A PROJECT OF THE
SUSTAINABILITY ACTION NETWORK,
Lawrence Chapter
25 August 2009
SUSTAINABILITY ACTION NETWORK,
Lawrence Chapter
25 August 2009
ECO RADIO KC ¤ WEEKLY ECOLOGICAL ISSUES RADIO SHOW
Tuesday, 25 August 2009, 12:00noon
KKFI-FM 90.1, Kansas City Community Radio
Listen by radio, or on web-streaming at http://www.kkfi.org/
On this week's EcoRadio KC, host Richard Mabion will talk with Joe Jennings, the owner operator of J-14 Enterprises, an organic, you-pick, community supported agriculture (CSA), urban farm in Kansas City. Mr. Jennings has been farming for 40 of his 80 years, and started J-14 Farm in 1986. Learn more of the J-14 CSA at Kansas City CSA Coalition: J-14 Enterprises.
Stay tuned at 12:30 when the Bioneers radio series airs "What's Good for Life Wins: The Biomimicry Scientific Revolution", with Janine Benyus. Acclaimed author and biomimicry leader, she uncorks a mind-boggling bouquet of breakthrough innovations drawn from nature. The astonishing work of biomimics Jason MacLennan and Bob Hawkins in this genuine scientific revolution shows why preserving nature and biological diversity is our best survival strategy."
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PEAK OIL ¤ PRICE VOLATILITY ¤ ENERGY DESCENT
- Definition of "peak oil" - New oil discoveries no longer keeping up with current oil extraction rates
- Oil prices higher than about $70 may strangle economic recovery - Fatih Birol, chief economist for the International Energy Agency
- Crude price "peak creep": 5 Aug. $71/bbl; 13 Aug. $72/bbl; 17 Aug. $66/bbl; 24 Aug. $74/bbl -- NYMEX Crude Oil Price
LAWRENCE PEAK OIL TASK FORCE ¤ SIXTH MEETING
Thursday, 27 August 2009, 4:00pm
Public Works Conference Room, City Hall Ground Floor, 6th & Massachusetts St.
At the July meeting, several Task Force members gave reports on how several other communities have addressed key areas and recommended response plans. At the August meeting, the Task Force will build on that, and discuss how to structure itself into sub-committee focus areas such as: food security, transportation, scarce energy land use planning, medical and public services, emergency planning, etc. Meetings are open to the public, and the public is encouraged to attend. And the Peak Oil Task Force web page is developing an extensive list of resources (click on "resources") including other cities' action plans such as San Francisco and Portland, videos, advocacy groups like Post Carbon Institute and Transition Boulder County, and key data and reports.
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BOOK RELEASE PARTY ¤ "LANDED" BY CARYN MIRRIAM-GOLDBERG
Sunday, 30 August 2009, 4:00pm
Lawrence Public Library, 7th & Vermont St.
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, longtime bioregionalist and now Kansas Poet Laureate, will be releasing her new book of poetry, "Landed". She will be reading from her poems, and Kelly Hunt will perform music co-written with Mirriam-Goldberg, which is also included as a CD in the book. For more info go to http://www.
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PERMACULTURE FARM & GARDEN TOUR ¤ KAW VALLEY AREA
Sunday, 6 September 2009, 9:00am-4:00pm
a guided tour of six sites in or near Lawrence
a PDF tour flyer is attached that you can download
Sponsored by the Sustainability Action Network & the Kaw Permaculture Collaborative , this will be a guided tour of six permaculture operations, three urban, and three rural. Permaculture is a design science by which we pattern our surroundings to harmonize with nature rather than to subdue nature. The end result is a farm or garden that is a low-input, self-organizing, mature polyculture ecosystem.
Tour schedule: follow the whole tour, or join at any given time
- 9:00am, 1311 Prairie Ave., Lawrence
- 10:00am, 1200 Almira Ave., Lawrence
- 11:00am, 517 Lake St., Lawrence
- 12:00pm, sack lunch at 517 Lake St.
- 1:00pm, 1480 N. 1700 Rd. (North St.), just outside City limits
- 2:00pm, 1840 E. 1450 Rd, (US Hwy 59), 1/3 mile north of Teepee Jct.
- 3:00pm, 14370 54th St., Oskaloosa, 1/3 mile east of US Hwy 59
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LAWRENCE SUSTAINABILITY ADVISORY BOARD
Wednesday, 9 September 2009, 5:30pm
Recycling and Resource Recovery Annex, 320 N.E. Industrial Lane, Lawrence KS
The September agenda will be available soon. The S.A.B. meets monthly to discuss any and all aspects of furthering sustainability policies and practices by the City of Lawrence government and private persons. The public is welcome. Minutes are finalized in about a month after each meeting http://www.lawrencerecycles.
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KANSAS CITY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
Wednesday, 9 September 2009, 4:00-6:00pm
Mid America Regional Council, Rivergate Center 2nd floor, 600 Broadway, KC MO
The Environmental Management Commission promotes environmental awareness and resource efficiency to the City's leader and staff, to assist the progress of Kansas City toward sustainability. Members of the general public are encouraged to attend and observe meetings and to join and participate in its efforts. More information and the EMC April 2009 minutes are available at http://www.kcmo.org/manager.
