The Peace and Justice Center

When disasters strike, society as a whole must be prepared to offer long-term support, sharing the responsibility to assist people in rebuilding their lives.

Through dialogue, we advance from a shared concern to a shared action-oriented pledge or vow.
Such empowerment is of particular relevance to the restoration of people's sense of mental equilibrium and health in post-disaster situations, "the recovery of the heart." Buddhism teaches that whatever our individual circumstances, we can always discover the capacity to help others; it also assures us that those who have suffered the most have the right to the greatest happiness.
 Women must be empowered as effective change agents in the fields of disaster risk reduction, recovery and reconstruction, in line with similar recognition of their potential roles in conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding.
A set of common goals for a sustainable future should inherit the spirit of the Millennium Development Goals of alleviating the distortions in our global society generated by poverty and income disparities, and should also address the full range of human security issues.
We should set a target of 2015 for the release--or better yet, the signing--of an agreed-upon draft of the basic framework treaty. Hiroshima and Nagasaki would provide a suitable venue for this, at a nuclear abolition summit to mark the effective end of the nuclear era. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, scheduled for 2015, provides a good opportunity for such a summit.
...this is the conviction that has supported the SGI's efforts to help build a better future for all, to promote a movement of empowerment that is of, for and by the people, laying the foundations for a global society of peace and harmonious coexistence. 

Thank you,
Beverly Borlandoe
SGI-USA NICHIREN BUDDHIST DISTRICT
Wilkes-Barre, Scranton & Bloomsburg,PA
Member Care Advisor
borlandoe@yahoo.com
(570) 820 5364

Our District Pledge:We pledge to accomplish Kosen-Rufu in NEPA by chanting
Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo with the spirit of "many in body but one in mind."

Please visit our SGI websites: www.sgi-usa.org, www.sgilibrary.org, www.sgi.org
www.sgiquarterly.org and  www.peoplesdecade.org to view our contributive efforts toward a lasting global peace, culture and education for ALL.

Greetings Members & Friends!
We're hoping that both your bellies and your hearts are full...
Please visit Fertile Grounds' online holiday gift shop~
Heirloom Tomato Bloody Mary Mix, Latke-Lover's Homemade Hanukkah Applesauce, Garlic Gift Jars, and much more!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FertileGrounds

Happy Holidays to you & yours,
--
Deb Shoval
Fertile Grounds
www.fertilegroundscsa.com

For Immediate Release
Oct. 19, 2011
Contact: Kelly Fryer
Cell Phone: 773-710-9837
Email: kfryer@iwj.org
IWJ PUBLISHES AN INTERFAITH PRAYER SERVICE FOR OCCUPY TOGETHER
National – Interfaith Worker Justice published a Prayer Service designed to help people reflect on a moral economy within the context of their religious tradition. Written for clergy and religious leaders, the prayer service is aimed for those Occupying Wall Street and other cities, and for congregational use.

Many people of faith are seeking to understand how their tradition calls them to respond to the movement.

Joe Hopkins, a young adult missionary of the United Methodist Church, working with IWJ’s Workers' Center Network, was one of 175 arrested on Saturday in an act of non-violent civil disobedience at an Occupy Chicago site in Grant Park. The crowd chanted together, “We are unstoppable; another world is possible.”


Hopkins said, “Imagine that world: families live together in their houses, the sick and elderly receive care, workers receive payment before the sun sets. I invite you to take a moment of silence to reflect on the voices so often ignored. Then when you’ve listened to those voices, break the silence. Join us in that possible world. We are building that world together right now, and you can build it with us.”

Kim Bobo, Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice, told the National Catholic Register, “The core issues here are the growing inequality in the nation, the lack of responsiveness to that and the job crisis.”

“There is a growing frustration,” Bobo said, “with what people have witnessed in Congress, which almost had a total meltdown this summer and couldn’t get anything done at all. People are just like ‘What are our options right now?’ We’ve got to get attention from our policymakers on these issues.”

The Interfaith Prayer Service is available as a free download here or at iwj.org.
On Nov. 17-20, Interfaith Worker Justice and faith and labor communities across the nation are preparing for action aimed to develop an economic system oriented around Just Jobs.

Contact Kelly Fryer  at 773-710-9837 for more information or to interview Joe Hopkins or Kim Bobo.

---------------------
Interfaith Worker Justice has been organizing, educating and advocating at the intersection of faith and work since 1996.

By William F. Schulz / September 7, 2011

Cambridge, Mass.

In May 2005, Amnesty International in London called the US prison camp at Guantánamo Bay “the gulag of our times.” That heated rhetoric set off a firestorm of criticism not only from top government officials — President Bush called it an “absurd allegation” — but from traditional allies of the human rights cause like The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. The Post found the analogy overblown and said it gave the Bush administration “another excuse to dismiss valid objections to its policies as ‘hysterical.’”

But gradually the furor died down, and the term gained currency as a mainstream reference. In the 10 years since 9/11, “the American gulag” hasn’t been the only once-unthinkable idea that became commonplace. In many ways, US action over the past decade have called into question America’s values and commitment to justice, freedom, and respect for human rights. Thankfully, it has also confirmed them.

