Wildlife in Urban and Suburban Settings

We usually think of wildlife in parks, national forests, and undeveloped areas like the mountains. But how often do you notice examples right around you?

Behind Mall of GA, the forested wetlands are home to animals you might not imagine: birds and squirrels, but also deer, snakes, ducks, salamanders, beaver, and even coyote. Similar great examples can be spotted along the Suwanee Creek Greenway. The diversity of wildlife can be one type of indicator of the overall ecosystem health and community sustainability.

Wherever you live, what unusual examples have you seen? For anyone near or in the study area, where in particular have you seen wildlife around northern Suwanee, Buford, the mall, and along Suwanee Creek and Ivy Creek Greenways?

Do you think keeping wildlife in this urban setting is a good thing? Or is it a danger or nuisance? Deer get hit by vehicles. Canadian geese take over water features. Why should we encourage wildlife near a major activity center?
Share your thoughts!

– Green In Gwinnett Area – Keeping Gwinnett Green and Sustainable

Gwinnett Business Growth and Sustainability BuGS Series

BuGS Series

Event Date:

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 – 11:30am – 2:00pm

Location:

Gwinnett Chamber

Cost (members):

$20.00

Cost (non-members):

$35.00

Business Growth and Sustainability (BuGS) 2010
Presented by:

Energy Efficiency in your Business
Energy efficiency is typically one of the first places business look for savings.

Reducing your energy consumption saves money and reduces your carbon footprint, but what is the cost and how do you pay for it?  Is it worth the investment?

Teresa Newman – Energy and Environmental Solutions – Siemens

Wayne Robertson, PE, Leed AP – President – Energy Ace

Gail Edwards – Program Director – Gwinnett Technical College

Moderator:

Ben Taube – Executive Director – Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance

Date: February 9, 2010

Time: 11:30 – 2:00

Location: Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce

6500 Sugarloaf Parkway
Duluth, Georgia  30097

(For Directions Click HERE)

Register Here

Green In Gwinnett Area: Working to keep Gwinnett Green and Sustainable!

Global Warming or Global Cooling? Observational Trends

Happy New Year! We are looking forward to 2010! 2009 was another year of global cooling, which saw numerous low temperature and high snowfall records smashed. The Dutch canals for the first time in 12 years, record cold came to Al Gore’s home town and ironically a blizzard dumped snow on the Copenhagen convention where world leaders met to try and stop global warming. It was so cold that even the BBC asked, “what happened to global warming?”.  Are IPCC scientists hard at work hiding evidence of global cooling? Below is some observational evidence.

*GIGA takes no official position for or against either global warming or global cooling…

