Dear Friends of PSR Philadelphia / Pennsylvania,
|
|
|
|
We thank you for your long-standing and dedicated
support
!
September 17, 2018
|
|
|
PSR representative Dr. Walter Tsou spoke alongside PA state Senator Arthur Haywood at the Defend Our Future press conference at Temple University. The main goal was to oppose the roll back of Clean Car Standards by the Trump Administration.
Dr. Tsou informed those at the event, “if we reduce the amount of gasoline used in cars which is the goal of the Clean Car Standard, we can reduce the air pollution in our environment and improve dramatically the production of ozone. Philadelphia has exceeded the EPA standards for ozone levels on several days.” Ozone is a product of nitrogen oxide and VOCs, which is a threat to people with respiratory diseases such as asthma. It is critical to stop the Trump Administration from rolling back the standards and to put the health of the community and the safety of our environment first.
|
|
|
#1:
PA Health Checkup on Fracking
|
|
Event Date: Saturday, Oct 13, 2018, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Locations
In person: Philadelphia at Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
In person: Pittsburgh at Chatham University
On-line through a live-streaming service
Please attend this speed-learning and advocacy training event, live streamed between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, hosted by PSR. Its focus will be fracking, its impact on health, and what healthcare providers should do. The event is geared towards healthcare providers, and how the knowledge of fracking will impact their practice. The event is also open to the public. The morning session will be the speed-learning, with presentations covering the very basics of fracking, the legal atmosphere, occupational health, children's health, etc. The afternoon will be advocacy training so attendees can learn how to take action on a political level and within their workplace. If interested, email
info@psrphila.org
.
|
|
#2:
H
ouse Party Folk Concert with Satire & Social Commentary
|
|
Event Date: Saturday, Oct 13, 2018, 8:00 PM
Join award-winning Tom Neilson & Lynn Waldron for a spectacular night of reminding people what is really important through the power of folk music. Space is limited so email
snksaukus@gmail.com
to RSVP. Suggested donation is $20 per person. Reserve your seat by check payable to Tom Neilson mailed to the venue address. Dr. Sidney Kahn from PSR Philadelphia will be hosting this event.
|
|
|
#3:
14th Soul of Medicine Brunch!
|
|
Event Date: Sunday, Oct 21, 2018, 11:00-1:00 PM
Keynote Speaker: Ken Ginsburg, MD, MS ED
Click
here
for more information and
here
to register for this event.
|
|
|
#1:
Neighbors Against the Gas Plants
|
|
Event Date: Tuesday, Sep 18, 2018, 12:00 - 1:30 PM
Please attend this important hearing, planned by the NAGP and 350 Philly, to oppose SEPTA's plan to build a fracked gas power plant in North Philly.
According to Air Management Services, if SEPTA operates this gas plant, the project will be putting 81.6 tons of toxic emissions into the air. That figure does not include continued release of fumes from 8 boilers, and diesel buses at their bus depot, next to the gas plant site, on SEPTA's property. Philadelphians have a right to clean air and a healthy environment. Click
here
to learn more about this event.
|
|
|
#2:
Webinar + Discussion:
"Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change" with Climate Scientist Michael Mann
|
|
Event Date: Monday, Sep 24, 2018, 11:30 - 12:30 PM
Join the PennFuture webinar, with PennFuture President Emeritus Larry J. Schweiger and renowned climate scientist and board member Michel Mann, for a presentation and discussion about the now-solid evidence for a human influence on climate. The presentation will address the impacts of climate change including sea level rise, severe weather, and water supply. Click
here
to learn more about what will be discussed and to register for the event.
|
|
|
Power Towards a Just Future
|
On Thursday August 2, 2018, a large demonstration was held with 23 sponsoring organizations to raise public awareness about the solarization of Philadelphia and to press the city to integrate social justice goals into its transition to renewable energy. Organized by The Carnival de Resistance and Green Justice Philly, the parade was full of colorful signs and bright displays that called for Philadelphia to go local solar, for renewables, clean energy, abandonment of fossil fuels, clean transit, Fossil Free SEPTA, no fracked gas, clean water and air, healthy communities, no sacrifice zones AND for other large organizations to follow by Philadelphia's example.