As the head of the American section of Amnesty at the time of the “gulag of our times” comment, I was called upon to defend the choice of terms, though I had not been consulted about it beforehand. For two weeks, I appeared all over the national media making the case that the United States was indeed maintaining or suborning an archipelago of secret prisons — not just at "GITMO" but in places like Diego Garcia — with the connivance of countries like Egypt and Morocco, to whom prisoners were being “rendered.”

The analogy to the Soviet gulags may not be exact, I said, but, inasmuch as these prisoners are being held incommunicado, brutalized, and even tortured, it is not inapt either.

Within a short while I noticed something striking: The mainstream media, including New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd and Harper’s magazine, began referring to the “American gulag” without batting an eye or raising a ruckus. The term was becoming almost conventional. Today, GITMO remains in service and hardly draws a thought, despite the fact that there are more than 100 prisoners still held there without trial.

That is but one of the ways in which practices that would previously have been considered beyond the pale have become normative since 9/11. Whole body scans at airports, the New York City police collaborating with the CIA to spy on Muslim Americans, Predator missile strikes against American citizens (radical Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen) — all this has become almost routine. According to a Red Cross study, 60 percent of American teenagers say it is acceptable to torture prisoners of war, and more than half approve of killing them in cases where they had killed Americans. The Obama administration has maintained the option of “rendering” prisoners to foreign countries for interrogation.

But in other respects, the past decade has witnessed the reinforcement of traditional norms. The Supreme Court set the pace in 2004 with its landmark decisions in Rasul v. Bush and Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, ruling that foreign nationals, even those labeled “illegal enemy combatants,” must have access to the courts to challenge their detention. Some of the most egregious provisions of the USA Patriot Act were modified in reauthorization. President Obama issued an executive order unequivocally outlawing the use of torture.

And former Vice President Cheney's impassioned defense of waterboarding continues to draw rebuke from notable Republicans such as the party’s 2008 Presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, who as recently as May 2011 condemned such “enhanced interrogation techniques” as “indisputably torture” and disavowed the notion that their use had led to the discovery of Osama Bin Laden.

Perhaps the most notable changes over the past decade have taken place in the area of American foreign policy. Determined to assert American primacy, the Bush administration vowed that "either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists;" launched two wars; withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council; and pitted “old,” which had dared to resist American unilateralism, against a more compliant “new Europe.” This set of actions had the effect of casting suspicion even upon constructive elements of the Bush administration policy, such as efforts to promote democracy in the developing world (for example the Millennium Challenge Fund).

Fortunately, however, the United States has in recent years adopted a far less bellicose approach to international relations, re-engaging with the UN Human Rights Council, consulting regularly with its allies, and beginning the process of withdrawal from both Iraq and Afghanistan. But human rights remain largely an afterthought in US foreign policy, as witness the Obama administration’s ham-handed early reactions to the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and the political resistance to US intervention, even on behalf of genuine struggles against tyranny, such as in Libya.

We have been told repeatedly and no doubt will be reminded again as we approach its 10-year anniversary that 9/11 “changed everything.” We’ll be reminded that the US reaction to it, both domestically and overseas, was born of a unique combination of fear and intransigence. The truth is that, in the face of great crises, the US has always oscillated between suspicion and liberty at home and assertiveness and multilateralism abroad. This decade has been no exception.

In this sense, the last 10 years have taught us not only how fragile our democratic values are but also how resilient. The past decade has shown us not only how easily the US can slip into the notion that it can thumb its nose at international law and opinion, but also how quickly it can rebound from that unfortunate assumption. And for those of us who care about human rights, it has taught us one thing more: That even with the friendliest faces in positions of power, our job is never done.

William F. Schulz is the president of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and previously served from 1994–2006 as executive director of Amnesty International USA. He is the author of several books, including “Tainted Legacy: 9/11 and the Ruin of Human Rights.”

Please join Transition Honesdale's Renewable Energy Action Group at Sweet Eden this Saturday, Feb 12th at 11 am to create an action plan from the brainstorming discussion we had back in December.  We will be cautious not to duplicate the good efforts of SEEDS, but there is plenty of work to be done!  So bring your good ideas, no matter how big or how small.

Thanks!

P.S.  If you are interested in being involved in the Renewable Energy Action Group but cannot make this meeting, please email juliehudson1215@gmail.com to get on the list or to share your ideas.

The cost of the program is $35.00 which covers testing, program giveaways like pedometers and tapes.

Sign up soon, there is a class size limit!
Please call or email with any questions. 
See contact information below.

Also, please feel free to forward this email on.

Thanks and best wishes for a healthy 2011!

Mary R. Ehret, M.S.,R.D.,L.D.N.
Penn State Extension Educator Luzerne County
Nutrition Links Supervisor in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Monroe counties
16 Luzerne Ave Suite 200
West Pittston, PA 18643
570.825.1701
570.825.1709
mre2@psu.edu
http://luzerne.extension.psu.edu
http://nutrlinks.cas.psu.edu

  Dear Transition Friends,
 
On TUESDAY, JAN. 4TH, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, we'll be holding our first TRANSITION HONESDALE meeting of the new year.
We'll meet in the Community Room at the Chamber of Commerce on Commercial Street in Honesdale.
 
