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Footbridge In The Woods
Mass Audubon article

The role of land conservation in fighting climate change

In the coming year, your land trust can help people connect the dots to what they love and how climate change puts it at risk. You then want to help them see solutions. Often these will be natural climate solutions (estimated at 21% of the needed response—if we act fast), including personal actions, as well as policies for energy conservation and renewables.

At Mass Audubon, [their] land conservation strategy is directly linked to climate change mitigation and adaptation. As the largest private land owner in Massachusetts with more than 38,000 acres protected, [they] know how critical land conservation and effective land management is in the age of climate change.

[Their] recent entry in the California Air Resources Board (CARB) carbon offset market ensures that 10,000 acres of forested land will be protected for the next 100 years, ensuring the carbon stored in this critical landscape remains there…

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River Valley View
Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy article

Partnering with a local city to sell carbon credits

Partnering with municipalities may be one way your local land trust can make a significant impact. It doesn't have to be the sale of carbon credits--it could be assisting with grants, transitioning to renewables, and/or energy efficiency.

Located in New York State, Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy is working to slow down climate change in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and the City of Albany.

The Albany Water Board will receive funding from the sale of carbon credits. The Nature Conservancy expects this revenue to surpass one million dollars over the next ten years, which the Water Board will direct toward the implementation of the Sustainable Forest Management Plan, watershed management, and Water Board priorities.

As outlined in the Plan, the Albany Water Board has entered into a Conservation Easement with the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy…

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The Government's First Ever National Target To Reduce Food Waste Will Encourage Farmers To Donate More Of Their Imperfect Produce To The Hungry
iStockphoto/NPR

It’s Time To Get Serious About Reducing Food Waste, Feds Say

Word that Americans throw away about one-third of our available food has been getting around.

Now there’s an official goal aimed at reducing that waste.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency — along with many private-sector and food-bank partners — announced the first ever national target for food waste.

“[We’re] basically challenging the country to reduce food waste by 50 percent by the year 2030,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tells The Salt…

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Peter Melnik A Fourthgeneration Dairy Farmer Owns BarWay Farm Inc In Deerfield MA He Has An Anaerobic Digester On His Farm That Converts Food Waste Into Renewable Energy
Allison Aubrey/NPR

Farmers are using food waste to make electricity

You, your community members, and your land trust can help policy makers understand how farmers can be part of the solution. You can also promote composting at home, in urban, and in suburban areas—in addition to the methane digester described here.

If you piled up all the food that’s not eaten over the course of a year in the U.S., it would be enough to fill a skyscraper in Chicago about 44 times, according to an estimate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

And, when all this food rots in a landfill, it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. In fact, a recent report from the United Nations from a panel of climate experts estimates that up to 10 percent of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions are linked to food waste

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Modernized Solar Panel Photo
University of Minnesota via CC

Solar PV power potential is greatest over croplands

“Solar energy has the potential to offset a significant fraction of non-renewable electricity demands globally, yet it may occupy extensive areas when deployed at this level. There is growing concern that large renewable energy installations will displace other land uses. Where should future solar power installations be placed to achieve the highest energy production and best use the limited land resource?…”

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Solar Panels
U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0]/Flickr

Solar panels pair surprisingly well with tomatoes, peppers, and pollinators

American Farmland Trust's conference in November 2019 on solar and farmland was well attended. They will be posting links to the presentations soon. In the meantime, here is some of the research presented.

In ‘agrivoltaics,’ crops and solar panels not only share land and sunlight, but also help each other function more efficiently.

Big, utility-scale “solar farms” are one important source of solar power, helping complement smaller, less centralized sources like solar panels on the roofs of buildings. Solar farms take up a lot of space, though—and they thrive in places with many of the same qualities favored by food crops. As one recent study found, the areas with the greatest potential for solar power tend to already be in use as croplands, which makes sense, given the importance of sunlight for both…

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Onsite Energy Team
OnSite Energy

About OnSite Energy

We strongly believe in the infinite resource of the sun and the reliability of solar electric systems for our daily energy needs. For over a decade we have been advocating solar electric technologies to Montanans through our own projects, community outreach, and legislative efforts. Our goal is to empower our local and regional community members to choose a future of clean, renewable solar energy for their homes and businesses that benefits our natural environment, our future generations, and our state’s economy.

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Solar Partnership
GVLT

Solar for conservation

Land conservation may provide up to 21% of climate change solutions if we modify our management approaches. Transitioning from fossil fuels to clean energy—and energy conservation—will be critical. How will your land trust promote all three?

“GVLT is proud to have conserved over 45,000 acres across our region. While protecting land from development and fragmentation is the first step, protecting the ecological integrity of our natural resources is equally as important which is why we’re proud to announce a partnership with On Site Energy. What’s the connection between land conservation and solar energy?

Fish need cold, clean water to survive, and rivers need high altitude snow pack to keep them flowing throughout hot summer days. Ranchers and farmers depend on the availability of that water for irrigation, and wildlife depend on the intricate balance of the changing seasons to maintain viable habitats…”

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MALT Sign
MALT

Can California’s protected farmland fight climate change?

Creating a page on your website dedicated to climate change is a good first step in raising awareness. But you need to drive people to your content: talk about it, post on social media, and share stories. Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) is talking about climate change. How might your land trust do the same? If your land trust focuses on agriculture, perhaps the following would be a good post to share, especially when you add your own pre-text to connect the dots with what you are doing.

“In the past year, the threat of climate change has risen to the forefront of public consciousness. With this growing awareness, many solutions are being offered to avert this crisis—from planting millions of trees to innovating electric car technology to passing state legislation to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

One powerful tool to address climate change is putting in action land use planning policies that preserve working farms and ranches…”

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Flying Birds Near Turbines
Madhu Khanna

Wind turbine design and placement can mitigate negative effect on birds

URBANA, Ill. – Wind energy is increasingly seen as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, as it contributes to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that by 2050, wind turbines will contribute more than 20% of the global electricity supply. However, the rapid expansion of wind farms has raised concerns about the impact of wind turbines on wildlife.

Research in that area has been limited and has yielded conflicting results. A new study, published in Energy Science, provides comprehensive data on how turbines affect bird populations…

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