The first stop was at PECO's headquarters to call for a stop to short-sighted energy policies and highlight the need for local solar, to create family-sustaining jobs in the poorest big city in the nation. The next stop was SEPTA, to demand an end to environmental racism, specifically calling for a stop to the Nicetown gas plant. The parade finished with a rally at City Hall, to show support for Mayor Kenney's goal to purchase 100% of the city's electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
Click
here for a link to a video of the parade,
here for a Facebook live link, and
here to watch speeches given by Tarik Khan and Patrick Jones, and a skit created by Neighbors Against the Gas Plants.
|
|
All images captured by Mitch Chanin from 350Philadelphia
|
|
|
|
Solidarity to Solutions Week
|
PSR representatives, Dr. Pouné Saberi and Tammy Murphy, spent a week in the San Francisco Bay Area participating in marches, rallies, sacred indigenous ceremonies, local agricultural work, direct actions and other activities calling on the participants of the Global Climate Action Summit to think beyond profit-driven tax solutions to hear the voices of the people of the world demanding genuine climate and economic justice.
The Rise for Climate, Jobs & Justice movement began on Saturday September 8, 2018, and included demonstrations all over the world, from Uganda to Paris, across the country and of course in SF! This kicked off the Solidarity to Solutions
Week of Actions, lasting from Sept 8-14 in the SF/Bay Area. Click
here to learn more about this historic event. #ItTakesRoots to #GrowtheResistance
Philadelphia had its own demonstration with marchers walking through Suburban Station demanding no SEPTA gas plant in Nicetown and a teach-in at the First Unitarian Church.
|
|
|
 |
Secret Fracking Chemicals Threaten Delaware River Basin, Pennsylvania: “Secret” chemicals are those used in drilling and fracturing that well operators do not identify. Widespread use of secret fracking chemicals poses serious health risks for people living near Pennsylvania’s unconventional gas wells and for 15 million people who rely on drinking water from the Delaware River Basin that sits atop deposits of unconventional gas. Read more about this issue
here.
|
Heavy rain contributed to Beaver County pipeline blast: An explosion from a natural gas pipeline operating for only a week sparked a fire early Monday that destroyed a Beaver County home and two garages and prompted authorities to evacuate about two dozen other homes in the area. Click
here to read more.
|
Court strikes playgrounds, school yards from places that get extra scrutiny before drilling: Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court on Thursday upheld the state DEP’s process for considering a shale gas well’s impact on public natural resources before granting a drilling permit. The panel struck down the agency’s attempt to expand its scrutiny to a well’s impact on playgrounds and common areas at schools, finding DEP’s definition of those features “vague, overly broad, and unpredictable.” Click
here to read more
|
Administration Cooks the Books to Justify Rollback of the Clean Car Standards: From 2009 through 2016, the U.S. government published 10,000 pages of information proving that the Clean Car standards are feasible and cost effective. On Thursday, the Trump administration released shoddy and biased analysis to support its desired eight-year freeze of the Clean Car Standards at essentially 2018 levels through 2026. Click
here to read more. These proposed regulations would slow the transition to electric cars and worsen climate change.
The public can comment on these rulings up to October 23. A
public hearing will be held in Pittsburgh on Sept. 26 and PSR plans to testify.
|
Green Jobs For All: Click
here view polling results released by Data For Progress, 350 Philly, and the Sunrise Movement highlighting several reasons why green jobs and a green future are fiscally and politically beneficial to support!
|
|
|
|
Latest Blog Entry
FERC's revolving door spins off course
In August 2017, interim FERC Chairman Neil Chaterjee announced the appointment of Anthony Pugliese as the Commission's new Chief of Staff. Although it is still unclear to many, within the Commission and government, how Pugliese achieved this appointment due to his lack of experience and decorum, he has interestingly expressed views that directly oppose those of President Trump's Administration.
Both in an interview with a right-wing propaganda program and at a meeting with the American Nuclear Society, Pugliese expressed a clear bias for the coal and nuclear power industries, claiming they are more reliable given cybersecurity threats to electric grid and natural gas pipelines. However, Trump's administration from day one has supported the natural gas industry and maintained a revolving door with fossil fuel companies.
This discourse has us wondering , "in an agency that often enacts negative policies, are the results of directionless chaos more beneficial than methodical destructiveness?" Click
here to read more about this issue.
Written by:
Coryn Wolk
|
Adelphia Gateway Pipeline: they take our name, but not our input
On May 31, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) held a public scoping meeting for the proposed Adelphia Gateway pipeline.
PSR's own Coryn Wolk, along with a friend Meg, attended this meeting, asked pressing questions, and presented verbal comments. However, when Adelphia submitted the comments they'd received from organizations and residents at this meeting to the FERC, Ms. Wolk's name was neither present nor was her comment submitted.
None of the verbal comments were transcribed; none of the people who spoke out were recognized. "FERC and Adelphia can't erase our concerns with a single stroke of bureaucracy, though". We urge you to read more about this event, and find out how you can get involved
here.
Written by:
Coryn Wolk
|
|
|
|
Publis
hed: September
17, 2018
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
