Sunday, March 25, 2012

Energy (and Other) Events - March 25, 2012

Energy (and Other) Events is a weekly mailing list published most Sundays covering events around the Cambridge, MA and greater Boston area that catch the editor's eye.

Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com is the web version.

If you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe to Energy (and Other) Events email gmoke@world.std.com

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A Handful of Futures, Corporate and Otherwise http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/22/1076640/-A-Handful-of-Futures-Corporate-and-Otherwise

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Monday, March 26
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"But Will the Planet Notice? Why only economists -- not recyclers -- can stop global warming"
Monday, March 26, 2012
12:00pm - 1:30pm
Harvard, Bell Hall, 5th Floor, Belfer Building, HKS, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge

Gernot Wagner, Environmental Defense Fund & Columbia University

Contact Name: Louisa Lund
louisa_lund@harvard.edu

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Rebuilding Japan after Fukushima
WHEN Mon., Mar. 26, 2012, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Tsai Auditorium (S010), Japan Friends of Harvard Concourse, CGIS South Bldg., 1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Sponsored by the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations; co-sponsored by the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies
SPEAKER(S) Yoichi Funabashi, president, Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation, and editor-in-chief, Asahi Shimbun (2007-10)
COST Free
CONTACT INFO xtian@wcfia.harvard.edu

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The Arctic: A New Model for Global Cooperation
Monday, March 26, 2012
3:30pm
Tufts University, ASEAN Auditorium, The Fletcher School, 160 Packard Ave, Medford

Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland
Responses - maybe challenges - from Diplomat Pontus Melander of Sweden; Economist Alexander Pilyasov of Russia; Politician Mead Treadwell, Lt. Governor of Alaska
The wrap-up session of a two-day dialogue among government, business and media leaders from among the eight Arctic Council countries organized by the Murrow Center of the Fletcher School with cooperation from the Institute of the North in Anchorage, the Rasmuson Foundation, the Cneter for International Environment and Resource Policy of the Fletcher School and the government of Norway.

Contact Name: Miranda Fasulo
Miranda.Fasulo@tufts.edu

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False Beggars: Marcel Mauss on the Gift
WHEN Mon., Mar. 26, 2012, 4:15 p.m.
WHERE Barker Center Thompson Room, 12 Quincy Street, Cambridge MA
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Humanities, Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Department of Anthropology, Asia Center, Creighton Fund, and Weatherhead Center
SPEAKER(S) James Siegel, professor of anthropology and Asian studies, Cornell University
LINK http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~anthro/problems/problems.html

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Wrongful Convictions
Monday, March 26
5:00 - 6:30 PM
Austin Hall, North Classroom, Harvard Law School, 1515 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA

Johnnie Lee Savory entered prison at age 14 and left 30 years later for a crime he didn't commit.

A panel discussion featuring:
Johnnie Lee Savory
David Meier, former Suffolk County District
Attorney Dennis Harris, BPD Detective
Moderated by Judge Nancy Gertner

Co-sponsored by: Prison Legal Assistance Project, HKS Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management, Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs, and Criminal Justice Institute
Free and open to the public. Dinner will be served.
*RSVP* to Jeanne Segil jsegil@jd14.law.harvard.edu

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"Digital Revolution: How a startup online news organization covered the 2011 revolution in Egypt"
Monday, March 26
5:30 pm - Reception with light hors d'oeuvres
6:30 pm - Lecture
Tufts, Alumnae Lounge, Aidekman Arts Center, 40 Talbot Avenue, Medford

Charles Sennot, Vice President, Executive Editor & Co-founder, GlobalPost

The ubiquitous, fast-growing pace of technology has sparked an explosion of new digital news organizations, including GlobalPost. In his talk, Charles Sennott will discuss the changes affecting quality journalism, including the rapid decline of traditional media. To exemplify his news outlet’s commitment to in-depth, unbiased, international reporting, Sennott will showcase GlobalPost’s ongoing reporting of Egypt’s revolution.

About Charles Sennott
Charles M. Sennott, the Executive Editor and Vice President of GlobalPost, is an award winning journalist and author with a distinguished career in international reporting for both print and broadcast news organizations. An experienced bureau chief, a hard hitting foreign correspondent and an energetic innovator in multimedia, Sennott is uniquely equipped to be a leader in the digital age of international journalism. Through nearly 25 years as a reporter and on-air analyst, Sennott has been on the front lines of wars and insurgencies in 15 countries from the jungles of Colombia to the deserts of Iraq. A longtime foreign correspondent for The Boston Globe, Sennott served as the Globe's Middle East Bureau Chief based in Jerusalem from 1997 to 2001 and as Europe Bureau Chief based in London from 2001 to 2005.
Read more about Charles Sennott

The Alan Shapiro Entrepreneurial Lecture Series
The endowed Alan Shapiro Entrepreneurial Lecture Series is dedicated to bringing distinguished guests to Tufts to share their journeys as entrepreneurial leaders. His sons describe Alan as “an entrepreneur who embraced change, an innovator and early adopter. To honor his creative mind, curious and cutting edge spirit, it is fitting to have entrepreneurs come to Tufts to share their disruptive innovations, their insights into effective change making, and their unique leadership styles. Our intention is that this lecture series will inspire students and alumni about what is possible.” The series was established in memory of Alan Shapiro by his loving family Jake A08, Caleb A10 and Felice Shapiro, who teaches in the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Tufts.