We'll take a quick look back at our events and accomplishments for 2010, our first full year of Transition activity. (Barbara Lewis)
 
Then we'll go through the 12 STEPS OF TRANSITION from the Transition Primer and assess where we are and where we want to get to during 2011. (Julie Hudson)
 
We'll discuss when we might want to apply to be an official Transition Town versus a "mulling group." (Barbara)
 
We'll draw ideas and inspiration from what other Transition Initiatives are doing. (Jane Bollinger)
 
Then we'll continue with an "Open Space"/brainstorming discussion, led by Jackie DeSau and involving all of you!
 
DO JOIN US FOR A STIMULATING DISCUSSION OF WHERE OUR TRANSITION GROUP IS HEADED!
 
Mark your calendar for future meetings:
 
Monday, FEB. 7TH -  6 to 8 PM - TIME-BANKING will be our topic.  The working group that's been exploring the possibilities of time-banking and bartering will report their findings, then move on to get your input.
 
Thursday, MARCH 10TH - 6 - 8 PM - REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, COMPOST.
We will have several presenters on different facets of these topics.  The RRR&C working group will be looking for additional ideas and members to help them identify future projects and carry them out.
 

Please get involved with one or more of the Working Groups.  They are meeting separately, so email the Chair of the group to let them know you're interested:

 Reduce, Reuse, Recycle & Compost – Patrick Donlon donlonpatrick@yahoo.com & Linda Scott
 Alternative/Local Economy & Timebanking – Ed Cremo ejcremo@me.com
 Reskilling & Oral Histories – Jane Bollinger janebollinger05@verizon.net
 Energy Conservation & Renewable Energy – Julie Hudson juliehudson1215@gmail.com 
 Community Gardening – Jackie De Sau jackiedesau@hotmail.com
 Education, Outreach, and Events – Barbara Lewis lewis.barbara13@gmail.com  
BE PART OF THIS DEVELOPING INITIATIVE TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY MORE LOCALLY SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT IN THE FACE OF THE CHALLENGES OF PEAK OIL, CLIMATE CHANGE AND ECONOMIC INSTABILITY. 
 
Barbara Lewis
Co-founder/Transition Honesdale

Good afternoon!  Please take a moment from your busy schedules to let your representative know they need to vote in support of the Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) with the Tester-Hagen Amendment.  These provisions are vital to keep our local farmers in business.  Without the Tester-Hagen Amendment there will be no protection for the smaller farms & businesses.

Thanks for your help.

Please let me know if you’re not interested in receiving these Advocacy alerts.

Sincerely,

Mary Rinehart

Agency Relations Coordinator

Weingberg Northeast Regional Food Bank

165 Amber Lane, P.O. Box 1127

Wilkes-Barre, PA 18703

(570) 822-0510 x 222

Alert from NSAC:

Action Alert
December 8, 2010
Local and Regional Food at Risk
Call Your Representative

Food Safety Legislation passed by the Senate and to be considered by the House as early as this week is in trouble.  Big Ag is out in force, lobbying House members to ditch provisions that are friendly to small and midsize farms.  They know that if they can impose expensive and one-size-fits-all food safety rules, they can stop the growing local food movement in its tracks.  Lawmakers are dealing with significant misinformation and confusion and our hard won amendments may be lost.  We must send a loud and clear message about where we stand. 

Call Your Representative Today!
 
Urge them to pass the Senate Bill with the Tester-Hagen Amendment Intact

It's easy to call:  Go to Congress.org and type in your zip code.  Click on your Representative's name, and then on the contact tab for their phone number.  You can also call the Capitol Switchboard and ask to be directly connected to your Representative's office: 202-224-3121. 

The message is simple:   "I am a constituent of Representative ___________ and I am calling to ask him/her to pass the Senate version of the Food Safety Modernization Act (S.510) with the Tester-Hagen Amendment intact.  We need a food safety bill that cracks down on corporate bad actors without erecting new barriers to more local and regional food sourcing. Regulation that is scaled appropriately for small and mid-sized farms and processors is vital to economic recovery, public health, and nutritional wellbeing."

Background:
Read our latest report:  A Sustainable Agriculture Perspective on Food Safety.

What's in the Tester-Hagen Amendment?
(1)  The amendment clarifies existing law which says that farmers who direct market more than 50% of their product to the consumer at the farm or at a retail location off the farm such as a farm stand or farmer's market need not register with FDA.  This clarification is especially important for off-farm retail locations such as farmers markets.
 
(2)  It provides a size appropriate and less costly alternative to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Plans (HACCP) for farmers who:

Direct market more than 50% of their products directly to consumers, stores or restaurants, and

Have gross sales (direct and non-direct combined) of less than $500,000, and

Sell to consumers, stores, or restaurants that are in-state or within 275 miles.  

Farmers who qualify must provide documentation that the farm is in compliance with state regulations. Documentation may include licenses, inspection reports, or other evidence that the farm is in compliance with State, local, county, or other applicable non-Federal food safety law.  The farm must also prominently and conspicuously display the name and address of farm/facility on its label.  For foods without a label then by poster, sign, or placard, at the point of purchase or, in the case of Internet sales, in an electronic notice, or in the case of sales to stores and restaurants, on the invoice.

