Making Lemonade…
April 2009

When plans for an ambitious “new urbanist” housing development became mired in permitting and the economic meltdown, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice announced a different strategy to develop instead "the largest urban solar-energy project in the country" on 300 acres it owns in the city of Venice, Florida.

The market for new homes is way down, while affordable options abound. The foundation recognized that renewable energy is currently the pressing issue. In response, it intends to partner with a major power company to produce at least 40 megawatts of electricity, which would provide power for about 11,200 people.  Estimated environmental benefits of a 40 megawatt solar-energy installation include preventing the release of more than 900,000 tons of greenhouse gases over the life of the facility, or the equivalent of taking more than 7,000 cars off the road each year.

Meanwhile, the overall Real Estate market continues to languish. On Florida’s east coast, even normally recession-resistant, oceanfront properties are weak. Superstar luxury builder/developer Frank McKinney has created and sold 36 oceanfront properties with an average selling price of over $12 million since 1992. McKinney has just completed the world's largest and most opulent triple-certified "green" mansion priced at $29 million. But even he admits that he is facing significant challenges that result in meeting his “old friend ‘fear’ head-on nearly every day,” and he is not immune from the cycle we are experiencing. When asked how he is going to get out of the current situation, he replied - “We are going to give our way out”.

To demonstrate his point, he has just released three new books simultaneously, each representing a distinctly different genre (real estate, spiritual/inspirational and young reader/fantasy fiction), with profits going to the Caring House Project Foundation which builds self-sustaining villages in Haiti.

Speaking of the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, SLDI has donated publishing services for an inspirational book of poems and photographs entitled Behind the Mountains for the St. Joseph Family organization made up of homes, a school and art programs for the most disadvantaged children in Haiti.

Your participation and comments are welcome.

Terry Mock
Executive Director
Sustainable Land Development International

Promoting and enabling land development worldwide that balances the needs of people, planet & profit - for today and future generations.

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Achieving Sustainable Land Development

• Modern Flood Disasters – The Solution is in the Land (two part series)
  (February/March 2009) The occurrence of flood events such as those that have ravaged the Midwest—most notably the two, 500-year floods in 1993 and 2008—were not “natural” disasters, as some contend. These, as well as other cases of chronic flooding can be directly connected to contemporary urban, suburban, and rural-agricultural, land-use practices.
  Source: February Sustainable Land Development Today
  Source: March Sustainable Land Development Today

• SLDI Study Provides Revealing Look at the State of the Industry
  (March 2009) SLDI recently conducted a survey of land development professionals designed to gauge the industry’s perceptions of who/what is responsible for the current economic situation, what will be needed to improve it, the industry’s overall acceptance of and receptivity to sustainable land development principles and practices, and the industry’s current level of implementation of the most common “green” programs currently available.
  Source: Sustainable Land Development Today

• Obama signs Bill to protect 2 million Acres of Wilderness
  (March 30, 2009) President Barack Obama signed into law today a conservation plan that will protect 2 million acres of wilderness and preserve monuments, trails and rivers
  Source: Salt Lake Tribune

• Megaconservation: Saving Wildernesses on a Giant Scale
  (March 25, 2009) Conservationists have long recognised the value of corridors connecting wilderness areas, and mounting evidence shows that they help many species, from red squirrels to butterflies. Megacorridors take the idea to a new scale.
  Source: NewScientist

• 'Green' Initiatives helping Businesses Survive
  (March 9, 2009) Local entrepreneurs, bolstered by President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package, are finding ways to create profitable niches in sustainability — including green technologies, products and buildings — even if it means reinventing their business plan.
  Source: Palm Beach Post, Florida

• Climate Changes Europe's Borders
  (March 27, 2009) Italy and Switzerland are planning to redraw their shared alpine border, as global warming is melting the glaciers that originally guided the line.
  Source: New Scientist

• Stimulus Money Begins Flowing in Forests
  (March 11, 2009) Money from the federal stimulus bill is beginning to flood into the national forests.
  Source: The Daily Yonder

• Alistair Darling: Our Planet – Boom or Bust?
  (March 29, 2009) This week's G20 summit will hardly be able to sort out the global financial crisis in a day, says the Chancellor of the Exchequer. But the London meeting will point us to a richer and more sustainable future
  Source: Independent

• World will Agree to New Climate Deal, says Al Gore
  (March 14, 2009) Al Gore, the former US vice-president, delivers an upbeat assessment of the global response to climate change, saying he believes a "political tipping point" has been reached which will enable leaders to avert environmental catastrophe...
  Source: The Guardian

• It's Official: We really have Saved the Ozone Layer
  (March 23, 2009) Do our more sophisticated climate models, which can more accurately simulate atmospheric chemistry and wind patterns, confirm the hypothesis that if we had continued to emit CFCs and other ozone destroying chemicals, the ozone layer would have been severely damaged?
  Source: Scienceblogs.com

• Ice that Burns could be a Green Fossil Fuel
  (March 26, 2009) Natural gas locked up in water crystals could be a source of enormous amounts of energy – and if a new technology delivers what scientists are claiming, then it could even be emissions-free too.
  Source: New Scientist

• Energy Studies get a Jolt
  (March 28, 2009) In what could be an encouraging sign of change in America's long-standing shortage of graduates prepared for high-tech careers, the hottest subject on college campuses across the nation right now seems to be renewable energy—a surge of interest driven largely by the specter of global warming.
  Source: ChicagoTribune.com

• Firm Vows to Grow First Flowers on the Moon
  (March 27, 2009) Flowers on the moon is expected to stir up enthusiasm for spaceflight, but the team also hopes the greenhouse will be the first step in sustainable development of the lunar surface.
  Source: New Scientist

• Revenge of the Norwegians
  (March 21, 2009) A small company in Norway has big plans on the drawing board to build affordable plug in electric cars in the United States. "Think Global," wants to employ 300 Americans to build Th!nk electric vehicles in the U.S. and hopes to put them on the market next year.
  Source: Living On Earth.

• New Garden Promised to be Most Eco-Friendly in World
  (March 20, 2009) Once complete, the LeGrand Gardens at the Goodman Museum, will be the first entirely EarthKind designated botanical garden in the world.
  Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph, Texas

Editor's Note: SLDI News Service may feature press releases submitted directly by organizations in SLDI's network. This content is not specifically endorsed or supported by SLDI and is not subject to SLDI's editorial process.