Fargo Planning Director Jim Gilmour and I were recently on a panel assembled by Governing magazine where Fargo was one of four cities to discuss what makes a "livable" community. They seemed especially impressed with our growing successes in conservation and transit as well as our vibrant downtown redevelopment that enhances and preserves historic buildings, along with a growing assortment of eclectic stores, residents, and restaraunts.

Here's the full article online :

AARP the Magazine Names the Top 10 Healthiest Places to Live in America

Fargo sees 28 percent jump in bus riders
Numbers also up in Moorhead

Check out MAT online here Learn how to use MAT here

FARGO, N.D. (July 21, 2008)  Business is booming at Metro Area Transit (MAT), the bus system serving Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo. Fargos transit administrator reports a 28 percent rise in the number of bus riders so far this year. From January through June of 2008, MAT saw 604,913 riders; thats up from 472,597 for the same period in 2007.

Moorhead reports a growing number of riders as well, with an increase of 10 percent in the first half of 2008 (195,372) over the first half of 2007 (178,320).

Transit leaders believe gas prices have prompted many Fargo-Moorhead residents to give the bus a try.

Our customers can pay $35 to get unlimited rides on MAT for 30 days, said Julie Bommelman, Fargo transit administrator. In many vehicles, $35 only buys you half a tank of gas, so people realize that their dollars go a lot further with MAT.

One Fargo bus route has experienced dramatic growth in the first half of 2008. Route 15 runs from downtown to the West Acres Shopping Center, then continues on to Wal-mart in south Fargo. The number of riders on this route jumped 90 percent from January to June, thanks in part to the addition of a second bus servicing this route. The second bus allows the route to run every 30 minutes.

In addition to gas prices, MAT leaders believe their promotional efforts in the community have led to the substantial increase in customers.

MAT offers telephone and Web-based assistance to help you learn to use the bus system. Call 701-232-7500 or visit matbus.com for more information.

This quote is from a recent article by Janell Cole. It helps demonstrate why it's good to develop more renewable energy sources developing our states excellent wind and biomass like we're doing at the Fargo landfill. Here's the full article:

Natural gas costs could set records

Janell Cole, The Forum
Published Thursday, July 17, 2008

State Capitol Bureau

BISMARCK  North Dakotans heating with natural and propane gas could be in for record costs this winter, state officials warned Wednesday.

Whats happening in natural gas prices this summer is truly frightening, said Public Service Commissioner Tony Clark after the commission took official notice of fuel cost increases that three utilities will be passing on to their customers with this or next months bills.

Fellow commissioner Kevin Cramer said the commission and utility companies are sounding the alarm about high home heating costs, which he believes may set records.

The commission on Wednesday discussed July purchase gas adjustments for natural gas from Xcel Energy and Great Plains Natural Gas Co., as well as a propane fuel cost adjustment for Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., all of which are increases. The commission doesnt act on the increases; the companies are allowed to pass on the cost of fuel to their customers without PSC action.

Companies and commissioners said part of the problem is that natural gas is increasingly being used nationally to generate electricity used to run air conditioners. That means less gas is stored for use in the winter.

The federal Energy Departments Energy Information Administration also said U.S. imports of liquefied natural gas are below last year because the fuel is being shipped to European and Asia-Pacific markets, which pay higher prices.

Natural gas and propane also become more expensive when oil rises in price, they said.

Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. spokesman Mark Hanson said natural gas prices are about 50 percent to 55 percent higher than at this time last summer.

Its kind of concerning to see where prices are heading, he said. An average homeowner can expect to pay $350 more this heating season than last winter, he said. The heating season is defined as November through March.

Great Plains, which serves Wahpeton, said gas will go up $2.35 per thousand cubic feet this month, to a total of $14.42 per thousand cubic feet.

Xcel Energys July residential increase is $1.23 per dekatherm, to $12.14, or $3.75 higher than last summer.

And Montana-Dakotas propane is rising in August by 55 cents per dekatherm, to $19.61, which will cost residential customers an average of $1.10 more than last month and $16.90 more than last August.

Commissioner Susan Wefald noted that this months prices are already higher than the natural gas price spike during winter 2006.

Xcel spokeswoman Bonnie Lund of Fargo said the company will continue to emphasize what customers can do to increase energy efficiency. The company has energy saving tips on its Web site, www.xcelenergy.com. Click on residential and then save money and energy.

Xcel also pays rebates to customers who switch to a high-efficiency furnace.

