Events
Upcoming Events
Landfills’ Impacts on Public Health, Quality of Life, and Climate Change
Wednesday, February 26th from 6:00 - 7:00 PM
Eliot Wessler is a retired economist. For the past ten years he has been working with a number of grassroots environmental groups that focus on modernizing and rationalizing New Hampshire's solid waste policies. He worked in Washington DC for 35 years at a number of consulting firms, trade associations and Federal agencies. Most of his work focused on electric and natural gas utilities, including environmental policy-making, but primarily on anti-trust matters. He is a graduate of Northern Arizona University and Clark University.
Eliot and his wife Ellen are very lucky--they live in Whitefield, New Hampshire, a beautiful part of our state, and spend winters in St. Petersburg, Florida. They have two grown children who continue to live in Washington DC.
Cynthia Walter, Ph.D. will introduce the speaker and moderate the Q&A session.
This event is co-sponsored by the NH Network for Environment, Energy and Climate, and the Connecticut Health Professionals for Climate Action.
Please join the New Hampshire Network and Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) NH for a virtual screening of a local, award-winning short film followed by a discussion with the movie creator. New England-based independent filmmaker Gabriel Andrus was inspired by his grandfather's old photos and recollections of New England's winters. Gabriel's film centers on his ski trip down through New Hampshire and his conversations with New Englanders and scientists about our changing climate and its impacts on lives.
Join us for the screening and a lively discussion afterward about the movie and climate change with Gabriel and CCL volunteer John Gage (NH state coordinator) of Windham.
Suggestion: invite some friends over and host a watch party!
We are honored to show Gabriel's film, which was featured at the NH Film Festival and will be broadcast on NHPBS, as a way of extending community conversations about climate change, its impacts on our New England traditions, and what each of us can do about it.
This event is co-sponsored by the NH Network for Environment, Energy and Climate, and Citizens' Climate Lobby of New Hampshire.
✔ Recent Past Events and Recordings
✔ Unwrap the Future III: Reuse and Zero Waste as the New Normal
Monday, February 10, 2025
Monday, February 10, 2025
How do we overcome the comfort of our throw-away society? Do we have alternatives? What will they cost us?
In Unwrap the Future III: Reuse and Zero Waste as the New Normal, we heard from several extraordinary individuals who have created the opportunities, the infrastructures, and the local and state policies to do an end-run around plastic and waste. They are also exposing the presence of toxics in plastics. They are giving new options to local restaurants. They are engaging youth. They are helping us change behavior, to say “No” to plastics and to waste.
See slides below
WELCOME
Cindy Heath, Founding Member and Convener, NH Network Plastics Working Group
Cindy Heath founded Living a Sustainable Lifestyle: Tea & Talks and is a founding member of the NH Network Plastics Working Group, a member of the Cornish Conservation Commission, and the Cornish Community Initiative.
MODERATOR
Christina Dubin, Board Chair Seacoast CAN; Campaigns Coordinator, Surfrider NH; Co-Founder, NH Network Plastics Working Group
PRESENTERS
- Patsy Beffa-Negrini, PhD, RDN, Plastics Working Group Founding Member & Webmaster
“By the Numbers, Ten Towns ● Ten Actions Toolkit Three Year Impact”: an overview of the success of the Ten Towns Ten Actions Toolkit Campaign at work in 54 towns across all regions of New Hampshire.
Patsy Beffa-Negrini is active in the Monadnock region as a member of the Monadnock Sustainability Hub, Nelson Community Power Committee, and the Carbon Cash-Back Coalition.
Crystal Dreisbach, CEO, Upstream, upstreamsolutions.org
“The Reuse Landscape”: Learn what Upstream is doing in New England and around N. America to accelerate the transition to a new reuse economy by normalizing reuse, growing and supporting the reuse industry, and creating an enabling policy environment for reuse.
Crystal Dreisbach founded Don't Waste Durham, NC (est. 2013) to lead local and state policy changes to reduce single-use plastics and build the infrastructure (logistics, wash, staffing) that makes reuse possible. Crystal's award-winning work has been featured on national news, including PBS, NPR, Treehugger, and Fast Company Magazine. In 2021, she was awarded Activist of the Year at The Reusies®, and she serves on the Advisory Council of the US Plastics Pact. She has a Masters degree in public health and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
Kirstie Pecci, Executive Director, Just Zero, just-zero.org
“Zero Waste Solutions in Practice”: Success stories from select Just Zero campaigns impacting policy and practice in communities, local governments, and institutions, including packaging waste, bottle recycling, corporate accountability, and reuse initiatives.
