Kai Olson-Sawyer is a Senior Research and Policy Analyst in the GRACE Water and Energy Programs. Prior to joining GRACE, Kai was employed at the World Forestry Center in Portland, Oregon and researched with NYC Apollo Alliance. Kai received a Masters in sociology with an environmental focus from The New School for Social Research, and a B.A. from Earlham College. He holds the Water Footprint Network Certificate of the Global Water Footprint Standard. His body is composed of 60 percent water.
Double Jeopardy: Thousands of fracked gas wells over an active coal mine
Greene County is the second largest coal producing county in the country and is also home to thousands of gas wells. The people are the subjects of a grand energy experiment.
July 11, 2014
EcoChat: Gasland Part II: Courting Controversy, Driving a Movement
Gasland Part II, the highly anticipated anti-fracking documentary sequel, premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival on April 21st.
June 14, 2013
Heroic Endeavor: NRDC Community Fracking Defense Project
Abandoned by the state of Pennsylvania and drilling company Rex Energy after the state’s testing found no evidence of groundwater contamination, distressed residents (whose well water is discolored and reeks, and whose families have suffered rashes and other ailments) had nowhere else to turn for clean water but their community. That’s when a group of area churches, including the Presbyterian church where my dad is a pastor, joined together to supply jugs and bottles of clean drinking water to affected families.
October 5, 2012
Brewing better local economies with American craft beer
And this change in American beer starts at home, or nearly so, as craft beer really is a “local beer” phenomenon. This shift in consumer preferences and support for local craft beer is perfectly representing in a nanobrewery start-up called Community Beer Works (CBW) in Buffalo, NY. The CBW founders are using Kickstarter, social media and other fund raising techniques to make their brewery “an integral part of our city and the neighborhood our brewery is located in. We are planning partnerships with local urban farmers and gardeners to create a network of hop gardens that can be used in specialty beers as well as to dispose of our grain in ecologically friendly, mutually beneficial manner. Our goal is to foster a sense of community and place, enriching our hometown through the production of damn good beer.”
January 17, 2012