Green Options » Vermont

Man Busted for Killing Endangered Lynx by Taking Carcass to Taxidermist

Rhishja Larson — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:33:52 +0000

U.S. District Court has sentenced a Vermont man to a week in jail for killing an endangered lynx - after he left the carcass with a taxidermist for mounting.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Vermont Fish and Wildlife officials were tipped off by the taxidermist, who said the man claimed he thought was “shooting at a coyote” while enjoying a deer hunting excursion in Maine.

This marks the third time in less than three years that someone has been sentenced for killing an endangered Canadian lynx (Lynx canadensis).

U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk believed the jail time was necessary, saying that

We have the Endangered Species Act to protect, restore and save these types of animals. I do think this defendant deserves jail time. Just a fine would be a meaningless punishment.

The man who killed the lynx, Alan B. Clark Jr. 38, of South Hero, VT, admitted to Kravchuk that he knew it was a lynx when he took it to the taxidermist, and pleaded guilty to the federal misdemeanor crime of possession of unlawfully taken wildlife.

Although Clark faced up to six months in jail, and a fine up to $25,000, his attorney got him a reduced sentence, citing “recent chronic health problems” and “inability to work.” Clark’s jail time starts Thursday afternoon at the Penobscot County jail.

Apparently, Clark’s right to possess guns and hunt will not be affected by the conviction.

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The World’s Nicest Baby Rattle Goes Paint Free

Courtney Maum — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:40:11 +0000

I’ve been eying this fetching baby rattle over at the international wonderland that is Kiosk for ages, but I was a little turned off by the paint (even though they are kind enough to use non-toxic kind!) Well, someone must be listening to my silent hesitations because they’re currently offering two stripped down, all-natural versions in simple Vermont wood.

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Green Mountain Coffee Getting Some Help From Solar Power

Dave Tyler — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:50:58 +0000

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is getting a little greener.

The Waterbury, Vt., coffee maker is adding 530 solar panels to the roof of its distribution center. When complete it will be the largest solar installation in Vermont, the company said.

The 100 kilowatt system will only provide a small percentage of the power the coffee company needs, but the real value of the system is demonstrating that solar can work for business in the Northeast, the company said.

“Renewable energy must be a part of our overall energy strategy,” Paul Comey, Vice President of Environmental Affairs for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., said in a statement. “We
want to show our state and federal governments that solar energy works, and that we need
a policy that provides a broad-reaching structure for renewable energy.”

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Plug-in Prius Hybrid Stands Up to Curvy Vermont Roads, Tops 100 MPG

Dave Tyler — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:44:55 +0000

Road testing at Vermont’s Green Mountain College on a pair of souped-up plug-in Toyota Prius hybrids has found the cars returning better than 100 miles per gallon in daily commuting. At times, one car topped 140 MPG.

Steven Letendre (pictured above), economics professor and research scientist at GMC, monitored the travels of his colleague James Harding as he drove a plug-in Prius nine miles each way between the college’s campus in Poultney and his home in Middletown Springs during the fall semester. Letendre said he was “amazed” by Harding’s results.

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Miss America Contestant Opts for Eco-Friendly Evening Wear

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:08:59 +0000

Are there many things more anachronistic in the 21st Century U.S. than the Miss America Pageant? (Come on, even the term “Miss” sounds dated when applied to human females older than, say, 11.) Still, if the storied annual beauty pageant must continue, it might as well do so in a way that’s a bit more up to date.

And so it shall, at least for one contestant: Ashley Ruth Wheeler, aka Miss Vermont, is taking the pageant into modernity by choosing to wear a green — as in eco-friendly — gown. Her dress will not only be locally designed, but made with hemp, organic cotton, organic silk and recycled beads and lace.

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Local Bucks Offer the Most Economic Bang

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:06:29 +0000

Worried those dollars in your wallet might not buy as much as they used to? In a pretty neat report this week, the Worldwatch Institute details on how more communities across the U.S. (and around the globe) are turning to local currencies to protect their regional economies.

In “Local Currencies Grow During Economic Recession,” writer Ben Block describes how the global financial crisis is fueling renewed interest in “complementary” currencies aimed at keeping economic resources close to home.

One of the best known local currencies in the U.S. are the Berkshares, a New England-based note introduced two years ago. Berkshares co-founder Susan Witt says her phone’s been ringing a lot more lately with calls from officials in other parts looking to launch similar currencies in their communities.

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PETA Suggests Higher Insurance Rates For Meat Eaters

Melissa Elliott — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:59:54 +0000

Due to studies suggesting vegetarians have stronger immune systems and are 40% less likely to get cancer, as well as recent outbreaks of E.coli traced to a Vermont slaughterhouse, PETA is urging Blue Cross of Vermont to lower insurance rates for vegetarians, while increasing those for meat eaters.