National Climatic Data Center

Deadly Cold Across Europe and Russia

2009 – Record cold wind chills of -50 C recorded overnight in Saskatchewan (Canadian Press, January 4, 2009)
2009 – Coldest start to the New Year for seven years (The Daily Telegraph, UK, January 5, 2009)
2009 – Forget warming, greenhouse gases may trigger ice age (The Times of India, January 5, 2009)
2009 – London colder than Antarctica (The Daily Telegraph, UK, January 5, 2009)
2009 – Poor burn books to stay warm in chilly India, 55 dead (Reuters, January 5, 2009)
2009 – Cold streak breaks 1892 record, Saskatoon experiences 24 consecutive days of -25 C (The StarPhoenix, January 6, 2009)
2009 – Record cold weather payouts triggered as temperature hits -11C (The Times, UK, January 6, 2009)
2009 – Record-breaking cold -37 in Moose Jaw, Canada (The Moose Jaw Times Herald, Canada, January 6, 2009)
2009 – NCDC’s own graphic shows decadal cooling trend (Watts Up With That?, January 6, 2009)
2009 – Global Warming is Really Global Cooling (Right Side News, January 6, 2009)
2009 – Schools remain closed amid freeze (BBC, January 7, 2009)
2009 – Seven freeze to death in Europe’s coldest winter night (AFP, January 7, 2009)
2009 – Spokane, Wash., residents cope with record snow (Fox News, January 7, 2009)
2009 – 12 deaths blamed on snow, cold across Europe (Associated Press, January 7, 2009)
2009 – Deadly cold, heavy snow grip Europe (National Post, January 8, 2009)
2009 – Extreme Alaska cold 60 below grounds planes, disables cars (CNS News, January 8, 2009)
2009 – Minn. sled race canceled because of heavy snow (USA Today, January 8, 2009)
2009 – Temperature in Germany Falls to Minus 34.6 Degrees (Spiegel Online, January 8, 2009)
2009 – Record snow takes toll on Great Falls plowing budget, crews (Montana News Network, January 9, 2009)
2009 – Life At Negative 78 Degrees In Alaska (NPR, January 9, 2009)
2009 – Britain in grip of longest cold snap for 10 years (The Daily Telegraph, January 10, 2009)
2009 – Polar Sea Ice Changes are Having a Net Cooling Effect on the Climate (Watts Up With That?, January 10, 2009)
2009 – Slovenia with record low temperature -49 (Montenegrin News Agency, January 11, 2009)
2009 – Earth on the Brink of an Ice Age (Pravda, Russia, January 11, 2009)
2009 – Frosty Hong Kong shivers through coldest spell for 16 years (The Earth Times, January 12, 2009)
2009 – ND gets blizzard on top of December’s record snow (Fox News, January 12, 2009)
2009 – Global Cooling Headed Our Way (Newsmax, January 13, 2009)
2009 – Record cold hits eastern ND (The Daily News, January 13, 2009)
2009 – Sharp cold wave shocks upper Midwest, temps to -36 (Associated Press, January 13, 2009)
2009 – Bismarck reports day snow record 5.4 inches (KXNet, January 14, 2009)
2009 – Biting cold hits Northeast, keeps even skiers home (ABC News, January 14, 2009)
2009 – Coldest night in 5 years sinks into state (KAAL-TV Minnesota, January 14, 2009)
2009 – Flint’s 95-year-old record low falls as 19 below zero hits city (The Flint Journal, January 14, 2009)
2009 – Shocking cold wave drops temps to 40 below zero (Associated Press, January 14, 2009)
2009 – Two-day deep freeze bringing coldest temps in several years (Daily Times Herald, January 14, 2009)
2009 – Coldest Temperatures In 5 Years Paralyze Minn. (WCCO-TV Minnesota, January 15, 2009)
2009 – D.C. Sees Coldest Weather in 5 Years (WJLA-TV Washington D.C., January 15, 2009)
2009 – Dutch canals freeze over for the first time in 12 years (The New York Times, January 15, 2009)
2009 – On the Brink of Climatic Disaster: the Coming Ice Age (The John Birch Society, January 15, 2009)
2009 – Swallow survives coldest spell for 20 years as Britain braced for 80mph winds (The Daily Telegraph, UK, January 15, 2009)
2009 – The Ice Age Cometh: Experts Warn of Global Cooling (Business & Media Institute, January 15, 2009)
2009 – Americans suffer record cold as temperatures plunge to -40C (Daily Mail, UK, January 16, 2009)
2009 – Arctic front freezes US, Canada in record cold snap (AFP, January 16, 2009)
2009 – Heavy snow causes 6,000 traffic accidents, 24 deaths in Moscow (RIA Novosti, January 16, 2009)
2009 – Iowa Endures Record-Breaking Cold (KCRG-TV Iowa, January 16, 2009)
2009 – Mercury hits 27 below; 2nd coldest ever in Galesburg (Galesburg Register-Mail, January 16, 2009)
2009 – Record-breaking cold chills Western Massachusetts (The Republican, January 16, 2009)
2009 – Cold snaps 124-year-old record in Fredericton, Canada (The Daily Gleaner, January 17, 2009)
2009 – Record Cold Chills North Country, New York (North Country Gazette, January 17, 2009)
2009 – Record cold in Detroit as deep freeze continues (Associated Press, January 17, 2009)
2009 – Thailand temperatures are coldest in a decade (The Jakarta Post, January 17, 2009)
2009 – Low temperature ties 1951 record in Hawaii (The Maui News, January 20, 2009)
2009 – Oceans are cooling according to NASA (The Baltimore Weather Examiner, January 21, 2009)
2009 – Frigid temps are coldest in a decade (Independent Herald, January 22, 2009)
2009 – Shanghai reports coldest winter for 18 years (Xinhua, January 24, 2009)
2009 – UAE mountain covered in rare snow (AFP, January 25, 2009)
2009 – This January is 18th coldest in 139 years in Western New York (The Buffalo News, January 27, 2009)
2009 – 8 found dead in Michigan cold since Jan. 17 (The Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2009)
2009 – Two Fairfield, Illinois businesses collapse under snow, ice (Evansville Courier & Press, January 28, 2009)
2009 – Ice storm cuts power to 870,000 in Midwest (Reuters, January 28, 2009)
2009 – Docks Collapse Under Weight of Snow, Sleet and Ice (Ozarks First, January 29, 2009)
2009 – Global Cooling Under-reported (Science & Public Policy Institute, January 29, 2009)
2009 – Snow Storm Sweeps Northeast From Texas; at Least 23 Are Dead (The New York Times, January 29, 2009)
2009 – World is getting colder (The Washington Times, January 30, 2009)
2009 – January One of Coldest in Decade (The Washington Post, February 1, 2009)
2009 – Saginaw Michigan breaks 1947 snowfall record for a calendar year (The Saginaw News, February 2, 2009)
2009 – Heaviest Snow in 18 Years Brings Much of Europe to a Halt (Fox News, February 2, 2009)
2009 – 75 inches of January snow sets Juneau record (Anchorage Daily News, February 3, 2009)
2009 – Arctic Sea Ice Increases at Record Rate (Watts Up With That?, February 3, 2009)
2009 – Slippery Slope: Ice Age Cometh in Five Years (NewsMax, February 3, 2009)
2009 – Snow chaos as coldest winter for years hits Britain (The Australian, February 3, 2009)
2009 – Mt. LeConte Lodge records coldest temp in more than 20 years (WVLT-TV Tennessee, February 4, 2009)
2009 – Recent cold snap in Mount Airy, NC shatters 1982 record (Mount Airy News, February 4, 2009)
2009 – Coldest Temperatures In 20 Years! (WCTV Florida, February 5, 2009)
2009 – Six die in snow roof collapse in Morocco (afrol News, February 5, 2009)
2009 – Coldest Dublin winter for 18 years, says Met office (The Irish Times, February 6, 2009[/])
2009 – Hamilton, Ontario Canada broke a 28-year record low temperature ([i]The Hamilton Sectator, February 6, 2009)
2009 – Ice, snow collapse several Anna, Illinois buildings (The Southern, February 6, 2009)
2009 – Vail, Colorado set record for January snow (Vail Daily, February 6, 2009)
2009 – Bristol endures its coldest weather in 20 years (Bristol Evening Post, UK, February 7, 2009)
2009 – Record Low Temperatures in Western Cuba (Cuba News Headlines, February 8, 2009)
2009 – Record-breaking cold -50°F temperature reached in Maine (NOAA, February 10, 2009)
2009 – Snow storms force German motorists to sleep in cars (The Earth Times, February 11, 2009)
2009 – Snowstorms wreak havoc in the Balkans (The Earth Times, February 19, 2009)
2009 – Little ice age may be on the way (Lincolnshire Echo, UK, February 20, 2009)
2009 – GUINEA: Record cold snap destroys crops, kills hundreds of animals (Reuters, February 20, 2009)
2009 – Ice Age or global warming? (Reuters, February 24th, 2009)
2009 – ‘Snow bomb’ brings record snowfall across New Brunswick (CBC News, February 24, 2009)
2009 – Snowiest Winter Ever Recorded in North Dakota (Watts Up With That?, February 27, 2009)
2009 – Global Cooling Continues (The Hearland Institute, March 1, 2009)
2009 – Joy in NYC: Kids get first snow day in five years (USA Today, March 2, 2009)
2009 – Providence sets record; Coventry tops RI for snowfall (The Providence Journal, March 2, 2009)
2009 – Record breaking snowfall in Milwaukee (WKOW-TV Wisconsin, March 2, 2009)
2009 – Coldest winter in UK for 13 years (BBC, March 3, 2009)
2009 – Ferocious storm dumps heavy snow on East Coast (ABC News, March 3, 2009)
