| Preview of our February meeting– Join us on February 16 as we zero in on the strategies that can help us push a carbon fee and dividend bill forward. We’ll discuss the importance of our calling focus on Senator Toomey and continue to work diligently and systematically to gain more business endorsements. Many hands make light work, and we need you. Let’s capitalize on the momentum and together let’s push to get as many endorsements as we can! Monthly Meeting: February 16, 5pm – 6:15pm To receive the Zoom link, write to PAstatecollege@citizensclimatelobby.org |
 Endorsements InitiativeThe Brewery & Winery email campaign is pleased to announce a new endorser, Happy Valley Vineyard & Winery. |
| Many people are involved in this outreach effort: Sue Smith, Mike Edwards, Mary Callahan, Marjie Nye, and several members of the Susquehanna Valley chapter of CCL have been emailing many breweries and wineries; Diane Mills is keeping track of our efforts to follow up; several other of our members who have personal connections are reaching out through those; and Dick Jones and Cathy Cullen wrote the excellent letter that is being mailed out. Thank you to HVVW and to everyone involved in this effort. If you buy your wine at HVVW, let them know that we appreciate their endorsement. If you have questions about endorsements, contact Linda Westrick at endorse@statecollegeccl.org or attend an endorsements workshop (see below). |
 Calling all Senators! CCL is asking monthly callers to focus on gaining support in the Senate for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. If you are a monthly caller, you will first be provided information to call Senator Toomey. After you’ve left your message for the Senator, please take another minute or two to call Senator Casey and your member of Congress. |
| The US Chamber of Commerce recently signaled their support for a market-based approach to curbing greenhouse gas emissions. We need all hands on deck to put this news into the ears of our legislators. If you would like to join the monthly calling campaign, please do so here: Monthly Calling Campaign. If you want more information, contact Cathy Cullen at monthlycall@statecollegeccl.org |
| State College CCL in the News —Ed Cullen’s excellent letter reporting on the Federal Reserve’s warning that climate change poses risks to the financial system was chosen by CCL as the “letter of the week” out of all letters published by CCL members nationwide. Congratulations, Ed!!! The letter was published in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette on Dec. 11 and the Centre Daily Times on December 7. —Cathy Cullen’s OpEd in the Centre Daily Times on December 13 argued persuasively that “Pennsylvania Should Join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.” Cathy was one of several members of our chapter who delivered oral and written comments to the Department of Environmental Protection supporting Pennsylvania’s entry into the RGGI agreement. –On January 15, Joseph Haloua had an OpEd published in the Centre Daily Times. His creative piece, entitled “Of the Three Musketeers and Climate Change,” presented the far-reaching vision of those who built the sewers of Paris as an example for those working on climate change. –The student government at Penn State University Park became the first student government to pass a resolution in support of the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. The great work that Cathy Cullen did in contacting them and getting the resolution passed was featured in a story published by CCL news. Cathy will also share the news on a forthcoming episode of Citizens’ Climate Radio. —Sylvia Neely wrote a strong OpEd on the value of a bipartisan approach to solving climate issues and it gained significant regional and even some national attention. The piece appeared in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Jan. 26. It also appeared on Pennlive.com, the online version of the Harrisburg Patriot-News, on Jan. 15. In cooperation with some of our Appalachian Region partners, the article was published in several Tennessee newspapers including the Athens Daily Post Athenian, the Elizabethton Star and the Jackson Sun. CCL National tweeted the column to its 37,500 Twitter followers! In addition, “Heated,” a blog devoted to climate change, linked to the piece. Well done, Sylvia! –Speaking of social media, our own chapter’s Twitter handle, @climatePA, now has 50 followers. If you are on Twitter and not yet a follower, please consider being one. Lisa Richardson manages our Twitter feed and does a great job. On another social media front, one of our newer members, Mike Edwards, is exploring Linked-In to see if and how that platform might help with our endorsement project. Mike is going to give us a report on that at a future time. Welcome, Mike, and thanks for your initiative on this! If you want to become involved in our media efforts, contact Dick Jones at media@statecollegeccl.org or Lisa Richardson at twitter@statecollegeccl.org CCL Events |
| Appalachia Regional Conference Feb. 20 Our State College chapter of CCL is part of the Appalachia Region that also includes chapters in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Virginia. Our Regional Conference will be taking place via Zoom on Saturday, Feb. 20, beginning at 1:30 pm, with optional workshops on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 21. Katharine Hayhoe will be the keynote speaker. Her subject is “Talking Climate in a Polarized Environment.” We will also hear from CCL director Mark Reynolds and get a legislative update from Danny Richter, and lots more. For information and to register for this free event, click here. Lisa Richardson appointed to state role for CCL Lisa Richardson serves ably as co-leader of our State College chapter, but she will be taking on more responsibilities for CCL as one of the Pennsylvania state coordinators. She will be helping the chapters in the central and eastern portions of the state, while Ray Roberts from Pittsburgh will continue to oversee the western areas. Good luck, Lisa, on your new and important duties. OLLI course on Climate Change State College CCL members Raymond Najjar and Sylvia Neely will be offering a course through OLLI entitled “Climate Change: Science and Solutions.” It will be on Zoom on Thursday, April 15 and Thursday, April 22 from 1:30 to 3:00. The course will include an introduction to the En-ROADS climate simulator. Online registration is now open or you may register by phone: 814-867-4973. Catalog link: https://www.olli.psu.edu/catalog/. Recording of Endorsements Workshop On January 23, Sylvia Neely, Linda Westrick, and Diane Mills attended a virtual workshop on how to ask businesses to endorse the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. The workshop was presented by members of the Business Climate Leaders, an especially effective action team within CCL. A recording of the workshop, which was geared particularly to the Appalachia region, is now available for you to watch. |
| Community News Kasting presentation in Earth Talks series, Monday, Feb. 1 James Kasting, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences and member of our CCL chapter, will be making a presentation for the Earth Talks seminar series. He will speak on “Global Warming, Human Heat Stress, and the Prickly Politics of Combatting Climate Change.” Monday, Feb. 1, 4-5 pm. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be broadcast via Zoom. The theme for the Earth Talks series for the spring semester is “Energy and Climate Policy: How to Avoid a Global Hothouse.” The presentations are on Mondays at 4 pm and all of them will be of interest to CCL members. Here are the rest of the presentations for February: Feb. 8 David Keith (Harvard) “Solar geoengineering” Feb. 15 Rob Socolow (Princeton) “The urgency and pitfalls of swapping the current energy system for a low-carbon one” Feb. 22 Kevin Smith (Lightsource BP) “Lightsource BP – Penn State solar” Energy and Environmental Economics and Policy (EEEP) seminar: “Solar Ordinances in Pennsylvania and the Role of Local Governance in the Energy Transition” Mohamed Rali Badissy, Assistant Professor of Law, Penn State Dickinson Law Wednesday, February 3 at noon Join via Zoom UAJA Solar Initiative UAJA, our local sewer authority, is planning a new program to use its financial power to help people put solar panels on their roofs and pay them off over time on their sewer bills. Our local NPR station, WPSU, had a story on this initiative, put together by State Impact PA. Here is the link, Our chapter was able to bring some attention to the solar initiatives of the sewer authority (UAJA) when we sponsored a tour of their solar installation in 2019. Here is the link to an article written by Dick Jones that appeared in the Centre County Gazette. |
| Monthly Meeting Times February 16th, 5pm March 16th, 5pm April 20th, 5pm |