Gerry,

This is sort of funny in a sad or peculiar way.

Terry Link, as one of the founders of TFOE, a past-Chair, and I as the then current Chair, and original member of TFOE tried to present a series of recommendation via ALA (who provided no support of any kind, including no activity for securing an official recognition of ALA by the United Nations as a "registered" NGO [Non-Governmental Organization], by submitting a three-page form and an annual report showing financial data) at the 2002 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development. Terry's and my involvement was directed toward IFLA for adopting the ALA Libraries Build Sustainable Communities project, as a model program/project for libraries around the world (I served as a member of the LBSC implementation team, and am the only person that published a summary and results of that 1999-2001, US AID-funded project in a 2002 Building Community Column in Reference & User Services Quarterly). The original 2002 LBSC resources are available on the ALA Website. TFOE has not had the personnel to keep the resources updated and many requests for assistance were met mostly with silence. I think Maria Jankowska and the SRRT Web-development persons voiced a need to update the LBSC resources. 

Like you and several other "green librarians," I too am preparing a manuscript about libraries, sustainability and energy/environmental advocacy, including an education symposium for the Green Aruba III conference.

Good luck to us all and let's hope we make some great progress!

PEACE!!

Fred
BTW:  IFLA did nothing with the recommendation that Terry and I prepared and were presented at the World Summit on the Environment in Johannesburg (friends at the National Council for Science and the Environment did this and we saved a lot of money and CO2 emissions--Terry and I were SHOCKED at our individual and collective ecological footprints, had we gone to South Africa). Fortunately, IFLA now has committees on Sustainability and Climate Change. ALA has not submitted the paperwork to the UN seeking recognition as an official NGO, which in turn prevents ALA or its units, such as SRRT or TFOE from formally participating in UN events, such as the ongoing Framework Convention on Climate Change Meetings, and other UNEP and UNDP events.