If there are no state regulations or if the farmer prefers a different option, the farmer must provide FDA with documentation that potential hazards have been identified and that preventive controls have been implemented and are being monitored for effectiveness.  

(3)  It provides alternatives to the produce standards for farms that:

Direct market more than 50% of their products directly to consumers, stores or restaurants, and

Have gross sales (direct and non-direct combined) of less than $500,000, and

Sell to consumers, stores, or restaurants that are in-state or within 275 miles.  

The farm must prominently and conspicuously display the name and address of farm/facility on its label.  For foods without a label then by poster, sign, or placard, at the point of purchase or, in the case of Internet sales, in an electronic notice, or in the case of sales to stores and restaurants, on the invoice.

Also in the Senate Bill:

(1) An amendment sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) to provide for a USDA-delivered competitive grants program for food safety training for farmers, small processors and wholesalers.  The training projects will prioritize small and mid-scale farms, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, and small food processors and wholesalers.  The grant program will be administered by USDA's National Institute for Food and Agriculture.

(2) An amendment sponsored by Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) to reduce unnecessary paperwork and excess regulation required under the preventative control plan and the produce standards sections of the bill.  FDA is instructed to provide flexibility for small processors including on-farm processing, to minimize the burden of compliance with regulations, and to minimize the number of different standards that apply to separate foods.  FDA will also be prohibited from requiring farms and other food facilities to hire consultants to write food safety plans.   The Bennet amendment applies to all small farms and processors, not just those who direct market within 400 miles of their farms.

(3) An amendment sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for farms that engage in value-added processing or that co-mingle product from several farms  gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to either exempt farms engaged in low or no risk processing or co-mingling activities from new regulatory requirements or to modify particular regulatory requirements for such farming operations.

(4) An amendment championed by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to strip the bill of wildlife-threatening enforcement against "animal encroachment" of farms is also in the manager's package.  It will require FDA to apply sound science to any requirements that might impact wildlife and wildlife habitat on farms.

(5) An amendment proposed by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) will not require small farmers to meet extensive traceability and recordkeeping  if they sell food directly to consumers or to grocery stores and allows labeling that preserves the identity of the farm to satisfy traceability requirements.    The amendment also prevents FDA from requiring any farm from needing to keep records beyond the first point of sale when the product leaves the farm, except in the case of farms that co-mingle product from multiple farms, in which case they must also keep records one step back as well as one step forward.

SUBJECT: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY FORUM

TRANSITION FRIENDS:
 
A reminder that Transition Honesdale will be hosting a discussion of alternative energy for transportation, home electric, and home heating TOMORROW, WED., DEC. 8TH FROM 6:00 TO 8:00 PM in the Community Room at the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
 in Honesdale.
 
Come with an open mind, attentive ears, creative ideas, and a willingness to share your dreams and experiences.
 
Some of our guests will be Dave and Becca Harvey, who have retrofitted a VW JETTA to burn discarded veggie oil;
Tom Wasman, who procures and works on classic (especially diesel) vehicles and is familiar with the pros and cons of different alternative fuels for them.  Bob Thomas, who recently attended a Penn State workshop on biomass, will share his interest in producing pelletized fuel for home heating, possibly made from locally-grown crops such as switchgrass.
 
Come and bring a friend!
 
Barbara Lewis

GEO Group prison in Northampton County.

According to this Morning Call article published today at 5pm, the Northampton County Council will consider a new resolution tomorrow that would withdraw support for the detention center and request that County Executive John Stoffa halt communications with ICE. See: Angle changes tune on immigrants prison

However, the fight is not over yet. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP!

1. Attend the Northampton County Council meeting TOMORROW Thursday November 18th at 6:30pm (3rd Floor, Northampton County Courthouse, 669 Washington St, Easton PA)

2. Write an email to the Northampton County Council members to let them know that you are opposed to the prison and support their efforts to stop a private immigration prison from being built in Northampton County. I believe that these are their email addresses (they aren’t listed on the website, let me know if you receive a bounceback email!)
tdietrich@northamptoncounty.org; mdowd@northamptoncounty.org; rangle@northamptoncounty.org; jcusick@northamptoncounty.org; mferraro@northamptoncounty.org; bgilbert@northamptoncounty.org; lmcclure@northamptoncounty.org; amchale@northamptoncounty.org; bthierry@northamptoncounty.org

3. If you are a resident of Upper Mount Bethel Township, call (570-897-6127) or email your supervisors to let them know that you oppose the prison in your community, and ask them to hold a public hearing on the issue. Also, attend the Board of Supervisors’ meeting, Monday December 13th at 7pm (Upper Mt Bethel Municipal Building)!

4. Attend the strategy meeting on Friday November 19th at 4pm (Spanish Council, 520 E 4th Street, Bethlehem) to find out what comes next.

See you all tomorrow at the meeting!