RSVP at http://shapirolecture-esearch2.eventbrite.com/?srnk=127

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Social Networks and Human Evolution
Monday, March 26, 2012
5:30 pm
Northeastern, DA 5th floor, 360 Huntington Ave, 111 Dana Research Center, Boston
Speaker: Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, MPH, PhD

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Become a Super Designer! Redesign a Street, Plan a Neighborhood, Transform a City
Monday, March 26, 2012

6:30p–9:00p

Harvard Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall, Piper Auditorium, 48 Quincy Street, Cambridge

Three Harvard Loeb Fellows working at the cutting edge of progressive urban planning, transportation policy and design will share their best insights on becoming an effective and powerful change agent and design professional. This is a must-see event for anyone who wishes to save Metropolis from destruction.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): Transportation Club

For more information, contact:
Vig Krishnamurthy
info-transportclub@mit.edu


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Tuesday, March 27

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"Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom."

Tuesday, March 27

12 p.m.

Speaker Series with Rebecca MacKinnon, Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation and co-founder of GlobalVoices Online; author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom.
Harvard, Shorenstein Center, Taubman 275, 5 Eliot Street, Cambridge

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The Digital Dialectic
Tuesday, March 27

12:30 pm
Berkman Center, 23 Everett Street, second floor, Cambridge
RSVP required for those attending in person at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2012/03/heffernan#RSVP
This event will be webcast live at 12:30 pm ET and archived on our site shortly after at http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/webcast

Virginia Heffernan will discuss "The Digital Dialectic": analog culture, digital culture and what's next.

About Virgina
Virginia Heffernan is a national correspondent for Yahoo News, where her column, Machine Politics, appears every Thursday. For eight years, she wrote for The New York Times as a critic and columnist. Before that, she was a writer and editor at Slate and Harper's Magazine. She regularly speaks at universities, corporations and conferences, and has also written for The New Yorker, Mother Jones, Salon, Glamour, The Boston Phoenix, Marie Claire, The Moment, Tablet, and many more publications. Her works has been widely anthologized and in 2013 Free Press will publish her book, Magic and Loss: The Pleasures of the Internet. In 2002, she received a Ph.D. in English from Harvard.

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Environmental Film Screening. "A Fierce Green Fire: The Battle for a Living Planet
WHEN Tue., Mar. 27, 2012, 5 – 7:30 p.m.
WHERE HKS Starr Auditorium, Belfer Building, 2nd Floor, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Film, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR HKS Belfer Center Environment & Natural Resources Program
SPEAKER(S) Mark Kitchell, Film Director, will introduce the film and answer questions.
TICKET INFO Free to the public. Refreshments served.
CONTACT INFO 617.495.1351, enrp@hks.harvard.edu
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/5752/fierce_green_fire.html

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Boston Green Drinks - March Happy Hour
Tuesday, March 27
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

RSVP at http://bgdmarch12-esearch2.eventbrite.com/?srnk=160

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Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University presents
Strategery: SNL’s Remarkable Influence Over Politics Through Satire
the Annual Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award presented to James Downey
with moderator Bill Murray

Tuesday, March 27, 6:30-8:00 pm
C. Walsh Theater at Suffolk University, 55 Temple Street, Boston

preceded by a special First Amendment Award Reception, fundraiser held from 4:00-5:30 pm at the
Offices of Prince Lobel Tye LLP (Boston, MA 02114) , MA. Wheelchair accessible and conveniently located near the Park St. MBTA Station. For more information, contact Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University: 617-557-2007, http://www.fordhallforum.org.

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Wednesday, March 28

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Muddy Footprints
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 4:00pm
Radcliffe Gymnasium, Radcliffe Yard, 10 Garden Street, Cambridge
Susanne Freidberg

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University Fellows' Presentations:

Susanne Freidberg is a professor of geography at Dartmouth College. Her research spans the fields of agro-food studies, cultural economy, and science and technology studies. Her first book, French Beans and Food Scares: Culture and Commerce in an Anxious Age (Oxford University Press, 2004), is a comparative multisite ethnography of two postcolonial fresh produce trades linking Africa and Europe. Her second book, Fresh: A Perishable History (Belknap Press, 2009), examines how the meaning of freshness in food has changed along with the technologies designed to protect it.

At Radcliffe, Freidberg plans to write about the politics of measuring food’s footprint. Drawing on an ethnographic study of the experts who measure the cradle-to-grave life of material goods, she will explore how their expertise has pulled them into larger controversies about sustainability, especially as it applies to food and agriculture.

Freidberg received a BA in anthropology from Yale University and a PhD in geography from the University of California at Berkeley. Her research has been supported by the Fulbright Program and the National Science Foundation. She has also held an American Council of Learned Societies Charles A. Ryskamp Research Fellowship and an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellowship.

http://www.radcliffe.edu
(617) 495–8212

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The Simulation Engine of the Brain

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

4:00p–5:00p

MIT, Building 46-3189, McGovern Seminar Room, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge

Speaker: Dr. Demis Hassabis, Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL

Brains & Machines Seminar Series

In daily life, people frequently imagine future events, such as how a dinner date might unfold. Such "simulations" are typically mentally played out in a rich spatial context, and often involve the presence of people and their concomitant thoughts and behaviors. It has been proposed that a common "core" brain network supports the simulation of past, future, or hypothetical experiences. I will describe a series of fMRI and patient studies exploring the neural mechanisms that underpin this simulation system, and also cover the key sub-processes involved such as scene construction and personality modeling. Finally, I will address some of the most topical theoretical issues including the adaptive advantage of such a simulation system and its intriguing connections to the latest artificial intelligence research for efficient planning in artificial agents.

