Read & Watch

Are citizen lobbyists also poets?

Randy Hudson has come up with a solution to a vexing problem.  Citizens’ Climate Lobby wants you to support the bill we have in Congress, but the bill’s name is awkward and hard to remember:  HR 763, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. Randy, who volunteers with our State College chapter, is just one of our over 180 thousand members in 5xx chapters around the world who write letters to the editor, table at events, give presentations, sponsor educational events, and, of course, lobby… Read More »Are citizen lobbyists also poets?

March 2020

Monthly Meeting On Line       Breaking News:  Our monthly meeting will still take place.  Although we will not be holding our monthly meeting as originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 17 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship because of the dangers of bringing together groups of people in one place, we will be able to hold the meeting online.  Please watch your email for further news about this exciting new development along with instructions of how you can join the meeting. New Co-leader for our chapter      Although there is plenty… Read More »March 2020

Opinion: Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act gains support inside and outside Congress

By Richard Jones Govtrack lists 240 legislative initiatives in the 116th U.S. Congress dealing with climate change or greenhouse gases. One bill, however, is easily the most robust climate legislation pending and the only bipartisan one with significant support. It’s not the Green New Deal, which is a non-binding resolution and not a bill at all. Rather, it’s the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763). In this legislation, Congress has before it a simple, fair and effective step toward a climate solution. Rep.… Read More »Opinion: Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act gains support inside and outside Congress

Keep your head in the sand- its cooler down there

Meteorologist on the tube the other day announced that the average yearly temperature for January in our area is 26 degrees. But this year in our unending quest for more balmy weather, the average for January was 33 degrees. Bruce Christianson Bellefonte 3/06/20

The goose is cooked

I do hope that people are taking notice of the increasing number of geese that are jetting across the skies towards the northern climes this past week and more. Must be ending their winter vacations earlier than normal. Addendum: a friend of mine who works for the National Weather Service told me that we would normally start seeing them in 4-6 weeks. He also informed me that Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina have been seeing numerous tornadoes. Once again, 4-6 weeks earlier than normal. Bruce Christianson Bellefonte

No more pond hockey

Today, February 20th, 2020 marks the 30th day of winter and the ice hasn’t yet frozen on my favorite childhood hockey and ice skating pond. From childhood through my early adult years the winter from January through the beginning of March offered up the opportunity to create cherished memories with friends and family on the ice. We would gather at the local pond to play some hockey or ice skate.  At the very least you could depend on the month of February to ensure it… Read More »No more pond hockey

Opinion: The movement to renewable energy is irreversible

By Dick Jones If you took all the coal miners in the United States and sat them in Beaver Stadium the place would be under half full. There were about 53,000 people working in the coal business in the U.S. in August 2019. That includes not just miners but office workers, maintenance and other coal support personnel, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. By contrast, there were 242,300 Americans working in solar energy alone in 2018, says the Solar… Read More »Opinion: The movement to renewable energy is irreversible

Letter: Carbon fee would be starting point against climate change

By Edward Cullen The financial community is taking climate change more seriously than ever. Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the largest financial asset management firm in the world, recently wrote to the companies in BlackRock’s portfolio. He told them that BlackRock now considers climate change to be a defining factor for companies’ long-term prospects. Read more at Centre Daily Times.

Book review: What do do about economic growth

A review of Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, Good Economics for Hard Times (New York:  Pubic Affairs, 2019).  402 PP. No illus. Or maps.      The day I purchased Good Economics for Hard Times, I picked up the Wall Street Journal and read this front-page headline:  “Jobs Cap Decade of Steady Gains” (Jan. 11-12, 2020).       Steady jobs gains are not signs of “hard times.”  So does the fact that we now live in what may reasonably be thought of as easy times mean this book… Read More »Book review: What do do about economic growth

A break from the heat?

I attend meetings of the Public Services and Environmental Committee of the COG to learn about the good work they are doing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions locally.  One of the responsibilities of this committee is overseeing garbage collection and recycling. Recently this committee has been discussing a request from Advanced Disposal and the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority to begin collecting materials at 6:00 a.m. instead of 7:00 a.m. throughout the summer months.  That way their employees could be finished with their routes… Read More »A break from the heat?