InterIntel Working to Bring Environmental Solutions to Haiti

Daniel Schnitzer is Co-Founder and Director of Project Management at InterIntel, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity based in Cambridge, MA.  InterIntel works at the community level to improve energy services and environmental management with empowering, self-sustaining projects.  They are presently organizing three projects on the southwestern peninsula of Haiti. In this post, Dan explains how he started the organization with the goal of “democratizing sustainability”:

Back in August of 2008, during my first trip to Haiti, I was standing in front of the heaviest paperweight I had ever seen in my life. It was a perfectly new 170 kW diesel generator, connected to a non-functional streetlighting grid in a coastal town called Tiburon on the western tip of Haiti’s southern peninsula. My Haitian friends had told me that the local congressman spent tens of thousands of dollars and a great deal of effort into developing this project. But now that he had been re-elected, no one was sure whether this generator would ever give light to Tiburon. Electricite d’Haiti built the grid, but had since abandoned it.

During that trip I encountered many other symptoms of the governmental and market failure we read and hear about most often in the form of statistics like these: 800,000 children and 500,000 women die worldwide each year from respiratory disease caused by indoor air pollution from dirty biomass cooking fuel; in 2004, Tropical Storm Jeanne killed 3,000 people in Haiti; in 2008, Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike tore paths of destruction through Haiti, causing untold property damage and killing at least 800; each year 30,000,000 trees are cut down in Haiti, which now has just 1% of its land under forest cover.

These symptoms are inequitable for the obvious reason that they disproportionately affect the poor, the oppressed and the disenfranchised. InterIntel and many other organizations operate on the conviction that solutions for many of the root causes of symptoms like illness, disasters and poverty are readily available. Further, we believe that solutions can go one step further than economic development; they can foster social justice.

However, time and again, the “solutions” pandered to the governments and people of least developed countries by the IMF, World Bank and USAID not only failed, but in many cases made situations worse. This is hardly surprising, though. What little participation countries receiving aid from these organizations have is controlled by their finance ministers, who represent the interests of the business elite – not the people.

That is why InterIntel takes a community-based, participatory approach to its projects. We use surveys to discover the needs, constraints and desires of residents, and depend on facts, not ideologies, to guide our work. In order to truly solve the root problems so ubiquitous in the developing world, we must engage in empowering, self-sustaining activities that put people to work, prevent capital flight, and transfer knowledge.

For example, InterIntel discovered through its surveys of 265 residents in the community of Les Anglais that the payback period on a $20US solar-powered LED lamp could be as little as three months, and typically at most fifteen months, based on the amount presently spent on kerosene and candle-based lighting. If such lamps were available, residents would have the option to use a light source that is better for their health and their budget. Our solution is to build a clean energy retail store to stock appropriate energy technologies like solar lamps, solar home systems, and efficient charcoal stoves. We have introduced three key features of this project – cooperation, training and microfinance – to ensure that it has the greatest possible impact.

I encourage you to read more about this and our other projects on our website, www.interintel.org.  In order to make these projects a reality though, InterIntel needs to raise a minimum of $20,000.  We estimate our total costs for the year to be $80,000.  Since receiving our 501(c)(3) status in mid-January of 2009, we have raised over $2,500 from individual donors and greatly appreciate donations of any size – even $25 is enough to purchase and ship two solar LED lamps to Les Anglais. Donations can be securely made through PayPal on our website: www.interintel.org. If you are interested in volunteering, please visit our website to learn more about us and send an email. You can also support our cause by sending our website to friends, family and colleagues, or by becoming a “fan” of InterIntel on our facebook page.
-Daniel Schnitzer

This is our first post from guest blogger Daniel Schnitzer. If you’re interested in blogging for us, send an email to dorothee@see3.net.

Q&A: Filmmaker Michael Brown Documents Shrinking Glaciers

If you ever visit your local museum’s IMAX or click on to the Discovery Channel you have most likely seen Michael Brown’s award-winning cinematography. Working on such projects as IMAX: Return to Everest 3D, The Alps IMAX and Storm Chasers for the Discovery Channel, Brown’s usual day at the office sees him hanging out of helicopters with 100 pound cameras and climbing the rock faces of Nepal. Consistently grabbing up press for having one of the coolest jobs on earth, he also has some strong convictions about how to protect it:

CS: In your role as filmmaker, you have been a lot of places most of us don’t get to travel to. What have you seen that makes a case for climate change?

MB: I have been to a lot of glaciers in the mountains and polar regions. They are all shrinking. It is easy to see, they are like bulldozers that have stopped and started backing up, leaving a pile of dirt with a big empty space behind. I have also seen a lot of the world from the air. Our atmosphere is a milky white in many places. This opaque air reflects the sun back into space. It’s a scary thing.

CS: You mentioned you had strong opinions about the environment. When did it all change for you?

MB: My parents, though they divorced when I was young, were both conservation minded. Mom fought dams in Montana, Dad battled for wilderness in Colorado. I grew up in an activist household and came to expect that I would be the same.

