at the environmental implications of their decisions. His next film, “Revenge of the Electric Car,” is due out next year. Paine will appear at the event on Saturday, April 10.

Similarly, the Huntsville, Texas-based homebuilder Dan Phillips has created a movement, which expands the concepts of sustainable building practices. Phillips has created building projects almost entirely from salvaged building and other refuse. In one home, the roofing is made of discarded license plates and the windows from crystal platters. Another features flooring from old wine corks and a ceiling made from the sample corners of picture frames. Phillips consults across the country on his unique approach. He will offer seminars on Saturday, April 10, and Sunday, April 11.

Business owners can also gather tips to assist in green decisions. Santa Fe-based Carolyn Parrs of Mind over Matter is one of the leading green consultants in the country. As a featured speaker at the business conference preceding the Home Builders, Remodelers and Green Ideas Show, Parrs will help business owners find their way to the hidden nuggets in the green market. She is a certified marketing and business coach, and works internationally one-on-one with entrepreneurs and executives. Parr is also the creator and co-writer of the Green Marketing Blog, an exploration and exposition of what you need to know to successfully market your green product or service. Parrs and her partner Irv Weinberg are featured authors in Thomson Reuters’ book Inside the Minds: Greening Your Business. They also were the creators of the popular podcast on iTunes, America the Green.

The NM Solar Energy Association will be offering demonstrations, seminars and even a solar cooking contest. Homeowners can learn not only the benefits of solar, but get hands-on information on installing active or passive solar systems. Other experts will showcase green building techniques, xeriscaping and native plant gardening, and other water and energy saving measures.

Shoudt has ensured that the show will offer as many green features as possible. To discourage the use of disposable plastic water bottles, there will be water stations throughout the hall. People taking environmentally friendly forms of transportation to the show such as the RailRunner, a bus or bike, will be admitted free. Shoudt is also purchasing carbon credits to make sure that the show is as environmentally friendly as possible.

What: Home Builders, Remodelers and Green Ideas Showcase

Location: Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 2nd St. NW

Date / Time: April 9–11

Business Expo: Cost-Effective Marketing in a Tough Economy
April 9, 10 am–5 pm

April 10 10 am–5 pm
April 11 10 am–4 pm

Ticket Prices: $8 for adults; $5 for Juniors (13-17) Seniors (65+) and active duty military. 12 & under free; Go Green and take Rail Runner, bus or bike – and get in free

Additional Info: www.hbashowcase.com or www.igishows.com

To Exhibit, Contact: Rick Shoudt, 505.898.0661

Print PDF

Environmentally favored or “green” building materials are available in all shades of green. Some products will incorporate one environmental aspect, while others can encompass many. Additionally, while a product may be green in itself, if used incorrectly, it could produce undesirable results. Used correctly, however, green products can make a good building great.

Look for products certified by a third party to help avoid “greenwashed” products. Environmental Building News (www.buildinggreen.com) produces the GreenSpec Directory – updated with more stringent guidelines as more knowledge and products become available. It is an excellent resource. Following are the criteria set forth by those pioneers and leaders in the industry to quantify environmentally preferred building materials.

Products made from environmentally attractive materials
• Products that reduce materials use, e.g. engineered wood or concrete floors
• Salvaged products
• Products with post-industrial or post-consumer recycled content
• Certified wood products, i.e. third party certified as sourced sustainably
• Products made from agricultural waste, e.g. wheatsheet or kirei (sorghum waste)
• Natural or minimally processed products, e.g. cork, natural paints and textiles materials like wool and organic cotton
Products that are green because of what isn’t there
• Alternatives to ozone-depleting substances
• Alternatives to products made from PVC (poly vinyl chloride) and polycarbonate.
• Alternatives to other components considered hazardous, e.g. LED lamps which are mercury free
Products that reduce environmental impacts during construction, renovation or demolition
• Products that reduce the impacts of new construction, like erosion control products and exterior paint/stains that result in lower VOC emissions.
• Products that reduce the impacts of remodeling or renovation, for example, access flooring and leased carpeting make renovating commercial space less intrusive
• Products that reduce the impacts of demolition like natural biodegradable flooring or LED lighting, which does not contain mercury.
Products that reduce environmental impacts operating the building (ongoing impacts that result from operating a building far outweigh the impacts associated with building it):
• Building components that reduce heating and cooling requirements, e.g. SIPs, ICF’s and high-performance windows and glazings
• Equipment that conserves energy
• Renewable energy and/or fuel cell equipment
• Fixtures and equipment that conserve water.
• Products with exceptional durability or low maintenance requirements, e.g. hard surface flooring and composite decking
• Products that prevent pollution or reduce waste, e.g. recycling bins and compost systems
• Products that reduce or eliminate pesticide treatments
Products that contribute to a safe, healthy indoor environment:
• Products that don’t release significant pollutants into the building, e.g. zero and low VOC paints, finishes, and adhesives
• Products that block development and spread of indoor contaminants, e.g. natural linoleum which helps control microbial growth because of the ongoing process of linoleic acid oxidation
• Products that remove indoor pollutants, e.g. efficient and quiet ventilation products
• Products that warn occupants of health hazards in the building, e.g. carbon monoxide detectors
• Products that improve light quality, e.g. full spectrum lighting and skylights