2009 – Lynchburg Virginia breaks 84-year cold record (Lynchburg News and Advance, March 3, 2009)
2009 – 84-year-old cold temperature record falls in Baltimore (Baltimore Sun, March 3, 2009)
2009 – Senators Debate Global Warming Policy Despite Global Cooling Evidence (CNSNews, March 4, 2009)
2009 – Cuba’s winter among its coldest (Miami Herald, March 5, 2009)
2009 – Late snowfalls in Britain bring chaos to roads and rail (The Earth Times, March 5, 2009)
2009 – Lake Superior is freezing over (Watts Up With That?, March 7, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard blasts northern Plains, upper Midwest (USA Today, March 10, 2009)
2009 – It wasn’t just cold, it was record cold in Yakima, Washington (Yakima Herald Republic, March 12, 2009)
2009 – Record-brrrrrrrrreaking cold -34.8 C in Regina, Canada (CBC News, March 12, 2009)
2009 – Edmonton Canada bests all time record low by -12 degrees (Watts Up With That?, March 15, 2009)
2009 – Snowy 1st Day Of Spring For Some Northeast Towns (Associated Press, March 20, 2009)
2009 – Shocker: ‘Global warming’ simply no longer happening (WorldNetDaily, March 22, 2009)
2009 – New Report Predicts “New Global Ice Age” (Reuters, March 23, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard Punishes Several States (The New York Times, March 24, 2009)
2009 – Crashes injure 15 as blizzard blasts Colo., Wyo. (USA Today, March 26, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard Hits Southern Plains (The New York Times, March 27, 2009)
2009 – Southwest, central N.D. hit by blizzard conditions (USA Today, March 30, 2009)
2009 – Spokane records snowiest winter ever (The Seattle Times, March 30, 2009)
2009 – Coldest day since 1953 (The Cairns Post, March 31, 2009)
2009 – Late March Snowfall Breaks Bismarck, North Dakota, Record (Associated Content, March 31, 2009)
2009 – 3,500 cows died in blizzard (Amarillo Globe-News, April 2, 2009)
2009 – RSS MSU: 0.06 °C month-on-month cooling (The Reference Frame, April 3, 2009)
2009 – A rare April blizzard warning issued in Forest City Iowa (Britt News Tribune, April 4, 2009)
2009 – Satellite Data Shows Arctic Cooling in February and March (Watts Up With That?, April 4, 2009)
2009 – All-time Snow Records Tumbling Again for the Second Straight Year (Watts Up With That?, April 5, 2009)
2009 – Spring snowstorm keeps some western schools closed (Omaha World-Herald, April 6, 2009)
2009 – GISS: March 2009 was the coolest March in this century (The Reference Frame, April 14, 2009)
2009 – Disaster panel mulls record Kotzebue snow (Juneau Empire, April 17, 2009)
2009 – Global Warming Strikes Again: Up To 36 Inches Of Snow In Colorado (KXNet, April 17, 2009)
2009 – Record snowfall (102 inches) a concern in Kotzebue, Alaska (Siku News, April 17, 2009)
2009 – Colorado Hit With 41 Inches Of Snow – Record Snowfall With More On The Way (The Post Chronicle, April 18, 2009)
2009 – Revealed: Antarctic ice growing, not shrinking (The Australian, April 18, 2009)
2009 – Scientists baffled by Quiet Sun… ice age coming? (MINA, April 22, 2009)
2009 – The Next Ice Age (American Thinker, April 22, 2009)
2009 – Global Cooling Earth’s Little-Known Threat (CBN News, April 25, 2009)
2009 – New Australian continent wide low temperature record set for April (Watts Up With That?, April 29, 2009)
2009 – Scientists Expect Global Cooling to Start Soon (Russia-IC, April 29, 2009)
2009 – Australian Ski Resort has it’s earliest start to the season in the resort’s 45-year history (ABC News, Australia, April 30, 2009)
2009 – Melbourne shivers through coldest April in 60 years (Herald Sun, Australia, April 30, 2009)
2009 – RSS MSU: 2nd coldest April since 1999 (The Reference Frame, May 2, 2009)
2009 – Sun Oddly Quiet – Hints at Next “Little Ice Age”? (National Geographic, May 4, 2009)
2009 – Quiet Sun May Trigger Global Cooling (Fox News, May 5, 2009)
2009 – NOAA: April Temperatures Slightly Cooler Than Average for U.S. (NOAA, May 8, 2009)
2009 – Snow in Saudi Arabia in May? (Watts Up With That?, May 12, 2009)
2009 – Pouring cold water on global warming (The Belfast Telegraph, UK, May 13, 2009)
2009 – The Coming Ice Age (American Thinker, May 13, 2009)
2009 – Geologist forecasts global cooling (ABC, Australia, May 15, 2009)
2009 – Summer haze has a cooling effect in southeastern United States, says new study (University of California Berkeley, May 18, 2009)
2009 – Weekend snow sets record in International Falls (Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 18, 2009)
2009 – Another record-setting cold morning in Austin breaks 109 year old record (The Austin American-Statesman, May 19, 2009)
2009 – Baltimore Morning cold breaks record (The Baltimore Sun, May 19, 2009)
2009 – Record cold on the coast of South Carolina (The State, May 19, 2009)
2009 – Record cold hits Far North breaks 113 year record in the Cooktown region (The Cairns Post, May 23, 2009)
2009 – Canada Has a Frigid May after a Cold Winter (Watts Up With That?, May 27, 2009)
2009 – Cooler decades ahead, researcher says (SitNews, May 28, 2009)
2009 – Still More on Diminished Solar Activity and Global Cooling (Dakota Voice, May 30, 3009)
2009 – Red Centre shivers in record cold (ABC News, Australia, June 1, 2009)
2009 – Record cold in May and more chill to come (TVNZ, New Zealand, June 3, 2009)
2009 – Isn’t this June? Snow sticking around on Pikes Peak (The Gazette, June 5, 2009)
2009 – RSS Global Temperature Anomaly also down in May, halving the April value (Watts Up With That?, June 5, 2009)
2009 – UAH global temperature anomaly for May – down again, near zero (Watts Up With That?, June 5, 2009)
2009 – Snow falls in western ND, in June, first time in 60 years (KXNet, June 6, 2009)
2009 – Alberta, Saskatchewan get snow in June (National Post, Canada, June 7, 2009)
2009 – Canada frosts the most widespread in recent memory (Reuters, June 9, 2009)
2009 – Abominable as snow hits Britain (Daily Star, UK, June 8, 2009)
2009 – Cold weather record set in Flathead (Montana’s News Station, June 9, 2009)
2009 – Canadian Wheat Output May Fall on Dry, Cool Weather (Bloomberg, June 11, 2009)
2009 – Coldest day for 43 years (The Australian, June 13, 2009)
2009 – Crops under stress as temperatures fall (The Daily Telegraph, UK, June 13, 2009)
2009 – Ocean waters off British Columbia coldest in half century (Chinook Observer, June 23, 2009)
2009 – First Ever Ice Wine in Brazil (Watts Up With That?, June 16, 2009)
2009 – Earth on the Brink of an Ice Age (DC Weather Examiner, June 29, 2009)
2009 – July Opens with Near-Record Cold (WTMJ-TV Wisconsin, July 1, 2009)
2009 – Global Cooling: Bad News For Global Warming Alarmists (Right Side News, July 6, 2009)
2009 – Frost in July hits P.E.I. (CBC News, July 8, 2009)
2009 – Chicago has its coolest July 8 in 118 years (The Chicago Tribune, July 9, 2009)
2009 – RSS Global Temperature for June 09, also down (Watts Up With That?, July 10, 2009)
2009 – Cooler weather bringing the “luck of the Irish” to the USA (Watts Up With That?, July 11, 2009)
2009 – Record Cold in Regina and Estevan Canada: Beats 92-Year-Old Record Low (CKOM-AM Canada, July 11, 2009)
2009 – Global Cooling Chills Summer 2009 (National Review Online, July 13, 2009)
2009 – NYC fails to reach 85°F in June – first time since 1916 (Watts Up With That?, July 13, 2009)
2009 – Record cold in Portland Maine in July (Watts Up With That?, July 13, 2009)
2009 – 113-Year Record Cold in Pittsburgh, 27 in MI (AccuWeather, July 14, 2009)
2009 – July 2009; Coldest on Record So Far (Discover Moose Jaw, July 16, 2009)
2009 – West Michigan record cold (Grand Rapids Weather Examiner, July 18, 2009)
2009 – Record low temperatures across Mississippi, this morning (Jackson Weather Examiner, July 19, 2009)
2009 – Cold front brings Alabama record lows (Tuscaloosa News, July 21, 2009)
2009 – Coldest July 21 In Nashville, Tennessee Since 1877 (The Post Chronicle, July 22, 2009)
2009 – Historic snow event in South America (Watts Up With That?, July 23, 2009)
2009 – Worry about global cooling, not warming (Kennebec Journal, July 23, 2009)
2009 – Cool summer disappoints tourists, delays crops (Associated Press, July 25, 2009)
2009 – Global cooling hits Al Gore’s home (The Daily Telegraph, UK, July 25, 2009)
2009 – So where’s that global cooling alert? (The Globe and Mail, Canada, July 27, 2009)
2009 – Record setting cool weather hits Denver and brings snow to the mountains (Denver Weather Examiner, July 30, 2009)
2009 – Rochester records second-coldest July (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 31, 2009)
2009 – Antarctic air flow brings record snow fall to the Falkland Islands (MercoPress, August 1, 2009)
