Events
Union of Concerned Scientists 2022 Final Report:
New England State Climate Action Assessment
Monday, Feb 13, 5:30-7:00 PM (virtual event)
Presented by
Jo Field and Miriam Israel, UNH Sustainability Institute Summer Fellows
Roger Stephenson, Northeast Regional Advocacy Director, UCS
Moderated by Dr Reinmar Seidler, UMass Boston & NH NETWORK
Description
State governments must play critical roles to mitigate future climate impacts – given the lack of adequate leadership from the federal government.
Are New England states on track to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate impacts? How is New Hampshire faring?
UCS researchers spoke with decision makers and environmental leaders in the five New England states. They also examined legislation and policy statements. How do actions taken compare with the stated policies?
What does UCS recommend to improve climate resiliency in New England and in NH?
✔ Past Events and Recordings
✔ Clean Energy and Lower Bills with Community Power:
A Transformative Energy Solution for New Hampshire
What your town, city, or county needs to know to participate.
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 — 7:00 to 8:30 PM (Q&A at 8 PM)
NH communities pay soaring energy prices, due to over-reliance on natural gas for generating the bulk of our electricity, a lack of forward-looking state energy policies, and outdated electric utility restructuring laws.
Community Power gives NH communities control of their energy supply decision-making including: access to potentially less costly electricity, development of innovative local energy supply projects, and benefits to local and state economies.
This event brings together leading proponents, organizers and providers of Community Power to explain the who, what, when and how for others to seize this unique opportunity.
Hear from: Clifton Below, Assistant Mayor of Lebanon ● Henry Herndon, Energy Consultant ● Don Kreis, NH Consumer Advocate ● Joshua Bourdon, Founder Derry NetZero Task Force ● Jeff Moulton, Chair of Derry NetZero Task Force ● Bart Fromuth, Freedom Energy Logistics ● Stuart Ormsbee, Colonial Power Group ● Terry Clark, Cheshire County Commissioner ● Lisa Sweet, Rye Energy Committee ● Joe Kwasnik, moderator, NH Network Legislative Work Group
Community Power is coming to New Hampshire this spring. Energy costs are skyrocketing, and New Hampshire utility customers are paying the price. Everyone wants access to clean power with lower bills. Community Power can do it for you and more utility customers!
Over the last decade the threat of high rates from the utilities, expensive alternatives, air pollution, and the dearth of options for clean energy has given rise to a local option, one that will put your community in control instead of the utility. Community Power is an effective way to choose cheaper, clean energy for your home, business, town offices and other buildings. An option that will help you to pay less, act on climate, and lower air pollution whenever energy is used. This year, the NH Public Utilities Commission (PUC) ironed out the regulations under which Community Power could operate. Currently several NH communities are preparing to flip the “go” button starting this spring.
Community power is now a real option for you and your community. Do you live in an apartment, a condo, a small house, a place in the shade or something similar? This is for you! You are invited to discuss and learn how to bring Community Power to your neighborhood from local experts, community leaders, and supporters.
Produced by the Town of Derry’s very own Public Television, Derry Cam, and the Derry NetZero Task Force.
Supporting Organizations: NH Network, Clean Energy NH, LCV, NH Sierra Club, NH Carbon Cashback, RAD NH, 350 NH, Freedom Energy Logistics, Colonial Power Group, and Community Power Coalition of NH.
✔ NH Network Presents: Transactive Energy
The Electric Grid of the Future - January 13th, 2023
Our aging electric grid was not built for solar panels, batteries, and cars that act like a battery and give energy back to your house.
We need “smart grids” that can use “transactive energy” to:
Coordinate energy sources,
Improve grid operations,
Reduce peak grid load,
And minimize the need for more poles or wires.
Transactive Energy will cut costs, saving NH consumers millions of dollars each year.
✔ NH Network Presents: Local Action, Global Impact
Using the Power of Communities to Move Us Forward!
December 5th, 2022
An event to help us — individuals, small groups, towns & cities — take the LOCAL actions that when enough of us do them, will have GLOBAL impacts.
How we did it - Templates you can use - Why citizen actions matter
Slides: Plastics and Carbon Cash-Back
Slides: Solar Project Warrant Articles
Resources, templates, and links document: https://bit.ly/local_actions
Taking action on Plastics: Proclamations, resolutions, warrant articles, surveys, community conversations, collaborations – they can all begin with us, citizen activists!!
Presentations from members of NH Network’s Plastics Working Group:
Christina Dubin, Portsmouth: Beyond Plastics, Surfrider
Bonnie Christie, Hopkinton
Kristine Baber, Dover
Mary Armstrong, Harrisville
Taking powerful action on Climate: A citizen's petitioned warrant article for your town!!
What 37 NH communities have done, and how you can help yours do it too. Congress is listening!
