GLEE is delighted to announce that Captain Dan Kipnis, fresh off tutoring sessions with former Vice President Al Gore, will give the keynote address to the GLEE annual membership meeting on Friday, February 8.
The first ever annual membership meeting will be at the Marathon Community Theatre. The session will follow a social hour from 5-6 p.m. and run from 6-8 p.m. All current members of GLEE are invited. If you’d like to join GLEE, click on this link. It’s easy and very affordable.
The annual meeting is part of a daylong session that includes another in the series of Keys-wide Sustainability Program sessions for city and county governments. The KSAP session begins at 1 p.m., also at Marathon Community Theatre.
Dan Kipnis was among the first of 1,000 disciples who Vice-President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore trained to help spread his gospel of global warming aiming to convert skeptics. An ardent fisheries conservationist who the National Wildlife Federation has tapped to talk to hunters and anglers about global warming and its effect on the oceans and near coastal environments, Kipnis directs billfish tournaments in South Florida and South America. He is a former charter captain and has been president of the Miami Beach Rod & Reel Club. Kipnis also serves as a director for the Florida Wildlife Federation and has just been appointed to the South Florida Climate Change Task Force.
Additionally, he has served on the State of Florida Marine Fisheries Commission, Biscayne Bay Management Committee, and City of Miami Waterfront.
So save the date: Friday, February 8, an exciting new chapter in GLEE’s history.
The GLEE newsletter asked citizens around our islands what their “green” New Year’s resolution is: what they are pledging to do in the coming year that will reduce their own, personal carbon footprint and, therefore, global warming. We got terrific answers from many of them and would like to pass their resolutions along.
I promise to Love My Island by recognizing that every day is a January 1st opportunity when it comes to doing just doing a little better with every decision I make. Think, Act, Demand.
-- Chris Belland, CEO of Historic Tours of America and an activist on global warming issues
I'm pledging to purchase a reusable, non-plastic beverage container for my multiple doses of caffeine. Every day I buy at least one paper or plastic (No. 6, not recyclable here) cup, which is a really bad habit. We're also going to start composting.
-- Karen Quist, editor, Keys Sunday
I resolve to help launch FKCC's co-op for biodiesel production. Of course, this is slightly selfish as I will also be resolving to fuel my new vehicle with the BioDiesel we make at the Co-op!
-- Alison Higgins, president of GLEE
I pledge that I will make 2008 a "Green" Year for Fausto's Food Palace. We will work to educate our employees on "green" matters and make sure that they follow our green policies.
-- Jimmy Weekley, president, Fausto' s Food Palace, Inc.
I just purchased some of the woven, reusable grocery bags, so when I go grocery shopping I can avoid plastic bags.
At KEYS our New Year's goal is to identify multiple green initiatives and compare their costs, the greenhouse gas reductions and other benefits to determine which initiatives are best for us to implement in 2008.
-- Lynne Tejeda, CEO, Keys Energy
I am going to make a bigger effort to unplug all the "ghost" power sources in my house when not in use. Turn off the computer, printer, TV, DVD player at the power strip. Unplug all charging devices when not in use.
-- Jody Smith Williams, VP, GLEE
I plan to cut my water run time in the shower, by turning the water off while I don't need it. This will save me money on my electric bill, water bill AND will help save our precious water and reduce emissions. It costs nothing to implement.
Further, I am ordering the reusable cloth grocery bags from the GLEE store. They cost only a few dollars a piece and reduce waste in our landfills and cut harmful emissions. A low cost way to help the environment.
I also plan to switch my remaining incandescent bulbs to fluorescent equivalents as they expire. I will actually save about $35.00 per bulb in energy costs. This also has a big impact on reducing global warming. Finally, my most ambitious project will be to reduce my household trash by fifty percent. This will save 2,400 pounds of CO2 annually. This one takes effort. My wife and I plan to shop wisely, choosing products with minimal packaging. We will also have to be even more diligent in our recycling efforts.
-- T.J. Patterson, member services representative, Florida Keys Electric Cooperative
I resolve to build a demonstration cistern project at my house. I'll document the process to show the benefits and help illustrate FKAA support for these systems across our community.
-- Jim Reynolds, CEO, Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority
Ensure The Nature Conservancy's Florida Keys office carbon footprint is reduced or neutralized by the end of the year!
-- Shirley Gun, office manager for TNC and GLEE treasurer
Conserve diesel fuel in my fishing business when possible.
-- Pete Worthington, mayor, City of Marathon
Clearing forest for agriculture is one of the leading causes of global deforestation and habitat destruction. I pledge to buy food that is sustainably grown and harvested and that does not put pressure on threatened species or habitats.