2009 – Coldest July ever for Grand Rapids, Michigan (Grand Rapids Weather Examiner, August 1, 2009)
2009 – Coldest July on Record for Huntington, West Virginia (WOWK-TV West Virginia, August 1, 2009)
2009 – Coolest July Ever for Fort Wayne, Indiana (Indiana’s NewsCenter, August 1, 2009)
2009 – July was coldest on record for International Falls, Minnesota (KQDS-TV Minnesota, August 1, 2009)
2009 – That was the coldest July in Dubuque, Iowa Ever (Dubuque Telegraph Herald, August 1, 2009)
2009 – Media blames record cold on nature, warming on man (Energy Publisher, August 3, 2009)
2009 – Global cooling blamed as bikini record attempt falls flat (National Post, Canada, August 4, 2009)
2009 – July 2009 coldest in 33 years, weather service says (The Patriot-News, August 4, 2009)
2009 – July sets record for cold 1,100 new low temperatures set (Ravenna Record Courier, August 4, 2009)
2009 – Scientific evidence now points to global cooling, contrary to U.N. alarmism (The Washington Examiner, August 4, 2009)
2009 – July ranks in the top three for coldest (WLUC-TV Michigan, August 6, 2009)
2009 – NOAA: July Temperature Below-Average for the U.S. (NOAA, August 10, 2009)
2009 – Falling Temperatures Confound Alarmists (The Heartland Institute, September 1, 2009)
2009 – Record-setting cold weekend (The Daily Journal, September 3, 2009)
2009 – UAH: global temperature down in August by .181°C, SH sees biggest drop of 0.4°C (Watts Up With That?, September 4, 2009)
2009 – Record snowfall for Cardrona, New Zealand (Otago Daily Times, September 7, 2009)
2009 – NOAA: Summer Temperature Below Average for U.S. (NOAA, September 10, 2009)
2009 – Svensmark: “global warming stopped and a cooling is beginning” (Watts Up With That?, September 10, 2009)
2009 – Scientists see signs of global cooling (Belfast Telegraph, UK, September 21, 2009)
2009 – Planet Cooling Down Amid Global Warming Madness (NewsMax, September 23, 2009)
2009 – U.S. Northeast May Have Coldest Winter in a Decade (Bloomberg, September 28, 2009)
2009 – Forecast: A cooling trend on climate change (Canada Free Press, September 29, 2009)
2009 – NASA: Cosmic rays up 19% since last peak – new record high could lead to cooling (Watts Up With That?, September 29, 2009)
2009 – Storm brought record cold in six areas in Utah (Deseret News, ‎October 1, 2009‎)
2009 – Cold spell brings record low temperatures to Southern California (Los Angeles Times, ‎October 6, 2009‎)
2009 – October off to record cold start in Grand Junction, Colorado (Grand Junction Sentinel, October 6, 2009)
2009 – Shocker! Ice melt lowest in 30 years (WorldNetDaily, October 8, 2009)
2009 – What happened to global warming? (BBC, October 9, 2009)
2009 – Biggest news you’ve never heard: Earth isn’t warming (The Christian Science Monitor, October 10, 2009)
2009 – It was cold enough to break a record (Gillette News Record, October 10, 2009)
2009 – Record cold kills NL playoff game (Daily Mail, Charleston, October 10, 2009)
2009 – Record cold temperatures greet fans as Colorado Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies prepare for Game 3 (The Express Times, October 10, 2009)
2009 – Record snowfall, cold hit Central Nebraska (Grand Island Independent, October 10, 2009)
2009 – Denver breaks 104 year old cold temperature record as Arctic chill sets in (Denver Weather Examiner, October 11, 2009)
2009 – B.C. Interior hit with record-breaking cold snap (CTV British Columbia, October 12, 2009)
2009 – Bellingham, Washington sets cold record (Bellingham Herald, October 12, 2009)
2009 – Early winter arrival with record lows and snow in Baltimore (Baltimore Weather Examiner, October 12, 2009)
2009 – Kalispell, Montana hits new cold record (Daily Inter Lake, October 12, 2009)
2009 – Iowa sees record cold (Chicago Tribune, October 12, 2009)
2009 – Record cold, early snow grip Prairies on Thanksgiving (CBC News, October 12, 2009)
2009 – Record cold hits Wenatchee, Washington; snow on the way (The Wenatchee World Online, October 12, 2009)
2009 – Three Decades Of Global Cooling (Investors Business Daily, October 12, 2009)
2009 – Winter hits Calgary roads after record cold (Calgary Herald, October 12, 2009)
2009 – Good snow spells a record year for New Zealand ski fields (Reuters, October 13, 2009)
2009 – Monday snowfall breaks record in Southern Minnesota (Austin Herald, October 13, 2009)
2009 – Record cold, snow hits central Canada (Times of the Internet, October 13, 2009)
2009 – Western Montana towns report coldest temperatures ever for Oct. 12 (The Missoulian, October 13, 2009)
2009 – Austria gets record October snow (Radio Netherlands, October 14, 2009)
2009 – Central Europe hit by heavy snow, high winds (Reuters, October 14, 2009)
2009 – Early start to winter ≈20% of USA is covered in snow already (Watts Up With That?, October 14, 2009)
2009 – October Cold Snap Sets 82-Year Record in Chicago (WBBM-TV Chicago, October 14, 2009)
2009 – Record-setting cold in Laurel, Montana (Laurel Outlook, October 14, 2009)
2009 – Whatever happened to global warming? (Daily Mail, UK, October 14, 2009)
2009 – European cold snap kills 4 in Poland, cuts power (Reuters, October 15, 2009)
2009 – Record cold day ties 1874 record in Baltimore (Baltimore Weather Examiner, October 15, 2009)
2009 – Earliest snow on record blankets Poconos, Penn State (Philadelphia Inquirer, October 16, 2009)
2009 – Record-Breaking Early Snowfall In New York, New Jersey (The Huffington Post, October 16, 2009)
2009 – Friday coldest Oct. 16 in DC in 138 years (The Washington Examiner, October 17, 2009)
2009 – October bringing record cold to Topeka, Kansas (Topeka Capital Journal, October 17, 2009)
2009 – Record snow at Penn State cancels tailgating on Homecoming Weekend (Baltimore Weather Examiner, October 17, 2009)
2009 – A cold start to fall: over 4500 new snowfall, low temp, and lowest max temp records set in the USA this last week (Watts Up With That?, October 18, 2009)
2009 – There’s a global cooling trend (StandardNet, October 19, 2009)
2009 – Study: model in good agreement with satellite temperature data – suggest cooling (Watts Up With That?, October 20, 2009)
2009 – Cold start to fall continues, 252 more low temperature records set in the USA this week (Watts Up With That?, October 23, 2009)
2009 – Snow sets October record (Omaha World-Herald, October 23, 2009)
2009 – The “cold war” hits home – October in like a lion, out like a fridge (Watts Up With That?, October 25, 2009)
2009 – Russian research forecasts global cooling (WorldNetDaily, October 27, 2009)
2009 – Global cooling welcomed here (Caymanian Compass, October 28, 2009)
2009 – North Platte, NE Breaks All-Time Snow Record (AccuWeather, November 2, 2009)
2009 – Coldest October in 64 years (The Dominion Post, New Zealand, November 3, 2009)
2009 – Record cold and rain: October 2009 climate statistics for Baltimore (Baltimore Weather Examiner, November 3, 2009)
2009 – October’s significant chill – take your pick on descriptors (Watts Up With That?, November 5, 2009)
2009 – October 2009 3rd Coldest for US in 115 Years (Watts Up With That?, November 7, 2009)
2009 – Beware global cooling (Business Day, November 9, 2009)
2009 – Beijing’s Heaviest Snow in 54 Years Strands Thousands (Bloomberg, November 12, 2009)
2009 – Coldest November day in Delhi in five years (The Times of India, November 12, 2009)
2009 – Record snow turns Hebei’s capital into wonderland (Global Times, China, November 12, 2009)
2009 – Roof collapse kills three children as snow blankets north China (Earthtimes, November 12, 2009)
2009 – Chinese schools collapse in snow (BBC, November 13, 2009)
2009 – Italian ski resorts killing it with record snow (Ski Channel, November 17, 2009)
2009 – A Week in Alaska: -46 Degrees, 186 MPH Winds (AccuWeather, November 17, 2009)
2009 – North-central China staggers under early snow; 40 die, 9,000 buildings collapse (Associated Press, November 18, 2009)
2009 – Climatologists Baffled by Global Warming Time-Out (Der Spiegel, November 19, 2009)
2009 – Hong Kong shivers in coldest November in more than 120 years (The Earth Times, November 19, 2009)
2009 – Whistler blows away November snowfall record (CBC News, November 19, 2009)
2009 – Often Alaska’s coldest spot, Bettles is setting records (Anchorage Daily News, November 22, 2009)
2009 – Hiding evidence of global cooling (The Washington Times, November 24, 2009)
2009 – Snow on the French Riviera???? (CNN iReport, November 24, 2009)
2009 – Record snowfall on Mount Washington (Courier Islander, Canada, November 25, 2009)
2009 – The global-cooling cover-up (The Washington Times, November 27, 2009)
2009 – Denying the global-cooling cover-up (The Washington Times, December 1, 2009)