Emma Cleveland
Community Organizer
ACLU of Pennsylvania, Immigrants' Rights Project
P.O. Box 663, Allentown PA 18102
484.350.3767

Hi all:

On Saturday, November 6th the Kingston Shade Tree Commission will be planting trees at various locations around Kingston.  This is all part of the TreeVitalize program (a statewide initiative to plant 1 million trees in urban metropolitan areas across the state www.treevitalize.net ) and Kingston’s ongoing efforts to maintain tree lined streets for the wealth of benefits they provide the community.

We will be meeting at the Kingston DPW garage on Saturday morning at 9am.  From there we will divide into 2 -3 groups and plant, mulch and water trees at various locations around the borough.

Please try to join us or help us find some volunteers/students who might want to help us plant trees on Saturday. 

RSVP to me at vjc1@psu.edu  if you are coming to plant or now of some students/volunteers that might come and help us plant. 

We should be done planting in a few hours and we reward our volunteers with lunch (pizza).

Thanks

Vinnie

 
Vincent Cotrone

Urban Forester

Penn State Cooperative Extension

16 Luzerne Avenue, Suite 200

West Pittston, PA 18643

(570) 825-1701

(570) 825-1709 fax

vjc1@psu.edu

www.patrees.org

• Weekly shares of healthy, local produce grown without synthetic chemicals, pesticides or fertilizers
• Eating vegetables within hours of their harvest
• Knowing your farmer & how your food is grown
• Access to additional farm–fresh, locally–grown or produced foods
• Opportunities to visit and participate in the farm, including special events
  
  What foods are available?
• Our own organically grown vegetables and herbs, freshly picked, including many heirloom and specialty varieties
• See our complete produce list
• Eggs from our pastured layers through an optional egg share
• These are the delicious eggs with the rich, orange yolks and the non-runny whites

Other items we hope to offer soon: breads, fruits, cider, cheeses, pastured chicken, grassfed beef, pork and other locally produced foods – beyond the regular CSA shares – as part of our buying club option.

Visit at: http://www.dancinghenfarm.com/index.html

Lobby Day 2010: Save the Forests and Make Polluters Pay
 Ask legislators to be heroes and make sure drilling is done responsibly
Join PennFuture and our allies for a Lobby Day on Tuesday, June 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg. We will be calling on our state legislators to be heroes by:
• Enacting a natural gas impact fee, or severance tax, to ensure that natural gas drillers- not Pennsylvania taxpayers – shoulder the public costs associated with increased drilling; and
• Passing HB 2235, the Save Our Forests legislation, in the Senate. This bill will put a freeze on new leases for natural gas drilling in our state forests.
We need you to attend a media event and meetings with your legislators throughout the day. We can help set up the meetings, and we’ll provide you with talking points and other helpful materials. We can also help with travel by setting up vanpools or connecting you with other interested carpoolers.

Register today!

Volunteers Needed at the
Wyoming Valley RiverFest 2010
Friday - June 18, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Wilkes-Barre River Common & Nesbitt Park

The Susquehanna River is one of our area's
greatest natural resources. For the past eleven
years, people from all over have come together
to celebrate River’s Month and our wonderful
river with a weekend long celebration. This
year's event promises to be bigger and better
than ever.
Want an up-close experience, free drinks
and snacks while having fun at the 2010
Wyoming Valley RiverFest?
Want a free RiverFest 2010 staff t-shirt?
Be part of something great!
Volunteer!
You can enjoy the VIP Experience at River-
Fest beginning at 3pm on Friday, June 18th
and running through the afternoon of Sunday,
June 20th.
We have a limited number of volunteer positions
available. There are 20 positions for each
day that need to be filled with 2-4 hour time
commitments. Help is needed for activities,
monitoring rides, boat launches, children’s art
projects, set-up and staffing information
stations.
How do you get the VIP Experience
at RiverFest?
It’s easy! Log onto
www.1-800-volunteer.org or
www.seniorcorpsofpa.org and
search RiverFest Wilkes-Barre.
You can also visit
www.rivercommon.org or email us
at rivercommon@gmail.com
Or call and leave a message at 570-
822-1159 ext 3370 or call Penn State
Cooperative Extension at
570-825-1701.
There will be an informational meeting
on June 7th at 2:30pm and 7pm
at the River Commons Millennium
Circle.
Please Sign up by June 3rd
It’s that easy

Below is a message from Susan Shoval – let’s all vote, vote daily, and please help get this notice to go viral!

(Thanks in advance)

===========
 I'm sure most of us  from the Wilkes-Barre are have seen,  and hopefully taken  advantage of,  the beautiful  on-going revitalization happening at the River Common. The Cultural Council of Luzerne County is looking to help our  entire  community enjoy this resource and has entered a submission into PepsiCo's “Refresh Project!” -- which allows us to compete for a $50,000 grant that will be used to sponsor free, season-long cultural events that will take place  in the downtown area, on the banks of the Susquehanna River! The top 10 project ideas (those receiving the most votes in the month of May) will be funded. Right now, we are #130, so we really need help to get enough votes to win!!!
To cast your ballot for “Host Free, Cultural Events in a Community Park in Northeastern PA,” click the following link:
http://www.refresheverything.com/rivercommon.
The process is fast, easy, and potentially very rewarding. Once you’ve landed on the page, select “Vote for this idea.”
I did it; it's easy!
I promise that you can do it, too...
Remember, everyone can (and is encouraged to) vote once a day/every day during the month of May.
One more request - please send this message along to friends and family members and ask them to do the same! We need all the votes we can get...
Thank you so much,
Susan 
============

We are Luzerne County citizens deeply concerned about the many problems hydraulic fracturing (gas drilling) (“fracking”) will bring to this populated and developed area. Some of us are landowners, some are rural dwellers, some live in neighborhoods and towns.