One could delve even further into products with a “Life-Cycle Assessment.” This is an attempt to quantify and characterize all the significant environmental inputs and outputs associated with a product over its entire life-cycle. It focuses on the following environmental impact categories:
• Global warming – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide
• Acidification – ammonia, hydrogen chloride and sulfur oxides
• Eutrophication – these contaminates cause problems for fish and animal life
• Natural resource depletion
• Solid Waste – end-of-life waste, installation and replacement waste
• Ecological Toxicity – hydrocarbons, dioxins, etc.
• Human toxicity – lead, arsenic, etc.
• Ozone depletion – CFC’s, Halon, HCFC’s
• Smog formation – benzene, formaldehyde, etc.
• Indoor Air Quality – the measurement of volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) emitted within an indoor environment
• Embodied energy – includes fuel energy

Wow – that is plenty to think about when choosing materials for your next new home or your next home project. Now that green building materials have been defined in terms of what they actually are, we can focus on the benefits of choosing environmentally preferred products. This will be the topic of next month’s article.

Cathy Kumar is owner of Southwest Green Building Center, 5620 Venice NE, Unit L, Albuquerque. Phone: 505.821.6259

Print PDF

Days are getting longer and temperatures warmer, along with the robins signaling that it’s high time to begin growing your food for the seasons to come. How do you know what to plant? First, simply consider what you like to eat and what you want to grow! Hopefully this little primer will help you “get growing” with the spring garden, especially if you haven’t started already or if you’re new at the fun of growing your own delicious fresh food.
If this happens to be the year for a first-time garden, and you’re wondering what location will be best for the garden site, try to select an area that has some protection from extreme wind and at least 6-8 hours of direct sun. Areas of dappled shade are nice for some plants like leafy greens. Also, it’s always helpful to have convenient access to a water source. If the soil in your yard looks like it would be very uninviting to any living creature, and you’re feeling curious, it’s easy to take a little baggie of soil to the county extension office (in Santa Fe, it’s at the Rodeo Grounds) and request a soil test. The agent in the office will be happy to explain the results to you. Above all, don’t feel intimidated; you can grow plenty of veggies in a large container on your patio or in a space that is just one square yard! It doesn’t require a plot of land that needs a tiller or tractor and plow – keep it simple and your gardening will be fun and energizing as well as nourishing, even after a day at the office.
If you’re going organic, do start with organic seeds. These seeds are from plants that were adapted to organic growing conditions, thriving without nasty artificial chemical “fixes.” Organic seeds generally are the best suited to thrive in organic conditions. Check out the seed packets for useful details on spacing and planting depth.
Radishes and carrots may be ready for harvest outdoors if they were planted in February or March. Beets and turnips may also be nearly ready to grace your table if they are in a protected area. Of course, if you planted cool-season crops (e.g. spinach, kale, chard) in the fall and they have been protected outside all winter under frost cloth or plastic, you may already be enjoying an abundant fresh harvest of leafy greens and delicious juicy root crops. Garlic sets can be planted outside in February for a nice early start.
Lots of seeds may have already been started indoors as early as February. If the seedlings are looking stringy, lanky or are really leaning towards the window, they’re asking for a little boost of light overhead. Indoors, onions, celery and celeriac may already be well on their way. Other popular cool season crops to begin indoors are all of the Brassicas, like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, along with radicchio, peas and spinach. The Brassicas can be direct-seeded outdoors by mid April, though they may appreciate a little protection by frost cloth once they emerge. Lettuce, mizuna, arugula, cress, mustard greens, Asian greens like bok choy, kale and chard can also be well on their way indoors – and it’s not too late to start now. All of these cool season veggies will begin to bolt, making long flower stems to produce seeds, once the weather warms up, so they like being outside early in the spring. The tender seedlings will appreciate a protective blanket of loose straw until the danger of frost is past.
By mid-April, various annual flowers, especially those that will be planted as pest-deterring companions in the garden such as marigolds and nasturtiums, can be started inside. In the Santa Fe area May 15 (May 1 in the Albuquerque area) is the predicted date for the last frost, so warm-season crops like melons, squash, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and various herbs can be started indoors the first or second week in April (or earlier). These same crops can be directly seeded outside around May Day. Seedlings can be planted out after May 15.
Besides planting indoors and out, remember to feed the soil as you get started. Lightly turn in some nice crumbly organic material like seasoned compost or aged manure. Both will add nutrients, help the soil retain water and also bring in microbes, worms and other beneficial organisms to the soil environment. It’s also a good time to add a sprinkling of humates (2 pounds per 100 square feet). Half-an-inch to an inch of compost can also be sprinkled on the soil surface. Any straw that is spread to protect tender seedlings will become compost as the season progresses.
Get growing – good luck! Have fun and enjoy the harvest!

