| Urgent Request Our regular September newsletter is below, but before getting to that we have an urgent request. Please write and/or call Sen. Bob Casey’s office before Thursday, Sept. 9. Sen. Casey is a member of the Senate Finance Committee which is meeting on Thursday to complete wording for the large reconciliation bill that will include many measures addressing climate change. According to Forbes, a price on carbon will be under consideration. We need to urge Sen. Casey to support this measure. This may be our last chance to make an effective push for carbon pricing in this legislation. CCL has made contacting him easy. Just click here and follow the prompts. Please make this effort and pass this request on to your friends in Pennsylvania. A price on carbon is essential if we are to get to net zero by 2050. You might also consider writing a letter to the editor about this issue. We are thankful for all of our members who have supported a price on carbon by writing and calling our elected officials and are looking forward to a productive year of advocating for climate solutions. The urgency of acting on climate has never been more apparent as we learn about the exceptional and alarming weather events around the world. Instead of despairing, CCL volunteers act and organize. We reach out to others and involve them in our efforts. In this newsletter, you will find information about our monthly meeting, an exciting forestry panel in October, the status of the calling campaign, and other local events that you can be a part of. If you have any questions please contact either Sylvia Neely PAStateCollege@citizensclimatelobby.org or Lisa Richardson twitter@statecollegeccl.org |
| Monthly Meeting Our monthly meeting for September will revert to Zoom as we continue to monitor the Covid status in our community. We hope that in-person meetings can resume soon. Please stay tuned. Monthly Meeting time: Tuesday, September 21 from 5 to 6:30 pm Presentation on Forest Carbon Please save the date for what promises to be an exceptional panel discussion on forests and carbon storage. Cathy Cullen (State College chapter) and Kay Cramer (Susquehanna Valley chapter) have been learning about forest policy and meeting with experts for the past year. They have assembled a distinguished panel to discuss the subject. Tuesday, October 12 from noon to 1 pm. Register here. |
| Monthly Calling Campaign National goals for calling both the Senate and the House were met and exceeded by our fabulous CCL volunteers. Now that you have seen how easy it is to call Congress, please sign up to be one of the monthly callers. You will receive a reminder each month by either email or text (whichever you designate) when it is your turn. The purpose is to generate a steady stream of calls to congressional offices demonstrating wide support for pricing carbon. You can sign up here. If you have questions, contact Dick Jones at monthlycall@statecollegeccl.org Chapter News Our OpEd this month in the Centre Daily Times was written by Dick Jones who argued for bold Congressional action in a piece entitled “Decision Time: Will Senate Go Big or Small on Climate Change?” Tabling Our chapter volunteers will be tabling at Lion Bash on Thursday, September 9 from 5 to 8 on Allen Street in downtown State College. Please stop by to see them. This event introduces Penn State students to organizations and opportunities in the community. If you would like to help table, contact Diane Mills at tabling@statecollegeccl.org Book Club w/ Katharine Hayhoe Katharine Hayhoe, a professor at Texas Tech University, has written a new book that will be released on Sept. 21. It is entitled Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World (the link is to Amazon). The Bloomsburg, PA CCL chapter arranged this special virtual book club event with Katharine on October 28th at 6:30 p.m., and they will invite all PA CCL volunteers. To ensure the book lands on your desk in time to read it before 10/28, use the link above or for bulk purchase/book club discounts, you can also pre-order it here. More information on how to join the event will be forthcoming. |
| Community News As the new semester begins, seminars and presentations on climate change are being offered at Penn State. Here are a few examples — On Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 3:30 pm, the Department of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science Colloquium will feature Natasha Miles speaking on “Oil and gas basin methane monitoring: Results from the Marcellus and Permian Basins.” She will speak in 112 Walker Building and via Zoom. For more information, click here. –The Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE) announced a series of energy-related virtual discussions this fall hosted by Bruce Logan, director of the newly formed Consortium for Integrated Energy Systems. The on-line meetings will explore the technical and social challenges regarding rapidly changing energy infrastructure. They are scheduled for Wednesday, September 15 at noon, Thursday, October 14 at 4 pm, and Friday, November 12 at 3 pm. Registration is required. Click here for more information. — The Earth System Science Center is once again presenting its Brown Bag Series in person on Wednesdays from 11:15 to 12:30 pm in 529 Walker on the Penn State campus. The topics and dates of the presentations are listed here. –The Department of Architectural Engineering is sponsoring a presentation entitled “Rethinking Buildings: Opportunities and Challenges” by Dr. Tianzhen Hong, a senior scientist and deputy head of the Building Technologies Department of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He will discuss how buildings need to be changed with the transition to clean energy and how they must be adapted to the demands of a changing climate. Wednesday, September 8, from 1 – 2 pm on Zoom. –Our motto at CCL is “Our Solution to Climate Change? Democracy.” We believe that engaged citizens can make a difference in promoting policies that matter. We support events that promote participation in effective government and so urge you to save the date for Constitution Day on September 26. |