2009 – Whistler-Blackcomb sets November snow record (The Vancouver Sun, December 1, 2009)
2009 – Earliest snow on record for Houston and New Orleans (Baltimore Weather Examiner, December 4, 2009)
2009 – Houston gets earliest snowfall on record (Associated Press, December 4, 2009)
2009 – Record breaking snowfall from Houston, Texas to Grand Rapids, Michigan (Denver Weather Examiner, December 5, 2009)
2009 – Albertans break electricity demand record; cold, dark part of reason (Winnipeg Free Press, December 7, 2009)
2009 – Arizona Buckles Down for Rare Blizzard (CBS News, December 7, 2009)
2009 – Newfoundland digs out from record snow (UPI, December 7, 2009)
2009 – St. John’s gets record snowfall (CBC News, December 7, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard dumps record snow on Siouxland (Sioux City Journal, December 8, 2009)
2009 – Early-season blizzard blamed for 4 deaths (UPI, December 8, 2009)
2009 – Record cold hits Sacramento (The Sacramento Bee, December 8, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard Paralyzes Much of Midwest (The New York Times, December 9, 2009)
2009 – Enormous winter storm over US (TVNZ, December 9, 2009)
2009 – Epic blizzard wreaks havoc: Blizzard forces school and road closures throughout Midwest (Akron Headlines Examiner, December 9, 2009)
2009 – Record cold temperatures chill Santa Cruz County (Santa Cruz Sentinel, December 9, 2009)
2009 – Sledding on cafeteria trays for first college snow day on record (WKOW-TV Wisconsin, December 9, 2009)
2009 – Southwest La. snowfall earliest on record (Jennings Daily News, December 9, 2009)
2009 – Storm dumps record snowfall in Carson, Nevada (Nevada Appeal, December 9, 2009)
2009 – State of Wisconsin shut down by Dec 09 blizzard, National Guard put on alert (Madison Political Buzz Examiner, December 9, 2009)
2009 – Massive Storms Cause Blizzard Conditions, 17 Deaths (ABC News, December 10, 2009)
2009 – Midwest & Great Lakes blizzard reached the intensity of a category 2 hurricane (Jackson Weather Examiner, December 10, 2009)
2009 – 3rd day of record cold at Sea-Tac (The Seattle Times, December 11, 2009)
2009 – Yes, the last decade saw global cooling, not warming (American Thinker, December 12, 2009)
2009 – Edmonton breaks weather record for coldest December 13 (National Post, Canada, December 13, 2009)
2009 – Greenhouse roofs collapse under heavy snow (KSL-TV Utah, December 13, 2009)
2009 – Lots of new cold and snow records in the USA this past week (Watts Up With That?, December 13, 2009)
2009 – Record setting cold grips Southwest Saskatchewan (Southwest Booster, December 13, 2009)
2009 – Extreme cold in Prairies; snowstorms in B.C. (National Post, Canada, December 14, 2009)
2009 – Midwest, Northeast dig out from brutal winter storm (USA Today, December 14, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard Dumps Snow on Copenhagen as Leaders Battle Warming (Bloomberg, December 17, 2009)
2009 – Record cold, snow envelop Japan Sea coast (The Japan Times, December 18, 2009)
2009 – Record snow continues to fall as deadly East Coast storm lingers (CNN, December 19, 2009)
2009 – A winter’s worth of snow in 24 hours (The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 20, 2009)
2009 – 2nd highest three-day snowfall in history hits Valdez (Juneau Empire, December 20, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard-like storm pounds East; 5 deaths are reported (The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 20, 2009)
2009 – Passengers grounded as U.S. digs out from record snowfall (Toronto Star, December 20, 2009)
2009 – Record setting winter storm wallops the East Coast (Natural Disasters Examiner, December 20, 2009)
2009 – Record snowfall totals for Rhode Island (Providence Headlines Examiner, December 20, 2009)
2009 – Snow plays role in Georgetown roof collapse (December 20, 2009)
2009 – D.C. Blizzard Makes for a Rotten Time for U.S. Climate Attendees in Denmark (The New York Times, December 21, 2009)
2009 – D.C. digs out from record snowstorm (The Washington Times, December 21, 2009)
2009 – Guard Responds to Record Northeast Snowfall (U.S. Department of Defense)
2009 – Health Ministry: 27 people froze to death in Ukraine due to current cold wave (Kyiv Post, Ukraine, December 21, 2009)
2009 – Long Island Sees Record Snowfall (Long Island Press, December 21, 2009)
2009 – Over 50% of the USA is now covered in snow (Watts Up With That?, December 21, 2009)
2009 – Three freeze to death in Austria (Austrian Times, December 21, 2009)
2009 – Three people freeze to death in Bosnia (B92 Serbia, December 21, 2009)
2009 – Washington area digs out from record-setting snowfall (The Washington Post, December 21, 2009)
2009 – Elderly, Disabled Trapped by Record Snow (WJLA-TV Washington D.C., December 22, 2009)
2009 – European weather deaths pass 100 (The Guardian, UK, December 22, 2009)
2009 – Record cold conditions kill nine people in Czech Republic (Radio Prague, December 21, 2009)
2009 – Record snowfall blankets Moscow (Voice of Russian, December 22, 2009)
2009 – Winter freeze kills 79 in Poland (AFP, December 22, 2009)
2009 – 50 years of cooling predicted (Canada Free Press, December 23, 2009)
2009 – Big freeze brings misery and death to Europe (BBC, December 23, 2009)
2009 – Heavy Snow Causes Part of VA School’s Roof to Collapse (WHSV-TV Virginia, December 23, 2009)
2009 – Snowfall breaks record at JFK, blankets NE Queens (New York Post, December 23, 2009)
2009 – Big freeze death toll rises to 17 (Daily Star, UK, December 24, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard freezes Christmas cheer (UPI, December 25, 2009)
2009 – Dallas-area snow is record for Christmas Eve (Dallas Morning News, December 25, 2009)
2009 – Deadly Cold Across Europe and Russia (NASA, December 25, 2009)
2009 – Holiday snowstorm hits much of central U.S. (CNN, December 25, 2009)
2009 – Nearly two thirds of the continental USA gets a white Christmas (Watts Up With That?, December 25, 2009)
2009 – Rare blizzard strikes West Texas (The Houston Chronicle, December 25, 2009)
2009 – White Christmas is one for the record books, KC (The Kansas City Star, December 25, 2009)
2009 – Whiteout Christmas: Blizzard whips through N.D. (Bismarck Tribune, December 25, 2009)
2009 – Christmas blizzard shuts down state (Rapid City Journal, December 26, 2009)
2009 – Duluth, International Falls set Christmas snow records (KQDS-TV Minnesota, December 26, 2009)
2009 – Satellite measurements show our quiet sun is cooling the upper thermosphere (Watts Up With That?, December 26, 2009)
2009 – 877 new snowfall records set or tied in the USA in the last week (Watts Up With That?, December 27, 2009)
2009 – Peoria breaks snowfall record (Peoria Journal Star, December 27, 2009)
2009 – Record snowfall hits region (St. Cloud Times, December 27, 2009)
2009 – Storm smashes snowfall records (Sioux City Journal, December 27, 2009)
2009 – December 2009 blizzard caused snow emergency (Green Bay Press Gazette, December 28, 2009)
2009 – Heavy Snow Leads To Roof Collapse (KETV Nebraska, December 28, 2009)
2009 – Record Levels Of Snowfall Hit City (The St. Petersburg Times, Russia, December 28, 2009)
2009 – 4 more die of cold in UP; toll reaches 18 (United News of India, December 29, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard halts weekend mail delivery (Times Record News, December 29, 2009)
2009 – Carlsbad receives record-setting snowfall (Carlsbad Current Argus, December 29, 2009)
2009 – Minot sets December snowfall record (Minot Daily News, December 29, 2009)
2009 – Record snow falls in Dallas / Fort Worth area (Coastal Carolina Weather Examiner, December 29, 2009)
2009 – Blizzard blasts region with ‘Whiteout’ Christmas (The Chadron Record, December 30, 2009)
2009 – Christmas Eve blizzard claims 3 lives in county (The Tuttle Times, December 30, 2009)
2009 – Record snow lures thousands to Mount Washington (Times Colonist, Canada, December 30, 2009)
2009 – Six killed as Big New Year Freeze takes deadly grip of Britain (Daily Mail, UK, December 30, 2009)
2009 – Snowfall breaks December record (Topeka Capital Journal, December 30, 2009)
2009 – Snowstorm squelches climate change protest (The Salt Lake Tribune, December 30, 2009)
2009 – Weight of Snow Causes Barn Collapse (Nobles County Review, December 30, 2009)
2009 – Bitter cold kills 13 in Aila-hit Dakope (The Daily Star, Bangladesh, December 31, 2009)
2009 – Heaviest snowfall in Moscow in last 20 years (Voice of Russia, December 31, 2009)
2009 – Coldest December since 1981 (BBC, January 3, 2010)
2009 – December in top 5 for coldest ever (KHAS-TV Nebraska, January 3, 2010)
2009 – Denver records seventh coldest December in history (Denver Weather Examiner, January 3, 2010)

