Energy: Time to Take the Offense

In November, Citistates Group journalists Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson turn the spotlight on New England’s vulnerability to interruptions in our energy supplies, and urge New Englanders to take charge of their own energy future by prioritizing strategies such as biofuels and green buildings. Special sidebar articles on biodiesel, escaping high fuel prices through energy efficiency, building sustainable cities, and the affect of global warming on New England highlight key dimensions of this issue.

This second article in the six part series, “New Century, New Game,” will begin appearing in newspapers around the region and at our website starting this weekend, November 5th.

Participate on Energy at the New England Futures Website

Help us to make the New England Futures’ website an active and vibrant destination where all New Englanders can participate in their future by writing blog entries, moderating forums, taking the survey, or providing content. Go to our website to view the Best Practices and Resources that we have already identified on the topic of energy, and let us know about any of your projects that you want us to list.

Contact Christine Petterssen at cpetterssen@iscvt.org to find out how you can contribute to the new NEF website.

New England Futures Spotlight

Each month, New England Futures will highlight one project that is already seeking to make a difference in the issue of that month. This month, we will cover both regional collaboration and energy. See the Best Practices area of our website under New England Identity and Energy for more great projects.

Innovation Valley

In October, we heard from Seth J. Itzkan of Planet-TECH Associates, who is spearheading the Innovation Valley Initiative of the Merrimack Valley Region of Massachusetts. This initiative seeks to inspire a new era of economic growth in the region that was the birthplace of America's industrial revolution. The initiative seeks to do this through the application of innovative practices across all germane sectors - including: housing, industry, transportation, energy, and civic planning. The initiative envisions the entire Merrimack Valley, from Lowell to Newburyport, as a single innovative region, employing a full swath of best practices and creating in the process corridors of innovation. Go to www.ivalley.org for more information about this initiative.

Northeast Biodiesel Company

Northeast Biodiesel Company, located in the Greenfield Industrial Park in Massachusetts, plans to begin production of 5 million gallons of biodiesel a year in April of 2006. Expansion to 10 million gallons a year is planned for 2008. The plant will employ 24 people. This clean fuel will be sold to brokers and diesel distributors as an alternative to diesel fuel for heating and transportation. It will use recycled vegetable oil as its primary raw material, with bulk deliveries from New York City and Philadelphia at launch, and developing local sources of recycled vegetable oil over the next two years. A co-gen system producing heat and electricity has been designed for installation late 2008. The plant's founder and majority owner is Co-op Power, a consumer-owned energy cooperative with members from New England and New York. For more information about Northeast Biodiesel, go to: www.northeastbiodiesel.com.

Submit your project to be highlighted next month on the topic of education by sending a description of the project to info@newenglandfutures.org.

Media Coverage of New England Futures

The first Citistates Group article “Six Teams — or One?” was published in 25 newspapers around New England. Go to the Media Coverage area of the NEF website for a list of newspapers that carried the stories. Look to these newspapers, and more, to cover the next set of stories on energy.

If your local paper did not carry the first article, we encourage you to write an op-ed piece to your paper. Read the op-ed piece written by Beth Humstone and published in the Burlington Free Press. Please feel free to personalize this op-ed piece and submit it to your local paper.

Results of Our Survey on New England’s Identity

During the month of October, we asked visitors to our website to give us their opinions on questions related to New England’s identity. The results are as follows:

• 88% believe there are clearly identifiable resources, assets, and characteristics that unify New England and its people.
• 74% believe New Englanders' independence and the desire for local decision-making hamper regional cooperation.
• 70% believe New England has the capacity to successfully compete in the global economy
• 47% believe New England’s declining population is detrimental to the region.
• 67% believe that New England's costs of living and doing business are not comparable to other parts of the country.
• 75% believe that New England’s historic landscape is still a reality.

The survey is an important way for the project to gauge the opinions of New Englanders on each of the issues. Please remember to visit the site starting next week to take our survey on energy.

Support New England Futures

New England Futures is halfway there in meeting its fundraising goal for Phase II of the project. We want to thank Northeast Utilities and the Surdna Foundation for their generous support of our Phase II activities.

We strongly believe that with sufficient resources for New England Futures, the New England states can make pivotal advances on strategic issues and rise out of isolation to lead the country with innovative solutions to some of its more intractable problems. To help fund NEF, contact Beth Humstone at ehumstone@iscvt.org.

Preview of What’s to Come in December

Neal Peirce and Curtis Johnson launch their idea for Opportunity New England, or ONE, a radical new departure from anything currently being offered by higher educational institutions. ONE would serve as an ideal venue for an Online New England service, guiding students across the region and across the globe to the region’s superior academic offerings. If you work on education issues and would like to be involved on this issue, please contact the project at info@newenglandfutures.org to see how you can help.