Kirstie Pecci is the Executive Director of Just Zero, a national non-profit. Kirstie established and was the Director of the Zero Waste Program at Conservation Law Foundation and is a former MASSPIRG Staff Attorney actively engaged in waste reduction and opposing the expansion of landfill and incinerator capacity. A graduate of Boston College Law School and Harvard University, she lives in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.
Sue Inches, Author, Educator, Environmental Advocate, sueinches.com
“Achieving Policy Success and Reasons to be Optimistic in Troubled Times”: Lessons from Sue’s new book, “Advocating for the Environment: How to Gather Your Power and Take Action,” include successful coalition building and stories from Maine’s successful environmental legislation playbook.
Sue has worked in public policy for over 25 years. As Deputy Director of the Maine State Planning Office, she conducted research, designed and led public engagement processes, and lobbied on behalf of the Governor. Sue works as an author, consultant, teacher, and advocate with a focus on the environment and climate change. Sue serves on the Board of Defend Our Health, which has taken the lead on banning PFAS and has successfully passed a number of plastics and solid waste bills in the Maine state legislature.
Kristine Baber, Dover Plastics Reduction Group and Founding Member of the NH Network Plastics Working Group
“Introducing Reusables in the Restaurant Sector”
Kristine Baber is Co-leader of the Dover Plastics Reduction Group, a Community Partners Board Member, a Don’t Trash Dover participant, and a political activist.
Susan Richman, Durham Waste Reduction Committee
“‘No Bag Please’ Statewide Campaign”
Susan Richman is a Manager of the NH Network for Environment, Energy and Climate and an active member of the NH Network's working groups, including the Plastics Working Group.
Kristine and Susan will share two NH Plastics Working Group collective action success stories, one focused on restaurant reuse initiatives and the other on voluntary single-use plastic bag reductions in grocery stores.
Karen Ebel, New Hampshire State Legislator
“2025 Legislation to Watch” : Highlights from the 2025 legislative session relative to solid waste and the environment and guidance for citizen environmental advocates.
Karen Ebel is serving her seventh term representing New London and Newbury. She has served as Deputy Speaker (2018-2019) and the Democratic Leader Pro Tempore (2020-2021 & 2022-2023), the position she holds again this term. She chairs New Hampshire's Solid Waste Working Group, focusing on the state's increasing solid waste disposal challenges. She previously chaired the legislative study committee on Recycling Streams and Solid Waste Management in NH. Karen is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and has served on many non-profit and municipal boards, including The Nature Conservancy, the American Cancer Society, the New London Hospital Board of Trustees, and almost two decades on the New London Planning Board.
✔ Legislative Preview
January 27, 2025
January 27, 2025
Which bills of this legislative session will promote sustainability in New Hampshire – and which will hold us back? Three stalwart environmental champions from the New Hampshire House and the Senate share their views of the year ahead, suggesting ways we can best support their efforts to pass critical bills impacting our natural resources and energy systems.
We’ll make sure you know how. There will be a quick tutorial on how to register your opinion, either in person or online. Join us!
Panelists:
Representative Tony Caplan, Merrimack - District 8
Committee: Science, Technology, and EnergyRepresentative Wendy Thomas, Hillsborough - District 12
Committee: Science, Technology, and EnergySenator David Watters, Dover - Senate District 4
Current Committees: Energy and Natural Resources, Finance, Capital Budget
✔ Managing NH's Unruly Utilities: The Indispensable Consumer Advocate role
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
New Hampshire is one of roughly 45 states with an officially designated advocate for the interests of utility ratepayers. However, the Legislature will soon consider a bill that would abolish the office altogether or absorb it into another state agency.
Presenter: Donald M. Kreis, New Hampshire Consumer Advocate
Moderator: Mary Beth Raven, NH Network Steering Committee
Don Kreis, who has served for nearly nine years as Consumer Advocate, will explain why an independent ratepayer advocate is more critical than ever for New Hampshire at the state, regional, and federal levels. The session will cover:
What is a consumer advocate, and how do NH ratepayers benefit from having one?
