A group of Ashlanders will apply in the coming month to make Ashland a Transition Town, a step that will provide the framework for citizens to form groups to strategize for sustainability in energy, food, water, finance and other areas.

At the same time, Ashland has just gotten its first trainer - one of only 22 in the nation - to educate participants in sustainability initiatives, meaning a community actively working toward energy and resource sustainability and "resiliency" in the face of upcoming challenges from climate change, declining oil supply and a contracting economy.

Do the environmental and energy crises driving so many of today's headlines actually represent a unique opportunity for revitalizing the global economy? That is the argument that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas L. Friedman advances in his latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution-and How It Can Renew America (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2008). Steve Mirsky, a staff editor and writer for Scientific American and host of its Science Talk podcast, spoke with Friedman about his book in August; what follows is adapted from that conversation, which can be heard/read in full here.
-The Editors

Vestas, the Danish wind turbine manufacturer, announced Monday it will put its North American headquarters in Portland, Ore., and is opening a new wind research facility in Boston, Mass.

Colorado apparently was in the running for the research facility, but not for the North American headquarters, said Laura Brandt, manager of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, an arm of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

MEMORANDUM
TO:    BARACK OBAMA
FR:     SHARIF ABDULLAH
DT:     TODAY
RE:     SOME ADVICE ON FORGING A COMMON WAY AHEAD

Yes, congratulations, you made history, yada, yada, yada.  Not to diminish your amazing accomplishment, but since you’ve heard it all so many times by now, I won’t dwell on it (although, if you and I had a few hours, I COULD!)

No, I would rather not take up your time on that.  I have a few pieces of advice for you.  If I had five minutes of your time, the following is what I would say to you directly.

But first, who am I to be offering you advice?  I have been exploring our need for a value-driven, inclusive and sustainable society for decades, including as Founder and Executive Director of Commonway Institute.  The title to my second book sums up my philosophy and my life goal: “Creating a World That Works for All”.  I offer my counsel to you.

Dear Fellow Concerned American:

Out of the pain and frustrating dysfunction of the current win-lose political drama, a serious constituency is growing for a political system based in well tested win-win principles and practices (similiar to those adopted by large businesses over the past couple decades to reconcile the divergent interests of management, labor, and other "stakeholders.")  This constituency isn't waiting for the political professionals to agree -- its unlikely they ever will -- it's being driven by citizen leadership.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens.

At Global Business Development Services LLC, or GBDS.US, there are business and technology developments we've been working on that would, if applied to your business, be able to not only market and sell your products or services to a much larger global market over the Internet, but manage dynamic content and a positive user experience as well.

Utilizing the web for marketing and e-commerce is the wave of the future and those who adopt these emerging methods and technologies will be ahead of the game despite what the overall economy is doing. GBDS.US has been up to some interesting developments:

1. Stirling Energy Systems was fully funded this year with a $100m investment from an Irish company after ten years of treading water.  One of the project managers of GBDS.US raised $500k of the early angel funding from 1998-2000 which made it possible for them to get this far. SES will begin building two of the world's largest solar-thermal power plants in the world next year in southern California. www.stirlingenergy.com .

In it's 2007 session, the Oregon Legislature passed the Oregon Renewable Energy Act (SB 838) and the bill was signed into law on June 6th, 2007.

The Act establishes a Renewable Energy Standard that requires Oregon's largest utilities to acquire 25% of their electricity from new, homegrown renewable energy sources by 2025. Smaller Oregon utilities must meet smaller renewable energy targets of 5% or 10% of their electricity by 2025.