Green Chamber of The South’s Green Wednesdays

Our Partner the Green Chamber of The South hosts “Green Wednesdays” Green In Gwinnett Area

January Green Wednesdays – 1/6/2010 Green Wednesdays is an informal gathering of like-minded professionals and individuals interested in connecting with others to share ideas on Green Business.  At each meeting we have a short presentation by one of our members and the rest of the time is devoted to networking. DATE: 1/6/2009 TIME: 11:45 AM Urban Flats (in the Lindbergh City Center) 2450 Piedmont Rd NE, Atlanta, GA FOR MAP CLICK HERE Presenter: Dr. Marlin Gottschalk, Ph.D., Director of Sustainability Division at Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Register now and save time:  http://www.greencs.org/events/greenwednesdays Join Our Mailing List! Green Chamber of the South

Our Green In Gwinnett Area (GIGA) organization’s mission is to help make Gwinnett County a healthier, more environmentally friendly and socially responsible place to live by becoming a valuable resource for the residents and businesses in our community. This GIGA site is a place to share our passion with others by collecting educational information, and providing a repository for eco-friendly resources and products. Together we  can make Gwinnett Greener!

Green Chamber of The South and Gwinnett Chamber “Financing Green”

 

 

BuGS Series – Financing Green
Learn about opportunities to green your business operations, grow business and profit in our Business Growth and Sustainability Series with the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. This is the fourth meeting this year and will focus on opportunities for financing green initiatives, from small businesses and projects to very large ones.
This meeting will feature:
Michael Blake – Habif Arogeti and Wynne
Chuck Thorp – Energy Finance
Lisa Robinson – Georgia Green Loans
Moderator: Woodrow Cannon – Clean Energy Capital Partners
and is sponsored by Morris Manning and Martin LLP.

Financing Green:  Looking to start a small sustainable project? Doing and energy retrofit? Looking to fund the next clean tech innovation? Green company? Interested in learning what the funding options are in today’s economy?

Date: Tuesday, December 8, 2009, 11:30am -1:30pm
Location: Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce
For details and to register CLICK HERE

~ Remember to think Green In Gwinnett Area!

Follow us on Twitter: Green In Gwinnett

What is Sustainability? Green In Gwinnett Area

Bringing The Green Back To Gwinnett

Sustainability, in a broad sense is the ability to maintain a specific process or state. Today however, it is most commonly used in reference to biological and human systems. In an ecological context, sustainability can be defined as the ability of an ecosystem to maintain ecological processes, functions, biodiversity and productivity into the future.

Sustainability has become a complex term that can be applied to almost every facet of life on Earth, particularly the many different levels of biological organization, such as; prairies, forests, and wetlands, and is expressed in human organization concepts, such as; eco-municipalities, sustainable cities, and human activities and disciplines, such as; sustainable agriculture, sustainable architecture and renewable energy. Many sustainable practices are being identified as “green” initiatives.  Terming this practice as “green” as we do with GIGA, Green In Gwinnett Area, stems from the forests and environments we are surrounded by.

For the human race to live sustainably or “green”, the Earth’s resources must be used at a rate at which they can be replenished. However, there is now clear scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainably, and that an unprecedented collective effort is needed to return human use of natural resources to within sustainable limits.

Since the 1980s, the idea of human sustainability has become increasingly associated with the integration of economic, social and environmental spheres. In 1989, the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) articulated what has now become a widely accepted definition of sustainability: “[to meet] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.  Simply put, we must put the needs of the future as a top priority when using resources.  You wouldn’t want your child or parents or anyone else in your family to suffer.  Our actions now directly impact our families in the future.

We currently have facilities in Gwinnett County such as the Gwinnett Environmental and Heritage Center (Buford), Suwanee City Hall (Suwanee), and Brandsmart which is a commercial building in Buford, Georgia that are striving towards sustainability.  These facilities are all LEED facilities.  We hope to see more of these practices in other areas in Gwinnett County in the immediate future and your voice counts.  What counts more than your voice however, are your actions.

The Gwinnett Chamber and The Green Chamber of the South Presents:

Green In Gwinnett Area GIGA would like you to consider attending this event.  If you can’t attend, please at least read about it.

Join the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce & The Green Chamber Of The South for their:

BUSINESS GROWTH AND SUSTAINABILITY FORUM
Presented by E.R. Snell

This forum is comprised of four seminars, the first will take place on March 24, 2009 at the Gwinnett Chamber Of Commerce – 11:30 am – 1:30 pm.

By attending this forum, you will learn about opportunities to green your business operations while growing a profitable business. We will discuss topics such as energy conservation, tax incentives, alternative financing options and tips on communicating your goals internally and externally.

Each program will focus on specific topics and recognized experts who can offer sound legal guidance, financing advice, an overview of tools to help businesses establish baselines and measure improvements, and local case studies. Participants will have an opportunity to network with other environmentally concerned business leaders in the area and learn how they are implementing sustainability measures into their operations.

The theme of the first seminar on March 24th is:

ENERGY CONSERVATION STRATEGIES for BUSINESS

SPEAKERS:
Richard Ross & David Dungan – Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority
Peter Revesz – Global VP Business Development, Metrolight
Dick Harvey – Energy Retrofit Sales Leader, Honeywell
Brenda Bailey – Facilities Manager, Unisource

The cost to attend is:
Gwinnett / Green Chamber Members: $15.00
Non Members: $35.00

For more information and to register, please go to: http://www.gwinnettchamber.org/bugs

The Gwinnett Chamber is located in Duluth, GA at 6500 Sugarloaf Pkwy… Very close to i85 and sugarloaf pkwy exit.

City of Suwanee: Preserving a Healthy Environment in the Face of Rapid Growth

Introduction.

Follows is a review of what one town in the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan
Area(GAMA) is doing to preserve its natural resources and mitigate air pollution while at
the same time improving quality of life for its citizens and preserving its small town feel
in the face of rapid growth and development. Many of the tools used by the City of
Suwanee to accomplish these tasks, including the massive Open Space Initiative and the
effective use of Planned Mixed-Use Developments, are ones that are also potentially
readily available to many other small towns within GAMA as well as without.
Borders and Connections. The City of Suwanee is located in northwestern Gwinnett
County. It is bordered by Buford to the northeast, Lawrenceville to the southeast, and
Duluth to the southwest. I-85 passes through the southeastern edge of the city where the
city abuts with Lawrenceville. This stretch of I-85 includes exit 111, approximately 30
miles from the center of Atlanta. Other major roadways passing through the City include
Lawrenceville-Suwanee/Suwanee-Dam Rd.(GA 317), Peachtree Industrial, McGinnis
Ferry Rd., and Buford Highway(US 23). One rail line, the Southern Railroad, passes
through the City, paralleling US 23 and Peachtree Industrial.

Ecological.

The Chattahoochee River passes just west of the western boarder of the City
of Suwanee with the Chattahoochee River Corridor extending into a small area of
Residential and Commercial zoning comprising about 4000 feet of that border. There are
several streams within the City, two of which, Bushy Creek and Suwanee Creek, are
tributaries to the Chattahoochee. There are no known occurrences of protected species
within the City. There are no other major natural resources within the city with the
exception of the following. The Georgia DNR has shown that Suwanee “contains
Significant Groundwater Recharge Areas that have, according to the Groundwater
Pollution Susceptibility Map of Georgia, a Low Susceptibility rating.”(1, “Natural
Resources”) The rating is based on the DRASTIC system, as laid out by the EPA, which
examines the hydrogeolgic settings of a given area and creates an overlay map indicating
areas susceptible to contamination (5). Lastly, Suwanee and Gwinnett Co. are a part of
the Atlanta Metropolitan AQCR, which is currently a non-attainment area for ozone. This
classification places restrictions on the expansion of roads and other structures that
contribute to the creation of ozone(smog) in the Atlanta area, as well as bars the receiving
of certain Federal funds.

Demographic.

The City of Suwanee comes from humble beginnings as a predominately
rural farm town with a population of only 615 in the early 1970’s. However, through the
70’s up until 1990 the population of Gwinnett Co. increased 388%, adding approximately
94,000 people between 1970-80 and 186,000 people from 1980-90. By 1998 (latest
Census estimate) the county had grown another 169,000 people. Suwanee’s own growth
has been exponential during this period, with a quadrupling of the population between
1990 and 2000, from 2,412 persons to 9,191. The 2007 estimate has the City at about
16,250 residents(2). A comparison of the growth rates reveals that while the Atlanta
Region has held steady at about 2.5% over the three decades and Gwinnett Co. has
actually slowly decreased from 8.7% to 5% from 1970 to 1990, Suwanee has seen nearly
a tripling of its growth rates over those same three decades (’70- 5.25%, ’80- 8.9%, ’90-
14%). In short, Suwanee has been growing fast.(1)
Current 2000 Census data shows the age distribution to be centered at 35-44 years of age
and weighted between approximately 50% of the population between the ages of 25 and
54. The vast majority of these are white (94% in 1990), with only about 4.4% black and
2% Asian. Almost half of the population of Suwanee in 1990 was at a high school
education or lower, 21% with some college but no degree, and a third of the population
having at least a College Associates degree. These numbers were, at the time, overall
worse than the County’s. Per capita income in 1990 was slightly below the County at
$17,300 and Median Household Income was well above the County’s at $48,750, with
income groupings evenly distributed.(1)

Projected Growth.

