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Letters from Earth

Drawn by Dan Reeder

What must we do?

By Vicki Smedley

Jersey Shore

In 2018 and in 2019 SPARK, our local community action group, hosted two very successful Earth Day events at Triangle Park. Everyone had fun and hopefully learned something they didn’t know before about our planet. In 2020 we were not able to do a live Earth Day event, so we decided that members of our group would write letters to Mother Earth to be submitted to the Express. It was not the way we wanted to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, but with the pandemic, it had to suffice. We looked forward to Earth Day 2021. But again, that is not going to happen. So some of us are writing to the Express again for this Earth Day.

The last year has been a very difficult one for all of us. For me, I think the hardest part was acknowledging to myself that I was missing a whole year of climate activism. I had been talking with the Commissioners in both Clinton and Lycoming Counties about developing an energy plan to get us to 100% renewable energy by 2035. I was doing powerpoint presentations to churches and other interested groups, and talking with people about the effects of climate change on us locally. Since March of 2020, all of that has stopped.

But now, as folks are getting vaccinated, it is time to get back to work. Our Climate Moment is here, now, and not a bit too soon! It is urgent! During this past year people were able to see what happens when cities lock down, and the pollution disappears. The residents of New Delhi were able to see the Himalayan mountains beyond their city, something they had not been able to see for years. All the major cities experienced less pollution. To me this is a perfect example about how this climate crisis has been caused by humans. Now we humans must act to keep the damages at bay. So what must we do?

We need a just, green recovery for all Americans. We need to put pressure on federal officials to take bold climate action, joining forces with fellow environmental advocacy groups in a coalition to win, and ensuring all of our voices are heard in demanding a cleaner, greener future. We need a $4 trillion investment package this year, including at least $2 trillion for green infrastructure that emphasizes environmental justice and green jobs.

I am sure many people will feel that $4 trillion is an unimaginable sum, but it is spread over time, and I’d like to point out that the costs of climate change have already surpassed that amount due to damage from hurricanes, floods, raging fires, drought, lost farm crops and to the health of people, animals, and plants. Many, many species have already become extinct. Changes in climate have also contributed to the Coronavirus, and continue to do so as the Earth heats up and creatures migrate. This investment will upgrade our country’s inadequate and aging infrastructure, reduce carbon emissions, address economic inequality, correct environmental injustices, and create millions of jobs, all while boosting the broader economy and a cleaner environment.

We need to focus specifically on new policies at the Federal level like a Just Transition to Clean Energy. We need to focus on a Zero-Carbon Transportation policy as well as on Climate, Justice and Public Health. And finally, we need to focus on Building Green Communities.

As you can see, this is all very ambitious. I asked you, each reader, “What must we do?” Then I listed our needs. What we must do, all of us who want to survive and have good air, water, weather, and food, we must call or write our Federal Senators and House members and ask them — no, urge them — to support the policies I outlined above. You don’t need to be all inclusive. Just pick one of the four if you can, educate yourself, and tell your member of Congress what you want them to support, and a brief reason why you want that. And then spread the word on your social media. This is how democracy works. It is not a spectator sport. Activate yourself, for your kin. If you Love your Mother Earth, she will love you more.

Addressing climate change creates meaningful jobs

By Pam Dillett

Lock Haven

Those of us who haven’t spent the past 20 years hibernating know by now that the effects of climate change present an imminent national emergency. But I’m equally concerned that any climate change mitigation measures also increase jobs to lift up middle-class America and stabilize our economy.

It’s clear that we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels which pump out carbon dioxide at devastating levels. NASA’s Earth Science Communications Team states that carbon emissions are dramatically heating up our planet, causing animal extinction, “insect outbreaks, more wildfires, declining water supplies, reduced agricultural yields and health impacts…due to extreme heat, and flooding and erosion in coastal areas.” NASA warns that these catastrophes will only worsen if we don’t act now.

I look around me and see boarded up shops in downtown Lock Haven and rampant unemployment in Clinton County. I also see that after years of disrupting our once pristine Pennsylvania Wilds, many gas companies are declaring bankruptcy. Fossil fuel extraction is less viable these days and isn’t providing the number of jobs it once did.

This concerns me, and it’s why I champion President Biden’s Build Back Better Plan which aims to not only achieve net-zero emissions by 2030 for all new commercial buildings, but also to build a more resilient sustainable economy that creates millions of jobs. His plan will help large utilities and rural cooperatives alike. There will be research and tax incentives for technology “that captures carbon, then permanently sequesters or uses that captured carbon. This will lower the cost of carbon capture retrofits for power plants, while protecting communities from cumulative pollution.” Markets can “access green hydrogen at the same cost as conventional hydrogen, providing a clean fuel source for power plants–all within 10 years.”

In addition, the Biden plan calls for upgrading homes and four million public buildings. This alone will create at least one million construction, engineering and manufacturing jobs. It will reduce all our electricity bills, and will clean up indoor air quality. Safer buildings not only improve our short-term health, but they will be critical in the face of future pandemics that scientists warn are again coming our way.

Upgrading commercial buildings will return savings to cash-strapped state and local governments. What’s more, the workforce will be trained to install and service USA-made high-efficiency LED lighting, household appliances and state of the art heating/cooling systems that run cleaner and at lower cost.

