The simple truth is that people are addicted to oil. Unfortunately as we continue to burn it, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere continues to rise. Scientific evidence shows that the world is now suffering the disastrous impacts of climate change caused by elevated levels of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. As oil supplies dwindle there is a push to uncover new resources by using dirty tar sands mining practices as in the case of the tar sands of central Canada. The 240 gigatons of carbon stored in the tar sands is equivalent to adding at least 4 million new cars to the road. Current plans will pipe this dirty oil west, south, and east to coastal waters. Areas around these pipelines will be put at risk of serious environmental disasters, while the entire globe will be increasingly threatened by climate change.
Oil companies plan to pump tar sands oil through some of the most pristine areas of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Linking tar sands oil production centers in central Canada to international shipping facilities in Maine will boost the industry’s profits, while ignoring the potential risks imposed upon the people and environment of New England. Unlike the Keystone XL pipeline and the Northern Gateway pipeline, the proposed project does not require new pipeline construction. The plan is to simply reverse the flow of two existing pipeline systems: the 40-year-old Enbridge Line 9 and the 62-year-old Portland-Montreal Pipe Line.
The areas through which these lines travel include some of the most spectacular ecological resources in the region. The tar sands that will be flowing through this line are not like conventional oil. Tar sands diluted bitumen is mixed with natural gas liquids and other volatile petroleum products and it is transported at high temperatures and high pressure. This combination can weaken pipelines and increase the risk of spills.
Important Areas:
Saint Lawrence River – Canada’s most important river provides drinking water to 50% of Quebec.
Lake Memphremagog – 27-mile long glacial lake, provides water in the U.S. and Canada.
Victory State Forest – A 15,000-acre state complex in Vermont’s pristine “Northeast Kingdom” that is home to 130 bird species.
Connecticut River – One of New England’s most important watersheds.
Missisquoi River – A major tributary to Lake Champlain. A 767,000-acre watershed, with a 6,700 National Wildlife Refuge at its mouth.
Coos County – known as the “North Country,” this is the least developed area in New Hampshire.
Androscoggin River – The pipeline will cross this important river twice and run alongside it for 13 miles. Recent rehabilitation efforts are once again threatened.
Crooked River – A favorite area for outdoor enthusiasts, this river is also the primary spawning and nursery ground for Sebago Lake’s landlocked Atlantic salmon.
Sebago Lake – Covering 30,000 acres, this area includes Maine’s busiest state campground and provide clean drinking water to Portland.
Gulf of Maine – One of the ten most productive marine ecosystems in the world and essential to Maine’s economy.
There is a history of pipeline spills, including an incident near Marshall, Michigan in 2010. More than 1 million gallons of diluted bitumen spilled and drained into the Talmadge Creek, eventually spreading down a 30-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River. The results included health effects among the local population and devastating effects on the ecosystem. Enbridge, the owner of Line 9, has had 804 spills between 1999 and 2010, which resulted in 6.8 million gallons of hydrocarbons.
The proposed tar sands pipeline threatens both humans and the natural environment.
Take action and call on our governments to thoroughly review all pipelines that might carry tar sands,
Call on President Obama to require a Presidential Permit for the proposed New England pipeline, necessitating a full environmental impact review.
Conduct long-range clean energy plans before committing to infrastructure that will increase oil consumption.
Embrace policies that will reduce oil demand.
Successes to date:
Successfully organizing grassroots efforts.
24 Vermont towns with a Tar Sands Free Resolution on the March ballot
Nationwide Fossil Fuel Divestment campaign at several universities
Filed a request with the Act 250 Commission for a Jurisdictional Opinion on whether any pipeline reversal would require an environmental review
Demonstrations in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Québec: no tar sands in the East!
Challenges to completing the project:
Lack of public knowledge in the areas surrounding the tar sands pipeline
Building political support of this opposition movement
Creating long-range energy plans that will provide alternatives to tar sands oil
Embracing new policies that promote renewable energy and reduced consumption
Fighting the power and financial resources of the oil industry
Call to Action
Get involved in the Tar Sand Northeast Solidarity Actions. Events will be taking place throughout New England. There is a national rally to stop the Keystone XL Tar Sands pipeline in Washington, DC on February 17th, 2013.
