Environment

More than 150 take part in Earth Day demonstration in West Chester

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By Bill Rettew, Daily Local News, 4/22/18

WEST CHESTER >> Mother Nature couldn’t have smiled more brilliantly on 150 Earth Day demonstrators participating in the “March for the Environment” Sunday in the borough.

Sunny skies and temperatures in the high 60s embraced those supporting sustainable energy, a healthy environment and preservation of the environment, at the historic Chester County courthouse steps Sunday afternoon.

Holding up signs while chanting loudly, the group of Earth Day supporters marched seven blocks down High Street to the Unitarian Congregation where organizations passed out literature and cookies, and both adults and kids lined up to color reusable bags with crayons. …

read more and see photos at Daily Local News

Photos by don’t Spray Me!:


The march down S. High St. starts out


In the Unitarian Congregation: info tables, activities, food by West Chester Co-operative…

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March for the Environment #2 on Earth Day, April 22, 2018

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March for the Environment-2

We did it last year, with 200 attendees, great speeches and an effective march. Now we are aiming for at least 100 more people to rally and march in West Chester on Earth Day, April 22!

You could say Chester County is lucky to have preserved so much open space, to have a consensus to prioritize clean air and water, to build parks and trails, and to promote renewable energy. Or, you could say residents, municipalities, county government, non-profits, and foundations have worked really hard at it.

Members of all participating groups, and all concerned citizens, please join us to reaffirm our determination to protect air, water, climate, vulnerable species, open space, and human health! And be part of bringing many groups together with added strength to celebrate Earth Day and our environment, in 2018 and beyond!

download full 8.5X11″ flyer here, please print, and distribute to friends: March for Envt 18

Sunday, April 22, 1:00pm – 3:00pm, in 3 locations:

• Rally at the Historic Court House, 2 North High St., West Chester. At 1pm, we will gather to listen to speakers, including: PA State Representative (156th district) Carolyn Comitta; West Chester Mayor Dianne Herrin; Open Space Advocate and Southeast PA Sierra Club Executive Committee Member Ken Hemphill; and former West Chester Mayor Jordan Norley. Rev. Dan Schatz, Minister of the Unitarian Congregation, West Chester, will perform environmentally-oriented songs. Claire Witzleben of CCAG will be master of ceremonies.

• March for the Environment down the sidewalk of South High St. displaying signs and banners

• At the Unitarian Congregation, 501 S. High St., wrap-up session, final statements, environmental petitions and attendee list, tables with participants’ info, refreshments by West Chester Co-op, tree dedication, child-oriented activities (coloring postcards, decorating reusable shopping bags, potting small trees to plant at home), etc., till about 3 p.m.

organizing groups:
Don’t Spray Me!
Sierra Club
Concerned Constituents Action Group (CCAG)

cosponsors:
Barclay Grounds Preservation Alliance (BGPA)
Chester County Citizens for Climate Protection (4CP)

Citizens Climate Lobby – Chester County group
Del-Chesco United for Pipeline Safety
Food and Water Watch
PennEnvironment
PennFuture
Ready for 100 Chester County
Unitarian Congregation of West Chester
West Chester Co-operative
West Chester Friends School

If you drive, park in parking garages or on the street as permitted.

A view of last year’s March for the Environment in West Chester:



This photo by Bill Rettew is reproduced with permission from “Hundreds rally in West Chester to support the environment,” Daily Local News, 4/29/17.

download full 8.5X11″ flyer here, please print, and distribute to friends: March for Envt 18

Nostalgia Department – from the first Earth Day march in Philadelphia, 1970 (photo kindly supplied by Jeff Cantwell, who is all the way on the right, in line with the banner):

The Year of the Tree

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West Chester mayor Dianne Herrin has proclaimed 2018 “The Year of the Tree.” Along with their esthetics, shade, and feeling of urban comfort, trees are a great way to cleanse impurities and also CO2 out of the air.

In honor of trees, then, here is a poem by Katherine Gallagher, born in Australia and living in England, The Guardian in 2012. See also the nicely done video here. The poem was published in Carnival Edge: New and Selected Poems (2010).

The Year of the Tree
by Katherine Gallagher

I carried a tree
through the Underground.

It was hard. At first,
people scarcely noticed me

and the oak I was lugging
along the platforms –

heavier than a suitcase
and difficult to balance.

We threaded through corridors,
changing lines: up and down stairs,

escalators, and for a moment
I imagined everyone on the planet

taking turns
to carry a tree as daily rite.

A few people asked
Why a tree?