Web site: http://cbcl.mit.edu
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free - Open to public
Sponsor(s): McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Brain and Cognitive Sciences
For more information, contact:
Kathleen D. Sullivan
kdsulliv@mit.edu

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Cleantech Open New England Region Kickoff
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 6:00pm - 8:30pm
290 Congress Street, 7th Floor, Boston

Join us if you are a student, scientist, entrepreneur, savvy technologist, investor, company or just interested in learning more about how you can be a part of Cleantech Open Northeast 2012.
At the launch party you'll be able to:

Connect with Boston's top innovators, supporters, and thought leaders in the cleantech space

Listen to past competitors as they share their experience with Cleantech Open

Give your 1 min pitch in front of a judges and potential teammates (optional)
The launch party is a great venue to build a team, mingle with cleantech leaders, gain exposure and feedback on your ideas, and celebrate.

About the Cleantech Open
The mission of the Cleantech Open is to find, fund, and foster the big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental, and economic challenges.

http://www.cleantechopen.com

To accomplish this mission, the Cleantech Open provides the infrastructure, expertise and strategic relationships to turn ideas into successful global cleantech companies. Through its one-of-a-kind annual business competition and mentorship program, the Cleantech Open has helped hundreds of clean technology startups bring their breakthrough ideas to fruition.

Since 2006, the Cleantech Open has awarded over $5 million in cash and services to support cleantech startups. The 581 participating companies have raised more than $660 million in external capital.

http://cleantechopenkickoff2012.eventbrite.com/
Contact Name: Matt Liebhold
matt@liebhold.net

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Health care and workplace safety advocates, environmental activists, residents, patients, concerned neighbors:

Please be advised of the upcoming air quality forum at the Dorchester House Multi-Service Center.

Harvard's NIEHS Center for Environmental Health will hold "Change in the Air," a forum on Asthma and Air Quality in Boston on the evening of
Wednesday, March 28.
6:15 - 7:30 p.m.
Dorchester House Multi-Service Center, 1353 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester
National Environmental Health Official Linda Birnbaum, PhD will join local panelists (including Dorchester's Parent Leader Mary White) in a conversation with guests to discuss the complex picture of issues and policies that impact asthma rates and clean air. *Your input could help shape the priorities for future projects in your area*. Check out an (updated) forum flyer
or
view the press release
.

The forum will run as a moderated dialogue between the panelists and members of the community. No presentations, no lectures. Bring your questions and ideas. All are welcome to participate! Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole translations will be available. Light refreshments will be provided.
More on panelists here & in materials:
http://www.greendorchester.org/change-in-the-air-mar-28/. (Flyer and
release can also be found there).

Please direct any questions to Ann Backus, abackus@hsph.harvard.edu, 603-361-2141 or Kathryn Terrell, KTERRELL@hsph.harvard.edu.


(formerly The Dorchester Environmental Health Coalition (DEHC))
www.greendorchester.org
Facebook.com/DotEnviro
Twitter: @DotEnviro

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The Green Streets Initiative, Cambridge Energy Alliance & Cambridge Local First cordially invite you to our
March Green Drinks Celebration

Join us on the Wednesday night before Walk/Ride Day for some beverages, complimentary appetizers and green trivia at Area IV. We'll be giving away fun prizes and picking your brain for all of your environmental and local smarts.

While you're there, be sure to ask about and sign up for the Green Streets Initiative Walk/Ride Day Corporate Challenge!

When: Wednesday, March 28, 6:30-8:30 PM
Where: Area IV, 500 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139
Who: The Green Streets Initiative, Cambridge Local First and more

RSVP at http://marchgreendrinks-esearch.eventbrite.com/?srnk=35

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Thursday, March 29

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Global Alert: How Can We Prosper without Growth
WHEN Thu., Mar. 29, 2012, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
WHERE WomenExplore Lecture & Discussion Forum, University Lutheran Church, 66 Winthrop Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR WomenExplore Lecture and Discussion Forum
SPEAKER(S) Julie Nelson, chair of Economics Department, UMass Boston, and Annie Hoffman, WomenExplore advisory board member
COST $5 students, $15 individuals, $12 individuals in groups of 5+
TICKET WEB LINK www.womenexplore.org
TICKET INFO executivedirector.womenexplore@gmail.com
CONTACT INFO Tracey L Hurd: 978.505.7385
NOTE WomenExplore was founded in 1973 as the Theological Opportunities Program of Harvard Divinity School.
LINK www.womenexplore.org

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Ecological Restoration in Massachusetts
March 29, 2012
12-1pm
Tufts, Rabb Room, Lincoln Filene Center, Medford

Tim Purinton, Director of the Division of Ecological Restoration, Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game

Massachusetts has a deep and rich environmental conservation tradition. The state is home to the oldest land trusts in the nation and pioneered legislative safeguards to protect wetlands and rivers. With the recent creation of the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration (DER), the first state-based ecological restoration program of its type in the nation, the Commonwealth is breaking ground again.

Ecological restoration is a growing and important component of the environmental conservation movement. Restoration not only holds the line against environmental degradation, but also creates opportunities to address past harms in order to gain ground. Tim Purinton will describe recently completed projects including the multi-million dollar Eel River Restoration in Plymouth and other aquatic habitat based projects aimed at restoring ecosystem functions and values to build resiliency in light of climate change.

Tim Purinton is the Director for Massachusetts Department of Fish and Games Division of Ecological Restoration. DER was created in 2009 with the merger of the Riverways and Wetland Restoration Programs. Prior to being appointed the Director, Mr. Purinton was Riverways Program Acting Director and Restoration Planner. Before he worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, he was a community outreach coordinator for the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

Mr. Purinton oversees a Division that coordinates over eighty river, wetland and flow restoration projects across the state including over twenty active dam removal projects from the Berkshires to Buzzards Bay. He served for many years on his local planning board and is on the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions Board of Directors.