Please consider donating directly to, joining and supporting the partner organizations doing this vital work:
An independent state chapter of the 350.org movement focused on building a volunteer-based grassroots movement to confront climate change issues in Vermont. Campaigns include Rethinking Transportation, Tar Sands Free Northeast, Fossil Fuel Divestment.
A grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis. Online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions are lead by volunteer organizers in over 188 countries.
America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. Sierra Club’s 2.1 million members and supporters urge the president to cement our nation’s position as the global clean energy leader by going all in on sustainable energy, holding polluters accountable, and rejecting the dangerous tar sands pipeline.
Providing a voice for wildlife, this organization is dedicated to protecting wildlife and habitat and inspiring future generations of conservationists.
Contact Emily Tompkins, Development Coordinator at 350Vermont, emily@350vt.org or the 350Vermont office, 802-444-0350 with any further questions.
Thanks to 1% FTP recipient ioby for sharing the following article that was featured in The Atlantic Cities on January 21, 2013. The article’s author, Sarah Goodyear, has done a great job of illustrating the hard work that ioby has done in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
A man makes his way through flood waters on a bike in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York, October 29, 2012. (Reuters/Keith Bedford)
A little over a week ago, the NYS 2100 Committee, formed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to recommend a post-Sandy course of action, released its report. As Eric Jaffe noted here at the time, the document drew some criticism for the vague and all-encompassing nature of its recommendations. If you’re looking for more specific solutions to improve resiliency, disaster preparedness, and climate change mitigation in New York City, you can turn instead to a report from ioby, a nonprofit fundraising organization dedicated to environmental issues.
The people at ioby polled a group of more than 380 people immediately after the storm to get their thoughts on how the city could be better prepared for similar events in the future. Participants, who weren’t constrained by the political considerations that a government group faces, included “engineers, architects, energy experts, policymakers, artists, lawyers, business owners, nurses, activists, planners, academics, media and more.” The results were released last week.
So what do the people on the ground in New York’s neighborhoods want to see? They came up with some “big ideas,” including updating the region’s electrical grid; making flood insurance more expensive to discourage building in vulnerable areas; expanding protected wetland areas to create a bigger buffer zone for storm surge; building floating boardwalks along coastlines. (Yes, the oft-discussed oyster reefs are in here, too.)
But it’s their smaller ideas – many of them clearly born of practical experience – that are the most intriguing. A lot of them are cheap and relatively easy to implement. Here are a few of the group’s nuts and bolts suggestions:
-Secure out/indoor pulley systems to deliver food, water and medicine to residents living in the top floors of tall buildings in lower Manhattan.
-Offer emergency training in Russian in Coney Island.
-Install rainwater harvest systems in Red Hook.
-Establish bike “brigades” that can deliver supplies to areas where roads have been washed out during and after an emergency. (Portland, Oregon, is already researching how best to incorporate cargo bikes into its disaster preparedness plans.)
-Distribute solar-powered water heaters after an emergency.
-Educate youth about extreme weather events and vulnerability.
-Create “buddy” programs to account for everyone in an apartment building during and after an emergency.
Several of the recommendations — such as the cultivation of alternative energy sources and an increase in the number of urban gardens — don’t apply only to emergency situations. And maybe that’s the most important message the ioby group is sending. The conclusion of the report puts it this way:
There was a clear sense that resilience during an emergency is closely intertwined with the longer-term strength of communities. That what is good during an emergency is also good for everyday life. For example, the distribution of food from urban farms was discussed as a way to help feed citizens after an emergency. But it was equally discussed as a service to people that live in food deserts that do not have regular access to healthy food, thus reducing poverty—and vulnerability—across the NYC Metro Area.
In other words, we don’t need a disaster to benefit from being a more connected, resilient community. New York, are you listening?
The following post was written by Martyn Hoffmann, the owner of Pura Vida Ride (member #2754). If you are interested in sharing your giving story on our blog- please email a short post to info@onepercentfortheplanet.org and we will share them here!
2012 was Pura Vida Ride’s first year as a member of 1% for the Planet. For us as a company, joining 1% FTP and committing our money to the environment was putting into action our core beliefs as individuals and as a company.