Susan Waterman has a Ph.D. in botany and over 25 years in sustainable agriculture. For more info, visit www.harvestbyhand.com. Questions? E-mail green@harvestbyhand.com

Print PDF

IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION FOR HEARING TO ADOPT NEW REGULATIONS AND TO AMEND VARIOUS SECTIONS OF 20.2.1, 20.2.2, 20.2.70, and 20.2.72 NMAC, STATEWIDE CAP ON GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS No. EIB 08-19(R)

Excerpted Testimony Of Paul R. Epstein, M.D., M.P.H. – March 1, 2010

Q. PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME, TITLE AND CREDENTIALS.

A. Paul R. Epstein, M.D., M.P.H. I am the Associate Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School and a medical doctor trained in tropical public health. I graduated from Cornell University with a BA in Premedical, received my MD in 1969 at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and MPH at Harvard School of Public Health. I have worked in medical, teaching and research capacities in Africa, Asia and Latin America and in 1993, coordinated an eight-part series on Health and Climate Change for the British medical journal, Lancet. I worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to assess the health impacts of climate change and develop health applications of climate forecasting and remote sensing.

Q: PLEASE DESCRIBE KEY FINDINGS SPECIFICALLY FOR NEW MEXICO: CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH.

A. Human-induced global climate change is well studied and documented. Despite G-8 nations’ agreement to limit warming to 3.6°F by 2050, New Mexico’s average temperatures have risen 1.8°F since 1976 (Lenart 2007) and are expected to exceed the 3.6°F threshold by mid-century even with substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. With warming half of the G-8 target, major impacts on human health have already been observed and, as warming progresses, they will likely increase. This document provides an overview on how climate change affects the health of New Mexicans and has been reviewed by Harvard Medical School faculty members, who specialize in the health impacts of global environmental change and hold degrees in medicine and public health. (I incorporate and attach the report “Climate Change and Health in New Mexico,” Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, September 2009, as part of my testimony.)

CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH RELEVANT TO HEALTH OUTCOMES IN NEW MEXICO
Increased atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations have already changed, and will continue to change, the climate of New Mexico.

• Temperatures across New Mexico have risen steeply over the past 3 decades, with the northernmost part of the state having warmed the most: 1.6°F since 1980 (UCS 2007).

• Without significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, New Mexico is projected to warm an additional 2°C by 2040 and 4°C by the end of the century.

• By 2030, heat waves are projected to last 14 to 21 days more per year than at present (USDA 2006), and the lack of nighttime relief and higher humidity levels associated with climate change increase the harmful effects.

• New Mexico is already experiencing more heavy precipitation events (>2 inches a day) as well as an increase in the frequency and duration of droughts.

MAJOR HEALTH EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN NEW MEXICO
More respiratory disease, heart disease and death from heat waves are projected.

• About 8% of New Mexicans have heart disease, and over 10% have chronic lung diseases including asthma (CDC 2007). Those with chronic lung or heart disease are respectively 1.5 and 2.5 times more likely than those without illness to suffer heat stroke during a heat wave (Bouchama 2007).

• Heat stroke, which results from prolonged exposure to intense heat, can lead to permanent neurological deficits and death.

• Heat waves increase the formation of ground-level ozone (smog) that triggers asthma attacks and which may contribute to the development of asthma in children (McConnell 2002). About 9% of New Mexicans have asthma (CDC 2007).

• Under warming conditions, models project a ~10 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) increase in average ozone levels for the US Southwest by the 2050s.

• Increases in ozone concentration on the order of 10ppbv can increase daily mortality by 0.5% (Bell 2004), which corresponds to 730 additional deaths per year for New Mexico. [This estimate is based upon 14,983 deaths in New Mexico in 2005.]

• Severe ozone episodes, with levels 20-30ppbv above average, are expected to be more common by the 2050s throughout the Southwest (Racherla 2009).
Warmer temperatures are encouraging the spread of mountain pine beetles, a major pest of fir trees in New Mexico, which has killed an estimated 6.5 million acres of trees in the US West.

• With the decline in sustained ‘killing frosts,’ mountain pine beetles are extending their range, and are over-wintering and reproducing faster, while prolonged droughts are weakening the trees’ defenses.

• Dead tree stands provide kindling for fires, which release harmful air pollutants and cancer-causing chemicals.

• Inhaling particulate air pollution (soot) can worsen respiratory illness, and, especially in those with heart disease and lung disease, and the elderly, can lead to death. About 12% of the state’s population is over 65 and, by 2030, this percentage is projected to rise to 26%.

