Save The Bay is our leading advocate for Narragansett Bay, and a powerful force in the state. Leadership there is important, and today the group announced who will take over for Curt Spalding, who moved on from his post as executive director last summer. Jonathan Stone, of Providence, will take the helm. A Brown graduate, Stone, 50, has a background in business and teaches in the department of finance at Providence College.

"Our search for a new executive director led to a candidate with a remarkable combination of skills and a clear vision to lead an effective 21st Century Save The Bay," said search committee chair Steven Hamburg, a Brown University professor.

"Jonathan has the ability to forge productive, dynamic relationships and he understands the need to build a low-carbon economy that respects Rhode Island's economic and ecological needs. His leadership experience and commitment to the environment will elevate Save The Bay's successes in advocacy, habitat restoration and education,” Hamburg said.

Click on "More..." for STB's news release and a link to Peter Lord's projo story.

SolarWrights is one of the longest-running alt-energy companies around, and for years they've been installing solar electric panels and solar hot-water systems all around Rhode Island. They also work in wind energy, and in recent years they've been growing like mad -- though unfortunately, because Mass and Connecticut offer much better incentives to home owners, most of that growth has taken place outside Rhode Island (click here for more about that).

Today, the company announced a new chapter, with SolarWrights and its recently acquired Solar Works merging into a brand-new company, Alteris Renewables. Existing offices and staff will stay the same, but the new name is intended to better convey the company's scope. For more info about the new company, visit their new Web site.

by Chris Kearns

Recently I spent two months traveling across the country working on a "Get Out the Vote" campaign effort with the nonprofit organization that I work for, Environment Rhode Island. I traveled to Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Colorado. The one thing that really stuck out wherever I went was that people really wanted a push for clean energy development. Old voters and first-time voters all had their reasons for it. Some wanted it for job creation, others wanted to stop sending billions of dollars to oil companies and foreign nations, and many wanted to deal with the growing problem of global warming.

The statement that I got from people across the country was that we need to move in a new direction. The failed and outdated policies that were used in the 20th century can no longer work in the 21st century, especially when it comes to our energy policy. Environment Rhode Island recently released a new report, Renewing America: A Blueprint for Economic Recovery. It outlines three critical things -- energy efficiency; the accelerated development of renewable energy including solar, wind, and geothermal energy; and reducing our consumption of fossil fuels.

For more details about the report's findings, and a link to its full text, click on "More..."

Here's a great holiday gift for RI's future -- the Town of Portsmouth is about to erect Rhode Island's first municipally owned wind turbine, on the grounds of the town high school. It's the second community wind turbine in RI -- the first being the one at Portsmouth Abbey. This new one will be the biggest in the state. The turbine is expected to save the town over $4 million in energy costs over the next 20 years.

Portsmouth is taking the lead because it has a great wind resource, but also because the community has grown familiar with the Abbey's wind turbine. "They see its beauty, and they're proud," says said People's Power & Light Deputy Director Karina Lutz. "People are concerned about energy security, depleting resources, and global warming. So the town said, Yes, in our backyard!" The turbine will be on top of a hill behind the high school and visible from the school, the bay, and many places in town.

PP&L members will directly support the project through their purchase of green power, particularly through PP&L's New England GreenStart program, which is a green power choice available to National Grid customers.

Click on "More..." for the rest of PP&L's news release.

by NNN Contributor Susan Genett

If you're looking for unique, locally made, and environmentally-friendly gifts for the holidays, here's a great suggestion -- Middletown's Katie Egan breeds new life from old skateboards, creating necklaces, earrings and bangles. "My goal is to recycle every piece of the board, even down to the sawdust," says Egan, whose idea grew from her love of the sport. "I've been passionate about surfing and skateboarding since I was 7 years old," she said.  

As a girl will look for jewelry to pop with an outfit, a skateboarder will choose a board based on the feel of pop, the reactive flex of the wooden board. Skateboards break often, usually a swift demise when a trick lands awry. That's when Egan steps in. She fashions about a dozen pieces of jewelry from each skateboard. That's no pinch on the environment and a lot of pop for many wardrobes.