Total population is projected to grow to about 20,500 people and
8,000 households by 2020, with a sharp leveling off of growth after 2015. Long term
projections for 2030 have households at 11, 495 and the population between 30,000 and
32,500. Socioeconomic trends, including Median Household Income and education
levels, have also shown a strong improvement since the 1980’s and are projected to
continue. The current city average of about 3 persons per household, however, is not
projected to change much. This means much of the future growth of the City is expected
to be as large families rather than single adults.(2)
Land Use. The City of Suwanee’s land area currently totals 6,998 acres, or about 10
square miles, with the following breakdown. About 42% is Residential, with 95% of that
being Single-Family and the remaining being Multi-Family. Only about 6% of the land
was being used for Commercial, with the overwhelming majority of that being
commercial/retail. Light industry comprised approximately 10% of the land. Parks/
Recreation & Conservation lands were about 11.5% of the land use. Total undeveloped
acreage is currently 12% of the land area of the City. That is projected to ultimately be
reduced to 0% in the future.(2)

Problems the City Faces.

Space has become a very valuable commodity within the
small city due to its extremely rapid growth. One of the issues cited as being the leading
cause of urban sprawl in the Atlanta area is the fact that homeowners and developers have
always preferred large lot sizes, with upwards of an acre or more not entirely uncommon
for one household (Wes Rogers, Senior Environmental Planner, 3/14/2008). This problem
has especially impacted Suwanee as the town has seen much of its land occupied by lowdensity
subdivisions, with lot width minimums from 85 to 150 feet.
This leads to the number one challenge the City faces today: managing infill well. Infill is
the result of the rapid growth the I-85 corridor has experienced in the past several years.
“As growth has leap-frogged… up the I-85 corridor, in checkerboard fashion, spurred by
road and sewer extensions, urbanization has been a function of filling in the spaces left
between disparate development projects- basically a densification of the checkered-board
over time until all of the spaces are filled” (1, “Land Use”).
To make matters worse, since Suwanee is a part of the Atlanta area urban air quality basin
and since that area is currently in non-attainment for ozone emissions, Suwanee and
Greater Gwinnett County are both subject to federal regulations which, “impacts the
county’s road improvement program and its ability to add additional capacity to
regionally significant roads”(1, “Natural Resources”). Furthermore, the Atlanta Regional
Commission has been working on ways that local governments can help reduce air
pollution by reducing average trip miles, etc. These, together, put added pressure on the
City of Suwanee to “infill” smartly.

The Chattahoochee Corridor does not greatly affect the City, but is noteworthy. Related to
it are the many un-developable areas such as low-lying flood-zones and wetlands. There
is also some concern for the vast recharge area over which the city lies.

Finally, to tie all of these issues together and expand on them some, it is, in fact, the
Mayor and the City Council’s desire to make their city an environmentally pleasing and
pleasant place- if not for Mother Nature, at least for the human beings living there. This
includes everything from side walks and greenspace to matching street lamps along the
main thoroughfare into town. They also wish to reduce traffic through so-called “smart
planning,” or to put work, play, residence, and shopping all within readily accessible
distance of each other.

In short, the challenge faced by the City of Suwanee in recent years has been to infill the
remaining available space while at the same time preserving the city’s small-town feel,
improving pedestrian access and lowering traffic, and saving as many trees and green
open areas (for the purposes of aesthetics and the environment) as they realistically can.

Solutions and Other Actions.

Chattahoochee River Corridor & Tributaries.
The Chattahoochee River Corridor extends into a small portion of the western extreme of
the City and, overall, affects the City little. Nevertheless, this area is subject to regulation
under the Georgia Metropolitan River Protection Act and the River Corridor Plan and so
is not insignificant(1).
Per regulations there is required a 50 ft. non-disturbance buffer, a 100 ft. set back for all
development, and a 150 ft. setback for all impervious development within this corridor
(1). In addition, there are severe restrictions on land use within a 7 mi. radius of any
down stream municipal water intake plants. However, none currently exist near the City
and none are likely to ever be developed within this proximity(1). There is one last action
which the City was required to take as the commercially zoned section that occupies
much of the corridor/city overlap is developed. As a precaution to protect the
Chattahoochee from storm water runoff and river bank erosion, 6 acres of land of this lot
were slated to be preserved, undisturbed (Wes Rogers, 3/14/2008).
There is a further requirement of at least a 35 ft. non-disturbance buffer for all tributaries
of the Chattahoochee with an additional 35 ft. impervious surface setback(1). However,
this seems moot as current city stream-buffer ordinances require a 50 ft. non-disturbance
buffer with an additional 25 ft. set back for development for all streams within the City
(4).
Wetland Conservation/Utilization and the Greenway.
Per city ordinances, all wetlands within the city are subject to standard S. 404 permitting
under the Clean Water Act. However, there are no easily developable wetlands within the
city as those that do exist are flood-zones for streams and rivers. This posed a problem for
the City of Suwanee as it meant there was privately owned land within its boundaries
which could not be used by either its owners or the public at large. As a solution, the
green-minded Mayor of Suwanee decided 10 years or so ago that, rather than leaving all
of that land to just sit and waste away, he would like the City to buy it up and convert it to
greenways. The green-minded City Council agreed to the idea, and so in 2001 the City’s
award winning “Open Space Initiative” was begun. With this initiative the City took out a
$17.7 million bond and began the purchasing of land and developing of trails and parks.
One of the crowning achievements of this project has been the Suwanee Creek Greenway,
a project which also received State Recreation Grant funding. This greenway connects the
expansive George Pierce Park sports complex with the Town Center and preserves
several acres of flood-generated wetlands along the Suwanee Creek. Also, since the City
owns the lands, the project also prevents any issues with takings or zoning violations, as
well as circumvents having to deal with developers in the preservation of open space.
Finally, before taking out the bond the City held a vote, and its citizens agreed to take a
140% increase in property taxes in order to pay the bond back.
Air Quality.
“The City of Suwanee is also working toward improving air quality through coordination
and integration of land use and transportation, the encouragement of mixed use and
pedestrian friendly facilities, the support for a commuter rail station and building of the
necessary infrastructure for alternative modes of transportation.” (1, “Natural Resources:
Air Quality”)
These actions are covered in further detail below.
Coping with Growth: reducing traffic, managing density, and maintaining open space.
In 1998 a new Zoning Master Plan was created to cope with the growing pains of the city.
Of particular note in this new master plan was a new type of zone, the PMUD (Planned
Mixed Use Development). In short the objective of the City in creating this zoning type
was not to increase density but to make travel in the city more pedestrian friendly, make
daily life for the residents of the mixed-use zones easier, and reduce overall trip mileage,
all while preserving some open space as well. There are two types of PMUD: Mixed-Use
Village (MUV) and Mixed-Use Center (MUC). The difference is essentially that the
Village is predominantly residential and the Center is predominantly commercial or
industrial(offices). The goal of both is to put residents closer to their place of work and/or
shopping and at the same time provide open space for recreation. A full list of objectives
for PMUD zoned areas can be found in Section 510.A in Article V of the Zoning Master
Plan.(3)
In the 1998 zoning map there were 6 PMUD zoned regions within the city, each at
specific “Character Areas” per the 2020 Comprehensive Plan. The future land use
projections in the 2030 Comprehensive Plan shows these PMUD areas expanded, with
several new and broader overlay Character Areas. These new Character Areas are mainly
meant as a tool for organizing the City’s development plans, though some older areas
may have purpose beyond this. Follows is an explanation of the thinking behind the
creating of certain PMUD zoned Character Areas.
The goal of some of these Character Areas is to facilitate transition from existing
commercial or industrial areas to existing low-density neighborhoods within the minimal
space remaining between the two (the infill). One prime example of this is the area
around the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard (PIB) and Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road
intersection. Here PMUD and multifamily housing are being used as transitions from the
heavily commercial PIB Corridor and single family uses to the north and Town Center
and Old Town to the south. Another particular PMUD zone, known as Suwanee Station,
was set in anticipation of a future commuter rail station for the City of Suwanee and also
serves as transition between light industry and single family areas. Most areas are set to
utilize both MUV and MUC together, though some are exclusively one or the other. Of
note in the only MUV-only area is the planned use of a conservation neighborhood, in
which a minimum of 50% of the area must be devoted to open space, due to the presence
of extensive flood-plains in the area. Also of note is that all Character Areas, for all types
of zoning, are designated low-medium density, with the exception of the Sims Lake/
Suwanee Gateway area near the I-85 interchange. It is slated for high density residential
development.(1, 2)
To go more in depth, as a part of the preservation of open space, all MUV areas are
required to have at least a ½ acre park within 500 ft. of the front door step of all housing
units and are required to preserve at least 20% of the gross area of the development as
open space. This often results in the transference of that land to either the City or, in some
cases, the home owners association for that neighborhood. Both areas carry extensive
regulations on the nature and use of driveways, alleys, and parking lots- mainly to the
effect of having them placed in the back of development and away from where their
traffic might disrupt traffic on the main streets. Sidewalks are mandatory and, to further
facilitate pedestrian traffic, several of the PMUD zones and broader Character Areas will
be interconnected via trails and greenways. Thus the City hopes to accomplish the task of
infilling its undeveloped areas without destroying its small town character or creating
traffic and air quality problems, while also better connecting the already developed areas
of town to one another.(1)