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Vermont’s Cow Power™ Program Adds U.S. Forest Service as Their Latest Customer

Tom Schueneman — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:13:04 +0000

Cow Power - Energy Happens

The U.S. Forest Service announced that it will enroll its Rutland, Vermont office in the Central Vermont Public Service Cow Power ™ program.

We’ve written before here on EcoLocalizer on the potential of “cow power” as a source of biogas for electrical generation and as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Created in 2004, The Central Vermont Public Service Cow Power™ program is Vermont’s largest volunteer alternative energy program and the nation’s first direct farmer-to-consumer renewable energy plan.

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How to Save an Economy? Start Growing Food

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:17:26 +0000

I can’t be the only one wondering what I’d do if the bottom really drops out of the economy and we’re all left to fend for ourselves. And the best answer I keep coming to is farming, as in growing my own — and others’ — food.

Well, it turns out farming has already come to the rescue of at least one local economy, as Marian Burros reports in a New York Times article titled, “Uniting Around Food to Save an Ailing Town.”

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First Carbon Auction in U.S. Hailed as Big Success

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:23:46 +0000

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative sets carbon price at $3.07/ton

The first ever auction of carbon permits in the United States has reportedly exceeded all expectations. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) held the first of several planned auctions for carbon permits last week and the demand was so strong, organizers believe it can be a model for a broader-based national program.

RGGI (pronounced ‘reggie’) is a regional agreement between ten northeastern states to manage and regulate greenhouse gas emissions with a system that requires fossil-burning utilities to buy permits for the carbon they release into the atmosphere.

>>More on cap-and-trade at RG&B

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Rethinking Food Across the U.S.

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:31:48 +0000

Sometimes, you come across a Website that’s just so full of great, inspiring and exciting information, you can’t get enough of it. That’s what happened when I came upon the Buckminster Fuller Challenge Idea Index, a database of entries into the annual Buckminster Fuller Challenge to solve “humanity’s most pressing problems in the shortest possible time while enhancing the Earth’s ecological integrity.”

The challenge, launched last year, honored its first winner this past June: a plan for a “Comprehensive Design for a Carbon Neutral World: The Challenge of Appalachia,” submitted by John Todd, a research professor at the University of Vermont and founder and president of Oceans Arks International. And just last month, the institute unveiled its Idea Index, which provides details on entries in every area from community and energy to transportation and water. It’s too much to take in all at once, so today, let’s look at some of the innovative ideas in one area alone: food.

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Hemp Legal In Vermont

Max Lindberg — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:13:30 +0000

State Joins North Dakota in Seeking Permission from Feds to Grow Hemp

The Hemp for Vermont Bill was allowed to become law by Governor Jim Hughes on May 29th, without his signature. The bill overwhelmingly passed both the House and Senate several months ago, setting the stage for Vermont’s entrance into the industrial hemp arena.The non-profit advocacy organization Vote Hemp made the announcement, saying the new law regulates growth of industrial hemp by Vermont farmers. The interest in Vermont is for using hemp in food products and bedding for some of the state’s 140,000 cows.

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Your Weapon: 350. Your Mission: Save Civilization from Global Warming

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:41:19 +0000

Vermont author, scholar and activist Bill McKibben sees the climate change challenge like this: we have 18 months — just 18 months — to pound a single number into the world’s collective head.

350.

350. That’s the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide, in parts per million, we need to achieve if we hope to avoid catastrophic changes to our climate and our civilization. The challenge here is that CO2 concentrations have already climbed to 387 parts per million and rose by 2.14 ppm, the highest rate of increase yet, in 2007.

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How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Peak Oil

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:11:13 +0000

I’ve recently witnessed a few scenes of life after peak oil, and it isn’t necessarily the Apocalypse.

In Juneau, Alaska, for example, people are proving it’s possible to change our energy-hogging ways literally overnight and still keep a community up and running. The inspiration in their case: an avalanche that severed the hydroelectric power lines serving the remote Alaska capital, cutting off about 80 percent of the city’s available electricity.

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Northeasterners Warming Up to Pellet Stoves

Carol Gulyas — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:17:26 +0000

After a cold winter and rising fuel prices, Vermont and other Northeastern states are warming to the idea of using local biomass to heat their homes. According to Renewable Energy World, pellet stoves, which burn pellets made from wood shavings and sawdust and whose emissions are nearly zero, are becoming more attractive heating options. One of the most efficient use of the stoves is as a heating supplement.

“In New Hampshire, New England Wood Pellet has been expanding its operations and has built a manufacturing facility in New York in order to keep up with the demand for pellet fuels. According to Steve Walker, CEO of New England Wood Pellet, bioheating and pellet fuels in particular are primed to take up a bigger share of the market in the coming years because consumers may be starting to realize that oil prices are going to remain high into the foreseeable future. He points at the cost to energy production ratio as the one of the most important reasons the pellet market will continue to grow.”