-- Cecelia Weaver, FL Keys service center director, South Florida Water Management District
My resolution for the new year is to replace all of my incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents, to replace all of my water fixtures with low-flow fixtures (saving water and energy), to enhance my already water efficient landscaping with additional native, drought tolerant plants that need no potable water to grow, and to purchase and use solar pool and Jacuzzi covers that reduce evaporation and retain heat, thereby saving a notable amount of water and energy.
Whew! And yet, these are no-brainers to me after seeing the ready savings (and my first Keys Energy bill!).
-- Jane Tallman, GLEE secretary
I resolve to buy only organic produce, grass-fed beef, and organic and humanely raised pork and chicken. I also will try to purchase as much locally grown food as possible.
-- Michael Welber, GLEE newsletter editor
And finally we received a resolution from Scott Newberry, the CEO of Florida Keys Electric Cooperative, that involves pledges for the company itself.
As a founding member of GLEE, Florida Keys Electric Cooperative is committed to providing energy to the Upper and Middle Keys in the most environmentally sensitive way possible. We are proud to have several interconnected solar homes in our local power system and hope to have more interconnections in the coming year. In 2008, we also plan to add a pilot solar power project which will feed solar- generated energy into our existing power grid.
In 2008, we will also continue the programs we began in 2007, like running our trucks on biodiesel, providing free recycling bins to our members, hosting the Keys-wide Sustain-Ability Conference, providing free energy audits of homes and businesses, and participating in GLEE Expos. Our long-range plans also include replacing our gasoline- powered pick-up trucks with diesel trucks over time in order to run the same clean-burning biodiesel that we are using in our bucket trucks and other diesel vehicles.
As a not-for-profit cooperative, FKEC is continually exploring its options for adding "green power" programs that are cost effective and contribute to our goal of providing high quality, safe and environmentally sensitive electrical power.
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GLEE is working with the cities of Key West, Marathon, Islamorada to help both government and the residents in each area reduce their contributions to global warming. Both Marathon and Key West joined international organization ICLEI to inventory their current consumption of energy. While Islamorada decided not to join ICLEI, the city is making some progress towards fulfilling its own goals to reduce greenhouse gases there.
GLEE is hoping that someone will begin the same process for Monroe County but the budget and leadership turmoil in the county has impeded progress in this area.
GLEE vice-president Jody Smith Williams was hired by Key West to begin the inventory process. Here is her report:
“Key West's greenhouse gas emissions baseline inventory is nearing completion. The inventory is the first step in the 5-Milestone Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) program designed by ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability -- which has enrolled over 350 local government members in the US.
The city of Key West passed a resolution in August to join ICLEI and to engage in the CCP program. Once the inventory is complete, it is meant to be a policy tool for the city to use as it advances through the other 4 steps of the program: setting a target goal for emissions reductions; creating a local action plan; implementing the measures outlined in the local action plan and lastly; monitoring the plan and tracking results.
An advisory board/task force will be assembled to work on creating the action plan, which will be an outline of potential reduction measures the city can take, with cost-benefit analysis, estimated reductions and financing mechanisms."
Michael Welber, GLEE steering committee member, chairs the Marathon Green Team. He reports that, “Work has begun in the inventory process and so far the team has completed the community inventory. This involves finding out how much electric energy was consumed in our base year of 2006, how many automobile and truck miles were driven, how much waste was dumped, as well as other parameters.
“Now the team will work with the city to find out the same information for the local government. Marathon has been very cooperative in the process and will open all its records for the team so that the group can assemble a base of how much energy the city uses on an annual basis.
“Once that has been completed in January and all the information has been put into the CCP software, the team will begin to make recommendations to the Marathon staff and city council for areas in which the city can reduce its carbon footprint.
“The goal, of course, is to achieve significant reductions by the target year (2020 for Marathon and 2015 for Key West). Both cities have a goal to reduce GHG emissions by at least 15% below baseline levels by the target year.”
Karin Wolfe, a member of the GLEE steering committee reports the following:
“We have made some progress, however, the sustainability plan is still just that, a plan. I do think that the village has implemented the easy stuff: no idling, turning off the lights, and so forth. But in general there has not been any real movement towards change.
I hope to get a green team meeting on the books for the third week of January and see where the group wants to put their energy. I am going to be working on the solid waste/recycling ordinance with assistant director public works Zully Hemeyer with the help of GLEE. I hope that the Mayor and vice mayor will appoint a team to delve a little deeper into what others have done so we can have a solid document to go ahead with.”
Here’s a "Dirty Dozen" tips of things we can do to reduce our garbage output: