BEN - October 16, 2008 #310

1. LNG Plan Withdrawn After Governor Riley's Concerns

2. League of Conservation Voters Release their 2008 Scorecard

3. Anniston to Atlanta Bike Trail Opens

4. Legacy Announces 2009 Grant Recipients

5. BEN Notes:  River Network Winter Training, Wolf Bay's Trash & Treasure/Plant Sale, Alabama Wildlife Center "Creatures of the Night", Bays and Bayous Symposium, Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, Sweetwater Brewing Company "Save the Black Warrior River", Moss Rock Festival, AUFA Annual Conference, St. Mary's Harvest Supper, A Gala Evening in Honor of Jack Edwards

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BEN Recommended Websites to Visit

Solar Energy Becoming a Reality - From MIT

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html

Climate Crisis - What You Can Do 

http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/whatyoucando/index6.html

Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition

http://www.safc.org

Environmental Education in Alabama 

http://www.eeinalabama.org

 

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Black Warrior Riverkeeper - Whole Foods Today

Here is a great reason to visit Whole Foods in Birmingham today.  Whole Foods Market is donating 5% of their sales today - October 21st to the Black Warrior Riverkeepers.  Today would be a great day to check Whole Foods out.

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1. LNG Plan Withdrawn After Governor Riley's Concerns - Last week, according to the Mobile Register, a Houston-based company has withdrawn its plans to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in the Gulf of Mexico after  Republican Governor Bob Riley expressed concerns over the facility's potential environmental impact.

TORP Technologies had proposed to build the terminal 63 miles south of Mobile and offered up to $30 million to the state to deal with potential damage to sea life created by the "open loop" process of heating the natural gas. The project caused concern among environmental and coastal conservation groups who argued the process would damage fisheries and marine life in the area.

The governor's action was praised by both the Coastal Conservation Association of Alabama and Mobile Baykeeper.   "I felt strongly the governor would do the right thing for the state and for our fisheries.  I know this was the governor's call, and I'm so proud," stated Mobile Baykeeper's Casi Callaway in the Mobile Register.

2. League of Conservation Voters Release their 2008 Scorecard - With the end of the second session of the 110th Congress occurring this month, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has released it's annual national environmental scorecard.  Here is how the Alabama delegation scored:

Senator Richard Shelby - 18%

Senator Jeff Sessions - 18%

Rep. Jo Bonner - 0%

Rep. Terry Everett - 0%

Rep. Mike Rogers - 31%

Rep. Robert Aderholt - 0%

Rep. Bud Cramer - 77%

Rep. Spencer Bachus - 15%

Rep. Artur Davis - 92%

To access the entire scorecard, including descriptions of the  environmental "votes" to determine the scores, visit http://www.lcv.org/scorecard

3. Anniston to Atlanta Bike Trail Opens - Last month, after 20 years of work, the Chief Ladiga Trail in Alabama and Silver Comet Trail in Georgia connected, making it one of America's longest paved trails.

The entire trail, which is nearly 100 miles long starts on the Georgia side in the suburbs of Atlanta.  In Alabama, the trail begins in Anniston, passing through the city of Piedmont, Alabama, which now has become the junction between the Silver Comet/Chief Ladiga Trails and also the Pinhoti Trail, which has now linked up with the Appalachian Trail.  The Alabama effort was made possible by unprecedented regional and state cooperation involving four cities, two counties, Jacksonville State University, the state of Alabama, various federal agencies, countless volunteers and donors.

For more information about this great achievement visit, 

http://www.jsu.edu/news/July-Dec2008/10032008c.html

4. Legacy Announces 2009 Grant Recipients - Legacy (the folks with the environmental car tags) has announced their 2009 grant recipients.  This year, Legacy will give away more than $85,000 in grants to schools and environmental education programs.  Below are the 2009 recipients:

FY 2009 Competitive Grants

Munford Elementary School - Water Wonder Lab

University of Montevallo - University of Montevallo Observatory

Alabama 4-H Foundation - Teaching Equipment for the Ala- 4-H Environmental Science Center

Alabama Envirothon - Alabama Envirothon

Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve - Baldwin County Grasses in Classes Program

University of Montevallo - Ebenezar Swamp Boardwalk Interpretive Program

Alabama Department of Conservation's - Project WET, Project WILD and Project Aquatic Wild Workshops