As we discussed where to put our money, the one requirement that floated to the surface was that we reinvest in Costa Rica and keep our donations local. As a result we found 6 qualified non-profit organizations in Costa Rica that are approved 1% for the Planet nonprofit partners. Rather than us as a company deciding who should receive our donation, we opened it up to our fans, friends, and community to decide. We engaged all of the organizations and their fan bases in a vote to see who should receive the money.
Using Facebook as a social media platform, we put the question to the people over a two-week period. The voting was fierce across the board but two non-profits quickly floated to the top and were neck and neck up until an hour before the voting ended.
We had almost 21,000 people exposed to the voting effort, and 1,909 combined votes amongst all of the organizations. The exposure for each of these organizations was astounding and everyone benefitted from igniting their support base and educating everyone else’s support base about their mission and work in Costa Rica.
At the close of voting, La Paz Community School won with 816 votes, followed closely by Nectandra Institute with 814 votes.
La Paz Community School is non-profit, preschool through high school offering experiential bilingual education to the culturally diverse youth of Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
La Paz Community School offers an authentic learning experience in a rural, ecologically and ethnically diverse region of the world. Growing from 50 to 215 students in under six years, La Paz represents a microcosm of sustainable globalization where half of the students come from 25 countries around the world to join together with local Costa Rican youth to learn how to be creative, multilingual, environmentally conscious stewards of their community and beyond.
A dynamic scholarship program includes 25% of the student population and ensures a diverse and talented population. Through paradigm challenging intercultural discourse with members of the school, community, and world, La Paz students are equipped to fundamentally transform the world into a better, more sustainable place for all to live.
In short, this experience was rewarding on so many levels for us, and we are thrilled to continue this tradition of giving 1% back to the planet!
We made it through one of the biggest shopping weekends of the season: Thanksgiving, and now Christmas is just around the corner. In addition to meaning delicious food, family traditions, and of course, food again (leftovers… yum!), it has also come to mean a weekend of big deals (Black Friday), local love (Small Business Saturday), cyber steals (Cyber Monday), and a new addition that we love at 1% for the Planet – Giving Tuesday. If you’re not familiar with Giving Tuesday, you can learn more about it in this article, featuring none other than our very own Melody Badgett.
So why does Giving Tuesday matter?
It provides an opportunity for nonprofit organizations to engage consumers, businesses, and potential donors in conversation and raise awareness for current initiatives. Several 1% for the Planet partners were involved this year including The Trustees of Reservations and Essex County Greenbelt Association. Both organizations used social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, to share the message of Giving Tuesday.
We think Giving Tuesday is a great addition to the shopping-centric holiday weekend. At 1% for the Planet, our members choose to give back on an annual basis and support nonprofit organizations all year round. Not only does this holiday provide a day where these nonprofit partners can have meaningful engagement with their audience via social media and other channels, but more importantly: it gets the conversation going and inspires other individuals and businesses to think about giving as we head into this holiday season.
With that in mind, we have a challenge for you: continue the spirit of Giving Tuesday through the holiday season. Throughout the month of December we have been highlighting members on our Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest channels. We’re proud of our members and the commitment they make every year when they pledge to donate 1% of their sales.
If you have a minute before you brave the cold (‘cold’ is spot on for where we are), check out our members and see what businesses are near you. From chocolates to jewelry, and everything in between – our members offer great products that you can feel good about giving as gifts. Supporting a 1% for the Planet member in your area is a double feel good: you’re supporting your local economy and a business that gives back 1% of their sales to environmental causes. So, when you’re looking for that perfect gift, remember to carry on the spirit of Giving Tuesday!
Don’t forget to share your pictures with us on Twitter & Instagram, using the hashtag #LoveYourMother, so we can see which 1% FTP network affiliates you are supporting this holiday season!
Well, personally this is my favorite time of the year, and I hope that whoever may be reading this post is just as excited! ‘Tis the season for sipping hot cider, reconnecting with dear friends and family, and gifting thoughtfully (have you heard about our #LoveYourMother campaign!? Get at it!). I hope that you’re all looking forward to a wonderful holiday in great company.
And now, before we sign off for the holidays, Rebecca and I wanted to extend a huge thank you to our California network for a remarkable past few weeks. Thank you to Shaper Studios and to Klean Kanteen for most recently hosting 1% network gatherings.