John Gage, Windham, on New Hampshire’s carboncashback.org climate warrant article project
Select Board-Sponsored Warrant Articles: A citizen's petitioned warrant article for your town!!
What NH North Country communities have done to get Solar Projects deployed, and how you can help yours do it too.
Melissa Elander, Clean Energy NH, Energy Circuit Rider (North Country)
✔ A Conversation with Tom Sherman and Colleagues
Candidate for NH Governor Senator Tom Sherman, NH Representative Kat McGhee, and NH Senator David Watters joined the New Hampshire Network for a conversation about environment, energy, and climate policy - past and present. A personal look at how these influential veteran legislators prioritize policy options and work to get things done in the NH State Legislature, and their recommendations to control energy costs while addressing related concerns.
This election cycle is as significant as any in our lifetimes. How will we in New Hampshire approach our urgent environmental challenges over the next few years? OUR CHOICES WILL MATTER! Come pull up a chair and chat with three prominent leaders as they ponder NH’s environmental future with us. What are your priorities for protecting our landscapes, precious natural resources, and quality of life? What policies will best take us forward into an uncertain but opportunity-rich future?
✔ WHY ARE NH’S ELECTRIC BILLS SO HIGH
(...and what can we do about it?)
Soaring energy bills are top-of-mind in New Hampshire these days. Can we blame them all on the war in Ukraine, or are they a result of policy action and inaction over a number of years? Two experts on the NH energy scene discuss how we got here and explore ways to remedy the situation.
Guests
Sam Evans-Brown, Executive Director, Clean Energy NH; Former NHPR “Ask Sam” expert
Donald M. Kreis, NH’s Consumer Advocate
Moderator: Joe Kwasnik, Former Chairman, Board of Directors, NH Electric Coop; Manager of NH Network’s Legislative Working Group
We’ll hear the backstory of NH and federal energy policies along with international developments which have resulted in today’s high energy prices. We examine the paths taken or not taken, and consider possibilities for the future.
Bringing CLIMATE HEALTH to our Communities, Businesses,
Hearts & State
✔ NH Network Annual Summit!
Networking for a Sustainable New Hampshire:
What We Can Do Together
Saturday, June 18, 2022
What we’ve accomplished this year – and what’s up ahead
Hear from our members and our partners
Presentations (see below) and round-table discussions
Future planning: The NH Network needs your vision to grow & stay healthy!
Health For Our Bodies
Robert Dewey, MD, Vice Chair of NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action, past president of NH’s affiliate of the American Heart Association, “A climate emergency is a health emergency.”
Slides: How Does Climate Change Affect our Health?
Bob Dewey NH Network slides.pdfHealth For Our Communities
Jonathan Jarvis, Director of State Operations & Correspondence for the office of Senator Jeanne Shaheen, “How your Congressional Office can be a resource in obtaining Federal funds”
Slides: How Your Congressional Office Can Be A Resource In Obtaining Federal Funds
Jon Jarvis - How Your Congressional Office Can Be A Resource.pdfHealthy, Sustainable NH Businesses
• Dan Weeks, Vice President for Business Development of ReVision Energy, NHBSR Board of Directors
“Mobilizing New Hampshire’s business community to combat the climate crisis”
• Susan Kaplan, Founder of Sustainable Futures Consulting, UNH Instructor of Sustainability in Action; Member and Volunteer with NHBSR. “How members of NH Businesses for Social Responsibility improve their sustainable practices”
Susan Kaplan & Dan Weeks NHN Summit 2022 - Healthy, Sustainable Businesses.pdfHealthful Lands & Waters
• Cynthia Walter, PhD, retired professor of Biology, “Growing Grassroots Solutions to Plastic Problems” with the Ten Towns • Ten Actions Toolkit
Slides: Growing Grassroots Solutions to Plastics Problems
• Jon Swan, founder of Save Forest Lake (Dalton, NH): “How to strategically defeat a new landfill development in 1155 days or less.”
Cynthia Walter PWG-NH Network Summit 2022-Walter talk.pdfHealth for the Planet & Our Spirit
Susan Fuller, Director of NH Interfaith Power & Light, Earth Care Missioner of All Saints Episcopal Church, “How can we become better stewards of this planet?”
For a Healthy Climate
John Gage, State Coordinator of NH Citizens Climate Lobby, Co-founder of the NH Carbon Cash-Back Coalition, “Working together on climate solutions"
John Gage NH Network 2022 June Summit Climate Summary.pdfAnd Healthful Legislation to Get Us There!
Joe Kwasnik, NH Network Co-founder, retired electric utility executive, and former chair of the NH Electric Cooperative, “Creating legislative opportunities for the next legislative session...a proactive approach”
Joe Kwasnik - NHN Summit, June 18, 2022.pdfNH Network Presents: Community Power!