She said that the company subsidizes home energy audits that can tell customers where their homes are leaking heated or conditioned air, asking customers to pay $35 for a service that costs $150.

Were seeing a high interest in our energy audit program, Lund said.

Hanson said Montana-Dakota Utilities is preparing a special direct-mail notice to customers that will warn them about the coming costly winter bills and suggesting they get on a balanced billing plan, get furnaces tuned up, regularly change furnace filters and invest in a set-back thermostat, among other steps.

"The Pickens Plan" calls for investing in domestic renewable resources such as wind, and switching from oil to natural gas as a transportation fuel.

Here's a website and recent article from CNN on T. Boone Pickens:

Oil billionaire Pickens puts his money on wind power

(CNN) -- Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens is putting his clout behind renewable energy sources like wind power.

The legendary entrepreneur and philanthropist on Tuesday unveiled a new energy plan he says will decrease the United States' dependency on foreign oil by more than one-third and help shift American energy production toward renewable natural resources.

"The Pickens Plan" calls for investing in domestic renewable resources such as wind, and switching from oil to natural gas as a transportation fuel.

In a news conference outlining his proposal, Pickens said his impetus for the plan is the country's dangerous reliance on foreign oil.

"Our dependence on imported oil is killing our economy. It is the single biggest problem facing America today," he said. "Wind power is ... clean, it's renewable. It's everything you want. And it's a stable supply of energy," Pickens told CNN in May. "It's unbelievable that we have not done more with wind."

Pickens' company, Mesa Power, recently announced a $2 billion investment as the first step in a multibillion-dollar plan to build the world's largest wind farm in Pampa, Texas.

Pickens said Tuesday that if the United States takes advantage of the so-called "wind corridor," stretching from the Canadian border to West Texas, energy from wind turbines built there could supply 20 percent or more of the nation's power. He suggested the project could be funded by private investors.

Power from thousands of wind turbines that would line the corridor could be distributed throughout the country via electric power transmission lines and could fuel power plants in large population hubs, the oil baron said.

Fueling these plants with wind power would then free up the natural gas historically used to power them, and would mean that natural gas could replace foreign oil as fuel for motor vehicles, he said.

Using natural gas for transportation needs could replace one-third of the United States' imported oil and would save more than $230 billion a year, Pickens said.

"We are going to have to do something different in America," Pickens told CNN. "You can't keep paying out $600 billion a year for oil."

His energy plan could be implemented within 10 years if both Congress and the White House treat the current energy situation as a "national emergency and take immediate action," he predicted.

Pickens, a lifelong Republican, says he is not advising either presidential candidate, but is prepared to work with the next president.

The Web site for the plan urges people to sign up and help spread the word.

Oil analyst Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover, an energy risk manager, said Pickens' plan could definitely reduce the country's dependency on foreign oil.

"The best thing about it is that it's a definite plan -- it's not something that either party has pitted itself outrightly against. It therefore has a tremendous chance for success on Capitol Hill."

Analyst Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., an investment firm, added that such a plan "has been on the drawing board for years."

At least 21 states and the District of Columbia have set deadlines or goals for utilities to obtain electricity from clean, renewable sources instead of fossil fuel-burning plants.

The scramble has triggered construction of large-scale wind farms throughout much of the nation, including proposals for the first U.S. offshore facilities.

Delaware and Galveston, Texas, have offshore projects in the works, although a farm proposed off New York's Long Island was shelved this year because of high projected construction costs.

In Massachusetts, where utilities are under the gun to obtain four percent of electricity from renewables by 2009, builders await federal approval of a hugely controversial wind farm off historic Cape Cod.

The Cape Wind project envisions 130 wind turbines each rising 440 feet above Nantucket Sound by 2011. State officials said the farm will eliminate pollution equal to 175,000 gas-burning cars.

The group heard perspectives on the opportunities and challenges for energy use and development in ND from a wide range of leaders in the energy, industry, farmers, ranchers, our congressional delegation, and state officials. One common theme seemed to be that conservation should be our first energy of choice to help reduce the financial burden of fast rising energy costs as well as reducing emmissions.

The workshops conducted after the presentations provided some strategies for developing more ways for people to access information available from our energy providers, the EPA, and other sources. Here's an example of one neat little EPA software application that helps us identify and track how much energy we can expect to save on specific changes in our households, small, inexpensive things like programable thermostats, flourescent bulbs, lowering water heater temperature and water saving showerheads.

Here are links to such conservation information sites and programs currently available at Cass County Electric and Xcel Energy. The goal is to create a one stop site at NDARE.org that people from all over the area can find information and efficiency programs in their service area.