Down south in San Diego, we brought together folks from The San Diego River Park Foundation, Fathom Change, Squeeze Play (thanks for the bounty of produce Brad, Alicia and Kristin!), Drips Water, San Diego Coastkeeper, and Van Eck Enterprises. Derrik showed the group around Shaper Studios, where he and co-owner, Chris Clark, help customers create DIY surfboards, or as Derrik says, “the surfboard version of build-a-bear.” If you’re in need of a new board anytime soon, be sure to check them out!
Up north in Chico, Rebecca and I walked into the Klean Kanteen headquarters to find co-owner, Michelle, skipping on – obviously – a skipper. Work becomes a bit more fun when you’ve got Just Jump It adjacent to your offices! Jeff and Caroleigh gave us a great tour around their facilities where we got to peer in at what they said was “just a sampling” of their co-branded water bottles — shelves upon shelves full, and take a stop in to see their packing and shipping warehouse (photo below), which is quite the operation during this holiday time! We were then joined by member companies YourCableStore.com, California Solar Electric Company, and nonprofit partner Bridging the Gap, for a more in depth discussion about 1% partnerships and opportunities. Thank you guys for making the trip to join us!
We’re really looking forward to working with our California network in the coming new year to put these thoughts and ideas into action. The feedback we’ve acquired from these gatherings has been enormously helpful and will be the backbone of our 2013 business plan. If thoughts arise in the meantime – comments, suggestions, questions – please do send them my way (brittany@onepercentfortheplanet.org)!
It’s been our pleasure having had the opportunity to meet face-to-face with so many of the people behind our network these past few months! Thank you for teaching Rebecca and myself so much about this vast landscape – all the way from San Diego to Chico! We’re very much looking forward to continuing the conversation. Happy Holidays!
What region comes to mind? It’s northwestern New Hampshire and Maine; and it’s how large-scale habitat protection happens. Northern New England has been flagged as an invaluable ecological unit for adaptation to climate change so habitat protection is essential here. We can all benefit from supporting a local, grassroots approach to conservation in the Northeast corner of the US.
The Upper Androscoggin Watershed and High Peaks Region in New Hampshire and Maine exemplify what happens when private landowners and government work together for the ultimate benefit of the community and the planet.
This area has:
- Approximately 2 million acres
- Over 100 “Great Ponds” (i.e. greater than ten acres),
- Over 450 miles of named rivers
- Over 3,000 miles of perennial and intermittent streams
- Numerous mountains over 2,700 feet in elevation, the refugia zone for spruce fir forest during past climate warming events
- Large blocks of core conservation lands, building blocks for landscape scale conservation
It’s a valuable forested area and habitat that successfully demonstrates multiple use around conservation, outdoor recreation, sustainably forestry and healthy communities.
The region’s qualities have been recognized in numerous public vetted processes, e.g. the Department of Interior ‘America’s Great Outdoors’ Initiatives and the Nature Conservancy’s “Resilient Sites for Terrestrial Conservation in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Region”.
An effort between the Appalachian Mountain Club, The Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, and The Trust for Public Land is the collaborative that drives this plan. The goal is to build on and connect large continuous blocks of land. They do this by:
- Identifying contiguous blocks of land to protect key parcels
- Reaching out to the communities to garner input and ideally public support
- Brokering land transactions – identify new land funding, financing and ownership mechanisms
- Balancing land protection with economic development through sustainable forestry and outdoor recreation
Successes to date:
- 31,000 acres contiguous to the Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge protected
- Over $20 million raised since 2005
- $5 million Maine Land Protection Bond passed in November 2012
Challenges to completing the project:
- Local misunderstandings that land protection reduces local taxes
- Lack of knowledge that fiber supplies and forestry jobs today are influenced by past intensive harvesting above sustainable rates and mechanization in the industry, not by land protection that permits sustainable forestry.
- Lower land prices in tight economic times are opportunities for conservation, but funding is difficult to achieve
- Partial dismantling of the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC)
Call to Action
This initiative has targeted an additional 50,000 acres, requiring more than $20 million in acquisition costs that need to be raised to make it happen.
Currently almost one-third of this area has conservation protection. For the area’s full potential to be met, additional buffer land protection to and connectivity between the Mahoosucs, Umbagog National Wildlife Refuge, the Rangeley Lakes region protected lands and western Maine High Peaks region is needed.