I said it was for my own
edification –

a tree always
has something to teach.

•

Sharp gusts
whirred through the corridors

rustling the branches
as I hurried on

past the sweepers
picking up rubbish, scraps of paper.

Be sure to take the tree
with you, they said.

Don’t worry, I’m taking it
to my garden,

the start of a forest.
When people stared,

Relax, I said,
it’s a tree, not a gun.

Environment panel, Feb. 22, 2018

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On Sunday, February 22nd, a coalition of environmental groups led by Don’t Spray Me! sponsored a panel of experts at the Unitarian Congregation of West Chester, with an audience of about 90 people.

After a cordial welcome by Rev. Dan Schatz, the three panelists spoke reflecting their own particular backgrounds:

• Richard Whiteford, environmental activist, a founder of the local Sierra Club branch, noted climate change speaker and writer, Board Member of World Information Transfer NGO, and participant in the Paris Climate Conference of 2015. Richard spoke to the unseemly subsidies that our government gives to the fossil fuel industry. That funding should go to renewables. Fortunately, he said, some states, universities and towns are stepping into the gap left by a delinquent US government.

• Dianne Herrin, Mayor of West Chester since January, founder of BLUER (a coalition of local leaders advocating for reducing carbon emissions), former head of the Borough’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, and initiator of the Environmental Bill of Rights passed by West Chester citizens. Among other themes, Dianne spoke to West Chester’s renewed commitment to urban trees and to the growing realization that nature has rights too. She also brought out that natural gas is not a “bridge to clean energy” and that Pennsylvania’s Public Utilities Commission is actually hostile to renewable sources of energy.

• Chrissy Houlahan, engineer and businesswoman, veteran, chemistry teacher, founding COO of B Lab to promote civic responsibility in companies, and a 2018 candidate for Congress. Chrissy emphasized that the legal framework exists for corporations to choose to be good environmental citizens (known as B-Corps: Benefit Corporations).

The panelists responded to audience questions ranging from issues related to pipeline safety to business responsibility to Paris Climate Agreement challenges.

Asked about local consequences of global warming, Richard Whiteford predicted an increasing likelihood of “rain bombs” (with something like 8″ of rain in 2-3 hours), species extermination, and the total breakdown of Philadelphia’s storm runoff system. Chrissy Houlahan added that climate refugees, particularly from Africa, will be causing worldwide dislocations.

Questions were sorted and posed by a non-partisan group including Matt Holliday, Elizabeth Moro and Jessica Cadorette.

As summarized by moderator Sheila Burke’s: participants feel a sense of urgency to solve environmental issues; people want to be involved; and we can be very heartened by the large number of people stepping forward.

Exhibitors at the display tables included Citizens Climate Lobby, Delco United for Pipeline Safety, Don’t Spray Me!, Food and Water Watch, Penn Environment, and the West Chester Co-operative.

It has been a goal of Don’t Spray Me! since its founding in 2015 to open up dialogue about environmental issues and to engage in community education. This event built on the environmental film series at WCU in the fall of 2017, which was created in collaboration with Sierra Club and the University’s Sustainability Program and was preceded by the Earth Day celebration of April 2017.

Photos by Taka Nagai

Saving the Environment: Pennsylvania to Paris

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“Saving the Environment: Pennsylvania to Paris”: Feb. 25 2-4 p.m. panel on environmental and climate change at Unitarian Congregation, 501 S High St West Chester, PA 19382.

Environment, because we can’t do without it and must preserve it to preserve ourselves.

Pennsylvania, because that is where we are and can bring about change, and because Pennsylvania remains one of the most polluting states.

Paris, because the countries of the world came together in the 2015 Paris Agreement to pull the world back from increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Speakers will be:

Dianne Herrin, energy usage specialist, mayor of West Chester

Chrissy Houlahan, founding COO of B-Lab (a nonprofit that promotes corporations that consider the public welfare); candidate for US Congress

Richard Whiteford, Climate Change Adviser and Board Member: World Information Transfer NGO, United Nations; participant, Paris Conference on climate, 2015

Audience questions will be channeled through 3 local figures with interest in the field: Jessica Cadorette, Matt Holliday, and Elizabeth Moro.

Hosted by Unitarian Congregation. Co-sponsored by Don’t Spray Me!, West Chester Co-op, West Chester Sustainability Advisory Committee. Refreshments provided by the West Chester Co-op.

Park on a nearby street or in the Sharpless Street Garage, 25 Sharpless St.

No RSVP needed, but for more information, contact Margaret at mhudgings@gmail.com.