How does a consumer advocate work with the NH Public Utilities Commission (PUC)?
How does a consumer advocate work with the ISO-NE Consumer Liaison Group? (and what IS the Consumer Liaison group? And why should you care?)
Consumer Advocate Kreis will discuss his efforts to reform New Hampshire’s Public Utilities Commission and regional regulator ISO-New England and the current efforts to abolish his office.
We apologize, this event was canceled due to circumstances beyond our control.
X The Aftermath of Fast Fashion
Textile Waste and Environmental Impact
Monday, December 9
After oil, fast fashion is the second most polluting industry on the planet, producing 4% of the world's total carbon emissions. It takes 2,000 gallons of water to make just 1 pair of jeans. 87% of materials used to make clothing are landfilled — one truckload every second. The fashion industry causes 35% of the plastic waste in the oceans, and only 1% of clothes are recycled into new garments. (Source: 47 Official Sustainable Fashion Statistics).
Moderator: Dr. Mary Elizabeth Raven, NH Network Steering Committee member and the Citizens' Climate Lobby liaison to Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
Presenter: Julia DeVoy, PhD, MTS, MBA, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Students, Boston College
Dr. DeVoy will trace the current status of textile waste in the United States, its global public health impacts, and associated issues of environmental injustice.
✔ Climate Security as a Human Right
Compelling our governments to hold fossil fuel producers accountable
Compelling our governments to hold fossil fuel producers accountable
Monday, November 18
Guest speakers
Carly Phillips (Research Scientist for Climate Litigation, Union of Concerned Scientists)
NH Representative Tony Caplan (Henniker)
Mike Meno (Center for Climate Integrity)
Slides
Legislation and policy innovations are notoriously slow-paced, while climate changes are accelerating rapidly. Over the last few years – in some places – progress has been made on another front: Litigation in the courts. Courts have held that governments have an obligation to protect their citizens from climate disasters and environmental degradation. Costs may be significant.
Fossil fuel producers and traders – who’ve known for decades that negative impacts from their products were likely – can be held accountable. Fiscal prudence dictates that we be clear-eyed about the future.
Can we get bipartisan support for such a process in our state? We invite specialists to catch us up on preparatory steps being taken in NH and elsewhere.
✔ Campaigning for the Climate
How to raise the issue of climate change in the upcoming elections - both local and national - with candidates from any party.
October 7, 2024
Election day is November 5, so now is a great time to talk about environmental issues in your community.
Our panelists share strategies and tips on how to have productive climate discussions with candidates and voters, followed by a group discussion:
Representative Rebecca McWilliams - member of the NH House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee
Representative Nicholas Germana - member of the NH House Environment and Agriculture Committee
John Gage - NH state coordinator for Citizens' Climate Lobby
This event is a follow-up to our "Climate Voters Unite" and "Keep NH Green Environmental Summit" events.
See also: Slides, Chat, & Transcript.
For a primer, see the article published in the Concord Monitor and the October-November issue of Green Energy Times: Talk Climate With Candidates.
Additional resources from recent NH Network Campaign Events and beyond:
Questions to ask candidates (bird-dogging, candidates' forum, face-to-fact opportunity)
CCL training: Strategies for attending Candidate Events
Set up a "Climate Voter Information" table on election day
Climate Collaborative's "Get Out the Vote" Campaign
The League of Women Voters of NH: Guide to Organizing and Moderating Candidate Forums
✔ Water Woes in New Hampshire
PFAS, cyanobacteria, landfill runoff, E. coli, lead, arsenic – what’s going on and what can we do about it?
September 23, 2024
GUEST SPEAKERS:
Adam Finkel, PhD, public health expert, University of Michigan, resident of Dalton, NH
Rep. Wendy Thomas, NH Legislator, Hillsborough County, resident of Merrimack
Tom Irwin, VP & Director, CLF NH
MODERATORS:
Dr. Reinmar Seidler
Dr. Cynthia Walter
New Hampshire is blessed with an exceptionally rich network of rivers, streams, and wetlands, along with nearly 1000 public lakes and ponds. Yet, we may not be managing this precious resource optimally. Do we have the institutional frameworks required to diagnose, monitor, and solve systemic problems before they become chronic? How does NH’s record compare with our peers in New England? How can we improve the situation? These are the questions our guests will address in this interactive session.