CS: Recently you were invited to work with the Extreme Ice Survey expedition. What is it and why does it matter?

MB: The Extreme Ice Survey is a photography project founded and lead by James Balog. He is documenting glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere with stills and time lapse. The time lapses are the interesting aspect in that they allow us to ’see’ glaciers move and in all cases retreat.

CS: What was the most striking event you witnessed on the expedition?

MB: We were lucky enough to be the first people ever to be present and see when a glacial melt water lake drained down through the Greenland Ice Cap. The ice cap melts down about five feet in three months every summer. It produces a heck of a lot of water. The water flows across and sometimes forms huge lakes. These lakes eventually reach a critical depth and the ice fractures and an entire lake drains down in a few hours. These are a critical part of the hydrologic cycle and scientists are looking at these for answers as to why the ice is moving and flowing toward the sea faster in general.

CS: When you travel to remote areas, what do you do to minimize your impact?

MB: We are constantly aware of our impact when traveling. Helicopters are hideously expensive anyway so we can only afford a minimum time. Ironically we are often in competition with oil and mineral exploration for helicopter time. Money aside, booking the machines is a real challenge.

For myself, I have seen too much in the process of making films and helping other people make films about energy. I feel that between the polluted water from mountain top removal, rivers destroyed by dams and wars in oil producing regions, our energy comes at too high a cost. Climate change is but one aspect. I am almost silly in my militant quest turning off lights, riding a bike to work and generally reducing my own energy use.

CS: I noticed visiting the Serac Adventure Films office in Boulder, Colorado there are a lot of bikes and recycling bins, how do you apply what you have learned on your expeditions to the home office?

MB: We care deeply about these issues. I will make hiring decisions based on whether or not someone is willing and able to ride a bike to work. I don’t like to hire people who have to drive.

CS: What are some of the best films you recommend on the subject?

MB: It might be a surprise but the most effective environmental films are disguised as narrative features. Environmental films, especially documentaries tend to preach to the converted. Some surprises come from Hollywood, Soylent Green, V for Vendatta, Fern Gully, March of the Penguins and the Matrix are all films that increase our appreciation and make powerful points while also being entertainment.

- Carole Snow Wefler

This is our 2nd post from guest blogger Carole Snow Wefler. If you’d like to write for us, send an email to dorothee@see3.net.

Van Jones Says: Come to PowerShift ‘09!

In the middle of our new administration’s first 100 days, Power Shift 2009 will bring 10,000 young people to Washington to hold our elected officials accountable for rebuilding our economy and reclaiming our future through bold climate and clean energy policy.

Here’s more info from their website:

From February 27th to March 2nd, 2009 young people from across the country will converge on Washington D.C. to take a message of bold, comprehensive and immediate federal climate action to Capitol Hill. We will leverage the momentum we have built through the Campus Climate Challenge, Power Shift 2007, and our election campaign Power Vote to pressure our politicians to take the action our generation demands.

Sounds like a great initiative to us. If you’re still not convinced to make the trek out to D.C., here’s Van Jones encouraging the youth of America to attend:

High School Marching Band Goes Green

When the Amador Valley High School Band isn’t making music, they’re making the world a greener place with help from the Go Green Initiative.

According to their site,

The Go Green Initiative is a simple, comprehensive program designed to create a culture of environmental responsibility on school campuses across the nation. Founded in 2002, the Go Green Initiative unites parents, students, teachers and school administrators in an effort to make real and lasting changes in their campus communities that will protect children and the environment for years to come.

Keep up the good work kids!

Norwegian Eco-Kids Keeping Their Parents in Check

Don’t mess with this kid! The Norwegian organization Miljøagentene, Eco Agents is educating kids about the environment and how to behave in an environmentally friendly manner.

According to their website,

Our aim is to stimulate children’s interest and love for nature, and to make them realize that the way we live our lives has influence on the environment. Eco-agents always focuses on possibilities, and our goal is to make the voices of the children heard.

Check out their first commercial:

Keep up the good work kids!

International Youth Call Out to Merkel and Tusk in Warsaw

Young Climate Activists Take to the Streets in Poland

The quiet streets of downtown Poznan were flooded with people over the weekend for the International Day of Climate Action. With banners held high, hundreds of people marched through the city center to the site of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, demanding action on climate change through chants in multiple languages.

“What do we want? Climate Justice! When do we want it? NOW!”

The youth presence in the event was particularly strong. Dozens of young people, covered in face paint and bearing colorful costumes, dressed as clowns to represent world leaders who are “clowning around” while the planet warms. Others danced to the beats of a drumming contingent that joined the procession.

In contrast to the tone of the conference, the march was energetic, loud, and fueled by – in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – the “fierce urgency of now.” Rather than getting bogged down in the minutia of daily negotiations, young people remain above the fray, never losing sight of the grander vision of this conference – the establishment of a strong, ambitious, and equitable international climate change treaty. While listening to countries intensely bicker over the placement of brackets in a draft document when the larger question of financing adaptation in developing countries is on the table, I can’t help but worry that delegates to this convention have not internalized the urgency of the challenge in front of us.