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The IAEA and Fukushima: Best Laid Plans, Reality Checks, and Doing It Better Next Time
WHEN Thu., Mar. 29, 2012, 12:15 – 2 p.m.
WHERE Belfer Center Library, Littauer-369, Harvard Kennedy School, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Lecture, Social Sciences
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR International Security Program
SPEAKER(S) Trevor Findlay, research fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
CONTACT INFO susan_lynch@harvard.edu
LINK http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/events/5747/iaea_and_fukushima.html

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“Water, Climate Change, and Health”
Thursday, March 29, 2012
12:30pm - 1:20pm
Harvard School of Public Health, Building 1, Room 1302, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston

with John Briscoe, PhD, Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Environmental Engineering and Environmental Health at Harvard University; Director, Water Security Initiative, Harvard University

Contact Name: Alissa Wilcox
awilcox@hsph.harvard.edu

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Free Webinar: High Velocity Organizations

Thursday, March 29, 2012

1:00p–2:00p

Location: online

Speaker: Steven Spear, MIT Sloan

How do some organizations achieve exceptional levels of sustained improvement and performance that put their rivals to shame? This 60-minute webinar, which samples key content from Spear's popular MIT Sloan Executive Education course, will prove that sustainable competitive advantages can be won by creating the capacity within an organization to improve and innovate faster and more consistently.

Join MIT Sloan Senior Lecturer Steven Spear for a live webinar on March 29th that demonstrates what high velocity improvement and innovation look like in practice--and how your organization can apply behavioral strategies to achieve it.

Learn how:
Healthcare--a complex industry with exceptional people--can reconfigure itself to be highly customized, and achieve breakthrough results while reducing costs and complications

Pratt and Whitney--which engages in multi-million dollar contract bids--compressed design cycle time by 25% and cut engineering change orders and associated costs by 50%, paving the way for winning the Joint Strike Fighter contract

The U.S. Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program implemented the "secrets" behind the greatest new product introduction in history

Toyota, a middling Japanese auto company, made itself into an industry behemoth, how it stumbled in recent years, and what it is doing to reestablish itself at the forefront of the auto industry.

Web site: http://events.unisfair.com/index.jsp?eid=1274&seid=12
Open to: the general public
Cost: free
Tickets: register in advance online
Sponsor(s): MIT Sloan Executive Education
For more information, contact:
MIT Sloan Executive Education
6172537166
executive_education@mit.edu

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2012 Great Negotiator Program with Secretary James Baker III
WHEN Thu., Mar. 29, 2012, 1:30 – 5 p.m.
WHERE Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School, 1515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Award Ceremonies, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR The Program on Negotiation and the Future of Diplomacy Project
SPEAKER(S) Secretary James A. Baker III
COST Free
NOTE Join former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, as he discusses with faculty his most challenging negotiations, including the efforts that resulted in the Madrid Conference, the negotiations to forge the Gulf War coalition, and the diplomacy that culminated in the reunification of Germany within NATO. Baker will be the 10th recipient of the Great Negotiator Award, presented jointly in 2012 by the Program on Negotiation and the Future of Diplomacy Project.

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Natural Gas: Risks and Opportunities: Shale gas, hydraulic fracturing, and other facts
Thursday, March 29, 2012
7:00pm - 8:30pm
Tufts University, Cabot 206, The Fletcher School, 160 Packard Avenue, Medford

with Susan Tierney, Managing Principal at Analysis Group, and Member of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board’s Shale Gas Committee
Open to the public. Convened by the Energy, Climate, and Innovation Program at the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy.

Dr. Susan Tierney is Managing Principal at Analysis Group, a firm providing economic, financial, and business strategy consulting services. She is an expert on energy policy and economics, specializing in the electric and gas industries, and has consulted across sectors on energy markets, economic and environmental regulation and strategy, and energy facility projects. A former Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, Massachusetts Environmental Secretary, and a state public utility commissioner, she is a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s energy project and the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board. She has also been appointed to the National Petroleum Council and a director of the Clean Air Task Force, and she is a co-lead author of the energy chapter of the upcoming National Climate Assessment. Dr. Tierney has a Ph.D. and M.A. in regional planning and public policy from Cornell University, and a B.A. from Scripps College.

http://fletcher.tufts.edu/CIERP/~/media/Fletcher/Microsites/CIERP/flyers/Flyer%2...
Contact Name: Miranda Fasulo
Miranda.Fasulo@tufts.edu

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Life Redesigned: The Emergence of Synthetic Biology

Thursday, March 29, 2012

7:00p–9:00p

MIT, Building NE-30, Broad Institute Auditorium, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge

Speaker: J.J. Collins

IEEE/ACM Joint Seminar Series
Exploring the edge of computing technology.

Synthetic biology is bringing together engineers and biologists to design and construct biological circuits out of proteins, genes and other bits of DNA, and to use these circuits to rewire and reprogram organisms. These re-engineered organisms are going to change our lives in the coming years, leading to cheaper drugs, "green" means to fuel our car and clean our environment, and targeted therapies to attack "superbugs" and diseases such as cancer. In this talk, we highlight
recent efforts to create synthetic gene networks and programmable cells, and discuss a variety of synthetic biology applications in biocomputing, biotechnology and biomedicine.