Our concerns: polluted water supplies, dirty air, toxic waste, radioactive mud, lowered property values, loss of recreational venues, loss of farmland, higher crime rates, more drug use (therefore more gang violence).

This area can become an industrial zone for the next thirty plus years. Then, perhaps, it can be a toxic cleanup zone – with taxpayers sustaining the risks, and footing the bill.

Gas is not cleaner, and it is not helping America become less dependent. It is actually insuring our dependency for generations to come.

The gas industry has been exempted from federal clean air and clean water laws. Why? Why are they not accountable under the Superfund Act? Why do they not have to reveal what they are injecting and leaving and dumping into the ground?

The Gas Industry has been blessed with The “Halliburton Loophole” in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This bill exempted fluids used in the natural gas extraction process of Hydraulic fracturing from protections under the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and CERCLA. It stripped the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate a drilling process invented by Halliburton in the 1940s which involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals (many of them toxic) into underground rock formations to blast them open and release natural gas, among other things.

We support clean air, clean water, local solutions, and a healthy economy. We support finding ways to sustain family farms. We support alternative energy manufacturing and distribution. We think the Wyoming Valley ought to be the leader in sustainability rather than marching back into the mines.

Our objective is the return of a Pennsylvanian’s right to a clean environment. Why should it be any other way?

Our basic activities are two:

1. Legal change

2. Public awareness – public action

LUZERNE COUNTY GREEN PARTY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Contact: 

Carl Romanelli, 570-574-0829 cjromanellii@yahoo.com Jay Sweeney, 570-587-3603 jnln@epix.net

Summary: Green Parties of Northeastern Pennsylvania to join citizen groups for Earth Day press conference/rally/protest regarding gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region.  Events are part of statewide events on drilling scheduled throughout Pennsylvania.

GREENS, OTHERS TO PROTEST DRILLING

On Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, 2010; groups from all over Northeastern Pennsylvania will come together on Public Square, Wilkes-Barre; beginning at 11 AM for a press conference on the environmental threats of gas drilling in Pennsylvania.  The event is being coordinated by the Green Parties of the northeastern section of the state.  Greens from Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wyoming, Wayne and Susquehanna counties participated in the planning of the event, along with members of various citizen groups concerned about this issue.

Among the activist groups supporting the Earth Day protests are Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition (GDAC), Citizens for Clean Water, No Drill NEPA, and Energy Justice.  Speakers will include Dr. Gere Reisinger of GDAC, Dr. Richard Aston of the Green Party, Atty. Frank J. Muraca from the PA Sierra Club, and Jay Sweeney of the Wyoming County Green Party and candidate for State Representative in the 111th District.

Speakers will address the unified demands of environmentalists concerning drilling issues, which include:

* An immediate moratorium on all horizontal hydrofracturing in the Commonwealth, including in our state forests and on floodplains,

* An immediate freeze on all new Marcellus Shale drilling permits throughout Pennsylvania,

* The immediate suspension of the Delaware and Susquehanna River Basin Commissions’ authority to approve drilling-related water withdrawals anywhere in their respective watersheds, and, if necessary,

* The immediate resignation of DEP Secretary John Hanger.

Similar protests and rallies will be held at DEP offices in Norristown, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Meadville, and Williamsport.  Speakers will be available to answer questions for the media from 11:00 to noon.  Speakers and activities commence at 12:00 noon.

~END~

Please link for complete info: Learning with Nature: Creating and Using Outdoor Classrooms
Research shows that today’s children would benefit greatly from spending more time outdoors and making deeper connections to the natural world.  Getting children outside, however, is just the first step.  Children learn a great deal exploring their natural surroundings but deeper learning involves interpreting what they see, touch and smell, as well as synthesizing this information to construct meaning. 

The Dimensions Educational Research Foundation in collaboration with the National Arbor Day Foundation has developed a series of Nature Explore workshops for educators and designers to help them design and use outdoor classrooms that use natural materials such as trees, logs, soils and water.  Visit www.arborday.org/explore  for more information.

On Friday, May 21st, 2010, “Learning with Nature: Creating and Using Outdoor Classrooms” will be held from 8:30am to 12:30pm at the Penn State Hazleton Campus, in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. 

This half day workshop is designed for:

-          Pre-School and Elementary Teachers

-          Day Care Providers

-          Environmental Educators & Naturalists

-          Landscape Architects & Designers

-          Parks and Recreation Directors

-          School/Daycare Administrators

Act 48 Credits will be offered to educators

Please distribute it widely and share with others that might be interested such as educators and designers.
 