Shown here is the Harman Advance model.

Yearn-Worthy Yarns: Green Mountain Spinnery

Victoria Everman — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:55:36 +0000

Similar to Hope Spinnery in Maine that I featured a few weeks ago, Green Mountain Spinnery in Vermont creates their own yarn from United States-grown fibers (specifically alpaca, mohair, wool and organic cotton).

“Our mission is to produce and sell high quality yarns from natural fibers and design classic Vermont patterns. Transforming the many types of raw fibers into luxurious and long lasting yarn. The Green Mountain Spinnery helps to sustain regional sheep farming, and to develop environmentally sound ways to process natural fibers,” says their website.

Using vintage equipment, Green Mountain Spinnery creates yarns that take any project from plain to prodigious. Also similar to Hope Spinnery, GMS will spin yarns from fibers that you provide as well. The company has also released its own book of patterns, called The Green Mountain Spinnery Knitting Book, featuring “30 of their best loved contemporary and classic patterns.”

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EPA Chief on Hot Seat Over California Emissions Denial

Max Lindberg — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:19:29 +0000

Last December, EPA administrator Stephen Johnson denied California’s request to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the Senate released documents putting Johnson squarely in opposition with the scientific and legal experts on his staff when he denied the request.The documents were requested by Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who said:

“These documents paint a picture of an Environmental Protection Agency in crisis. They show the dedicated professional staff of the EPA working hard to do what they are paid to do by the American people - protect our health and our environment. At the same time, we see more and more evidence of Administrator Johnson ignoring the science and the facts, and discarding the advice of his professional staff.”

“I believe this decision will be reversed by the next President or by the courts, but the Administrator can save the taxpayers time and money, and can get us started cleaning up our air if he would simply follow the law, the facts, and the advice of his agency professionals.”

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Vermont House OKs Hemp

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:38:59 +0000

Hoping that a new administration in Washington could lead to changes in U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration laws, the Vermont House of Representatives has approved a bill clearing the way for farmers to grow industrial hemp. The measure now moves to the state Senate for consideration.

Photo courtesy of Aleks via Wikimedia Commons.

Yearn-Worthy Yarns: O-Wool from Vermont Organic Fiber Co

Victoria Everman — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:44:18 +0000

Cuddly sweaters, warm throw blankets, chic slippers - these all can be knitted or crocheted from one fantastic fiber: sheep’s wool. Founded in January 2000, Vermont Organic Fiber Company is the world’s leading wholesale supplier of yarns and fabrics made with certified organic wool. Thankfully, you no longer have to be a business to get a hold of their superior goods - just this past year, VOFC branched out into the retail hand-knitting yarn world.

You might remember me mentioning Vermont Organic’s yarn in the Yearn-Worthy Yarns: Blue Sky Alpacas post. The particular yarn I used for the scarf was their O-Wool Balance yarn (shown at left), which is made from 50% organic wool and 50% organic cotton. The mildly marbled look is beautifully earthy and features a very low itch factor.

In addition to the O-Wool Balance yarn, which now comes in 18 unspeakably exquisite colors, Vermont Organic Fiber Co has two yarns made from 100% organic wool, which is certified organic in both the USA and Europe.

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States Can Cut Emissions — Feds Too?

Maria Surma Manka — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:04:22 +0000

States continue to take the lead in cutting global warming pollution and more may soon follow, spurred by a federal judge’s ruling last week that Vermont can set stricter vehicle emissions standards — stricter than what the federal government requires.

Furthermore, the widespread state action on auto emissions could persuade the government to enact nationwide fuel efficiency laws, rather than leave a patchwork of state regulations for automakers to work around.

The Christian Science Monitor took a look at what’s happening across the U.S., and predicted some ramifications of the Vermont case:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be prompted to grant California a waiver from the Clean Air Act. This would allow California, along with Vermont and the 10 other states with identical laws, to begin enforcing emission requirements for cars sold in their states.

Six additional states – Arizona, Florida, New Mexico, Utah, Illinois, and Minnesota – may proceed with their own emissions requirements. All together, the 18 states that have vehicle emission laws or that are exploring them make up about half the U.S. auto market.

Congress may have to reconsider new fuel-efficiency standards it’s currently weighing (which are not as demanding as Vermont’s). Or they could mandate a tougher federal requirement (more of a long-shot, I’d say).

Federal judges in two similar cases brought by the auto industry in California and Rhode Island could dismiss those cases if they determine the industry has had its day in court and further proceedings would be redundant.

Groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and Environmental Defense were party to the Vermont lawsuit, and are optimistic that the judge’s ruling will spur other states to action. The auto industry promised to stricter regulations.

The 12 states with emissions laws already on the books could cut up to 100 million tons each year. Overall U.S. emissions from cars and light trucks total about 1.5 billion tons per year.

Christian Science Monitor
Cybercast News Service