To help make this happen, one of the projects underway in the conservation sector for the ND Alliance of Renewable Energy is to compile a online source of links to information and existing energy efficiency programs to help people find some of these systems and information that is available and applicable to their specific service area all across the state. Carl Pedersen is an energy efficiency expert working with NDSU's extension service and is working on the project along with NDARE board member Scott Handy of Cass County Electric and other NDARE members from around the state. If you're interested in helping with this project please contact us here.

]]> Sat, 12 Jul 2008 08:15:00 CST http://www.areavoices.com/renewnd/?blog=29918 http://www.areavoices.com/renewnd/?blog=29918 "Prairie Stewardship Network seeks to establish a basis for action on climate stewardship within and through the faith community by communicating the shared theology of the sacredness of creation and the mandate that we be stewards of creation."

These words are from the Directors of the Prairie Stewardship Network. Thanks to Renee Gopal and the other directors for organizing a strong list of speakers that include experts from energy and conservation groups, our ND congressional delegation, the governor, as well as Annabelle Malins from Great Britain to share some environmental and energy perspectives from other nations.

I'm also honored to be involved by being invited to share information with some proven examples about how cities can make better use of our resources featuring some of our successful conservation projects in Fargo. These successful efforts proving conservation saves and pays, are some of the reasons Fargo has been gaining national recognition as an environmentally aware city like being ranked #1 for the city with the best overall environment by the Earth Day Network.

This type of "branding" as a leading city for green community may help create awareness of our area as a sustainable, clean, vibrant, safe, and productive place to come to live, work and play.

I've included more from the groups informational packet about their Stewardship conference in Bismarck starting on July 10th - 11th at Bismarck State College. Here's the rest of their introduction followed by the conference agenda:

"Prairie Stewardship Network recognizes that our response to climate change must be a cooperative one, involving all levels of society. We strongly urge individuals and families to take action in their personal lives, and our leaders in industry, agriculture and government to support scientific research, technological alternatives and policy initiatives to dramatically reduce global warming emissions.

We who live in North Dakota and the Northern Plains region are uniquely blessed with options that can both produce climate-friendly energy for the nation and sustain our rural livelihoods. North Dakota industry has helped pioneer the use of coal gasification technology both to produce energy while capturing and permanently storing the carbon dioxide emissions underground*. It has also initiated the planning and construction of new wind farms, and ethanol and biodiesel plants; these accomplishments demonstrate our economic and environmental potential in renewable energy. These developments hold great promise for reducing global warming and for reviving rural communities. Prairie Stewardship Network promotes continuing concerted action at all levels in order that our region's potential is fully realized."