James J. Collins is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and a William F. Warren Distinguished Professor, University Professor, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Center for BioDynamics at Boston University. He is also a core founding faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. His research group works in synthetic biology and systems biology, with a particular focus on network biology approaches to antibiotic action and bacterial defense mechanisms. Professor Collins' patented technologies have been licensed by over 25 biotech, pharma and medical
devices companies, and he has helped to launched a number of companies, including Novophage and Joule Unlimited.

Web site: http://ewh.ieee.org/r1/boston/computer/
Open to: the general public
Cost: 0
Sponsor(s): ACM & IEEE/CS
For more information, contact:
Dorothy Curtis
617-253-0541
dcurtis@csail.mit.edu

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"New Economy" Film Series: Economics of Happiness
Thursday, March 29
7 - 9 PM
Nate Smith House, 155 Lamartine St, JP
The Economics of Happiness describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, an unholy alliance of governments and big business continues to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, people all over the world are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance—and, far from the old institutions of power, they’re starting to forge a very different future. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization.

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Environmental Film Series: Garbage Dreams
Thursday, March 29, 2012
7:30pm - 9:00pm
Dudley House (Lehman Hall) 3rd floor, 8 Harvard Yard, Cambridge
GARBAGE DREAMS follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world's largest garbage village, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt

In honor of upcoming Earth Week 2012 & Earth Day 2012 (April 22), please join your graduate student community in celebrating with a Film Series!
*Brought to you by Dudley House, GSAS Housing, and Harvard SEAS Environmental Science & Engineering.

4 Thursdays. 6 Films. Relax & snack on the 3rd floor of Dudley.

Schedule:
· March 29: Garbage Dreams
· April 5: Bag it!
· April 12: Waste Land
· April 26: SHORTS Marathon (Warriors of Quigang, Pipe Dreams, and When the Water Ends)

Contact Name: Hannah Lee

hannah@seas.harvard.edu


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Friday, March 30

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Babson's 6th Annual Energy, Environment and Entrepreneurship Conference
March 30th, 2012

This year’s theme is “Energy, Environment & Entrepreneurship: Challenging Assumptions, Changing Perceptions.” We believe there are some tough questions to be addressed and our panels are designed around real challenges and exciting opportunities in energy, alternative transportation, sustainable development, and several other topics within the energy and environmental space.
We have two exciting key note speakers:
Mark Rodgers - Director of Communications, Cape Wind
T.I. (Tahmid) Mizan, Senior Technology Planning Advisor, ExxonMobil Corporation

More information on our strong list of speakers and event details can be found at http://babsonenergy.com/

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Forest or Not? Contentious Discourse on Expansive Oil Palm Plantations in Southeast Asia
WHEN Fri., Mar. 30, 2012, 12 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE Yenching Common Room, 2 Divinity Ave., Harvard University
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Environmental Sciences, Lecture, Social Sciences, Sustainability
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation; co-sponsored by the Harvard-Yenching Institute
SPEAKER(S) Okamoto Masaaki, Kyoto University; discussants: Deborah Gewertz, Amherst College, and Frederick K. Errington, Trinity College
COST Free
CONTACT INFO Trisia Bantacut: trisiawati_bantacut@hks.harvard.edu, 617.384.8156.
NOTE This talk will focus on the contentious discourse regarding the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia. With the rapid rise in global demand for Crude Palm Oil (CPO) as the cheapest vegetable oil, oil palm plantations are sometimes devastatingly causing deforestation in Southeast Asia. CPO is used not only for cooking oil, but also for various usages including bio-diesel. This has sparked serious debates between pro-expansion (the government and business sector) and anti-expansion groups (environmental NGOs and indigenous communities). The Indonesian government and business sector shrewdly moved to define plantations as forests, so that the expansion of oil palm plantations is no longer deforestation but rather "re"forestation. If a REDD++ scheme is implemented, plantations could even obtain carbon credit as forests.
LINK http://ash.harvard.edu/Home/News-Events/Events/Forest-or-Not-Contentious-Discourse-on-Expansive-Oil-Palm-Plantations-in-Southeast-Asia

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Saturday, March 31

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Wild and Scenic Film Festival EcoFest

March 31st

11 AM-4 PM

290 Congress Street, Boston

The national Wild and Scenic Film Festival tour is coming to Boston, beginning with EcoFest, an afternoon of films and environmental activities at Atlantic Wharf in Fort Point. The Wild and Scenic Film Festival combines stellar filmmaking, beautiful cinematography and first-rate storytelling. The event will include international short films, puppet-making, a kids’ matinee at 11 AM, environmental activities, an eco-marketplace, and a cinematic tribute to Kenyan Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai. Be prepared to be inspired!

Admission to EcoFest is free. Admission to the films is $5, payable online or at the door. More information about the program, including tickets and the complete film lineup, is posted on the “e” inc.
website, http://www.e-action.us/, and on the Facebook page for the event - https://www.facebook.com/events/244742755593954/.

This festival is a fundraiser for “e” inc., an environment science learning and action center whose pairing of science education with community action leads to environmental change in urban communities.

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The Boston Rio+20 Project

Saturday, March 31, 2012

4:00 PM to 5:30 PM

136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston

Inspired by the Rio+20 Global Youth Music Contest, The Sounding Board teams up with the City of Boston and the United Nations to showcase Boston's top youth artists as they take on sustainable development. FEATURING: Artists for Humanity, Berklee City Music, Berklee's The Movement, Boston Children's Chorus, City Year, NPR's From the Top, Grooversity, Project Hip-Hop, & ZUMIX.
For more information, please visit: www.thesoundingboard.com
RSVP at http://bostonrioproject-esearch2.eventbrite.com/?srnk=334

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The Finale: Locavore Tasting and Environmental Film Night
March 31st, 6-10 PM
290 Congress Street, Boston

A fundraising locavore tasting supper for “e” inc. will offer delicious local food samples from Boston vendors such as Cabot Creamery, Green Gal Catering, and Channel CafĂ©.