Funding.

Suwanee has 5 main sources of funding for its plans. The obvious first two are
local funding from the City’s own coffers and the State of Georgia. Other primary sources
of funding include the Open Space Bond, as discussed earlier. A SPLOST, passed in
2005, goes towards many of the City’s road maintenance, pedestrian development, and
city building maintenance projects. Finally, a TAD has been set up for the development/
re-development in the Suwanee Gateway Character Area. Occasionally money comes in
from Gwinnett County or the Georgia DOT.
Room for Improvement. The City of Suwanee was ranked as the #10 Small Town to
live in in the US in 2007 by Money Magazine. This is for good reason given all that the
City has done, is doing, and will do to improve the quality of life of its citizens in the face
Atlanta’s monstrous sprawl. But, that is not to say that there is not more the City could
do. The biggest thing the City could do to really push the environmental-shade of green is
to pass ordinances requiring Low Impact Development practices and Energy Star
efficiency standards for all new development and pushing for older developments to
retrofit parking lots and even replace conventional roofs with green roofs, etc.
The City’s Senior Environmental Planner, Wes Rogers, has himself, expressed a desire to
do things like put the lights in the Town Center park on solar power instead of leaving
them on the system, feeding off the nearby Buford dam. However, as Wes Rogers points
out, things like forcing LID design practices and putting up solar power panels, as green
as they might be environmentally, can often times be in conflict with that other shade of
green that developers and cities must pay so much attention to: money. As Wes pointed
out in a phone conversation, LID and energy efficiency practices are often not worth their
initial costs, which can be very high. This is because the developers often lease the
property, so that they are not the ones paying the electric and water bills; and because
impervious surface taxes are not very high, making benefits from reduced impervious
surface minimal to none. Furthermore, he points out that installing solar panels is not
very realistic if its own costs are going to be well above the actual savings on the electric
bill because it will not necessarily be very justifiable in the eyes of the citizens. In other
words, in a cost versus benefits analysis, justifying the more environmentally friendly
methods can often be a hard ticket to sell to developers and citizens if they are not
already on the City’s side as the comparison can often be heavily weighted on the side of
costs.
To make a LID ordinance more justifiable or simply to make LID practices more
appealing, the City could instate its own impervious surface tax. However it would
probably have to be fairly stiff and would possibly not get the support of the City’s
citizens. Alternatively, as an implied police power granted in the State Constitution, the
City could target the impervious surface tax to only people who go over a certain
percentage of impervious surface or towards commercial and industrial developers.
Subsequently, those developers making full or substantial implementation of LID
practices on their properties could have those properties completely exempt from said
tax. Of course this poses the issue of possibly reducing commerce in the area; but given
the City’s desirability from a residential stand point and how well it is connected to
Atlanta and the rest of Gwinnett County, this seems like it would be of little issue. The
real issue, for Suwanee, would be the fact that most of the city is already developed, with
those areas that are not developed already being under construction and potentially
beyond the point of being able to use LID technology without retrofitting.
Suwanee: A Model City? How applicable are Suwanee’s design practices to other small
towns in the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area(GAMA)? This is difficult to say as
Suwanee has some very important but unique characteristics. Easily the biggest and most
important of these is the City’s governing officials and its citizens. There are many towns
in the GAMA that certainly do have the connectivity that Suwanee does and do have the
natural beauty and appeal that Suwanee has. However, how many can claim to have a
governing body truly concerned with the preservation of open space, protection of
valuable natural resources, such as streams and wet lands, and desire to mitigate air
pollution, so much so that the governing body would be willing to even suggest more
than doubling property taxes and taking out a $17.7 million bond so as to pay for it all?
Then how many of those cities have citizens that would agree to it or even could agree to
it for it not being beyond their financial means?
Another important characteristic that really helps make the City’s PMUD zones work is
that fact that the town did develop in a haphazard manner, such that today all that is left
are the infill spaces. This characteristic of the City helps to make the PMUD designs the
obvious choice, not only for all the benefits already stated above, but also because they
allow for the preservation of property value in some areas that might have otherwise
suffered due to undesirable locals- i.e. next to light manufacturing plants.
Nevertheless, it is certainly possible for many of the ideas implemented in Suwanee to be
applied to other towns. Even in areas where the demographic is not affluent enough to be
able to afford such things as Suwanee’s Open Space Initiative, the plan could still be
applied if support from federal, state, and/or county governments could be garnered.
Mixed-use developments, while they make more sense for a town that is in the “infill”
stage, could easily be applied anywhere. They could even be used as a tool to help boost
land values and desirability in up-and-coming small towns as the Mixed-Use areas of
Suwanee are definitely a part of what makes the town so attractive today.
Conclusion. As the City of Suwanee faces another doubling of its current day population
by year 2030 and a dwindling of its land available for development, it has been pressured
to preserve its small town feel, its natural beauty, and its clean air all while comfortably
fitting in the extra 15,000 residents. Through the support of its citizens in proceeding with
the Open Space Initiative and in the smart use of Mixed-Use zoning the City appears to
be well on the way to accomplishing that task, 20 years ahead of schedule. While there
are still areas for improvement in deepening the City’s environmental shade of green,
things like a new LEED certified City Hall and a strong will to preserve greenspace and
reduce air pollution make it hard for one to argue the point.

References
1. City of Suwanee City Council. 2000. A Comprehensive Plan to the Year 2020. City of
Suwanee, GA. Available online at: http://www.suwanee.com/
economicdevelopment.reportsregulations.year2020.php. Accessed 3/1/2008.
2. City of Suwanee City Council. 2008. Draft of the 2030 Comprehensive Plan. City of
Suwanee, GA. Available online at: http://suwanee.com/compplandraft.php. Accessed
5/8/2008.
3. City of Suwanee City Council. 1998. Zoning Ordinance. City of Suwanee, GA.
Available online at: http://www.suwanee.com/
economicdevelopment.reportsregulations.php. Accessed 3/1/2008.
4. City of Suwanee City Council. 2006. City of Suwanee Stream Buffer Protection
Ordinance. City of Suwanee, GA. Available online at: http://www.suwanee.com/
economicdevelopment.reportsregulations.other.php. Accessed 3/21/2008.
5. DRASTIC: A Standardized System for Evaluating Ground Water Pollution Potential
Using Hydrogeologic Settings. EPA #600287035. 1987. Available online at: http://
nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=20007KU4.txt. Accessed 12/29/2008.

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