Cycles of drought interrupted by heavy downpours are projected to increase as the climate warms. Such sequences of extreme weather events are associated with outbreaks of hantavirus and San Joaquin Valley fever.

• Outbreaks of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which kills 30-40% of those infected, often follow heavy, early-season rains, which increase food for rodents that harbor this viral disease (Glass 2002). New Mexico has more cases of HPS than any other US state.

• Increases in flea- and rodent-borne plague also occur after unseasonal winter-spring precipitation (Parmenter et al. 1999).

• Peak incidence of San Joaquin Valley fever occurs when dry spells follow heavy rains (Kolivras 2004), as the fungal agent that causes the disease grows in moist soil and is aerosolized during dry spells and dust storms.

A warmer climate has created conditions conducive to the emergence of dengue fever. To date, there have been 12 suspected cases in New Mexico (NRDC 2009).

• Dengue fever, a disease found in the tropics, is a debilitating viral disease and repeated episodes of different strains can cause dengue hemorrhagic fever.

• The common mosquito carrier for dengue fever – Aedes aegypti – is present in Las Cruces, New Mexico; mosquitoes are highly sensitive to warming and can proliferate after rains and in water-storage containers during dry spells.

New Mexico’s water sources, including the Rio Grande and Colorado Rivers, and the Ogallala Aquifer, are already underfed and overdrawn.

• Aluminum and mercury are now commonly found in New Mexico’s freshwater supplies (NM Environment Department 2008); water shortages concentrate chemicals, heavy metals and microbial pathogens in drinking water.

• In eastern New Mexico, portions of the Ogallala Aquifer are expected to run dry within the next 10 years (Ground Water Protection Council).

• By 2040, the Colorado River Basin storage will be reduced by over a third, due to earlier spring snowmelt and greater heat and evaporation (Christiansen 2004).

• Within this century, there will likely be no sustained snow pack south of Santa Fe and in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range.

Climate change will increase water stress across the state, contributing to conflict and endangering ecosystems. Some of these impacts have implications for physical health; all can affect mental health.

• Tribal rights over water quality standards led to conflict in 1986 in the Pueblo of Isleta, near Albuquerque, and statewide during the hot, dry summer of 1988.

• Large reservations in SW New Mexico are home to “sky islands” with high biodiversity (Arias Rojo et al. 1999), sacred to many tribes and containing culturally- and medicinally-important wildlife and plants, some which face extinction due to warming and water stress at high altitudes (USGCRP 2009).

Q: DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ABOUT WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
A: All in all, it would appear that we have been underestimating the breadth of biologic responses to changes in climate. Treating climate-related ills will require preparation, and early-warning systems forecasting extreme weather can help to reduce casualties and curtail the spread of disease. But primary prevention would require halting the extraction, mining, transport, refining, and combustion of fossil fuels — a transformation that many experts believe would have innumerable health and environmental benefits and would help to stabilize the climate.

Technologies Ready for Early Adoption

Distributed generation (DG)—power produced near the point of use—with solar, wind, wave, geothermal heat pumps, and fuel cells can be fed into grids where they exist and, via “net metering” regulations, generate income for the individual producer. Where energy is scarce and grids are few, stand alone systems—augmented with human power and stored in improved batteries—can pump water, irrigate fields, power clinics, light homes, cook food, and drive development. Clean DG also improves resilience in the face of more weather extremes (i.e., adaptation to climate change), reduces carbon emissions (i.e., prevention or mitigation of climate change), stimulates green industries, and creates jobs. (I incorporate and attach the report “Climate Change: Healthy Solutions,” Environmental Health Perspectives, Volume 115, Number 4, April 2007, as part of my testimony.)

Wind energy — an alternative with competitive costs today – can be used for distributed power generation and for central power for grids. There is great potential for wind power on land and in coastal waters (Kempton et al. 2007). Use of just 12% of the land suitable for wind power in the U.S. could generate about 1 TW (Lewis 2004). Offshore winds have a higher potential; but distance from shore (i.e., grids) matters, and the costs are twice those for onshore wind farms.

Large arrays of parabolic mirrors can concentrate solar energy 70-fold, heating liquids that boil water to run turbines and generate electricity. The arrays can also be focused on “power towers” that store energy as hot fluids (e.g., molten salt) up to 12 hours. Three large arrays generate as much electricity as a nuclear plant, and can be constructed in two years, while a decade or more is needed to build nuclear plants. CSP arrays cost roughly half that of PV systems, though twice that of coal-fired plants. CSP projects are under construction or planned in Algeria, Canada, China, Egypt, Israel, Mexico, Morocco, the U.S. Southwest, South Africa and Spain. Employing hybrids of multiple means of power generation is applicable for stationary and mobile systems.

Complementary means of generating power can support reliable, robust grids and facilitate integrated resource planning. An “ecosystem-based” approach to design avoids “monocultures” of technologies, while diverse measures can avert unintended consequences of over-using any one technology.

