EcoWatch Journal Dec 2011/Jan 2012 : Page 2

stefanie penn spear This Thanksgiving, the grassroots environmental move-ment had many reasons to be thankful. November brought many victories including the delays on the Keystone XL pipeline and fracking the Delaware River Basin. But perhaps what’s most exciting to celebrate is the growing collaboration and current momentum of the environmental movement. I’ve been working at the grassroots level for more than two decades, and have never seen this degree of unity among people and organizations protecting the Earth. From the leadership of Bill McKibben whose gift to mobilize people is unmatched, to Josh Fox’s unwavering dedication to stop fracking, to Annie Leonard’s ability to simplify complex issues through The Story of Stuff Project, to the leadership of execu-tive directors like Greenpeace’s Phil Radford and Sierra Club’s Michael Brune, to the tireless work of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., it’s clear that the modern-day environmental movement is at an all-time high with the ability to create lasting change. Of course there’s plenty of work to be done, including strengthening historic environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, passing new legislation like a federal energy bill, getting money out of politics through campaign finance reform, and educating people on ways they can protect human health and the environment. Hopefully our political leaders will take heed of Australia’s recent passage of its landmark clean energy bill that will cap Stefanie Penn Spear, founder and executive director of EcoWatch, has worked on environmental issues for more than two decades. She is dedicated to uniting the voice of the grassroots environmental movement to impact policy and encourage adoption of sustainable practices. She can be reached at spear@ecowatch.org. VOLUME VI • ISSUE II PUBLISHER EcoWatch EDITOR/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Stefanie Penn Spear • spear@ecowatch.org SENIOR EDITOR Thomas J. Quinn • quinn@ecowatch.org ADVERTISING Great Lakes Publishing -Alex Woolf woolf@glpublishing.com • 216-377-3695 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Megan Quinn Bachman • Sandy Bihn Sandy Buchanan • Beau Daane • Amy Hansen Alice Henly Lauren N. Ketcham • Brad Masi Jack Shaner • Marnie Urso • Betty Weibel Amanda Woodrum BOARD OF DIRECTORS Matt Castelli • Lindsey Daniel • Monica Deadwiler Piyush Dubey • James Leikin • Oakland Lewis David Lindner • Sam S. Mathew • Steven Newman Ann-Marie Potemski • Thomas J. Quinn Michelle Sheehan • Jeff Smith • Ameya Tamhaney Donna VanRooy • Eileen Victoriano ECOWATCH STAFF Nicole D’Alessandro, Executive Assistant • nicole@ecowatch.org Matthew Peters, News Aggregator • peters@ecowatch.org ECOWATCH INTERNS Gabriela Boscio • Amber Davidson • Deidra Walton PROOFREADERS Jen Burke • Lori Margenin • Rita Nagusky MISSION EcoWatch works to unite the voice of the grassroots environmental movement and mobilizes millions of people to engage in democracy to protect human health and the environment. EcoWatch Journal is distributed for free throughout Ohio with a readership of more than 100,000 readers per issue. ARTICLE SUBMISSION EcoWatch Journal relies on the sustainability movement to provide content for this newspaper. Submitting an article does not guarantee it getting published. EcoWatch reserves the right to edit all material for clarity, length and content. E-mail submissions to: spear@ecowatch.org. DEADLINE FOR THE FEB/MARCH ISSUE: JAN. 5 EcoWatch is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. EcoWatch Journal is published six times a year and distributed free throughout Ohio. Copyright ©2011, EcoWatch. All rights reserved. For reprinting in other publications or electronically, permission must be granted by EcoWatch and proper credit given. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher or editors. EcoWatch Journal is printed on 100 percent recycled, non-bleached newsprint. Inks are soy based. When finished reading EcoWatch Journal please pass it on to someone else or recycle it. emissions and spur investment in renewable energy, and the Interna-tional Energy Agency’s warn-ing that we need to stop relying on insecure and environmentally unsustainable uses of energy, and adopt bold policies to prevent a world-wide energy crisis. At EcoWatch, we are at the forefront of these issues by promoting the work of the grassroots environmental move-ment through this publication and our news service website EcoWatch.org. Visit this site to stay informed on the most important environmental news of the day and help us spread the word to gain even more momentum for this movement. We all know that collaboration will be the key to our success in providing clean water, fresh air, healthy food and sustainable energy to future generations—noble causes that everyone should support. —Stefanie Penn Spear TABLE OF CONTENTS 01 05 06 07 09 11 13 14 14 15 15 Lake Erie Toxic Algae Bloom Seen as Worst in Decades 11-Year Old EcoErek is a Recycling Champion Campaign Launched Against Proposed Garbage Incinerator Encourage Your Senators to Implement Strong Air Standards Ohio Native Katie Spotz Visits Kenya Cutting Waste is Smart Business The Oberlin Project Fowler Center Launches Sustainability Circles The City of Euclid Goes Green Keynote Speakers Focus on Food Sovereignty MORPC’s Greenways Website Like EcoWatch on Facebook: facebook.com/EcoWatch Follow @EcoWatch on Twitter: twitter.com/EcoWatch Follow @StefanieSpear on Twitter: twitter.com/StefanieSpear Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/StefanieSpear Thank You for Your Support Cleveland Foundation Cuyahoga Arts & Culture George Gund Foundation Judy A. Dearden Mary & Bentley Hudson Janet Levatin Nolan Moser Cynthia S. Steinberger Jack Zeller COLUMNS 02 03 08 10 12 Letter from the Editor by Stefanie Penn Spear Letters to the Editor EarthWISE by Megan Quinn Bachman Policy Corner by Jack Shanner Local Food by Brad Masi EcoWatch 720 Literary Rd. Cleveland, Ohio 44113 216-387-1609 EcoWatch.org 2 • ECOWATCH JOURNAL • DECEMBER 2011 -JANUARY 2012 WWW. ECOWATCH.ORG