Vincent Cotrone

Extension Urban Forester

Penn State Cooperative Extension

16 Luzerne Avenue, Suite 200

West Pittston, PA 18643

570-825-1701

570-825-1709 fax

vjc1@psu.edu

God called in a powerful voice 'wait before you damage on land or at sea or to the trees'"
                                                                                                                                      (Rev. 7: 3)

Each one of us can answer God's call to preserve the Earth by taking small steps to stop
Global Warming. Here are ways to help:

1. Use only energy efficient light bulbs
(cf - compact fluorescent)

They use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. If we all made the switch, we'd reduce carbon
dioxide by more than 90 billion pounds!

2. Use less hot water

It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Install a low flow shower head. Wash your clothes in cold or
warm water instead of hot. And please - take shorter showers.

3. Turn off electronic devises you're not using

Not at home? Turn off air conditioner. Simply turning off your television,  DVD player, stereo, and
computer when you're not using them will save you thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

4. Unplug unused electronics

Even when turned off your cell phone charger, computer and TV uses energy. They use 18 million
tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year!

5. Move your thermostats down 2 degrees in the winter and up 2 degrees in the summer

Almost half of the energy we use in our homes goes to heating and cooling.

6. Clean or replace filters on air conditioners

It can save  350 lbs of carbon dioxide a year.

7. Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases

Look for Energy Star labels on new appliances. If we all did this we'd eliminate 175 million tons
of carbon dioxide emissions every year!!

8. Buy recycled paper products

It takes 70 - 90 % less energy to make recycled paper and it  prevents the loss of forests
worldwide. And they're cheaper!

9. Buy locally grown and produced foods

The average meal travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and
keep money in your community.

10. Buy fresh foods instead of frozen

Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce.

11. Bring cloth bags to the market

Using your own cloth bag to reduce the use of plastic bags.

12. Reduce garbage

Buy products with less packaging. Recycle paper, plastic and glass.

13. Use mass transit, bicycle or walk

If you must use a car then carpool, check your car's air filter monthly, keep fires adequately
inflated and consider making your next car a hybrid.

Rep. Eugene DePasquale (D-York) will introduce a new Clean Energy and Green Jobs bill soon, to substantially boost Pennsylvania's requirements for electricity made from the sun, wind, and other clean energy sources. This bill will take the place of HB 80, and you can help get it passed.

This legislation is critical to keeping clean energy growing in Pennsylvania. Thanks to the passage of the 2004 Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS), clean energy businesses already employ thousands of Pennsylvanians. A recent study shows that strengthening and extending the AEPS with the requirements included in this legislation will create 130,000 job years and save between $1.9 and $4.6 billion for Pennsylvania consumers.

Rep. DePasquale is asking House members to co-sponsor this legislation. Email your State Representative  right now to urge him or her to show their support for clean energy and green jobs by becoming a co-sponsor. 

Together we can make a difference.

Christine Knapp
Director of Outreach

P.S. Please also sign up to attend a meeting with your legislator in their district office

Dear CoolPennsylvania endorser:
 
Within the past couple of years you signed your business, organization or faith group on to PennFuture’s CoolPennsylvania campaign, calling on state officials to develop an action plan to reduce global warming emissions. Thank you for that important support. We have a bit of good news - the plan is on its way!
 
A draft of Pennsylvania’s Climate Action Plan is now available for public comment. The plan is quite comprehensive in its approach to reduce heat-trapping gases in our state and sets a target of reducing emissions by 30 percent below 2000 levels by 2020. However, to ensure we reach the target, the plan must be improved. The plan’s biggest shortcoming is its failure to recommend an increase in the Commonwealth’s renewable energy commitment beyond the current requirement of 8 percent of our total electricity generation.
 
We need your help once again. Please sign your organization on to our letter (which appears below my signature) and tell the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that increasing renewable energy must be a key strategy to address global warming in the Climate Action Plan. This recommendation will also result in the addition of thousands of new jobs in our state.
If you are willing to sign on to this letter, please email me the following information by Thurs, Nov. 5:
Organization name:
Contact person and Title:
Phone:
Email:
Mailing address:
We will deliver the letter signed by hundreds of businesses, organizations and faith groups to DEP by Nov. 9, 2009 - the deadline for public comments. For more information about the Climate Action Plan, including how you can submit individual comments, please refer to our website at www.pennfuture.org.
We at PennFuture thank you for your ongoing efforts and commitment to address global warming.
Sincerely,
Sharon
Sharon Pillar
Global Warming Outreach Coordinator
Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture)
425 Sixth Ave., Suite 2770
Pittsburgh, PA  15219
Cell: 412-215-5995
pillar@pennfuture.org
www.pennfuture.org      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Coalition Letter to DEP Regarding the Climate Action Plan:
To the Department of Environmental Protection:
We, the undersigned - businesses, faith institutions, environmental organizations and community and social service groups - strongly support Pennsylvania’s Climate Action Plan and its commitment to reducing heat-trapping gases by 30 percent by 2020.
As the emitter of 1 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, Pennsylvania must embark on a plan to make significant reductions. Such a plan will help keep Pennsylvanian’s healthier, as it will reduce our exposure to air pollution, heat deaths and weather incidents that are expected to increase as climate change worsens. The plan will also minimize the predicted negative effects that climate change will have on our ecosystems, to Lake Erie and to many industries in our state including dairy, agricultural, winter recreation, fishing, hunting and tourism.
This plan will position Pennsylvania to be economically competitive in the 21st century as it is expected to result in the creation of 65,000 new full-time jobs and add more than $6 billion to the Commonwealth’s gross state product in 2020 - a win-win for our environment and our economy.
These reductions are significant, but our state can and must do better! In order to realistically meet the 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020, we must include additional measures in the plan.
The plan must increase renewable energy requirements to 20 percent by 2020. Increasing renewable energy production and usage will wean us off of environmentally destructive fossil fuels while also creating new family-sustaining jobs.