Download pdf here to share with friends: Saving envt PA to Paris 2-25

“The Wisdom to Survive”

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blog by Nathaniel Smith, Politics: A View from West Chester, 12/13/17

About 70 people gathered on Thursday evening December 7 to view “The Wisdom to Survive,” the final film of the fall in the West Chester University Environmental Sustainability Film Series in memory of Graham Hudgings.

The hour-long documentary at WCU’s new LEED gold-certified Business and Public Management Center was sponsored by Don’t Spray Me!, Sierra Club of Chester County, West Chester Food Co-op, WCU’s Office of Sustainability and Sustainability Advisory Council, the WCU Geography Club, and Chester County Citizens for Climate Protection (4CP).


Audience gathers for the film (Photo by Taka Nagai)

After snacks from the Food Co-op, a tour of the new LEED-certified building, and conversation over environmental exhibits, MC Sheila Burke introduced featured speaker Elizabeth Moro, Pennsbury resident and co-founder of Neighbors For Crebilly, which is striving to preserve the large farm south of West Chester as open space. A long-time supporter of environmental actions, Elizabeth was energized by the current political morass to the extent that she is running for the PA 7th U.S. Congressional seat.

Elizabeth explained that she grew up near Lake Huron, where she learned that “Mother Nature doesn’t negotiate – she’s in charge.” Humans used to work in harmony with nature, but now we need to get back to seeing the big picture that we are part of. Money is not a good way to evaluate importance. Try holding your breath, she told the group, and see at what point you’d rather draw a breath than collect money. She has helped raise funds to preserve part of the headwaters of the Brandywine near Honey Brook, Barnard’s Orchard in Pocopson, and now Crebilly Farm in Westtown.

She quoted Margaret Meade: ”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”…

read more of the introduction, film, and discussion at Politics: A View from West Chester

Very successful “Wisdom To Survive” evening

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On December 7, about 70 people representing environmentally-oriented groups, West Chester University, and the broader public gathered at WCU’s new business building to view and discuss the film “The Wisdom To Survive.”

This fall Don’t Spray Me! has been moving out from our basic mosquito and pesticide mission to form alliances to counteract nefarious influences coming from our national and state capitals; we can all expect more local progress (and hope for wider progress) in 2018.

Do humans still have “The Wisdom To Survive”? The film brings out several of our most challenging imperatives: to reduce the use of fossil fuels, preserve sources of fresh water, protect food production from corporate aggrandizement, and attain a new (also old) harmony with our surroundings.

As featured speaker Elizabeth Moro aptly quoted, “Who owns the water when it reaches the land is the frog.”

Photos by Taka Nagai:

Environmental film series: “The Wisdom to Survive,” Dec. 7

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West Chester University Environmental Sustainability Film Series #4: “The Wisdom to Survive” Thu Dec 7, 7 p.m.

Business and Public Management Center 101, 50 Sharpless St., West Chester University. Parking across Sharpless St. in the parking garage.

Sponsored by Sierra Club of Chester County, Don’t Spray Me!, WCU Sustainability Program and Geography & Planning Club, and Chester County Citizens for Climate Protection (4CP), in memory of Graham Hudgings.

Doors open at 6:00. Bring kids to visit with Santa Claus in the display area! Refreshments from the West Chester Food Co-op and community displays will be available in the lobby.

Tours of the new LEED Certified Business Center will start at 6:30 p.m.

Formal program begins at 7:00 with featured speaker Elizabeth Moro, a broker of real estate who is active in land preservation in Chester County as well as in protecting our waterways through various fundraising events. As founding members of Neighbors for Crebilly, she and her husband Vince are working with local grassroots organizations to preserve this important part of the Brandywine Battlefield from development. Currently running for the PA 7th U.S. Congressional seat, Elizabeth is a graduate of Western Michigan University in Political Science, Public Policy, and Women’s Studies and has been politically involved for many years.

Film at about 7:20. Lasts 56 minutes.

Discussion moderated by WCU Prof. Joan Welch will follow the film.

Contact Information: Margaret Hudgings mhudgings@gmail.com

RSVP if you can at https://www.sierraclub.org/pennsylvania/southeastern#container/ (click on the event in the activities list most of the way down the screen). Or just come. All welcome.

More on the film at www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/wts.html, including trailer.

“THE WISDOM TO SURVIVE accepts the consensus of scientists that climate change has already arrived, and asks, what is keeping us from action? The film explores how unlimited growth and greed are destroying the life support system of the planet, the social fabric of the society, and the lives of billions of people.