Sustainable Energy Development Activities
Third Planet has been involved in a wide range of activities, including public speaking, seminars, workshops and meetings, and established excellent working relationships with important stakeholders in Florida and Ohio.
In our six years of operation these endeavors have established our organization's reputation as a reliable source of balanced information and expertise on sustainable energy development and climate change mitigation.
CURRENT U.S. ACTIVITIES
1. Promoting Florida’s State Energy Plan
Following up on our work with South Florida communities, this program takes our work statewide in support of recommendations in Florida’s Energy Plan, released by Governor Bush in January 2006.
This plan is a big first step for Florida and resulted in the Florida Energy Act signed into law by the Governor in June 2006. In our estimation it is important that the early momentum being given to renewable and alternative energy measures in the Florida Renewable Energy Technologies and Energy Efficiency Act, created by the new law, translates into a much broader groundswell of public support for expanding support for these technologies in all legislative sessions going forward.
While the Act is a good first step, it is not a panacea and must be constantly improved upon to deliver a sound energy future for Floridians. To that end, an important instrument in the evolution of Florida’s Energy Act will be the work of the new Florida Energy Commission. It is most important Floridians understand and participate in the work of this Commission. There’s much work to do, this is a beginning but only that, and getting the ball rolling on our energy future is the difficult part. For that to happen we must seek to engage the population from the outset.
In our view we must immediately facilitate opportunities for Floridians to:
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Learn about the Act and the Plan,
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Learn about and understand the trends, conditions, barriers, and solutions driving energy developments,
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Understand the Act's long-term implications to their lives, lifestyles and livelihoods,
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Engage in continually developing the Plan, and by their actions and their voices,
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Give life to it, through the Legislature and the Act, from one election cycle to the next.
As in all of our earlier work, the focus of this program is to facilitate the development of public opinion on energy and environmental issues, and to empower the public to work through the practical, legislative, and regulatory solutions for our sustainable energy future.
This Third Planet program is evolving and needs your financial support to expand its reach throughout Florida. Please consider giving generously to support this work for Florida’s Energy Future.
For your copy of Florida’s Energy Plan please visit the Florida Department of Environmental Protection website, or right-click to download it here from Third Planet's server:
2. Urban Design
As part of our ongoing global climate change work in North America, Third Planet has initiated a program in urban design to bring world class lecturers in the field to cities searching for ways to reduce their overall carbon production. To bring these lecturers to the widest possible audience, we are partnering with local governments and institutions of higher learning in different cities around the United States.
Dr. Matthew Carmona  , Professor, Architect, Planner, and Head of the Bartlett School of Planning, University College, London was our first lecturer and made presentations to audiences in Broward County and Cleveland, Ohio, in May 2006.
The Broward County lecture, "Sustainable Urban Design, Definitions and Delivery" took place at the City of Lauderdale Lakes Commission Chambers, see Broward County News Release (75 KB PDF)
His Cleveland lecture, "Designing and Planning for Sustainable Communities: The Processes, Design Content, and Policy Options", took place at Cleveland State University.
Slides of Dr. Carmona's lecture can be viewed online, courtesy of Cleveland State University, by clicking on the following link: Carmona Lecture PowerPoint Presentation.
3. Ecological Restoration and Water Resources
Energy conservation is closely linked to water conservation, and nowhere are water resources, and our drinking water more threatened than in Florida.
Third Planet has been involved in outreach and public awareness by hosting seminars, public lectures and legislator briefings on the potential adverse impacts on our water resources due to migration from groundwater mining and fertilizer run-off, structural surface mining, and deep well injection of wastes.
The major thrust of our current water program involves supporting scientific research into the economic and environmental challenges facing Florida water resources for both human and ecosystem use.
Recent completed projects:
The Economics of Everglades Restoration: Missing Pieces in the Future of South Florida (2005) — Richard Weisskoff, Ph.D.
Third Planet provided financial support for Dr. Weisskoff’s book “to support educational outreach work in South Florida concerning sustainable development” (from the Acknowledgments). The Table of Contents and the Introduction—The Professor and the Corps are presented for viewing as PDF files on our Downloads page. The book can be ordered online from www.e-elgar.com with a site search on the title: The Economics of Everglades Restoration.
Richard Weisskoff, Ph.D., is a Professor teaching economics in the Department of International Studies at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida.
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Adverse Environmental Impacts of Artificial Recharge Known As "Aquifer Storage and Recovery" (ASR) In Southern Florida: Implications for Everglades Restoration (2005) — Sydney Bacchus, Ph.D.
A scientific review and analysis commissioned by Third Planet. Published as an electronic book, this is presented for viewing as PDF files on our Downloads page. A CD of the book can be obtained from AES Publications (aes.publications@mindspring.com) for the cost of shipping and a donation to support similar future publications.
Sydney Bacchus, Ph.D., is a Hydroecologist who specializes in the evaluation of adverse environmental impacts associated with alterations in the natural fluctuation of ground and surface waters.
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