Green of Another Color: Building Effective Relationships Between Foundations and the Environmental Justice Movement

The aim of this report is to help forge more effective partnerships between and within the environmental justice movement and the philanthropic community. In particular, the report should serve as an important educational tool for current and potential funders by: (1) providing information regarding the importance and accomplishments of the environmental justice movement over the last ten years, including those of the strategic networks; (2) demonstrating the gross underfunding the movement by the philanthropic community in general, and the Environmental Grantmakers Association membership in particular, in relation to other segments of the environmental movement; (3) providing recommendations as to which grantmaking practices would be most appropriate given the structure and needs of the movement, (4) discussing the importance of diversity and inclusive practices in foundation settings for improving environmental grantmaking practices and for overcoming the funding barriers currently confronting the environmental justice movement; and (5) evaluating the manner in which grantmakers can better utilize their institutional clout to support the work of the environmental justice movement beyond the disbursement of grants by undertaking mission-related investing strategies and mission-related shareholder actions against socially and ecologically irresponsible companies. We envision this document as being a valuable resource for foundation staff, officers, and board members, as well as individual donors and participants in the environmental justice movement

Flight experience of solar mesosphere explorer's power system over high temperatures ranges

The performance of the power system on the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) satellite for the life of the mission and the techniques used to ensure power system health are summarized. Early in the mission high cell imbalances in one of the batteries resulted in a loading scheme which attempted to minimize the cell imbalances without causing an undervoltage condition. A short term model of the power system allowed planners to predict depth of discharge using the latest available data. Due to expected orbital shifts the solar arrays experience extended periods of no eclipse. This has required special conditioning schemes to keep the batteries healthy when the eclipses return. Analysis of the SME data indicates long term health of the SME power system as long as the conditioning scheme is continued

Unequal Exposure to Ecological Hazards 2005: Environmental Injustices in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Unequal Exposure to Ecological Hazards 2005 documents Massachusetts residents' unequal exposure to environmental hazards. More specifically, the report analyzes both income basedand racially-based disparities in the geographic distribution of some 17 different types ofenvironmentally hazardous sites and industrial facilities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This report provides evidence that working class communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by toxic waste disposal, incinerators, landfills, trash transfer stations, power plants, and polluting industrial facilities. In some cases, not only are new toxic facilities and dump sites located in poorer neighborhoods and communities of color, but as in the case of the public housing development and playgrounds near the Alewife station in Cambridge, housing for people of color and low income populations is sometimes located on top of preexisting hazardous waste sites and/or nearby polluting facilities. We conclude that striking inequities in the distribution of these environmentally hazardous sites and facilities are placing working class families and people of color at substantially greater risk of exposure to human health risks. We advocate the adoption of a number of measures, including a comprehensive environmental justice act, to reduce pollution and address unequal exposure to ecological threats

Automated Handling of Auxiliary Materials using a Multi-Kinematic Gripping System

Using a special, multi-kinematic gripping system, the vacuum bagging process in the manufacturing of carbon-fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) can be automated. Using the example of a parabolic rear pressure bulkhead, the flexibility of the multi-kinematic system is used to handle largely different sized cut-pieces of auxiliary materials. Avoiding the need for special gripping systems for each part greatly reduces the cost for automation because it allows using a single system for a broad variety of different tasks. With a genetic algorithm for optimization, the high redundancy created by using several robots with each 6 or 7 degrees of freedom can be solved. The overall process is simulated using a 3D visualization environment and therefore can be programmed completely offline before being executed with real robot hardwar