Rare inspires change so people and nature thrive. Conservation ultimately comes down to people - their behaviors toward nature, their beliefs about its value, and their ability to protect it without sacrificing basic life needs. And so, conservationists must become as skilled in social change as in science; as committed to community-based solutions as national and international policymaking. Nowhere are community-based solutions needed more than in the world's areas of highest biodiversity - from Latin America and the Caribbean to Africa and India to Asia and the Pacific islands. These areas may be rich in natural resources, but poverty is also high, making social and environmental change a challenge for hundreds of thousands of communities. Rare and its partners in 50+ countries throughout these regions are committed to designing conservation programs that benefit both people and nature - ensuring that change is embraced and sustained. Learn more about Rare's mission and brand. The Rare approach includes: 1) Determining human behaviors causing threats to biodiversity, such as overfishing, illegal logging, or unsustainable agriculture 2) Conducting an ongoing search for the most innovative community-based solutions proven to change these behaviors - what Rare calls conservation "bright spots" 3) Launching social marketing campaigns to increase adoption of these alternative behaviors in the world's highest priority areas for conservation. Putting conservation in local hands While Rare sources solutions, it does not directly implement outreach at the local level. Changing behaviors requires a nuanced understanding of social and cultural norms and trusted messengers from within each community. Therefore, Rare trains local partners and supports them during all stages of implementing what's known as a "Pride campaign." Learn more about running a Pride campaign in your community. A Pride campaign inspires people to take pride in the species

Constitutionality of Renewable Energy Mandates in Question Crown Capital International Relations Management In a potentially crushing strike against advocates for renewable energy mandates, a federal court ruling recently raised the issue of constitutionality of major provisions of many states' renewable energy mandates. On June 7, 2013, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) position against the state of Michigan (and other petitioners) in a disagreement over FERC's proposal to distribute costs for new power lines to supply millions of megawatts of wind power in the Great Lakes area. Michigan believes that this plan would, in essence, require them to pay for expensive new power lines intended for transmitting renewable energy out of the state. Based on the law establishing Michigan's 2008 Renewable Energy Standard, only renewable energy generated inside its state borders is qualified to fulfill Michigan's obligation to utilize 10% of eligible renewable energy sources by 2015. Source: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Crown-Management/558345590862158 http://thecrownmanag.livejournal.com/ http://the-crown-management.tumblr.com/ http://the-crown-management.blogspot.com/

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday issued long-delayed new air pollution standards for industrial boilers, incinerators and cement kilns. The rules provide significant concessions to industry and allow several additional years for full compliance in an effort to minimize job and economic impacts, officials said. The new standards for the first time set numerical limits on emissions of mercury, acid gas and small-particle pollution for a small subset of the nation's 1.5 million industrial boilers. The agency, which has come under withering criticism from Congressional Republicans for what they contend is regulatory overreach, emphasized that the standards were drafted after extensive consultation with industry groups and local officials. The agency said that the rules would affect fewer than 1 percent of industrial boilers, and that the others either would not be covered by the regulations or can meet the standards by performing routine maintenance. The agency said that the rules would prevent as many as 8,100 premature deaths and 52,000 asthma attacks a year by limiting emissions of lung-scarring particles and toxic pollutants. The agency is giving boiler operators at least three years to meet the standards. http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/crown-capital-management-jakarta-indonesia-aberdeen http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/crown%20capital%20management%20jakarta%20indonesia

https://plus.google.com/112257493324273869508/posts/Zqd4px645y6 A bill that could help the Department of Education cut the cost of electricity using renewable energy sources raised some concerns voiced by utilities' officials. Speaker Judith Won Pat introduced Bill 74, which would allow Guam DOE to enter into a partnership with a qualified renewable energy provider to help contain the millions the school system spends yearly on power bills. Superintendent Jon Fernandez wrote in support of the bill, noting the agency's power bill continues to climb. "Unfortunately, despite the conscientious effort of reducing our power consumption, GDOE continues to experience an increase in our billings," Fernandez stated in his written testimony. The school system had a power bill of $14.46 million in fiscal 2012. Fernandez said the school system's kilowatt-hour usage in the first half of fiscal 2013 decreased by nearly 6 percent when compared to the first half of fiscal 2012, yet its power bill still increased by $174,000 -- roughly 2.4 percent. He added that any savings would be diverted into the classrooms and school sites to improve the services and infrastructure for students. Alternative energy cap Fernandez has noted that there's a cap on the amount of alternative energy the department is able to use, which could limit the agency's ability to use alternative energy sources to their full potential. Bill Hagen, co-owner of Pacific Solar & Photovoltaics, who submitted written testimony in support of the bill, stated the bill doesn't address the cap on alternative energy. "To date, GPA's sales of electricity from renewable sources stands at zero while the private sector continues to build renewable capacity hampered only by PL 30-14," Hagen said. "This law restricts the size of net metering facilities connected to GPA's grid at 25 KW for residential and 100 KW for non-residential installations." John Benavente, general manager of the Consolidated Utility Services, sai

On Monday the Senate held a symposium under the auspices of Sen. Tom Carper's (D-DE) office - "Climate Change Actions under the Clean Air Act: Reducing Power Plant Emissions without Harming the Economy" - bringing together representatives from both clean energy groups and the energy industry to explore how greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants could be regulated under the Clean Air Act. The Supreme Court has ruled that under that law, the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate carbon dioxide emissions if it finds them to be a danger to public health and the environment - which it has. The EPA is already finalizing rules for new power plants, with rules for existing plants anticipated to be in the works, which brings us to the symposium's question of just how to apply those powers. The stand out presentation came from David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which lays out a plan for the EPA to cut carbon emissions from power plants 26 percent from 2005′s levels by 2020. The plan was run through the same model used by the EPA and a host of other outfits, and according to the analysis it would prevent 3,600 deaths and thousands of other health incidents by 2020, deliver $25 to $60 billion in savings (depending on your preferred discount rate) by avoiding those health effects and the damage of climate change, and it would do this for a compliance cost of only $4 billion in 2020. http://crowncapitalmngt.com/ http://crowncapitalmngt.com/enmonitor.html http://blog.crowncapitalmngt.com/ http://blog.crowncapitalmngt.com/category/nature-news/ http://crowncapitalmngt.com/eacc.html http://blog.crowncapitalmngt.com/category/press-releases/

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/259059/ Minnesota regulatory officials said Monday that the state's coal-fired power plants have cut their mercury emissions by more than half over the past 15 years as the state tries to limit its residents' exposure to the toxic metal. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency held a media event at a Twin Cities power plant to herald the effort of cutting mercury from 1,850 pounds per year in the 1990s to about 870 pounds today. http://www.thecrownmanagement.com/ https://foursquare.com/crownmaxrowford