Prairie Stewardship Network Board of Directors

Prairie Climate Stewardship Conference Energy and Agricultural Solutions for North Dakota July 10 & 11 University of Mary Campus, Bismarck 7500 University Drive Bismarck, ND 58504 Host : University of Mary Organizers: Prairie Stewardship Network & Great Plains Institute
						Thursday, July 10th 8:00 a.m. Registration Begins 9:00 a.m. Welcome Sister Thomas Welder, OSB, President, University of Mary Faith Reflections on Climate Stewardship Fr. Paul Schuster, St. Marks Church, Bottineau and President, Prairie Stewardship Network Rev. Cody Schuler, Edgewood United Methodist Church, Fargo 9:30 a.m. Scientific Dimension of Climate Stewardship Charles Rice, Professor of Soil Microbiology, and Director, Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases 10:15 a.m. Roadmaps to the Future: Pathways for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Steve Brick, Manager of Environmental Programs, Joyce Foundation 11:00 a.m. Congressional Remarks on Federal Climate Policy and Legislation Senator Kent Conrad Senator Byron Dorgan Congressman Earl Pomeroy 12:00 p.m. Lunch Remarks from State Policy Makers Commissioner Roger Johnson, North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner and Member, State Industrial Commission Senator Rich Wardner, Chairman, North Dakota Energy Development and Transmission Committee 1:30 p.m. North Dakotas Comparative Advantages in Energy Security and Climate Stewardship: Panel I Advanced Coal Technologies and Geologic Storage of Carbon Dioxide Jeffrey Phillips, Program Manager, Advanced Coal Generation, Electric Power Research Institute Fulfilling North Dakotas World Class Wind Energy Potential Betsy Engelking, Manager, Resource Planning and Bidding, Xcel Energy Energy Efficiency: A Low-Cost Form of New Generation Scott Handy, CEO, Cass County Electric 2:45 p.m. Break 3:00 p.m. North Dakotas Comparative Advantages in Climate Stewardship: Panel II Farming and Ranching to Store Carbon in Prairie Soils and Wetlands Dale Enerson, Director, National Farmers Union Carbon Credit Program Harnessing Native Grasses and Other Cellulosic Biomass to Produce Low-Carbon Liquid Fuels, Power and Chemicals Niles Hushka, President and CEO, Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson 4:00 p.m. Regional Blueprint: Midwestern Governors Energy Security and Climate Stewardship Summit Moderator: Josh Gackle, Senior Policy Advisor, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty Bill Grant, Midwest Director, Izaak Walton League Dave Miller, Director, Research and Commodity Services, Iowa Farm Bureau Paul Loeffelman, Director, State Environmental Policy, American Electric Power 5:30 p.m. Reception and Socializing 6:30 p.m. Dinner 7:00 p.m. Remarks by Governor John Hoeven Global Perspective on the Obligation and Opportunities of Climate Stewardship Annabelle Malins, Her Majesty's Consul (Acting), Bristish Consulate, Denve, CO Friday, July 11th 8:00 a.m. Breakfast 8:30 a.m. Industry Perspectives on Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Energy Economy Greg Ridderbusch, Vice President, Business Development and Strategy, Great River Energy Robert Mannes, President, Core Energy, LLC 9:30 a.m. Resource Presentations: What Governments, Communities, Businesses, Non-Profit Institutions, Churches and Households Can Do On the first day of the conference, attendees will hear from a range of speakers. The second day will be their turn to participate and offer input. Individual attendees will choose from a selection of breakout topics and hear from an expert presenter who will share examples of practical actions and initiatives that can be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These presentations and follow-up Q&A will serve as a foundation for facilitated strategy discussions to follow. Topic Choices & Resource Presenters: 1. Communities and Local Governments Mike Williams, Fargo City Commissioner & Lola Schoenrich, Program Manager, Great Plains Institute 2. Green Buildings and Energy Efficiency Mark Lundberg, AIA, LEED-AP, Architect and Principal, YHR Partners, & Carl Pedersen, Energy Educator, NDSU Extension Service 3. Educational Institutions (higher education and K-12) Richard Strong, Adjunct Asst. Professor and Research Fellow, Center for Sustainable Building Research, University of Minnesota 4. Farmers, Ranchers, Sportsmen and Conservation Groups Dale Enerson, Director, National Farmers Union Carbon Credit Program, & Keith Trego, Executive Director, ND Natural Resources Trust 5. Engaging Youth Jason Schaefer, Education Coordinator, To Cross the Moon, & Tom Dahle (Scoutmaster) & Sam Hager (Eagle Scout Service Project Candidate) Troop 123 10:00 a.m. Breakout Sessions for Strategy Development By topic to begin developing broad-based action plans to help guide further work by conference organizers and partners (Great Plains Institute will facilitate these discussions, using its tested approach to working with diverse stakeholders on policy and strategy.) 12:00 p.m. Lunch 1:30 p.m. Strategy and Next Steps Wrap-up Session 2:30 p.m. Adjourn

Here's some dedicated Veterans helping honor our Independence Day. Thank you!

I think this is the little engine that could!

Whats a parade without these cool old cars?

Candidates are also a standard, here's friend Mark Altenberg running for a MN Representative spot.

Here's Lysa Ringquist, another candidate for MN House. Two supporters hula hooped as they walked. Lot's of support for Lysa!

Here's Minnesota Representative and former Mayor of Moorhead, Morrie Lanning waving. Way to go Morrie!

This man is pedaling across America with his one arm! He's an inspiration as he's raising money and awareness for folks in need.

The kids loved the MSU Dragon that passed out candy and lots of "high fives"

It's not only cars that are getting smaller, these two ponies moved this beautiful coach along just fine. The mother next to me asked her girls if they'd liked to ride in this on their wedding night. I don't think they wanted to wait that long, it looks like fun!

These friendly dogs were a big hit with the parade watchers, some that had brought their own dogs to enjoy the day

This float really did it up right with all the kids smiling and cheering, and it really sparkled on this wonderfully sunny day.

Fargo named one of nation's cleanest cities
By Noaki Schwartz
Associated Press - 05/01/2008

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A city outside California has for the first time been named the sootiest in the nation, one of the categories the American Lung Association uses to determine the most polluted cities in the country.

Los Angeles still took the all-around pollution title, though.