Letter From The Editor

Stefanie Penn Spear

Stefanie Penn Spear, founder and executive director of EcoWatch, has worked on environmental issues for more than two decades. She is dedicated to uniting the voice of the grassroots environmental movement to impact policy and encourage adoption of sustainable practices. She can be reached at spear@ecowatch.org. This Thanksgiving, the grassroots environmental movement had many reasons to be thankful. November brought many victories including the delays on the Keystone XL pipeline and fracking the Delaware River Basin. But perhaps what’s most exciting to celebrate is the growing collaboration and current momentum of the environmental movement. I’ve been working at the grassroots level for more than two decades, and have never seen this degree of unity among people and organizations protecting the Earth. From the leadership of Bill McKibben whose gift to mobilize people is unmatched, to Josh Fox’s unwavering dedication to stop fracking, to Annie Leonard’s ability to simplify complex issues through The Story of Stuff Project, to the leadership of executive directors like Greenpeace’s Phil Radford and Sierra Club’s Michael Brune, to the tireless work of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., it’s clear that the modern-day environmental movement is at an all-time high with the ability to create lasting change. Of course there’s plenty of work to be done, including strengthening historic environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act, passing new legislation like a federal energy bill, getting money out of politics through campaign finance reform, and educating people on ways they can protect human health and the environment. Hopefully our political leaders will take heed of Australia’s recent passage of its landmark clean energy bill that will cap emissions and spur investment in renewable energy, and the International Energy Agency’s warning that we need to stop relying on insecure and environmentally unsustainable uses of energy, and adopt bold policies to prevent a world-wide energy crisis. At EcoWatch, we are at the forefront of these issues by promoting the work of the grassroots environmental movement through this publication and our news service website EcoWatch.org. Visit this site to stay informed on the most important environmental news of the day and help us spread the word to gain even more momentum for this movement. We all know that collaboration will be the key to our success in providing clean water, fresh air, healthy food and sustainable energy to future generations—noble causes that everyone should support. —Stefanie Penn Spear

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