CSP arrays and PV farms in the US Southwest, wind farms in the Great Plains and geothermal in the West could generate most of the nation’s electricity by mid-century. In the US Southwest, 250,000 square miles are suitable for solar development. There is a plan that calls for 30,000 square miles for PV and 16,000 square miles for CSP. The land required to produce 1 GW of solar energy in the U.S. Southwest is less than that needed for a coal-fired plant after taking into account land needed for coal mining. While the consequences of climate change fall disproportionately on poor communities and poor nations, no one is immune to changing weather patterns and the loss of Earth’s ice cover. For many reasons, our dependence on oil and coal are not sustainable. “Business-as-usual” must be replaced by bold and transformative changes in the operating rules that drive the global economy. In my report, “Healthy Solutions for the Low Carbon Economy Guidelines for Investors, Insurers and Policy Makers,” Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, July 2008, attached and incorporated herein I explore avenues, as well as financial and policy instruments, for redirecting investments into a renewable, reliable and robust energy infrastructure — a prerequisite for coping with climate change, controlling fuel and food prices, sustaining healthy economies, and stabilizing the climate.

The good news is that we may also be underestimating the economic benefits of the clean-energy transition. When the financial incentives are adequate, renewable energy, energy-efficient and hybrid technologies, “green buildings,” and expanded public transportation systems can constitute an engine of growth for the 21st century. A transition out of the fossil fuel era can have enormous public health, environmental and economic benefits, and can lay the basis for far greater international security and global stability. The challenge of climate change presents an opportunity to build a clean and healthy engine of growth for the 21st century.

Print PDF

Erich Fromm said it as well as anyone in his ever relevant book The Sane Society: if we don’t have adequate inner and outer tools to create, we destroy instead. A hundred years earlier, Emerson looked around at the destruction of the first Industrial Revolution and described the shadow-side of our unfulfilled creative needs as “proof of our divinity, but the fig-leaf with which the shamed soul attempts to hide its nakedness.”

One of the hardest parts of my job is saying no to dozens of young adults each year as we hire for our 4C climate change crews. Each of the now more than 100 candidates I’ve interviewed needs and deserves meaningful, creative work; inner and outer tools for creativity and meaningful livelihood. Every year at this time I want to shout from the mountaintops and get on my knees to beg legislators, foundations, agencies and donors to irrigate our communities with resources so we can transform economically impoverished lives and ecologically impoverished natural systems. As I simultaneously watch escalating military budgets and see how little trickle-down stimulus funding reaches the parched mouths of the unemployed and the land, I am all the more incensed and called to action. When I recently found out that one of the young men I didn’t hire last year spent the entire work season incarcerated, my economic theory took on yet another human face. That’s the tragic side of our times. What about the good news?

Well, this year I was able to offer a job to that same young man. He will be one of the more than 30 young adults we will employ, train and educate through 4C, our Climate Change Conservation Corps. With partnerships and support from the Institute of American Indian Arts, the Santa Fe Public Schools, Santa Fe Community College, the Youth Conservation Corps, the city of Santa Fe, US Fish and Wildlife Service, NM Environment Department, the Biophilia Foundation, the Garfield Foundation, SB Foundation, McCune Charitable Foundation, the LANL Foundation, the National Corps Network, Workforce Connections, Los Amigos, the Sierra Club, generous donors, and numerous other collaborators, we will tackle global warming, green collar career pathways and community mobilization on multiple fronts.

The projects described below attempt to reduce greenhouse gasses, but also to increase the capacity of the land and of our communities to be resilient and regenerative in an age that will be defined by climate changes, and the level of will and civic engagement we can bring to our ultimate vocation as stewards of natural and social systems. Here is an overview of the 4C projects underway or in the pipeline for 2010.

Reducing Ecological Footprints and Increasing Ecological Literacy at Schools

 Helping the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) meet its climate change pledge through a comprehensive resource assessment, green design and building projects
 Creating outdoor learning and food production spaces and infrastructure on the IAIA campus
 Working with Environmental Science classes and the Green Team to develop a permaculture and renewable energy demonstration garden at Santa Fe High School
 Removing asphalt and replacing it with native plants, food producing gardens, water harvesting and climate change murals at Alvord Elementary School
 Leading science for stewardship field days and assisting Gonzales Community School with Green School projects
 Enhancing the outdoor learning and gardening spaces at Salazar Elementary School
 Implementing curriculum for each grade to use the gardens and outdoor classroom at El Dorado Community School
 Conducting resource audits at all the schools we work closely with, to assess and prioritize recommendations related to energized systems, transportation, food, waste, water, procurement and curriculum/pedagogy
 Incorporating mural design and painting into the infrastructure at each school site to evoke more holistic engagement

Increasing Energy Efficiency, Ramping Up to Renewables and Decreasing Energy Costs