Pittsburgh overtook Los Angeles in the category that measures short-term particle pollution or soot. Los Angeles, the country's longtime soot and smog leader, has enacted aggressive measures to tackle sources of pollution, resulting in a substantial drop in particle pollution levels, said Janice Nolen, the association's assistant vice president of national policy and advocacy.

``It's not that Pittsburgh has gotten worse; it's that Los Angeles has gotten better,' Nolen said. ``If the trend continues, Pittsburgh will top two lists, and LA will only be leading the nation in ozone.'

Still, Los Angeles held its own in two other categories measuring year-round soot levels and smog. And statewide, 26 of California's 52 counties with air quality monitoring stations got failing grades for having either high ozone days or particle pollution days.

The association's ``State of the Air: 2008' report, being released Thursday, was based on air quality measurements reported to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by state and local agencies between 2004 and 2006. The study looks at three key pollution measures.

The eight metropolitan areas considered to be the nation's most polluted by every measure were Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Visalia-Porterfield and Hanford-Corcoran, all in California; Washington-Baltimore; St. Louis; and Birmingham, Ala.

The cleanest cities were Fargo, N.D., and Salinas, Calif.

The quote is from recent editorial in the Bismarck Tribune. They cite higher priced fuel as the primary reason for rising food prices. They conclude that the first way each of us can reduce our energy costs is to drive less and go slower when we do drive to increase fuel efficiency. Here's the editorial:

Bismarck Tribune Editorial - Jun 26, 2008 - 04:07:25 CDT

Perhaps the authority controlling gaming in the state should initiate a new contest asking people to wager on when gasoline will reach $5 a gallon or diesel $6 in our area.

All the people who guess correctly will be paid off in coupons for gas or diesel - discreetly, because fuel is getting to be a precious commodity, and we wouldn't want there to be muggings of people holding the coupons.

Already there's a rash of thefts of gas directly from the pump. The Tribune reported that over the weekend of June 14-15 there were four drive-offs without payment to the stations. That's more than happened in a month a year ago.

There's no justifying theft. The vast majority of us pay up and have some discretion over how much fuel we purchase by disciplining our driving habits. But it's not the same as asking truckers, for instance, to cut down on fuel consumption. They do necessary driving. They are noticeably slowing down on the highways as one thing they can do to economize.

Every item of consumer goods that is trucked shows in its price the effect of the cost of fuel. So we have to grit our teeth in the store at the cash register as much as at the pump.

It's appealing to cast about to fix blame or howl for a near-term solution to escalating fuel costs. There is debate over whether oil speculators are culprits in this and whether more production of petroleum - particularly off-shore or in a wildlife preserve in Alaska - could ease the pain at the pump.

One radio news report (not talk show but by a respected news organization) examined the amount of time that might elapse before increased off-shore drilling could substantially make a difference in meeting demand and influencing the price per barrel of crude. The conclusion was that it could take 10 years.

In the meantime, pressure has been put on Saudi Arabia to increase production. Rather grudgingly, the Saudi government announced Sunday that in July it would allow the pumping of 9.7 million barrels a day, a 200,000-barrel raise in daily production. But the run-up in oil on the market has happened during a time when the Saudis already added 300,000 barrels a day to market supply.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said sensibly in his reaction to the meeting in Saudi Arabia that the increased production might help some but that "oil shock" would continue, causing Western nations to change their energy-consumption ways. For some reason, Brown then threw in a reference to moving increasingly to nuclear power.

That won't help drivers at gasoline or diesel pumps. And coal will remain important as a fuel for generating electricity, no matter whether countries can decide on how to deal with spent nuclear fuel rods, such as recycling them.

About reducing demand for gasoline, choices are painfully simple: Driving less or driving more slowly or both.

BISMARCK: The North Dakota Alliance for Renewable Energy has commended

Governor John Hoeven on Thursday's presentation of the final Empower Commission

report.

The report should serve as a springboard for new initiatives to enhance all sectors of

our energy economy, said Mike Williams, Fargo, NDARE chairman, in a letter to

Hoeven. We look forward to working with you, the Empower Commission

members, legislators and other industry and organization partners to advance the

energy industries in North Dakota.

Established by the 2007 Legislature to develop an energy policy roadmap for the

state, the commission developed recommendations based on information from all

energy industry sectors to further enhance the state's comprehensive energy plan.

Commission members were appointed by the governor.

With more than 50 members statewide, Energy biomass energy production and use in the state. NDARE also promotes energy efficiency and conservation. For more information on NDARE, please visit their

website at