The International Day of Climate Action presented a welcome opportunity to demonstrate just that.

By Jeff Gustafson, SustainUS Delegate and Director of the D.C. Youth Environmental Alliance in Washington, D.C.

Protests at UN Climate Talks in Poland

On Saturday December 6th, Greenpeace took action in Poznan, Poland where the United Nations climate talks are taking place. To mark the International Day of Climate Action, they joined activists in locations all around the world to call on world leaders to take urgent action on climate change. This is definitely a great cause but what’s with the clown outfits guys?

Submit Your Photo for International Day of Climate Action

Out With the Old, In With the Youth

By John Doyle, SustainUS Delegation Grassroots Coordinator

More than just being the lame duck, the US State Department has become a dead duck at this year’s UN Climate Negotiations in Poland. Contrary to past years, this year the US delegation has become the de facto outcasts of the conference: pleas are not directed to them, their statements are not repudiated, and even the press is ignoring them and focusing instead on the EU.

After the deplorable statement made Wednesday by an American negotiator encouraging 20% emissions cuts by 2050, far below what scientists say are necessary, the US youth have decided that we can not sit aside any longer. The American people did not vote in record numbers to be the laughing stock at some of the most important negotiations in the history of the world. We Power Voted for a new government that will engage with the international community on finding real solutions. Since our leaders are falling short, US youth are happy to fill their shoes.

This Friday, delegates from SustainUS, 350.org, EJCC, RAN, and Greenpeace will be extending invitations to government delegations from dozens of countries, developing and developed, to meet with us. We want to assure them that ‘the real US’ is ready to seek a bold, binding, equitable, and science-based agreement next year in Copenhagen. We will be extending this global engagement invitation to Senators John Kerry, Ben Cardin, and Amy Klobuchar, who will all be arriving in Poland next week. We have a long year ahead of us and there is no time to delay.

But, we need your help! SustainUS is launching a massive photo petition in honor of the International Day of Climate Action, December 6th, that will let international delegations know that the U.S. youth will be pressuring President-elect Obama and Congress for climate action NOW! In the next 24 hours:

1) Grab a camera, your friends and family (or just yourself)

2) Make a sign that says “bold, equitable, binding, and science-based” to select the type of climate agreement you are ready for

3) Feel free to draw a globe (or hold one) or do something that will give your picture an international vibe.

4) Send your photo to climatephotopetition@gmail.com

5) Get ready for a huge year in the run-up to Copenhagen!

When everyone sends their pictures in, we’ll be able to show other countries and our own that there is plenty of support for climate action. Once all of your faces arrive in Poland, the U.S. will finally be properly represented!

Taking Action Against Coal in Belgium

This Belgian activist took a day off from work to demonstrate against the construction of a new coal fired power plant. He spends his free time volunteering for Greenpeace and says it’s his favorite hobby…so what are YOU waiting for? Get yourself off that couch and go save the world!

Axis of Corporate Evil: Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, and the NRA Hired Black Ops Private Security Team to Spy on Green Activists

Taco Bell, Wal-Mart, and the NRA hired the private security firm Carlyle Group to get all “black ops” on eco-activists asses. They rumaged through their garbage to find confidential documents (the lesson here- shred your papers) and even social security numbers.

A private security company organized and managed by former Secret Service officers spied on Greenpeace and other environmental organizations from the late 1990s through at least 2000, pilfering documents from trash bins, attempting to plant undercover operatives within groups, casing offices, collecting phone records of activists, and penetrating confidential meetings. According to company documents provided to Mother Jones by a former investor in the firm, this security outfit collected confidential internal records—donor lists, detailed financial statements, the Social Security numbers of staff members, strategy memos—from these organizations and produced intelligence reports for public relations firms and major corporations involved in environmental controversies.

In addition to focusing on environmentalists, the firm, Beckett Brown International (later called S2i), provided a range of services to a host of clients. According to its billing records, BBI engaged in “intelligence collection” for Allied Waste; it conducted background checks and performed due diligence for the Carlyle Group, the Washington-based investment firm; it provided “protective services” for the National Rifle Association; it handled “crisis management” for the Gallo wine company and for Pirelli; it made sure that the Louis Dreyfus Group, the commodities firm, was not being bugged; it engaged in “information collection” for Wal-Mart; it conducted background checks for Patricia Duff, a Democratic Party fundraiser then involved in a divorce with billionaire Ronald Perelman; and for Mary Kay, BBI mounted “surveillance,” and vetted Gayle Gaston, a top executive at the cosmetics company (and mother of actress Robin Wright Penn), retaining an expert to conduct a psychological assessment of her. Also listed as clients in BBI records: Halliburton and Monsanto.

Evil motherbleeping corporations. Souless, hungry, exploitative corporations. Grrr… This stuff makes Mr. Cranky Green mad!

Link [Mother Jones] via [The Raw Story]