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LAWRENCE BICYCLE-PEDESTRIAN COUNT ¤ VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Wednesday, 9 September 2009, 10:00am-12noon, & 5:00-7:00pm
Saturday, 12 September 2009, 12:00noon-2:00pm
The Bicycle Planner for Lawrence will use the data collected by these counts to estimate usage and demand for bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Having the hard data will strengthen grant applications to leverage additional federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects, will help evaluate existing projects, and will help determine the location of future investments. To volunteer, call Bart Rudolf at 832-3165, or get more info at volunteers needed for bicycle-pedestrian count.
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LAWRENCE ENERGY CONSERVATION FAIR & SUSTAINABLE HOMES TOUR
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Fair from 10:00am-4:00pm, Home Tours at 10:00am & 1:00pm
Community Building, 115 West 11th St. (Vermont at 11th St), Lawrence KS
The ninth annual Energy Conservation Fair will feature a wide range of energy conservation organizations and companies. This year the venue has moved to a more central location, and there will be an expert line up of speakers and presenters. The Sustainable Homes Tour is part of the American Solar Energy Society's National Solar Tour, and will feature efficient design and appliances and green building materials. For updates on the fair, visit 2009 Lawrence Energy Conservation Fair.
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TALLGRASS PRAIRIE NATIONAL PRESERVE WILDFLOWER WEEKEND
Saturday-Sunday, 12-13 September 2009, 10:00am-4:00pm
Hwy K-177, 2 miles N. of Strong City, or 17 miles S. of Council Grove
This is an annual prairie outing with prairie hikes, Kansas Native Plant Society education programs, prairie bus tours, special speakers, nature trails, and more. For more info go to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
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SECTOR PLAN MEETING: GRANT TOWNSHIP, NORTH BOTTOMS
Thursday, 17 September 2009, evening time TBA
Prairie Moon Waldorf School, 1853 E. 1600 Rd. (1/2 mile east of airport)
Though requested some time ago by the residents of the rich alluvial farm region north of Lawrence, this public meeting and plan was finally prompted by the citizens organizing against the Airport Industrial Park. It became apparent that real estate developers were targeting farmland for commercial development with no regard for the water resources and prime farm soils so critical to local-regional food production. And as long as planning delays left this area without a operable sector plan, industrialists were free to propose any scheme they chose in this planning vacuum.
This public meeting will be to take public comment and gather ideas and direction for how the sector plan will take shape. The entire process could take 18-24 months, but getting off on the right foot is important. For example, typically a sector plan is used to anticipate how urbanization will expand into a rural area. But in this case, it must be made clear at the outset that the highest and best use of these soils and water resources is for farming, not urbanization.
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KC RENEWABLE ENERGY FAIR & SUSTAINABLE HOMES TOUR
Saturday, 3 October 2009, 8:00am-5:00pm
Lakeview Middle School, 6720 NW 64th St., North KC, west of I-29
The Energy Fair and Homes Tour is sponsored by the Heartland Renewable Energy Society, the Missouri/Kansas chapter of the American Solar Energy Society (www.ases.org). Bus tours start at 8:00am, and fair exhibitions and workshops start at 9:00am. More info is available at KC Renewable Energy Fair & Sustainable Homes Tour, or by contacting Craig Wolf at
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KAW VALLEY FARM TOUR ¤ LOCAL-REGIONAL FOOD SUPPLIERS
Saturday-Sunday, 3-4 October 2009, 10:00am-6:00pm
self-guided tour of 15 participating farms
This annual tour of sustainably run farms covers a broad range from a bee apiary to a bison ranch to a school-based CSA to wineries to market farms and the KSU Horticulture Research Center. The common thread is that these operations all are local-regional food suppliers, are as ecologically sustainable as farms can get, and acre-for-acre their specialty crops contribute more significantly to the local economy than do commodity mono-culture crops. More info at Kaw Valley Farm Tour 2009
The SUSTAINABILITY ACTION NETWORK, Inc. is a Kansas not-for-profit organization. DONATIONS ARE APPRECIATED, and checks can be mailed to P.O.Box 1064, Lawrence KS 66044. Our mission is to advocate and organize societal scale action to address sustainability issues. The triple crises of Energy-Ecology-Economy, the global "3E Trifecta", are building so rapidly that large scale action is needed immediately and methodically to overcome institutional barriers and advance public policy that preserves ecological sustainability. Our focus is to build a relocalized economy-ecology in concert with the Transition Town movement occurring in many other communities. To join the Sustainability Action Network please contact us at
Our current projects include:
1) Transition Kaw Valley - initiating transition to a relocalized post-carbon economy, and municipal level Peak Oil response planning.
2) Kaw Permaculture Collaborative - developing skills and resources for poly-cropping sustainable food production.
3) Energy Conservation & Renewables - advancing a green economy through decentralized technologies and regulations, for conservation and renewable energy.
4) Land Consortium - organizing interested stakeholders to acquire prime farmland in the urban fringe for land-based economic development and regional food security.
5) Water Rights and Watersheds - protecting the water commons, the source of all life, from privatization and contamination, and restoring our watersheds.
6) Electric & Human Powered Vehicles - promoting neighborhood electric vehicles and utility tricycles, including infrastructure and pro-active regulations.
7) Weekly Sustainability Announcements - informing and encouraging others to become active in the Sustainability Action Network, or other action driven groups.
8) Collaboration with sister organizations - such as: The Light Center eco-village; Kaw Valley Food System farm-based economic development; Citizens for Responsible Planning; Films for Action; Kansas River Valley Growers fighting for local water rights; national efforts by the Sustainable Energy Network; KC Metro groups like the Kansas City Food Circle and the All Species Project, etc.
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