Pick Up America Embarks! (and there’s a testimony on the MD plastic bag fee)

This is the third post in an extensive series of upcoming posts as my friend and UMD for Clean Energy alum Davey Rogner walks across America to reduce waste in our society.  If you would like to contact Davey, please e-mail pickupamerica@gmail.com

The Prince George’s Gazette’s David Hill had an article out on my friend Davey Rogner’s starts his walk across America this weekend.  I’ve posted it below.  Pick Up America also testified in favor of the Maryland plastic bag fee last week in Annapolis.  They made a video which I’ve posted above.

UM alumni begin journey to pick up litter

In 2006, Jeff Chen — then a student at the University of Maryland, College Park — had an idea while hiking at Yosemite National Park in California, after he and a friend had reached the end of an 8.5-mile trail.

“When we got to the top, we realized we had passed so much trash along the way,” Chen said. “We picked it all up [on the way back], and we were like, ‘Wow, we did it.’”

Chen thought if he could pick up trash for 8.5 miles, he might be able to do it for hundreds, or even thousands, of miles. That’s exactly what he’ll do starting Saturday, when he and three friends embark on Pick Up America, a cross-country anti-litter tour.

Their 3,600-mile journey starts Saturday at Assateague Island on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and will conclude in San Francisco in August 2011. Along the way, the group will conduct trash pick-ups in 13 states to highlight the importance of waste conservation.

“The whole idea is to bring the communities together and make art, make music and make all of this stuff instead of litter,” said Chen, who lives in Fulton and graduated from UM in 2008.

The group will host an environmental forum April 15 in College Park with student group UMD for Clean Energy and plans a community cleanup April 16 in Hyattsville.

Chen began planning the trip last year with Davey Rogner, a UM alum who graduated last spring. As students, the two helped form the UMD Student Sustainability Council, which advises the university on environmental issues. Rogner also helped lead a successful effort to stop the university from bulldozing nine acres of the wooded hillock, a 22-acre on-campus forest, for new maintenance facilities.

Chen and Rogner will be joined by friends Kelly Klein of Columbia and Kim Alexander of Silver Spring. The four will travel by recreational vehicle through Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Virginia; West Virginia; Kentucky; Ohio; Indiana; Illinois; Missouri; Kansas; Colorado; Utah; Nevada and California.

“I think they are an inspiration, because they come up with ideas and get them accomplished,” said College Park Mayor Andrew Fellows, who spoke at a Pick Up America fundraiser March 4 in Sandy Spring in Montgomery County. “A lot of us only think of things and don’t actually do them.”

Some days will be dedicated to walking and trash pick-up, Rogner said, while others will include travel, presentations and public appearances. The group will also tour this spring with singer-songwriter Ben Harper, play their own music and display art mostly supplied by friends at each stop.

“People respond a lot better toward active learning, so to put it out in art or pick up trash is a lot more effective,” Alexander said. “It’s hands-on instead of sitting around talking about it.”

Rogner said he expects the trip to cost $80,000, including transportation, insurance, phone and Internet costs. The group hopes to raise $5,500 by the start of their trip and they netted more than $3,000 at their March 4 fundraiser.

“This walk is completely aligned with everything that I am and everything I do,” said Rogner, who lives in White Oak. “Hopefully, there will be other people who are inspired and want to take action on their own.”

For more information on Pick Up America, visit http://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/.

Renewable Energy Investment May Reach $200 Billion in 2010

But who’s spending what?  The good news is investment is expected to climb by 23% to $200 billion.  The bad news is that China is leading the charge.  Maintaining this level of spending will also be on shaky ground after 2011 when stimulus funds run out.  Here’s a few excerpts below.

“Renewable energy investment may rise by 23 percent this year as government stimulus funds mainly in the U.S. and Europe are spent wind turbines and solar panels.

Spending may rise to between $175 billion and $200 billion this year from $162 billion in 2009, said Bloomberg New Energy Finance Chief Executive Officer Michael Liebreich today.

“There’s a big bulge of stimulus money coming through this year,” he said during a press conference at the consultant’s annual conference in London. “The question is what happens when they switch off the stimulus.”

“China invested $34.5 billion in wind turbines, solar panels and other low-carbon energy technologies in 2009, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said today in London. The U.S. spent about half as much last year, or $18.6 billion, slipping to second.”

““The rise of China as an investor in clean energy is a striking development that reflects in part Beijing’s determination to be at the forefront of manufacturing key technologies such as wind turbines and solar PV modules,” said Liebreich. “Investment in the U.S. was held back last year by a shortage of long-term private sector finance for projects.””

“Worldwide, only 9 percent of the $182 billion of global economic stimulus packages earmarked for clean energy had been spent by the end of last year, New Energy Finance estimates. Two-thirds of the spending is scheduled for this year and next, which follows last year’s $162 billion.

China, the world’s third-largest economy, boosted the installed capacity of renewable energy projects to 52.5 gigawatts, mainly in the form of wind turbines and biomass plants. That’s the equivalent of 52 medium-sized coal plants. Low-carbon energy now accounts for 4 percent of the total.

The U.S. still leads the world in installed renewable capacity at 53.4 gigawatts, or 4 percent of the total. Spending this year is poised to climb, reversing last year’s 40 percent decline, with much of the $66 billion of the clean-energy stimulus money being spent, New Energy Finance said.”

Operation Free’s Video on Clean Energy and Climate Change