YMCA Camp Cosby - Camp Cosby Avian Education Project

FY 2009 Mini-grants

Sand Mountain-Lake Guntersville Watershed - A Traveling "Show and Tell" on Conservation

Danville Middle School - "Green" Water

Pike County Office ACES - 2009 County Groundwater Festival

Mobile United Natural Resources Committee - Hurricane Preparedness Guide Coloring Book

Jefferson State Community College - Shelby County Living Laboratory

Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama - Girl Scouts Go Green

The Montessori School of Huntsville - A Legacy's Monarch Waystation Habitat

Coffee County Ground Water Partnership - Ground Water Festival

For additional information about Legacy and their programs, visit http://www.legacyenved.org/

5. BEN Notes:  River Network Winter Training, Wolf Bay's Trash & Treasure/Plant Sale, Alabama Wildlife Center "Creatures of the Night", Bays and Bayous Symposium, Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, Sweetwater Brewing Company "Save the Black Warrior River" , Moss Rock Festival, AUFA Annual Conference, St. Mary's Harvest Supper, A Gala Evening in Honor of Jack Edwards

River Network Winter Training -  River Network will be holding several training sessions in Nashville Tennessee on December 10-12.  

For details visit - http://www.rivernetwork.org/news.php?NewsID=67

Wolf Bay's Trash & Treasure/Plant Sale - Wolf Bay Watershed Watch will be holding their annual Trash & Treasures/Plant Sale October 23-25 at the Miflin Community Center in Faihope, Alabama.  Please visit http://www.wolfbay.org for additional info.

Alabama Wildlife Center "Creatures of the Night" - The Alabama Wildlife Center will be holding an educational event featuring "things that go bump in the night."  The event will be held on October 25th 1:00 to 5:00 PM at the Alabama Wildlife Center in Oak Mountain State Park.  For details call Janet Byars at 205-663-7930 or visit http://www.awrc.org  .

Bays and Bayous Symposium - The Mississippi-Alabama Bays and Bayous Symposium will be held on October 28-29 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi, Mississippi.  For complete information and registration materials, visit  http://www.mobilebaynep.com/site/Forefront/Bays%20and%20Bayous%20Save%20the%20Date.pdf

Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival - The Alabama Rivers Alliance and the Alabama Environmental Council will be hosting the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival on November 6th, 5:30PM at the McWane Center in Birmingham.  Visit http://www.alabamarivers.org/wild  for details.

Sweetwater Brewing Company "Save the Black Warrior River" - Sweetwater Brewing Company has launched a campaign throughout October called "Save the Black Warrior" to help raise funds and awareness for the Black Warrior Riverkeeper.  As part of the campaign local bars and businesses in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham will be selling paper fish to their clientele for $1 to $5, as well as special edition t-shirts.  The Tuscaloosa kickoff event will be on October 16th at Jupiter Bar and Grill (visit http://www.jupiteronthestrip.com)  For complete month-long details about this creative campaign go to http://www.savetheblackwarrior.com

Moss Rock Festival -  The annual Moss Rock Festival in Hoover, Alabama will be held on Nov. 1 & 2.  Check out all the details at http://www.mossrockfestival.com

 AUFA Annual Conference - The Alabama Urban Forestry Association will be holding their Annual Conference November 5-7 in Anniston, Alabama.  For details, visit http://www.aufa.com/convention/8.11Agenda.pdf

St. Mary's Harvest Supper - Please join St. Mary's on the Highlands Episcopal Church in Birmingham, Alabama on November 9th, 6:00PM  at 701-25th Street North in Birmingham for the Harvest Supper  in Fellowship with our neighbors at Jones Valley Farm ( http://www.jvuf.org ).  The event will benefit the Episcopal Church Women Outreach.   Food will be prepared by Daniel George Restaurant.  Minimum donation is $50.  For more info about this wonderful event Robin Kidd at rkidd@realtysouth.com .

A Gala Evening in Honor of Jack Edwards - The Weeks Bay Foundation is hosting "A Gala Evening in Honor of Jack Edwards," December 4th, 6:00 PM at the Fairhope Yacht Club.  Jack Edwards is a former Republican Congressman and the outgoing board chairman of the Foundation.  Tickets are $50.  For more information, go to http://www.weeksbay.org  or call 251-990-5004.

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The Bama Environmental News is edited and published by Pat Byington.  To receive back copies of BEN go to http://www.BamaNews.com .  If you would like to be removed

from this e-mail listserve contact BEN at pkbyington@aol.com .