 Launching phase II of our weatherization programming aimed at low and moderate income families
 Launching phase II of capacity building for the Eldorado Energy Co-op and the Eldorado Carbon Busters program, one of our EcoWise Communities prototypes
 Partnering to address regional and statewide ramp up needs for efficiency and renewable energy systems, using a model that integrates youth corps members, nonprofits, energy business professionals and community volunteers

Improving Water, Wildlife and Land Health and Increasing Stewardship Capacity

 Installing storm water infiltration ponds and gardens along arroyos within the Santa Fe watershed to reduce erosion, increase water quality and promote local connections to public land
 Restoring wetlands and other critical habitat areas within the Galisteo watershed, and establishing stewardship teams to reconnect communities with nature and to assist with ongoing maintenance and restoration
 Implementing wildlife monitoring and enhancements on private and public lands in the Galisteo watershed to promote biological diversity, public-private partnerships, wildlife safety and permeability along the spine of the Rockies

Training, Networking and Cross-pollination for Corps

 Developing training facilities and infrastructure at the Biophilia Foundation’s Pritzlaff Ranch near Las Vegas, NM, and laying the foundation for networking and conferencing at the Ranch to share best practices among regional and national corps
 Articulating corps programming with Santa Fe Community College’s certification and degree courses and the new Sustainable Technology Center offerings

Collectively, we call this our EcoWise Communities initiative. The main characteristics of our approach are:
 Focus on capacity building at every level, from the individual to institutions to whole communities
 Working from the ground up to create rooted and embodied connections to place and the values-based issues we address, and build core constituencies for bold lifestyle, economic and policy shifts
 Facilitate integrated approaches to education, energy, ecology, equity and social capital development on a community scale

Providing meaningful opportunities for individuals and communities to connect or reconnect with our life-affirming creative intentions – using nature, community and technical competencies as tools – is our primary purpose. Through green collar career development, education, improving the health of our natural systems and community capacity-building, we hope to play a small role in unshaming the modern soul and in defining this as an age of both climate change and a restoration of the human will to create, connect and sustain.

Dana Richards is Director of Education and Founding Director of 4C/Climate Change Conservation Corps, Earth Works Institute. E-mail: dana@earthworksinstitute.org

Print PDF

We have now raised a generation or two of children many of whom have no idea where their food comes from and who have never visited a producing farm or livestock operation. Ignorance of the basic activity essential to all civilization seems supremely dangerous.”

– Stanley Crawford, farmer, former director of the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market, author

Farm facts

• Number of farms: 20,930, a growth of over 35% since 2002. Land in farms: 43.2 million acres (about 60% of State). About 87% of the farmland is range and pasture. Number of acres in farms decreased by 4% since 2002.

• Average size of farm: 2,066 ac. Median size: 40 ac.

• Full owners: 15,850 (39% of all acres). Part owners and renters: 4,007 (54% of all acres). Tenants: 1,073 (7% of all acres). Total operators; 32,109.

• Agriculture is primary occupation: 10,040 (48% of operators).

• Farm is place of residence for operators (76%).

• Operators who worked zero days on farm in past year (36%); who worked 200 or more days (35%).

• Farmers younger than 35: 818. Percent of total farmers (4%). Farmers above 60 years of age: 9,140 (45%).

• Farms with less than $2,500 worth of sales: 10,496 or 50%. Farms with over $100,000 in sales: 1,689 or 8%.

Data
After asking, “what we desire,” we asked: “What do we know?” It is not easy to find and decipher the data necessary for the new agrarian movement. The federal and State data on the same subject differ and the differences are not clear. The models used in economics are based on national statistics that do not usually apply to New Mexico.

The map (left) shows how counties and agro-ecoregions do not overlap but most data is reported by counties. The DNM Project had to compromise (see web site). New Mexico-centric data is one of the dreams.

FOOD SYSTEMS OUT OF BALANCE

Today’s food systems are out of balance. No matter how large or small, local or global, all food systems are under intense pressures to change. Two trends run side by side. One is the hundred-year old trend in which: prices of food continue to fall as technology continues to reduce per-unit costs; farmers lose more and more of the final retail dollar to the mid-steps of the food chain; global food trade burgeons with a mass-market system that is capital-intensive, land-intensive, fossil-fuel-intensive and highly mechanized;
Americans eat more and more imported food; and mid-size farms disappear into a future divide of only small and giant farms.

The other path — currently a small but rapidly growing niche market segment — warns that fossil fuel-dependent food prices will go up; climate change and increasing population will make it more difficult to prevent hunger; demand is for quality food (not just more calories); mid-size farms can revive within a local food economy; the food supply will increasingly be forced to meet environmental, health and labor standards that the mass-market food industry cannot attain; and a moral economy challenges the monetary economy to be more respectful of customer health, lands, waters, and farmers’ and ranchers’ who deserve higher returns for their role as managers of ecosystems.

