This summer, be a climate activist

Summer is a great time to recharge, relax, and forget about the daunting issues of our time, right? Not so if you’re a climate activist. This has been a busy summer for climate-related activity such as the G7’s commitment to phase out fossil fuels by the end of the century, the Environmental Protection Agency’s release of the first-ever standard on carbon pollution in the U.S., among many other local events that have brought together diverse voices calling for action to combat climate change. 

If you’re interested in contributing your voice as well, PennFuture and its partners are hosting two great events next week. 

Harrisburg: Interfaith Climate Advocacy Training 
PennFuture is joining our friends at Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light (PA IPL) in Harrisburg to train people of all faiths to speak with moral authority about climate change and its impact on Pennsylvania.

Image via Flikr user, Nicholas A. Tonelli

Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 
Time: 9:30 AM - 4:00 PM 
Location:
Unitarian Church of Harrisburg
1280 Clover Lane
Harrisburg, PA 17113 

Registration (Tickets $30): http://bit.ly/1TTWINd 


Pittsburgh: Clean Energy Solutions Forum 
PennFuture is joining our friends at Mom's Clean Air Force, PennEnvironment, representatives from local clean-energy companies, and other environmental experts for a forum to discuss how America's Clean Power Plan can re-power the local economy while reducing carbon pollution from power plants.

Image via Flickr user Jeff Kubina

Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 
Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM 
Location:
Mt. Lebanon Municipal Building
710 Washington Rd
Pittsburgh, PA 15228 

Registration (Free): 
http://bit.ly/1JiUsUD



Katie Bartolotta is southeastern Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @KatieBartolotta.  

ICYMI: The Weather Channel’s "The Climate 25"

Despite the consensus among climate scientists that human activity causes global warming, some people insist that the jury is still out.  

In response, The Weather Channel has weighed in with its position on climate change: “We report the science, and the science consistently says climate change is real, humans are causing it, and we must prepare for its effects.”

As a follow up to its position statement, they produced a series featuring “The Climate 25,” a diverse group of thought leaders who discuss their perspectives on global climate change and solutions for mitigating it. 

The presentation is simple – participants speak for less than two minutes and the footage is in black and white – but their commentary is illuminating. Their reflections are a stark reminder that inaction on climate change will have wide-reaching and interconnected effects on resource availability, national security, and the global economy. 

Below are just a few quotes that indicate the range of perspectives included in the Weather Channel’s series: 

“You can’t say that environmental regulation automatically causes the economy to stop. It doesn’t. It’s the wrong way to frame the issue.”
--Christine Todd Whitman, Former New Jersey Governor, EPA Administrator (2001-03)

 “Many conflicts throughout our history have been based on resource competition. Increasingly, in the future, we’ll be defining some of our national security interests in those resource contests. And so, availability of energy [is] at the top of the list; availability of fresh water, [is] right up there with energy. You can predict that that drives human activity in a way that can create conflict.”
--General Charles H. Jacoby (Ret.), Commander, U.S. North Command

“Let us change our ways of living because we depend on agriculture and agriculture is now not dependable. Everyone will suffer if it continues like this.”
--Constance Okollet, Community Leader, Uganda

As an organization, we’re excited to advocate for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan -- the first ever standard on carbon pollution – along with grassroots leaders in Pennsylvania who want to facilitate the transition to a clean energy economy. Like the Climate 25, we know that we don’t have time to debate the facts – we must act. 

Katie Bartolotta is PennFuture's southeastern Pennsylvania outreach coordinator and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @KatieBartolotta.

Poll: Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly want action on climate

Great news about our fellow Pennsylvanians: According to a poll released last week by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), residents of the Commonwealth are downright bullish on having state government, led by Gov. Tom Wolf, take strong action to limit carbon pollution from power plants.