We call on the Department of Environmental Protection to add recommendations to the state Climate Action Plan to increase clean renewable energy to 20 percent by the year 2020.
We also urge that the Climate Action Plan be implemented by the DEP, generally assembly and the governor once it is finalized, so that these necessary recommendations are acted upon quickly.
There is no time for delay. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[We will list all endorsing organizations here]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ask Governor Rendell and your state legislators why they are letting gas drillers exploit our natural resources while taxpayers suffer with higher costs.

Multi-billion dollar energy companies have spent $1 million in lobbying money in Pennsylvania this year to try to stop legislators from enacting a severance tax on natural gas extraction. Their money appears to be working, as the state budget negotiations are going forward without a severance tax.

These companies stand to make billions off of our natural resources, and yet Pennsylvania remains the only state with large operations that does not charge a severance tax.  These fees can help to cover costs for damaged roads and bridges, contaminated drinking water and other environmental regulations. Instead, the legislature would foist those costs onto Pennsylvania taxpayers rather than force industry to clean up their own mess.

Tell Harrisburg enough is enough.  Demand a severance tax -- that could bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the state coffers each year -- be included in budget negotiations.

Listen to PennFuture’s President and CEO Jan Jarrett explain how taxpayers lose, then take immediate action - before it’s too late.

Thanks,

Christine Knapp
Director of Outreach

• PennFuture President & CEO, Jan Jarrett,
• Pennsylvania Trout Unlimited, and
• State and local elected officials including:
  • Representative Garth Everett (R-Lycoming)
  • Representative Rick Mirabito (D-Lycoming) and
  • Loyalsock Township Manager Bill Burdett.

• Receive an update on current legislation;
• Meet with your local legislators and encourage them to vote for the severance tax with a portion dedicated to the environment and local governments that host drilling;
• Be part of a public event to increase the pressure on the legislature and Governor Rendell to protect the land, water, wildlife, and communities that will be harmed by drilling.

• from The Times Leader
• tree registry on TreeVitalize
• trees and global warming from Arbor Day Foundation

The dilemma over coal-generated power
Could the CEO of the third largest electric utility in the U.S. really mean it when he says, "It's my judgment it [global warming] is a problem. We need to go to work on it now. And it's critical that we start to act in this country."

• from 60 Minutes
• about carbon capture and sequestration from CCS Education Initiative

U.S. may never need more nuclear, coal plants, FERC head says
The new head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says that nuclear and coal plants are too expensive, but once we figure out how to get it where we need it, we have enough solar, wind, hydropower and alternative energy sources to power the entire country.

• from The New York Times

University of Pennsylvania teaching 'Green' winner of EPA's 2008-2009 Green Power Challenge
Penn bought nearly 193 million kilowatt-hours of green power, which is like taking almost 25,000 cars off the road.

• from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• from Penn

Some other news
Let's just bask in the afterglow of Earth Week and Arbor Day and leave out the not-necessarily good news this week.

More stuff
Nominate your environmental hero
Do you know someone (even yourself) who works to protect the environment of the greater Pittsburgh area? You have until April 30 to nominate him or her (or you) for the kudos he or she (or you) deserve!

• from Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP)

PennFuture events
Clean energy conference
In its ninth year, this conference has become a key venue for government officials, public interest organizations and the energy industry to network and learn about the most up-to-date clean energy markets and policies in Pennsylvania. We had over 300 attendees last year. You won't want to miss this opportunity.

Other events
2009 Energy workshops: Energy 101 and strategic energy planning

Ready or Not? A conference on issues and solutions for adapting to climate change

"Awakening the dreamer" symposium

Half-day seminar: Go green to save green

Solar Thermal Installation and Maintenance workshop

Smart Meters, Smart Future symposium

Northeast PA Energy Solutions Expo

World green energy symposium and exposition

Climate Change Advisory Committee (CCAC) meetings
As a result of the passage of Senate Bill 266 this past July, a group of advisers was charged with creating a plan to reduce Pennsylvania's emissions of heat-trapping gases.

These meetings are open to the public. Pre-registration is requested for citizens who want to speak. The schedule for meetings that remain through the middle of 2009 is as follows (schedule has been updated):

Climate and energy presentations
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) organizes briefings and events in Washington, D.C. to educate policymakers on technologies and policies that can solve some of our environmental and economic problems. Presentations, handouts, and audio recordings are usually available a few hours after the events end.