“An Age of Local Foodsheds and a Fair Trade State” marries desires with do-able dreams that span the next fifteen or so years. To leverage the food system, the conscience, hearts and minds of citizens we must ultimately consider a new moral framework for the food economy. New Mexicans will be called upon to learn new ways to live together and make conscious choices of “how” and “what” to feed ourselves. Food — good, healthy, fair and enough — connects us from local farms to the whole planet. This Dreaming New Mexico pamphlet maps the bridges and barriers to our food system future.

What is a farm?

It is not so simple to decide what constitutes a farm or ranch, or who is a farmer or rancher. In 1997, the USDA defined a farm/ranch (it groups both as “farms”) as any operation that sold more than $1,000 of crops or livestock (or farm-derived products such as milk). The USDA chose $100,000 of sales as the least that could be sold to be a “commercial” farm, and may raise that to $250,000.

Whether a farm is “profitable” hinges on definitions of profit or net farm income. Although an overgrazed ranch loses its natural capital (top soil
fertility), this loss is not considered in an economist’s definition. An organic farmer may sequester carbon and improve watershed hydraulics (natural capital), but these assets are ignored. A factory dairy farm may cause pollution but this “externality” (usually paid for by the taxpayer) is not subtracted from net gross income.

Is a farmer who “induces” more local economic activity a more profitable farmer? Farmers who set aside winter fields for cranes provide a non- monetized societal desire. Farmland may attract Sunday drivers to be “in the country” and dine at a local restaurant without the farmers receiving any financial reward for attracting customers and aiding local economic development. Until community development services and a broader understanding of the farm/ranch as a managed ecosystem can be incorporated into economic definitions (and maybe they cannot), the definition of “profitable” will remain subjective.

Agro-pastoral livelihoods have been an integral part of New Mexico’s “informal” (non-recorded) agrifood economy. In the Indo-Hispanic areas of the State, a Navajo agro-pastoralist may raise sheep or goats and supply part of the family food from a dryland garden/farm. The agro-pastoralist may participate in a “gift” economy in which services and food are exchanged without cash. Or the crops may be grown for celebrations and ceremonies. Certain acequia communities follow a similar “non-monetary” pattern.

Similarly, mounting numbers of Anglo and Indo-Hispanic small acreage operations seasonally grow much of their own food, sell part of it at “informal” markets such as farmers markets, or partake in gift exchange economics. These operations may or may not appear in State or USDA statistics, yet contribute to food security, to rural or sub-rural economic vitality and helping to reduce nutrition-related health costs.

If the definition of a farm centered on nutrient-per-acre rather than cash-per-acre or cash-per-unit-of-production, many kinds of farming (diverse, permaculture, biodynamic) actually produce more than larger farms. They contribute more to the health of society than just calories or protein. To a nutritionist, they are farms as opposed to “foodstuff factories.”

Who is a farmer is often equally confusing. Should farmers be defined by how many days each year they work on the farm? Or what percentage of reported income comes from agricultural production? Or who owns the farm or ranch? Or its size? Should corporate farms with no resident owner be counted as farms?

Multi-job or retired farm operators are sometimes dismissed as hobby farmers. Yet, diverse household income sources are the rule in the US.
Diverse sources include: true off-farm income (the wife teaches school or the husband guides hunts); farm-related income (the farmer leases his equipment or land, works on other farms or does government-supported restoration work); ambiguous farm-related income (the ranching family sells farm real estate); virtual “on-farm” work (Internet sales of livestock or processed goods like jams); non-farm enterprise (selling antiques or writing books); and retirement or financial investment income that supports the farm from national and global sources. Who decides if any of these tasks disqualify a person from being a farmer?

Farming and ranching are hard work occupations with relatively low profits.
Dreaming New Mexico celebrates them and is thankful for all kinds of farms and ranches. New Mexico needs hundreds or even thousands more farmers and ranchers.

DREAM
Government agencies, censuses and the IRS give equitable benefits to this great diversity of farmers and ranchers.

NEW MEXICO’S TOP 25 COMMODITIES (add graphic)

Top 25 farm products do not include chicken eggs and farm chickens, which are suppressed data. New Mexico farms and ranches sell $11 million direct to local foodsheds and consumers, which makes it the 12th ranking source of agricultural receipts, more than sorghum grain.
New Mexico ranks 35 in commodity subsidies for all states.
Nevertheless, they are New Mexico’s fifth largest source of agricultural earnings. New Mexico ranks in the lower half of states in terms of agricultural income because of its arid and cold climates. The total value of agricultural foods sold ranks 35; values of crops and nursery products ranks 37; and corn for grain ranks 35. The highest-ranking products are livestock of all sorts (27); fruit, tree nuts and berries (13); sheep and lambs (13); sorghum for grain (12); milk and dairy products (8 or 9). These rankings indicate good domestic and foreign export earnings.