Get Some for Your Town!! ✔
Monday, May 9th, 2022
Hosted by Dori Drachman
Co-chair, Monadnock Sustainability Hub
Co-coordinator, Peterborough Renewable Energy Planning Team
Member, Peterborough Community Power Task Force
Dori regularly educates towns in her region about community power aggregation
Following Dori's presentation, more experts join for a Q&A:
Henry Herndon - Community Power Coalition of NH
Lisa Sweet - Community Power Coalition of NH
Sam Evans-Brown - Clean Energy NH
NH NETWORK Earth Day 2022: Call to Action for NH! ✔
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Members of the NH Network presented a snapshot of the Network's activities and demonstrated ways that folks can join & participate in protecting NH's environment.
Presenters:
Reinmar Seidler, PhD
Research Assistant Professor and Lecturer in Biology, UMass Boston
Manager-at-Large, NH Network
John Gage
New Hampshire State Coordinator for Citizens’ Climate Lobby
Climate Interest Group, NH Network
Susan Richman
Manager, NH Network
Communications Working Group and Plastics Working Group, NH Network
NH Network Presents:
Crossover Season in the NH Legislature 2022 ✔
Crossover Season in the NH Legislature 2022 ✔
Monday, April 11 ~ 5:30-7:00 pm
The Beauties and the Beasts
of NH Environment, Energy and Climate Bills
Three prominent lawmakers give their insights into bills that need our support or opposition:
• Senator David Watters
Dover (Senate District 4)
• Representative Kat McGhee
Hollis (Hillsborough-District 27)
• Representative Lee Oxenham
Plainfield (Sullivan-District 1)
Meeting Description
Three prominent New Hampshire legislators discussed the Beauties and the Beasts —environment, energy and climate bills that have survived and crossed over to the other chamber of the New Hampshire Legislature.
We learned which bills should be supported, which should be opposed, and why. Our shared goal is to protect our environment, ensure a clean and resilient energy future, and meet the challenges of climate change in New Hampshire.
Attendees refreshed their focus, to continue our active support and opposition to legislation in the House and Senate for the second half of the 2022 Legislative Session.
NH Network Presents: Is Net-Zero by 2050 Possible? ✔
Monday, March 28th — 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Policy Options to Achieve US and COP26 Climate Ambitions
Accelerating the transition to abundant and affordable clean energy for a safe climate future.
A Climate Policy Workshop With MIT’s En-ROADS Climate Policy Simulator &
Economists’ Perspective on Efficient, Equitable, and Powerful Climate Policy
Economists’ Perspective on Efficient, Equitable, and Powerful Climate Policy
Featuring
Dr. Charles Wheelan
Senior Lecturer and Policy Fellow Rockefeller Center for Public Policy, Dartmouth CollegeJohn Kondos
President, Home-Efficiency Resources LLC, En-ROADS Climate Policy AmbassadorJohn Gage
New Hampshire State Coordinator for Citizens’ Climate Education
Event Description
The extent of future consequences from our climate pollution depends on what we do now. Is it possible to reduce our carbon emissions from fossil fuels to net-zero by 2050 as required to hold global warming to 1.5˚C? We evaluate our solution options with MIT Sloan School of Management and Climate Interactive’s En-ROADs Climate Policy Simulator, investigate the near-universally expert-recommended option of carbon pricing with a local leading expert, and provide actions that each of us can take to contribute to a successful personal, local, national, and global response!
NH Network Presents: Preparing for New Normals in NH's Climate ✔
Monday, March 14th — 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
The science behind the 2022 NH State Climate Assessment Report
A discussion with the authors:
Dr. Mary Stampone
New Hampshire State Climatologist
Associate Professor of Geography, UNHDr. Cameron Wake
Research Professor, EOS UNH
Lamprey Professor of Climate and Sustainability, UNH
The new New Hampshire Climate Assessment is now published!
Press release here: https://bit.ly/3ucJiSV
Report here: https://scholars.unh.edu/sustainability/71/
February 2022 NH Network Event
In case you missed it, click the button below for the recording.
Unwrap the Future: Practical Advice to Reduce Plastic Pollution in our Communities ✔
A Panel Discussion to Launch the
Ten Towns ● Ten Actions Toolkit
Monday, February 7th 6:30 - 8 pm (Virtual Event)
Moderator: Dr. Bob McLellan, NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action
Susanne Moser, PhD, “A Practical Guide to Effecting Change & Messages of Hope” is a geographer (Ph.D. 1997, Clark University) who works in the US and internationally as an independent scholar and consultant from a base in western Massachusetts, the unceded ancestral homeland of the Nipmuc and Pocumtuc. Her work focuses on adaptation to climate change, science-policy interactions, climate change communication, and psycho-social resilience in the face of the traumatic and transformative challenges associated with climate change. She has served on scientific advisory boards for Future Earth, the International Science Council, the US National Research Council and contributed to IPCC and US national climate assessments.