Egan cuts into the skateboard tops, exposing seven plies of multi-colored sugar-maple veneer, then sands them by hand, molding smooth and colorful curves.  Note to the conservative, some boards have purely natural shades of maple that are simply beautiful when sanded, as well.  With distinctly different designs on each side of Egan's jewelry, it's two pieces for the price of one. Egan takes custom requests at her business, Center Cut Jewelry, and also sells her work at local craft shows. For more info, visit her Web site or send This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Click on "More..." for more photos, by Jacki Schriber-Lane.

By Steven Stycos

Last spring, a red tail hawk was hit and killed by Rhode Island's one functioning wind turbine at Portsmouth Abbey School. Brother Joseph Byron says the bird was the first animal fatality he has seen since the 241-foot-high structure started producing 660 kilowatts in March 2006.

An internationally known bat researcher, however, says tens of thousands of bats are killed annually by wind turbines in the U.S. Unless researchers are monitoring a site, says Boston University professor Thomas Kunz, bat fatalities often go undetected, because their bodies are lost in the brush or eaten by scavengers.

In a November 19 lecture sponsored by the Rhode Island National History Survey, Kunz, director of BU's Center for Ecology and Conservation Biology, labeled wind energy "brown," not green. He also warned that high numbers of bat fatalities may cause populations of insects to increase dramatically.

Click on More..." to read the rest of this story.

The calendar produced each year by the folks at Narragansett Bay Research Reserve is our very favorite. Not only does it have beautiful pictures of our local coastline, it also shows you the high and low tides for every day in a clever graphic format that is easy to read; plus the phases of the moon, sunrise and sunset times, and a brief bit of info about our natural environment tossed in for each month. And besides all of this, it's free! You can download your copy from the NBRR Web site, or look for it at your local library.

Rhode Island has a large and diverse community of avid birders, and they've learned to make good use of the power of the Internet to share information and sightings. This week, Michelle St. Sauveur, of Coventry, has been attracting birders from all over New England to Charlestown, thanks to her pictures of a Black-headed Grosbeak, a bird that is fairly common in the West but rarely seen in the Northeast.

"This bird was last seen in RI in 1987," she told NNN. "There are only four confirmed reports of this bird in RI, dating back to the 1950s." Michelle spotted the bird, a young male, last Sunday and started sharing her pictures on birder mailing lists. As of Wednesday, the bird was still being spotted on Charlestown Beach Road, she said. Update: As of Friday afternoon, Michelle said the bird was still there.

For more great pix of our local birds by Michelle, visit her online photo gallery.

It's looking like clear weather ahead for whatever you have planned for this weekend, and here are lots of ideas for getting outside and getting out to support the artists in your local community. This season is a great opportunity to work toward growing a local economy that's good for the environment and good for our neighbors, too.

Friday night, friends of the Woonasquatucket River celebrate the 10th anniversary of its designation as an American Heritage River and the creation of two new public artworks. Join them at The Plant, 60 Valley Street in Providence, from 6 to 10. Parking is available, click here for a map. For more info, call 861-9046.

Audubon is hosting a Winterfest at its beautiful Fisherville Pond refuge in Exeter on Saturday, with wreath-making, hiking, and more activities for the whole family, go to NNN's Community Calendar for details. The RISD Alumni Sale is open at the Convention Center on Saturday, and the Foundry Sale runs all weekend. Pawtuxet Village has expanded its holiday stroll to two days. Pawtucket's Wintertime Farmers Market runs every Saturday in Pawtucket, click here for info.

Winter is the season to support our local arts and culture, and you can find lots of listings and buy tickets online at ArtTix. Tickets make great gifts, too. And don't forget to get outdoors in the winter, Save The Bay's seal-watching tours are a wonderful way to do that -- and those tickets make great gifts, too.

Edible Rhody has been around for a couple of years now, and everybody we know loves it. It's a beautiful looking magazine, filled with interesting and locally relevant stories, and it's all about a topic that all of us enjoy -- food! The Winter issue is out on newsstands now, look for it at your favorite restaurant or coffee shop or market. You'll find stories about local farms, Newport's waterfront, fishing on the Bay, and local artisans who create irresistable wines, desserts, and meals.

And on the back page, you'll find Green Scene, NNN's own contribution to the Edible readership. This issue's articles explore buying local Christmas trees and introduce you to the NRCS, a local agency that is doing great work for our environment. Check it out!