Agrifood facts

• Farms with harvested cropland: 9,311. Harvested cropland: 1 million acres.

• Average market value of farm and buildings: $696,000. Average price per acre: $337.

• Market value of agricultural products sold: $2.2 billion. Average per farm: $104,000. Net cash income (after expenses):

• Government payments to 3,329 farms (16% of farms) equaled $43 million but totaled $83 million (includes conservation and other payments) depending on how calculated. Payments decreased by 14% since 2002.

• Agriculture directly employs about 24,500. Another 84,000 work in agricultural processing.

• Schools K-12 have 339,000 students. 208,000 (61%) receive free or reduced-price USDA meals. 50% receive breakfast. 24% of New Mexico’s high school students are overweight.

Project Co-Directors: Kenny Ausubel and Peter Warshall
Production, Writing, Research: Peter Warshall and Arty Mangan
Project Coordinator: Nikki Spangenburg
Front Map Artist: Cynthia Miller
Back Map Design, Cartography, Typography: Diane Rigoli

For more information on the Dreaming New Mexico Project, visit www.dreamingnewmexico.org or contact DNM Project Coordinator, Nikki Spangenburg: nspangenburg@bioneers.org

Print PDF

Despite setbacks from a couple leaked emails taken out of context and called “Climategate,” the science behind climate change is consistent, and tells us that we must reduce emissions rapidly to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change.

Tackling climate change offers the opportunity to jump-start our economy and create jobs for those that need them, but only if we set up a system that works. As of now, there are two very different proposals for how to address climate change at the federal level: cap-and-trade and cap-and-dividend.

Cap-and-Trade:
The idea behind cap-and-trade is to create a complex market system that will drive the reduction of emissions and the development of clean energy. In cap-and-trade, a cap on emissions is set and polluting industries are provided with permits to pollute (with fewer permits distributed each year as the cap tightens). Polluting industries have effectively lobbied Congress to get the permits for free under the idea that they will protect ratepayers. The idea is that if the big polluters get permits for free then they will pass the savings on to ratepayers.

Let’s put this in perspective. Imagine if Exxon were given free tickets to the World Series. Would you expect the kindness of Exxon to take the day and give the tickets to everyone for free or would Exxon sell the tickets for what the market will allow? We can look to a real life example to see that this system does not work. In 2005, the European Union instated a cap-and-trade system with 50% of the pollution permits given for free to polluters under the assumption that they would protect rate payers. Since the permits to pollute were free to industry, there was no real pressure to reduce emissions so the EU saw emissions’ rates continue to rise. In addition, industry increased energy prices to ratepayers. This resulted in record profits for industry at the expense of the environment and ratepayers.

The cap-and-trade proposals are now over 1400 pages long and are filled with loopholes to benefit Wall Street at the expense of Main Street. Peter Orszag, director of the non-partisan Congressional Office of Budget and Management was blunt in his analysis of the cap and trade proposals by saying that this “would represent the largest corporate welfare program in the history of the United States.” The EPA’s analysis showed that the cap-and-trade proposals would not require emissions reductions through 2020, that coal production would continue to expand through 2030, and that we would actually have less renewable energy than in a business-as-usual scenario. This is an issue.

Cap-and-Dividend:
A bi-partisan alternative to cap-and-trade was introduced in January this year by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Susan Collins (R-ME). The CLEAR Act is a cap-and-dividend bill that requires polluters to pay, and puts money back into the pockets of consumers.

The CLEAR Act would (1) set a cap on emissions that gets tighter each year, (2) require companies that produce carbon pollution to bid in an auction for 100% of the permits to pollute, (3) return 75% of that revenue generated directly to all Americans, and (4) invest the remaining 25% in research and development of clean energy resources and energy efficiency programs.

It is simple – only 39 pages. It does not include free carbon permit giveaways to any industry. It does not create a superficial carbon market. The CLEAR Act sets an “upstream cap” at the source of where the carbon enters the economy. So it would be regulated at the mining and extraction sites as opposed to trying to track emissions coming out of every ”downstream” point such as smokestacks (as is proposed in cap-and-trade). This means it will be easy to track emissions.

It is fair by requiring upstream producers and importers to pay for the carbon their products will emit, and by returning money to consumers to counterbalance the increase in fuel costs that will be passed along to them. After receiving dividends, 80% of middle income Americans will break even and the lowest income earners will receive a net positive benefit. Only the wealthiest, greatest consumers of energy will have an increased burden from higher energy prices (which will encourage energy conservation).

The differences are “clear” and it would be a great service to New Mexicans for Senators Tom Udall and Jeff Bingaman to support the CLEAR Act.

Ryan Shaening Pokrasso, a 24-year-old Santa Fe native, is the Program Director for New Energy Economy. For more info, e-mail: newenergyeconomy@gmail.com or 505.989.7262.

Print PDF