Portsmouth High School Environmental Change Organization
“Harnessing the Power of Youth Influence for Environmental Change”
Christina Dubin, “Rethinking Plastic: Policies & Actions”
NH Surfrider Rise Above Plastics Coordinator, Sustainability Planner, UNH Carsey School
Patsy Beffa-Negrini, PhD, RDN, Introducing the Ten Towns ● Ten Actions Toolkit NH Network Plastics Working Group, Nelson Community Choice Aggregation Committee
Description: Globally, more than 380 million tons of plastic waste annually harm our health, pollute our environment, and hurt our economy. This panel discussion will highlight practical solutions individuals and communities are taking to address plastic pollution in NH, and launch the Ten Towns ● Ten Actions Toolkit. Our website contains a menu of actions, and contact information for technical support from our Ten Towns group of leaders. Learn how students in Portsmouth helped pass a ban on single use plastic, and how we can build momentum at a local level to demonstrate New Hampshire can break free from plastic.
Commit to taking action in your town!
Visit https://www.10towns.org/ to learn more and join the campaign.
Hungry for More on Plastics? Suggested reading: The New Coal: Plastics (www.beyondplastics.org); How Bad Are Plastics Really? (www.theatlantic.org)
Click Image Above for the Slides
Community Power Coalition of NH: Update & Relevant Legislation ✔
Monday January 10th 5:30 - 7pm (Virtual Event)
Featured speakers: Lisa Sweet, Director CPCNH, and Henry Herndon, Herndon Enterprises.
Description: Community Power, made possible by recent legislative changes, enables cities, towns and counties to democratize their energy supply and have greater local control over sourcing electricity on behalf of their residents and businesses. Benefits can include lower costs, increased renewable energy, and development of local energy resources. Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire (CPCNH) is a new nonprofit, created to support cities and towns towards launching programs. This presentation (see slides and video) helped NH Network members and friends learn more about Community Power, CPCNH, and relevant legislation at the NH State House.
Hungry for more on Community Power? Take a look at Community Power: A New Way to Think About Your Energy Bill – https://www.cpcnh.org
CPCNH YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMozeeV4Ojtn6KxD5gMqkXA
December 2021 - NH Network Meeting ✔
The December meeting of the NH Network looked at electricity in NH with our featured speaker Brian Callnan, Vice President of Power Resources and Access at the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative. He presented some of the basics of electricity in NH, such as where NHEC’s electricity comes from, how the cooperative model works in energy, the challenges of transmission, and how regulation impacts the cooperative. A summary of how NHEC’s new Transactive Energy Business model — the utility of the future — will help members connect Distributed Energy Resources.
The Fall 2021 Summit ✔
The second New Hampshire Network Summit was held on Saturday, September 18th. Groups across New Hampshire that focus on Environment, Energy, and Climate issues connected to amplify our collective impact.
AGENDA: NOTE: YouTube video of the Intro, Guest Speaker, and Panel Discussion is below, courtesy of New Hampshire Citizens for Progress.
Introduction and updates from NH Network members
Guest speaker Maine State Rep. Lydia Blume: A successful model – what Maine has done
Panel discussion: Past and current NH legislators and regulatory experts share their views on why NH has consistently lagged behind other NE states on energy efficiency, clean energy deployment, and carbon emissions reduction -- and how we can help bridge these gaps. Panelists: Consumer Advocate Don Kreis, Rep. Kat McGhee, former Rep. Bob Backus.
Breakout groups: What do you see as our needs and opportunities? How can we collaborate to increase our impact?
Plenary: Action steps and recommendations for NH Network’s future
Fall 2021 Summit
Recording of the Fall 2021 Summit Introductions, Guest Speaker, and Panel Discussion.
Rep. Lydia Blume: from approximately minutes 27:00 - 1:04:00
Panel Discussion: begins at approximately minute 1:04:00
Guest speaker:
Maine State Rep. Lydia Blume
A successful model – what Maine has done
Panel discussion:
Consumer Advocate Don Kreis, Rep. Kat McGhee, former Rep. Bob Backus
Past and current NH legislators and regulatory experts share their views on why NH has consistently lagged behind other NE states on energy efficiency, clean energy deployment, and carbon emissions reduction -- and how we can help bridge these gaps.
The June 2021 Summit ✔
The New Hampshire Environment, Energy and Climate Network (“The NH Network”) held an in-person Summit on June 26th 11:00 am - 3:00 pm. This was an organizing event to bring together New Hampshire’s environmental, energy, and climate-focused groups to review the functioning of the Network and how the Network can improve its utility for the groups within New Hampshire.