✔ Keep NH Green
3rd Annual Environmental Summit
Help us amplify the voices of our state's environmentally concerned majority!
DATE: Saturday, August 24
CHECK-IN, COFFEE, TEA: 9:00 AM
PROGRAM: 9:30 AM-12:30 PM
BYO LUNCH: 12:30 PM
LOCATION: Starr King in Plymouth, NH
KeepNHGreen_NH Network_Introduction_Skoglund.240824.pptx✔ Run a local Climate Cafe
June 19, 2024
NH Network Climate Working Group Event
Moderator: John Gage, state coordinator of NH for Citizens' Climate Lobby
Presenter: Maria Finnegan; NH Healthy Climate (formerly NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action)
✔ Climate Voters Unite!
Thursday, June 13
Learn how you can be involved with NH Network member environmental groups to make the environment and climate a top-level issue in the upcoming elections.
✔ Climate Solutions Update 2024
Peek Under the Hood of the New En-ROADS!
May 20, 2024
MIT Sloan and Climate Interactive's En-ROADS climate policy simulator is a powerful way to gain insight into what we need to do to achieve our important climate goals. Join us to learn about the latest update and how to put En-ROADS to work!
The 2024 En-ROADS updates include:
Assessing the impact of “Agricultural Emissions” and “Waste and Leakage”
Analyzing methane emissions and methane intensity from energy, agricultural production, and waste management
Evaluating nature-based solutions for carbon dioxide removal.
Presenter: Josh Loughman - Director of Modeling and Technology at Climate Interactive
Moderator: Reinmar Seidler - Research Assistant Professor of Sustainability & Climate, UMass Boston
Get your climate solution questions answered
Learn from the experts how En-ROADS works
See why En-ROADS is an invaluable tool for everyone from students, to climate advocates, to policymakers.
Climate action: John Gage - Citizens' Climate Lobby
Starts at 1:13:30: En-ROADS demonstrates that the steadily rising carbon price of Carbon Fee and Dividend, extended through 2100 and pushed worldwide through a CBAM, gets us halfway to our global 1.5˚C target. That price on pollution also makes nearly all the other policies required for 1.5˚C easier to do. Help create the political will needed for Congress to do it by sending them an email using the quick and easy tool at cclusa.org/price-carbon.
The presentation notes include links to videos and supporting resources: Political will for Carbon Fee and Dividend Slides.
✔ Community Choice Aggregation and Energy Justice - May 8, 2024
Sarah Kelly is a geographer with fifteen years of experience in community-based research on water and energy equity. As an applied researcher, she was trained in the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology at the University of Arizona. Sarah holds long-term research relationships with Mapuche-Williche communities in Chile, where she has investigated hydropower, cultural cartography, and Indigenous rights. In 2021, she co-founded the Energy Justice Clinic at Dartmouth College. Originally from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Sarah is excited to expand upon local collaborations in New Hampshire and Vermont to support making the energy transition more just and accessible for all. Sarah's research is published in Energy Policy, Energy Research and Social Science, and Geoforum, among other journals.
Dr. Reinmar Seidler will be introducing the speaker and moderating the Q&A session. He teaches conservation biology, sustainability science and climate change at the University of Massachusetts Boston, and serves as a member of the Steering Committee for the New Hampshire Network for Environment, Energy & Climate. His research focuses on impacts of climate change and other global change on biodiversity and people's livelihoods in the Eastern Himalaya.
This webinar was co-sponsored by the NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action.
✔The Beauties & the Beasts
of NH's environment, energy and climate bills
✔ The True Cost of Food
Why does local food cost more than what we buy from the grocery store?
In this workshop, Hungry Bear Farm owner and operator Gene Jonas will share a holistic analysis of the costs of the industrialized food production systems that dominate the landscape today and why buying local is actually better for you and your wallet.
March 20th from 5 to 6 PM on Zoom
✔ Building Codes: Your health, your wallet, and energy efficiency
March 7th from 4-5 PM
~ Moderator: Paul Friedrichs, MD, Family Medicine physician; Board Chair, NH Healthcare Workers for Climate Action
Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, there has been a mass migration of humans from fresh outdoor air to inside buildings. Most of us spend more than 90% of our time indoors, and indoor air quality is directly linked to our health.
Three building code bills before the State House this year will reduce the energy efficiency of newly built homes, and negatively affect indoor air quality and our health.