This will be followed by two films – With My Own Two Wheels and The Work of 1000. “e” inc. will present The Children’s Planet Protector Award to the two featured activists, Marion Stoddart, who led the struggle to regain clean rivers, and David Branigan, who used the life-changing value of bicycles to create opportunities in Ghana. After the films, the activists and filmmakers will answer audience questions. A silent auction and dessert will round out the evening.

Early bird admission discounts are available. Boston Globe subscribers can receive a Globe-sponsored discounted admission. To reserve your seats, please visithttp://www.e-action.us/. More information about the program is posted at http://www.e-action.us/ and on the Facebook event page -https://www.facebook.com/events/244742755593954/.

“e” inc. is an environment science learning and action center whose pairing of science education with community action leads to environmental change in urban communities.

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Sunday, April 1

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Bike Drive
Sunday, April 1
11 am - 3 pm
Peabody School, 70 Rindge Avenue in the back parking lot

This is a community service project by two eighth grade students to benefit Bikes Not Bombs, a nonprofit focused on bringing sustainable transportation to America and throughout the world, and help them earn a class trip to Washington DC.

Contact nolanpatty@verizon.net for futher information
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Monday, April 2

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Ecoclimate Teleconnections: Remote Effects of the Interactions between Ecosystems and Climate

Monday, April 02, 2012

12:00p–1:00p

MIT, Building 54-915

Speaker: Abigail Swann (Harvard, University of Washington)

In this talk I will show that large-scale afforestation in the northern mid latitudes warms the Northern Hemisphere and alters global circulation patterns in climate model experiments. An expansion of dark forests increases the absorption of solar energy and increases surface temperature, particularly in regions where the land surface is unable to compensate with latent heat flux due to water limitation. Atmospheric circulation re-distributes the anomalous energy absorbed in the northern hemisphere, in particular towards the south, through altering the Hadley circulation, resulting in the northward displacement of the tropical rain-bands. Precipitation decreases over parts of the Amazon basin affecting productivity and increases over the Sahel and Sahara regions in Africa. We find that the response of climate to afforestation in mid latitudes is determined by the amount of soil moisture available to plants with the greatest warming found in water limited regions. Mid latitude afforestation is found to have a small impact on modeled global temperatures and on global CO2, but asymmetric heating from the increase in forest cover is capable of driving unintended and undesirable changes in circulation and precipitation. The ability of vegetation to affect remote circulation has implications for strategies for climate mitigation.

Open to: the general public

Sponsor(s): MIT Atmospheric Science Seminars

For more information, contact:
Daniela Domeisen
ddaniela@mit.edu

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"Leadership and the Internet."
Monday, April 2
3–4:30 p.m.
Harvard, Shorenstein Center, Darman Seminar Room, Taubman Building, 1st Floor, 5 Eliot Street, Cambridge

Discussion with Jared Cohen, Director, Google Ideas. Moderated byNicco Mele, Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy. Co-sponsored by the Center for Public Leadership.

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Sustainability and Religion: New Directions in Research and Practice
WHEN Mon., Apr. 2, 2012, 4 – 6 p.m.
WHERE Sperry Room, Andover Hall
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Religion, Science
SPONSOR EcoDiv and Harvard Divinity School Green Team
CONTACT Roy Lauridsen, 617.495.8655
NOTE Susan Abraham, Assistant Professor of Ministry Studies and associate director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School;
Dan McKanan, Ralph Waldo Emerson Unitarian Universalist Association Senior Lecturer in Divinity at HDS;
Diane L. Moore, Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies and Education and Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions at HDS; and
Timothy C. Weiskel, Special Program Instructor at Harvard Extension School and research director for the Cambridge Climate Research Association.
Moderator of the discussion will be Erik Lehto, MTS '12.
A reception will follow at 6pm in the Common Room, Center for the Study of World Religions, 42 Francis Avenue

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A Conversation with Paul Volcker, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
WHEN Mon., Apr. 2, 2012, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
WHERE Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall, Harvard Law School, 1515 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
GAZETTE CLASSIFICATION Ethics, Lecture, Social Sciences, Special Events
ORGANIZATION/SPONSOR Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics
SPEAKER(S) Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Interlocutors:
Lawrence Lessig, Roy L. Furman Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, director, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics;
Malcolm Salter, James J. Hill Professor of Business Administration Emeritus, Harvard Business School
COST Free and open to the public. No ticket required.
CONTACT INFO ethics@harvard.edu
LINK www.ethics.harvard.edu

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Skeptics in the Pub: Before the Lights Go Out

April 2

7:00 pm

Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square

Please RSVP at http://bostonskeptics.com/2012/03/skeptics-in-the-pub-with-maggie-koerth-baker/

Speaker: Maggie Koerth-Baker

Koerth-Baker is science editor for the popular blog Boingboing. Her new book on the future of American energy, Before the Lights Go Out, explores common misconceptions, covers green energy early adapters, and charts a new course for the future of U.S. energy. Join her at Maseeh Hall to hear how interacting with her lively readers has shaped her writing and how blogs are changing journalism forever.

