NCAT News
NCAT Releases New Climate Change Publication
New Spanish-Language Resources about Community Food Security
NCAT Helps Develop Content and Hosts Website for Presidential Climate Action Project
View Earlier NCAT News
NCAT Releases New Climate Change Publication
Addressing climate change can reduce energy costs, create green jobs in Montana
(1/12/09) NCAT recently released a new climate change publication that highlights ways Montana consumers can address climate change while reducing energy costs and creating green jobs.
The publication, titled Changing climate, Changing future (PDF / 6M), is a guide to climate change in Montana and smart ways we all can act now to preserve our state for tomorrow’s generation.
Changing climate, Changing future details the work of the Montana Climate Change Advisory Committee, a group established by Gov. Brian Schweitzer in 2005 to study the effects of climate change in Montana and develop recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state. Greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, are a major cause of climate change.
Changing climate, Changing future features dozens of resources to help Montanans reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. From ways to slash home heating bills to ideas for squeezing the most out of a gallon of gas, the resources will also help Montanans save money by using less energy.
In 2007, the Climate Change Advisory Committee produced a 450-page report with 54 recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Montana. Changing climate, Changing future provides a sampling of these recommendations, along with several success stories of Montanans already acting to reduce their own emissions.
New Spanish-Language Resources about Community Food Security
(1/6/09) NCAT's ATTRA project website now offers three new Spanish-language resources about community food security. These colorful flyers are designed to inspire people to learn about food security issues. The brochures discuss ways to make fresh, local food available in low-income communities.
 The first flyer is called Seguridad de Alimentos de la Comunidad : Cultivando Granjas, Personas y Comunidades Sanas (In English that is Community Food Security: Cultivating Healthy Farms, People and Communities). The brochure explains the basics of community food security. Everyone should have access to good food. Local independent farmers and businesses should produce and distribute food in ways that protect our environment. Stores in every community should sell healthy, high quality foods at affordable prices.
The second flyer—Su Comunidad, Sus Alimentos: Siete Maneras de Ingresar Alimentos Sanos a Su Comunidad (Your Community, Your Food: Seven Ways to Introduce Healthy Food into Your Community)—describes ways that citizens can get healthy foods into their communities. Emphasizing that everyone deserves a chance to make healthy food choices, the brochure points out that people tend to eat the food that is easiest to get. When that food is of low quality, family health deteriorates. The resulting high healthcare costs and lost work time have a profound effect on the whole community.
The third flyer, which is called Buenos Alimentos que Podemos Costear: Hoy y Mañana (Good Food We Can Afford: Today and Tomorrow), explains why food grown locally using greener methods and less energy is the best deal for consumers. The handout urges people to grow some of their own food and to support local and organic farmers. It asks consumers to work to develop a system that provides good food for everyone.
 The flyers can be found and downloaded in PDF at ATTRA's Spanish-language website. Besides being useful to individuals, these brochures can also be used by organizations that are working to improve community food access. All three of the flyers include a space for the local contact information of community food security groups that can help families.
The handouts were developed in English by the Community Food Security Coalition and World Hunger Year. NCAT specialists helped re-formulate the text and translate it into Spanish. Each flyer directs people to NCAT's ATTRA project Spanish-language website, where they can find information about growing food.
To learn more about NCAT's partners in this project, see www.foodsecurity.org and www.worldhungeryear.org. The English versions of the brochures can be downloaded at www.foodsecurity.org/handouts.html. To find out more about the Spanish flyers, contact NCAT Program Specialist Karen Van Epen, karenv@ncat.org, 406-533-6653.
NCAT Helps Develop Content and Hosts Website for Presidential Climate Action Project
 The Presidential Climate Action Project is a comprehensive action plan for presidential leadership, based on climate science and designed to ignite innovation at every level of the American economy. The project gathered leaders from the nation’s science, policy, business and civic sectors to develop a plan for dealing with climate change. The plan contains background information and educational materials on global warming, as well as a broad portfolio of tools and policy options to address this global challenge. Work on the plan started in 2006, with a goal of having the plan completed in time to present to the newly-elected US President prior to his taking office in January 2009.
NCAT Executive Director Kathy Hadley served on one of the leadership summit groups that contributed ideas to the plan. NCAT also hosts the project website, which features the results of the leadership summit groups, background documents, and a final copy of the plan that was delivered to President Obama’s transition team in late 2008. The plan incorporates many of the best ideas for national innovation around climate change put forward by the presidential candidates, universities, non-governmental organizations and others, as well as new ideas based on original analyses commissioned by the project.
A free PDF copy of the 117-page plan is available on the PCAP website managed by NCAT: www.climateactionproject.com. The plan was also published by St. Martins Press, and is now available in bookstores.
View Earlier NCAT News
Back to Top
|