Learn about the importance of healthy energy codes. (See recording.)
✔ Unwrap the Future II: Global and Local Solutions to Plastic Pollution
Monday — February 12, 2024
Globally, each year more than 380 million tons of plastic waste harm our health, pollute our environment, and hurt our economy. This program will highlight practical solutions for reducing plastic waste in the business and restaurant sectors, current research on plastic pollution policy, and legislation being considered in New Hampshire to address single-use plastics, extended producer responsibility, container deposit programs, and PFAS regulations.
MODERATOR:
Christina Dubin, Senior Organizer, Beyond Plastics; Campaigns Coordinator, Surfrider NH; Co-Founder, NH Network Plastics WG
PRESENTERS:
Patsy Beffa-Negrini, PhD, RDN, Founding Member, Plastics WG
“By the Numbers, Ten Towns * Ten Actions Toolkit Two Year Impact”
Overview of the success of the Ten Towns Ten • Actions Toolkit Campaign at work in 47 towns across all regions of New Hampshire.
Yayoi Koizumi, Founder, Zero Waste Ithaca
“BYO (Bring Your Own): Community Level Strategies for Zero Waste”
Hear about “Ithaca Reduces | BYO,” which has over 100 businesses that welcome customers to Bring Your Own containers, bottles, utensils, bags, and K-12 school reusables.
Dr. Zoie Diana, Liber Ero Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto
“Research & Policy on Plastic Pollution Solutions”
Discussion of the Plastics Policy Inventory, a global body of government responses to plastic pollution, and the Policy Effectiveness Library, research on the effectiveness of the policies.
Christina Dubin, Board Chair, Seacoast CAN, Campaigns Coordinator, Surfrider NH
Learn about the Seacoast area restaurants reusables pilot, Reusable Seacoast, and Surfrider Foundation NH Chapter’s Skip the Stuff Campaign.
Cindy Heath, Founding Member and Convener, NH Network Plastics Work
Update on Container Deposit, Skip the Stuff, PFAS & EPR Legislation in NH
Please note that the video above starts at about 8 minutes into the meeting, so the video lacks the first few slides of Patsy's presentation.
SLIDES
Patsy Beffa-Negrini:
Unwrap the Future II - By the Numbers
Yayoi Koizumi
BYO (Bring Your Own): Community Level Strategies for Zero Waste
Dr. Zoie Diana
Research & Policy on Plastic Pollution Solutions
Christina Dubin
Seacoast area restaurants reusables pilot, etc.
Cindy Heath
Update on Container Deposit, Skip the Stuff, PFAS & EPR Legislation
See also the meeting chat.
✔ Funding Sources for municipalities, businesses, nonprofits & individuals:
What is out there and how can we access it?
About the panelists:
Melissa Elander works on clean energy projects with towns, schools, and nonprofits in Coös County and northern Grafton County. Melissa worked as an Energy Auditor and Weatherization Project Manager in the North Country of New Hampshire before joining Clean Energy NH. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Plymouth State University and a Master of Arts in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development from American University.
Nora E Hanke is the Program Manager at Monadnock Sustainability Hub, a nonprofit serving the 34 towns of SW NH (all of Cheshire, a little of Hillsborough and Sullivan Counties), whose mission is to cut carbon emissions from every sector of the economy. Nora has an MS in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England, and drives a Chevy Bolt. She had building envelope improvements performed on her (previous) home, and then had solar arrays installed for electricity and hot water.
Elizabeth McKenna serves as a Special Assistant for Policy and Projects for U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire. She is a liaison between community members and legislative staff to help advance Senator Shaheen’s legislative and appropriations priorities. She covers several policy areas including environment, energy, agriculture and health. Over the past four years, Elizabeth has served in Senator Shaheen’s office in multiple roles and previously worked for a higher education nonprofit. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Catholic University.
✔ A day in the life of a NH lobbyist
A view into the workings of the NH legislature
Monday, January 22, 2024
7:00 PM on Zoom
Featuring Jim O'Brien
NH Deputy State Director,
The Nature Conservancy
How often to legislators seek out lobbyists for advice?
Have you suggested legislation?
How much influence do lobbyists have vs. public input vs party affiliation?
How do you measure your success?
What goes on "behind the curtain" that is important for the public to know?
