PA IPL 2022 Bike/Hike Advocacy Days of Action

Day #1: Thursday, May 19

Meet with State Senator Tim Kearney:
Register here & join the PA IPL 2022 Bike/Hike Advocacy Action Day virtual lobbying meeting with State Senator Tim Kearney! We will begin with a virtual lobbying training session from 10-11am and then we will meet with State Senator Tim Kearney from 11-11:30am.

Meet with State Representative Donna Bullock:
Register here & join the PA IPL 2022 Bike/Hike Advocacy Action Day virtual lobbying meeting with State Representative Donna Bullock! We will have a virtual lobbying training session from 12:30-1pm and then we will meet with State Representative Donna Bullock from 1-1:30pm.

Political Advocacy Letter Writing:
Register here & join the PA IPL 2022 Bike/Hike Advocacy Action Day session for political advocacy letter writing! This meeting will run from 5-6:00pm and will focus on personal stories sharing about why climate justice matters to you. We will be writing letters to Cartwright and Biden with topics such as clean energy and transitioning out of fossil fuel infrastructure in the state​.

Day #2: Friday, May 20

Sustainable Health & Development:
Register here & join the PA IPL 2022 Bike/Hike Advocacy Action Day session on sustainable health and development with Senator Saval! Senator Saval and other leaders will join us from 12-1:00pm to discuss Sustainable Health and Development throughout PA​.

Now Available: Video of the City of Pittsburgh Benchmarking Program

City of Pittsburgh Benchmarking Program

The City of Pittsburgh’s energy & water reduction goals align with PA IPL’s Mission of promoting energy, water, and waste conservation to move towards a cleaner and more equitable economy. PA IPL brought together organizational members and friends to a meeting introducing faith-based organizations to energy & water benchmarking, and to the City of Pittsburgh Benchmarking Ordinance itself, in the hope that more of us will benchmark to track and reduce utilities usage as well as to reach a high level of benchmarking ordinance compliance.

Any individual or organization can use Energy Star/Portfolio Manager to benchmark and track energy & water use to keep yourself or your facility moving toward a cleaner tomorrow.

PA IPL staff and board members are joined by the City’s Energy Advisor, Flore Marion, and Intern, Jessie Biltz, in a presentation and Q&A session.

Sign up here if you would like to join the Pittsburgh & SW PA IPL Chapter!

Now Available: Video of Philly IPL Chapter’s May 10th Program!

Grant Funding for PA IPL’s Work in Philadelphia and Beyond

Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light is the recipient this year of several grants to support the work it does across Pennsylvania, including projects that will have a beneficial impact in the Philadelphia region. At the PA IPL Philadelphia chapter meeting, Tuesday evening May 10, we hear about this year’s grant-funded work, what will be happening as part of this work in Philadelphia, the impact we can look forward to, and potential opportunities for individuals and congregations in this area to be involved. David Heayn-Menendez, PA IPL’s Executive Director, and Kathy Hrabovsky, PA IPL’s Development Associate and DEP Grant Project Manager, join us to discuss these opportunities for PA IPL to expand the work it does.

Sign up here if you would like to join the Philadelphia chapter of PA IPL!

Now Available: Video of Central PA Chapter’s May 9th Program!

PA IPL’s Creation Care Program

On Monday, May 9th at 7:00pm, the Central PA Chapter of PA IPL met to learn about PA IPL’s Creation Care program. This meeting is led by PA IPL Coordinator of Habitat Restoration Greg Williams and PA IPL Board member and planter George Dempsie, with those trail volunteers and home planters from our 3-county area as well as recipients in nearly a dozen different counties in Pennsylvania as far away as Luzerne or Delaware county for a PA IPL tree planters roundtable discussion about this program. Newcomers interested in becoming part of the program are also welcome. The meeting begins with information of how to give them your requests for plants by the end of this May and, with luck, receive them early this October. We share best practices, answer questions, and plan for the future of this great program.

Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light is so pleased that our Creation Care program has received free native trees, tubes, and stakes from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation since 2018 and then became a partner with the CBF in Fall of 2019. During that time, we received hundreds of healthy, wonderful native trees and shrubs that our hundreds of volunteers planted in a 3-county area in Central Pennsylvania. In 2020, because of the pandemic, we had too many trees and not enough planters to volunteer to plant on public land, so we offered these resources to individual landowners. We got a huge response so, since then, we’ve also become a distributor of free trees and stakes and 95 different individuals have received these plants. This Spring, we received, then planted or distributed 4700 native trees and shrubs that will, over time protect our waterways, beautify our landscape, feed our native insects who are so important to the food chain, slow the increasing flooding, make our environment more biodiverse, and sequester a significant amount of the excess carbon dioxide that drives climate change. This project also gives all of us visible and measurable progress in our efforts to reverse climate change and plants seeds of hope as well as trees and shrubs. YOU CAN BE PART OF THESE EFFORTS!

Sign up here if you would like to join the Central PA IPL Chapter!

Transformations: Reaching for “Energy Independence”

The Reality under the Mirage

PA IPL would like to announce Patricia DeMarco, Ph.D.’s “Transformations” blog post for Earth Day and International Workers Day. It is framed on “Energy Independence”.

The full article with data is linked below. Here are some short excerpts:

Even as the calls of alarm for the rapid pace of global warming become more urgent, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has become the latest excuse to defer the energy system transformation to a renewable base. As long as the U.S. participates in an international marketplace where the price of the commodity is determined by global geo-political forces, the concept of energy independence has no real meaning.

The political will to move the legal and regulatory infrastructure to support this goal has not been mobilized, even though most Americans see climate change as an important issue.  People fear the loss of jobs in the energy sector, without recognizing that the skills and capabilities of workers in this sector are readily transferable to the clean energy economy.

It is time to recognize the reality of our interdependence as human species to preserve the biodiversity of the planet and to restore the health of the ecosystems we depend on for our survival. Fresh water, clean air, and fertile ground support life on Earth as we know it. If we continue on this path, driven by greed and adherence to a fossil fueled economy, we will destroy ourselves, and all of the living Earth.

Read the full article here:
Reaching “Energy Independence” – The Reality Under the Mirage

As we enter an election cycle this year, keep the existential crisis of climate change in mind.  Ask your candidates their position. Vote for our survival.
Live in harmony with nature

Patricia M. DeMarco, Ph.D.
www.patriciademarco.com
Author: “Pathways to Our Sustainable Future-  Global Perspective from Pittsburgh”

City of Pittsburgh Benchmarking Program

Please join PA IPL at the City of Pittsburgh Benchmarking Program on Wednesday, May 11 from 12 – 1pm.

The City of Pittsburgh’s energy & water reduction goals align with PA IPL’s Mission of promoting energy, water, and waste conservation to move towards a cleaner and more equitable economy. PA IPL would like to invite organizational members and friends to a meeting that will introduce faith-based organizations to energy & water benchmarking, and to the City of Pittsburgh Benchmarking Ordinance itself, in the hope that more of us will benchmark to track and reduce utilities usage as well as to reach a high level of benchmarking ordinance compliance.

Even if your organization is not located within the City of Pittsburgh, you are welcome to attend. Any individual or organization can use Energy Star/Portfolio Manager to benchmark and track energy & water use to keep yourself or your facility moving toward a cleaner tomorrow.

PA IPL staff and board members will be joined by the City’s Energy Advisor, Flore Marion, and Intern, Jessie Biltz, in a presentation and Q&A session.

Register here to attend the City of Pittsburgh Benchmarking program!

We will automatically send you a zoom link after you register.

Sign up here if you would like to join the Pittsburgh & SW PA IPL Chapter!