Please consider donating directly to, joining and supporting the partner organizations doing this vital work:
Appalachian Mountain Club: The oldest US conservation and recreation organization with a focus on the northeastern US. It has been a leader in Northern Forest protection through its research, ability to mobilize outdoor enthusiast and to pull differentinterest groups together, and advocacy.
The Trust for Public Land: A national organization that makes land transactions happen. They have brokered protection of more than 200,000 acres in this region alone.
Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust: Maine based, works with state and federal government, conservation organizations, corporations and individuals to protect the unique character of northwestern Maine.
Contact Heather Clish, AMC’s Director of Conservation & Recreation Policy, hclish@outdoors.org, 617-391-6580 with any further questions.
We want to see which 1% for the Planet network affiliates you are supporting this holiday season!
Whether it’s a bracelet for your daughter, coffee and tea for your parents or some energy bars for your active friends- we hope you consider purchasing these items from our members. By supporting 1% FTP members, you are indirectly giving back to our nonprofit partners who are working to save Mother Earth. If you’re more interested in supporting a nonprofit directly, use our database to search for the right one and make a donation in honor of a loved one!
So when you receive that Patagonia fleece you’ve always wanted, or a POP Paddleboard that you can’t wait to use- take a picture of it! Post these pics on Instagram & Twitter and tag us using “#LoveYourMother” for a chance to win a 4-pack of Klean Kanteen steel pints!
Happy holidays from all of us at 1% for the Planet!
1% FTP member and award winning producer, Teton Gravity Research is pleased to announce the production of Further, the second installment in the Jeremy Jones trilogy, Deeper, Further, Higher presented by O’Neill, Clif Bar, Jones Snowboards and others. Further will explore some of the world’s most remote terrain while continuing Jones’ mission to camp deep in the backcountry and on the summits of unridden lines to access nearly vertical spines and wide open powder fields.
Jeremy Jones founded one of our largest nonprofit partners, Protect Our Winters, who works “to engage and mobilize the winter sports community to lead the fight against climate change.” Not only is Jones an amazing snowboarder and advocate, but he was recently nominated as National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year- so make sure to show your support and vote for him! Staff from TGR will be at the film and there will be awesome opportunities to win some swag.
The film will be shown in the IMAX theater at the New England Aquarium at both 7PM & 9PM on Thursday & Friday nights! Hope you can attend- and if not, click here to find another showing!
The South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) began the film festival in 2003 with the goal to show environmentally focused films that not only informed audiences, but also inspired and motivated viewers to take action. Every year the California-based festival hits the road with a selection of short films, providing the opportunity for organizations all around the country to host a festival, show a selection of films, and inspire a local audience.
The festival also played host to a celebration. The film selection was inspired by the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, a passage that made a significant impact on the regulation of water quality. To commemorate the anniversary, the festival featured 10 award-winning and water-inspired short films. Among the chosen films were The Craziest Idea, One Plastic Beach, andSeasons: Winter, which we highly recommend checking out. You could really feel the emotion in the room as everyone watched the awe-inspiring films together.
We were thrilled by the member and partner support the festival received in the days leading up to the event. The 1% FTP Network was in action, as members and partners came together to celebrate the Clean Water Act while creating an engaging and fun environment for the general public to learn more about VNRC, the beneficiary of this year’s event.
Thanks to everyone who participated and to those who attended – we hope you had as much fun as we did! If you’re interested in learning more about the Wild & Scenic Film Festival and want to find out when they’re headed to your neck of the woods, check out the schedule HERE.
Last week we hosted a Special Edition Power Plant event celebrating the incredible growth in the 1% for the Planet family north of the border.
By the Numbers:
In just a year we’ve added 23 new members, who will donate an additional $700,000 to environmental causes this year alone. That brings us to more than $5M in giving to date from our Canadian partners. Boom. There’s a lot to be excited about.
The evening featured presentations from movers and shakers in the Canadian sustainability world who highlighted ways that business can be a part of the solution to pressing environmental challenges in Canada.
The night was chock full of great conversation, connections and good times; we left inspired by the Canadian team, knowing this is a group that will create enormous positive change for the planet.
Thanks to all who made it possible, keep up the great work, and we’ll see you in town again soon!
And if you couldn’t make it, check out our speakers in action at these links!