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Playback: Broadcast Experiments 1970 and Now

Monday, April 02, 2012

7:00p–9:00p

MIT, Buidling E15-001

Speaker: Gloria Sutton, Assistant Professor, Northeastern University, Boston

ACT Spring 2012 Monday Nights Lecture Series:
Experiments in Thinking, Action and Form

In the 1970s, broadcast television, cable, and even satellite transmissions were considered viable outlets for visual artists to experiment, tamper, and often times, spectacularly fail with, all the while engaging in a generative model of art production. This talk focuses on the institutionalization of media art with a particular emphasis on the Long Beach Museum of Art's prescient move to set up a media art center and commission artists to create a broadcast channel to distribute their works in the early 1970s. The museum was one of the first to consider video as a collecting category, managed a thriving residency program, operated a public editing facility, and launched the "museum channel." Gloria Sutton is a contemporary art historian and a curator. She received the Emily Hall Tremaine Award as a co-curator of How Many Billboards in 2008.

Web site: http://act.mit.edu/projects-and-events/lectures/2012-spring/
Open to: the general public
Cost: Free and open to the public
Sponsor(s): Department of Architecture, School of Architecture and Planning, MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology
For more information, contact:
Laura Anca Chichisan
617-253-5229
act@mit.edu, clauraa@mit.edu

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MIT: "Shedding Light, Online", a discussion about how blogging and a dynamic audience helped shape my book, Before the Lights Go Out

April 4

4:00 pm

Maseeh Hall, 305 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge

Please RSVP at http://maseeh.mit.edu/expressions/

Koerth-Baker is science editor for the popular blog Boingboing. Her new book on the future of American energy, Before the Lights Go Out, explores common misconceptions, covers green energy early adapters, and charts a new course for the future of U.S. energy. Join her at Maseeh Hall to hear how interacting with her lively readers has shaped her writing and how blogs are changing journalism forever.

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Please join us for a vibrant discussion of food justice, sovereignty, movements, and politics on April 13. Eric Holt Gimenez, Executive Director of Food First/The Institute for Food and Development Policy, will introduce his new book "Food Movements Unite!” A panel discussion will follow with Eric, Will Masters (Tufts University), Saulo Araujo (Grassroots International) and a youth organizer from Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE). The discussion will span the uprising of food movements and politics, from the global to local perspectives.

When: Friday, April 13th, 6-8pm

Who: Eric Holt-Gimenez, Will Masters, Saulo Araujo and local youth organizers

Where: The Austin East Room, Austin Hall, Harvard University. 1515 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge MA 02138

Cost: Free

**Refreshments Provided**

We hope to see you there! Please share this invite with your community via your social media, listserves and calendars. We’ve attached a poster of the event jpeg. Contact Caiti at caitihach@gmail.com if you have any questions.

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It is with a sense of gratitude and deep joy that we announce the Art and Soul program at Wellesley College will be hosting three of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers this spring. The Grandmothers will give a talk at Houghton Chapel on Thursday, April nineteenth at seven p.m. The theme of their talk will be Planting Seeds for Seven Generations: Making Change. The Grandmothers will share their cultural treasures and life experience, in support of our community’s exploration of an ethics of wholeness, which can bring about a sustainable future for the generations to come.

Originating from all four corners of the world, these 13 wise women elders and medicine women first came together in 2004 at a peace gathering. They represent a global alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Earth, all her inhabitants and the next seven generations. We are honored to host, as representatives of this Grandmothers’ Council, Grandmothers Rita and Beatrice Long- Visitor Holy Dance of the Lakota tribe and Grandmother Mona Polacca of the Hopi/ Havasupai/Tewa tribe. This event is open to all, as an offering to our circles of community. For more information about this event, contact Ji Hyang at 781.283.2793

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Saturday, April 21st
9-12noon
for our first 2012 cleanup of Magazine Beach, Cambridge. This will be part of the much larger 13th Annual Earth Day Charles River Cleanup, organized by the Charles River Watershed Association, Charles River Conservancy, etc., etc.

If you would like an official Earth Day Cleanup t-shirt to wear that day, please e-mail me your name, phone number and t-shirt size by this Sunday, March 11th. Large youth shirts are available and adult shirts in small, medium, large and extra large.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Shirts will be available, with drinks and refreshments, at our table in front of the Riverside Boat Club 4/21.

Cathie (Zusy)
Questions? Call 617-868-0489

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Weatherization barnraising at
The Friends Meeting House
Sunday, April 22nd from 1 to 5 pm
5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge

What a great way to celebrate Earth Day. You will be taught how to do the work by experienced team leaders, while you learn how to lower your own bills at home.

Sign up at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDRNLV9xOC00SVllOGdLd1dYdzMxU0E6MQ#gid=0


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Opportunity

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CEA Solar Hot Water Grants
Cambridge, through the Cambridge Energy Alliance initiative, is offering a limited number of grants to residents and businesses for solar hot water systems. The grants will cover 50% of the remaining out of pocket costs of the system after other incentives, up to $2,000.

Applications will be accepted up to November 19, 2012 and are available on a first come, first serve basis until funding runs out. The Cambridge grant will complement other incentives including the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center solar thermal grants. For more information, seehttp://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/resources/additional-resources/solar-hot-water-grant-program

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Cambridge Residents: Free Home Thermal Images

Have you ever wanted to learn where your home is leaking heat by having an energy auditor come to your home with a thermal camera? With that info you then know where to fix your home so it's more comfortable and less expensive to heat. However, at $200 or so, the cost of such a thermal scan is a big chunk of change.

HEET Cambridge has now partnered with Sagewell, Inc. to offer Cambridge residents free thermal scans.

Sagewell collects the thermal images by driving through Cambridge in a hybrid vehicle equipped with thermal cameras. They will scan every building in Cambridge (as long as it's not blocked by trees or buildings or on a private way). Building owners can view thermal images of their property and an analysis online. The information is password protected so that only the building owner can see the results.