Some surprising highlights of the poll, according to NRDC:

• 82 percent of Pennsylvanians endorse a state-crafted plan to curb carbon pollution -- as we'll need to in the near future, in response to the Obama Administration's Clean Power Plan Rule. This includes strong majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
• Even stronger numbers: 93 percent of Pennsylvanians support the expansion of utility programs to increase energy efficiency in homes, thus saving homeowners money.
• Better yet: 97 percent of Pennsylvanians see the tremendous promise of energy efficiency. More than 80 percent of us want to boost the state's use of renewable power, including solar and wind.
• And toss that stale old chestnut about "jobs versus the environment" out onto the compost heap, please: More than 60 percent of Pennsylvanians say using more energy from true renewables will create jobs.

Dig into the polling results yourself. Then you'll be more than ready the next time someone tries to tell you we're not ready to act on climate change.

Pennsylvanians are leading the call to a clean energy economy.

Joy Bergey is PennFuture's federal policy director and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets at @joybergey.

Time to move way beyond "business as usual"

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released another important set of policy recommendations in Berlin this week. In light of the fact that heat-trapping emissions grew more quickly in the first decade of this century than in any of the three previous decades, we are reminded again that "business as usual" in the energy world isn't leading to a more stable climate.

Scientists have been telling us for years that to avoid dramatic disruptions in climate, the world needs to limit global warming to no more than two degrees Celsius (about 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit).

But we have collectively waited so long to start making serious cuts to emissions that the pressure is very much on: To stay within the "safe" levels of warming, we must lower greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 70 percent by mid-century (with 2010 levels as the base point), and to near zero by the end of the century. Whoa!

The IPCC remains confident we can achieve these cuts, although the longer we wait, the more expensive it will be for all of us.

The report calls for policies that we at PennFuture have been recommending for years, recognizing that using less energy is as important as using clean energy. PennFuture played a keep role in enacting Pennsylvania's energy efficiency standard (Act 129) in 2008, and has been recommending to Harrisburg policymakers since then that we increase efficiency standards.

Although Pennsylvania's population isn't expected to change significantly in the decades ahead, global population seems likely to increase greatly, with billions of people simultaneously wanting to increase their standard of living -- both factors leading to potentially huge increases in energy demand. So, energy efficiency at the global level becomes ever more important.

As Youba Sokona (co-chair of the IPCC Working Group that released the report this week) points out, "The core task of climate change mitigation is decoupling greenhouse gas emissions from the growth of economies and population."

Take a look at PennFuture's new Clean Energy Wins report that offers a roadmap for how state government can grow Pennsylvania's economy while shrinking its carbon footprint.

Joy Bergey is federal policy director for PennFuture and is based in Philadelphia.

It's a war on injustice, actually

President Obama hit it out of the park on Tuesday, announcing his plan to tackle climate change. It was especially encouraging to hear him instruct the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and implement rules to limit carbon pollution from power plants. Although he couldn't quite bring himself to say out loud that coal is the primary target of the new rules, it wasn't lost on those who somehow defend this dirtiest of industries.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky wrongly described the plan as a war on coal. Sorry, Mitch, but you're wrong. All that carbon dioxide belching forth unchecked from coal plants means we'll fry the planet if we don't transition immediately to a clean energy economy. More specifically, we're on the way to ruining the future of millions of children who will have to contend with a world of routine extreme weather and the economic and societal disruptions that will result.

This isn't a war on coal, Senator. Rather, it's a war on the injustice of relying on a devastating source of power when we have clean sources of power such as wind  and solar readily available. Even so, Congress insists on providing disproportionately large subsidies to fossil fuels instead.

Fortunately, there's another guy named Mitch who sees the truth. That would be Rev. Mitch Hescox, president and CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network. Mitch, a self-described Republican Evangelical, said this week, "We need solutions that engage all of America. I agree with the President, American ingenuity can help us cut down on pollution, champion energy efficiency, and create the next generation of jobs, while taking care of the poor."

Which Mitch would you choose? Backward-looking Mitch McConnell, or forward-looking Mitch Hescox?

I know my choice. I'm on the bus with Mitch Hescox.