BG Green Anniversary
BG Green celebrates first anniversary
JUSTIN STORY, The Daily News, jstory@bgdailynews.com
Published: October 19, 2007
While it was an occasion to celebrate, the first anniversary of the BG Green Partnership for a Sustainable Community was also a time for members to take stock and discuss ways to make a more environmentally friendly community.
Held Thursday night at the Capitol Arts Center, the celebration honored the first year of BG Green, a volunteer organization whose members have promoted energy efficiency, conservation, use of local foods and resources and smart growth.
Proponents of organic produce, bicycling, solar energy and other green-friendly items handed out reams of information from booths set up in the lobby.
Inside the theater, the program included poets, musicians and “Climate S.O.S.,” a multimedia presentation on global warming by the Unitarian Universalist Church youth group.
“Many say that sustainable development doesn’t go hand in hand with economic development, but that’s a big myth,” said Nancy Givens, co-founder and current chairwoman of BG Green.
Bowling Green Mayor Elaine Walker lent credence to Givens’ claim, citing her commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to levels articulated in the Kyoto Protocol. Walker said cities could experience green economic development through energy and environmental block grants, but ultimately, everyone has a stake in protecting the environment.
“There’s too much of a perception that going green is a little bit out there and idealistic,” Walker said. “It’s not idealistic – it’s vital.”
In addition to BG Green, the Western Kentucky University organization Greentoppers-Students for Campus Sustainability was recognized for its efforts to provide information about and advocate for sustainable development at the school, including a campus community recycling bin.
What the people involved in Thursday’s event made clear was that anyone can and should do something, no matter how small, to encourage a healthy environment.
It could be as simple as turning off the lights when you’re not using them, as recommended in Climate S.O.S., or as complicated as growing organic vegetables under a greenhouse in the winter, which is what Joe O’Daniel does.
A Warren County farmer and president of the Southern Kentucky Regional Farmers Market, O’Daniel had a booth at Thursday’s event with a bucket full of lettuce, onions, cauliflower and radishes picked that day from his farm.
“I grow without pesticides and herbicides, but I could always be doing more,” O’Daniel said. “I’m going to be doing some more recycling.”
Copyright 2007 News Publishing LLC (Bowling Green, KY)
posted by Molly @ 8:36 AM
1 Comments:
“Many say that sustainable development doesn’t go hand in hand with economic development, but that’s a big myth,” said Nancy Givens, co-founder and current chairwoman of BG Green.
I agree. I think this is especially true when the proper incentives are in place to make them compatible. In the absence of proper incentives, it may appear that sometimes they are not compatible. This is the case when people are able to impose environmental costs on the rest of us, without paying for the marginal damage.
An example would be global warming. The proper incentive should be to charge a price for every ton of CO2 emitted. ( whether through a carbon tax or Kyoto type permiting)
If people had to pay a price for the CO2 they are responsible for, they would ration their use based on the damage they are doing to the environment. This would also provide incentives for 'green innovation.'
The magnitude of the price will of course depend on one's assessment of the actual damage done to the environment by global warming ( a matter of science) and an assessment of the value of that damage ( a philisophical, political, and economic matter).
This isn't easy, but it seems like it is being formalized on a regular basis via the many 'voluntary' carbon offset programs, and possibly the chicago climate exchange.
http://www.chicagoclimateexchange.com/
Post a Comment
<< Home