Events and information for the coming months

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Barbara Smith, an active participant in the Madison Peak Oil Group, provides these items that came up in the group discussion today:

World Car Free Day, Sept. 22nd
Sign up locally for the car-free challenge starting then:
http://www.carfreechallenge.com

International Energy Film Festival
Lausanne, Switzerland
http://www.fifel.ch
[Short films up to about 30 minutes.]

Sign up on Wisconsin DNR’s list to get e-mail of high air pollution days:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/aw/air/newsletters

Dane County Clean Air Coalition is county-staffed group to take voluntary actions so our county won’t be designated by EPA as a non-attainment area for ozone. This group decides when the county declares a “Clean Air Action Day” (because exceeding federal standards for ozone air quality is predicted). Today is the 4th such “Clean Air Action Day” of the summer. Madison Metro bus service has pledged to offer free rides on the first 5 days of the season.
http://www.cleanairdane.org

Check Madison Metro bus site to confirm that rides are free today. While there, check out their input process for long-range planning. Public input meetings are scheduled on Aug. 6, 8, 9 and 14:
www.mymetrobus.com

Governor’s Global Warming Task Force. Public input meeting for Madison on Aug. 6th:
http://dnr.wi.gov/environmentprotect/gtfgw

“Getting Around Wisconsin without a Car” and other useful stuff at:
www.1kfriends.org

Get a “walkability” score for your neighborhood, from 1 to 100:
www.walkscore.com

National Tour of Solar Homes and Businesses
Oct. 5-6. Wisconsin info:
http://www.the-mrea.org/solartour.php
The sites chosen for Wisconsin are already listed. A few sites I suggested are not on the list. Which shows there are plenty more than are listed here…

Change a Light, Change the World
National promotion starts around Oct. 1st every year
Many or most retailers will offer special deals on compact fluorescent bulbs. Log in today to sign the pledge:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=cal.showPledge

Rideshare Week
First week in October
(I just heard about this today. Many local groups do something to promote carpooling and transit riding at this time.)
[Historically in the US, October has also been celebrated as “energy awareness month.”]

Greening the Heartland
Regional green building conference
Sept. 12-14
Monona Terrace Convention Center
http://www.greeningtheheartland.org