Homeowners, condo-owners and landlords can access the thermal images and an accompanying analysis free of charge. Commercial building owners and owners of more than one building will be able to view their images and analysis for a small fee.

The scans will be analyzed in the order they are requested.

Go to Sagewell.com. Type in your address at the bottom where it says "Find your home or building" and press return. Then click on "Here" to request the report.

That's it. When the scans are done in a few weeks, your building will be one of the first to be analyzed. The accompanying report will help you understand why your living room has always been cold and what to do about it.

With knowledge, comes power (or in this case saved power and money, not to mention comfort).

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Free solar electricity analysis for MA residents
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHhwM202dDYxdUZJVGFscnY1VGZ3aXc6MQ

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HEET has partnered with NSTAR and Mass Save participating contractor Next Step Living to deliver no-cost Home Energy Assessments to Cambridge residents.

During the assessment, the energy specialist will:

Install efficient light bulbs (saving up to 7% of your electricity bill)
Install programmable thermostats (saving up to 10% of your heating bill)
Install water efficiency devices (saving up to 10% of your water bill)
Check the combustion safety of your heating and hot water equipment
Evaluate your home’s energy use to create an energy-efficiency roadmap
If you get electricity from NSTAR, National Grid or Western Mass Electric, you already pay for these assessments through a surcharge on your energy bills. You might as well use the service.

Please sign up at http://nextsteplivinginc.com/heet/?outreach=HEET or call Next Step Living at 866-867-8729. A Next Step Living Representative will call to schedule your assessment.

HEET will help answer any questions and ensure you get all the services and rebates possible.

(The information collected will only be used to help you get a Home Energy Assessment. We won’t keep the data or sell it.)

(If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to call HEET’s Jason Taylor at 617 441 0614.)


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Resource

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Sustainable Business Network Local Green Guide

SBN is excited to announce the soft launch of its new Local Green Guide, Massachusetts' premier Green Business Directory!

To view the directory please visit: http://www.localgreenguide.org
To find out how how your business can be listed on the website or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Adritha at adritha@sbnboston.org

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Massachusetts Attitudes About Climate Change – An opinion survey of Massachusetts residents conducted by MassINC and sponsored by the Barr Foundation found that 77% of respondents believe that global warming has “probably been happening” and 59% of all respondents see see it as being at least partially caused by human pollution. Only 42% of the state’s residents say global warming will have very serious consequences for Massachusetts if left unaddressed. The 18 to 29 age group is more likely to believe global warming is appearing and caused by humans compared to the 60+ age group. African-American (56%) and Latino residents (69%) are more likely than white residents (40%) to believe global warming will be a very serious problem if left unaddressed. The MassINC report, titled The 80 Percent Challenge: What Massachusetts must do to meet targets and make headway on climate change (http://www.massinc.org/Research/The-80-percent-challenge.aspx), contains many other findings.

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The presentations from the recent Affordable Comfort National Home Performance Conference are available online at
http://2011.acinational.org/downloadable_resources

Lots of good information from what some call the best energy conference in the USA on Deep Energy Retrofits to Community Energy Challenges with details on insulation, heat flow, energy metering, ducting, hot water, and many, many other topics. If you are a practical energy wonk, this should make your eyes light up.

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Free Monthly Energy Analysis

CarbonSalon is a free service that every month can automatically track your energy use and compare it to your past energy use (while controlling for how cold the weather is). You get a short friendly email that lets you know how you’re doing in your work to save energy.

https://www.carbonsalon.com/

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Boston Food System

"The Boston Food System [listserv] provides a forum to post announcements of events, employment opportunities, internships, programs, lectures, and other activities as well as related articles or other publications of a non-commercial nature covering the area's food system - food, nutrition, farming, education, etc. - that take place or focus on or around Greater Boston (broadly delineated)."

The Boston area is one of the most active nationwide in terms of food system activities - projects, services, and events connected to food, farming, nutrition - and often connected to education, public health, environment, arts, social services and other arenas. Hundreds of organizations and enterprises cover our area, but what is going on week-to-week is not always well publicized.

Hence, the new Boston Food System listserv, as the place to let everyone know about these activities. Specifically:
Use of the BFS list will begin soon, once we get a decent base of subscribers. Clarification of what is appropriate to announce and other posting guidelines will be provided as well.

It's easy to subscribe right now at https://elist.tufts.edu/wws/subscribe/bfs

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Artisan Asylum http://artisansasylum.com/

Sprout & Co: Community Driven Investigations

Greater Boston Solidarity Economy Mapping Project http://www.transformationcentral.org/solidarity/mapping/mapping.html
a project by Wellesley College students that invites participation, contact jmatthaei@wellesley.edu

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Bostonsmart.com's Guide to Boston http://www.bostonsmarts.com/BostonGuide/

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Links to events at 60 colleges and universities at Hubevents http://hubevents.blogspot.com

Thanks to

Fred Hapgood's Selected Lectures on Science and Engineering in the Boston Area http://www.BostonScienceLectures.com

Boston Area Computer User Groups http://www.bugc.org/

Arts and Cultural Events List http://aacel.blogspot.com/

http://www.mitenergyclub.org/calendar/mit_events_template

http://sustainability.mit.edu/

http://www.environment.harvard.edu/events/calendar/

http://green.harvard.edu/events

http://microsoftcambridge.com/Events/tabid/57/Default.aspx

http://pechakuchaboston.org/blog/

http://boston.nerdnite.com/

http://www.meetup.com/

http://www.eventbrite.com/

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