For you and me there will be direct cash rebates and low cost financing to upgrade our appliances, install more efficient windows and cut our energy bills. Within four years weatherization efforts will improve the heating and cooling efficiency of more than two million American homes.

These are only a few of the proposals in the Biden plan that will cut our carbon footprint in half by 2035. It’s a logical, attainable strategy that will provide jobs, reduce our energy costs and keep our planet livable.

What a win-win for us all!

The journey / the job

By Dan Reeder

Lock Haven

The journey is a great one. Once a year, year after year, century after century, we travel around a gigantic ball of fire that has immense energy and power. It is a trip of vast distance and precise trajectory. Our vessel has much luxury, dangerous challenges, and bountiful beauty. Our job is to maintain and preserve this vessel.

As Earth circles the Sun, it and we confront many problems. Some are devastating and may be irreversible, such as the destruction of the Barrier Reefs and human induced climate change. Since we humans of many races and nationalities, all played a dominate role in creating many of these problems, we also have an obligation to try to fix them. It is both a moral and practical imperative that we do so. From a spiritual perspective, it is hard to imagine any belief system condoning the ruination and waste of this precious gift, Earth.

There have been ebbs and flows in the successes of our caretaker duties and this Earth Day, we can take pride and satisfaction in steering Spaceship Earth in a promising direction. Rejoining the Paris Climate Accords and more than a few efforts to reintroduce protections for our air, water, and land here in America is a beginning. We must have honest and meaningful dialogue with each other, well-reasoned and just compromise, and, above all, appropriate action. We can do no less and justify our sleep at night.

As this is written, robotic probes penetrate the surface of Mars. Earth’s best minds tell us that Mars is the most likely of our sister planets to have supported life. Scientists are looking for evidence of microbes, the simplest, most elemental form of life. Compare this to the almost incomprehensible diversity and complexity of life on Spaceship Earth. Future Generations look to us to protect this unrivaled legacy. It is our duty and our responsibility.

For now, keep a steady eye on the road ahead and steer the ship toward many, many more Earth Days. Have a healthy and a prosperous Earth Day!

All aboard!

By Sandy DeBonis

Beech Creek

When I was a very young child, about 1950, I remember taking a train from New York City to Lock Haven to visit my grandparents. When I was a teenager, and later a college student in the city, I traveled on the Long Island Railroad, along with many commuters. Without the trains, the gridlock would have made it impossible for people to get to work. Now when I visit my daughter in Doylestown, I love taking the train into Philadelphia, especially since it is free for seniors. We don’t have to drive, use gas, or pay for parking.

Our new President, Joe Biden, is a lifelong rail commuter, and Amtrak even named a stop after him. Part of his infrastructure plan is to provide American cities with 100,000 or more residents with high-quality, zero-emission public transportation. This would be about 317 U.S. cities and would include rail, bus lines, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has said the best way to fight climate change is through national policy — and clean, improved mass transit is part of the Build Back Better Plan. This policy will not only help our environment, but it will also create jobs. I am looking forward to a better future for our country and our beautiful Earth,

Let’s all get on board!

Stepping into the future

By Karen Elias

Lock Haven

Since 1970, the 22nd of April has been celebrated as Earth Day, a time to reflect on the beauties, and also the challenges, of our planetary home. I like to think that the conversations we are having, and need to continue having, about our environment have now been extended beyond the confines of a single day, a single week, or even a single month — so that the very real problems we are facing as human beings living on a rapidly heating planet are beginning to get the attention they deserve.

President Biden, who is committed to working with other nations across the world to address our climate crisis, will lay out his plans this week to tackle that crisis by hosting a virtual summit with 40 world leaders, calling on them to join him in renewed commitment to slash carbon emissions over the next ten years.

Our worldwide carbon emissions, which are being measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, have now passed the 420 ppm mark for the first time in recorded history, indicating that emissions are continuing to rise, despite the expected dip due to COVID-19. In response, the Biden administration is developing a bold initiative, called Build Back Better, to improve the nation’s infrastructure, reduce our carbon footprint, and produce millions of good jobs.

I’ve been paying special attention to the opportunities this initiative could offer us here in rural America. One part of this initiative involves the creation of a Civilian Climate Corps, similar to the CCC program developed by F.D.R. during the Depression, which put over 3 million people to work restoring our public lands. Biden’s initiative includes a focus on helping disadvantaged communities create climate resilience, restore the health of our local landscapes, rebuild crumbling infrastructure, and grow an outdoor economy that, according to experts, was “fueling some of the fastest job growth in rural communities before the onset of the pandemic.”

Related to this is the initiative recently announced in the Express — the Rural Renewable Energy Pilot Program being considered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A spokesperson for the USDA was quoted as saying that investment in new sources of renewable energy has the potential to revitalize rural America: “To meet this goal, we must put rural communities at the heart of climate action and climate-smart solutions. . .” To this end, the USDA is asking us to participate in a listening session to be held virtually on Earth Day, Thursday the 22nd, from 2 to 4:30. To register, go to: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/53352475.

Our region made history several years ago when a paleontologist discovered at the Red Hill site near Renovo the shoulder bone of a creature that was learning to leave the sea behind and walk on land. Those creatures, many believe, were the ancestors of our planet’s mammals — in other words, us. We are currently experiencing a great — many say, evolutionary — transition, moving away from planet-destroying fossil fuels and embracing new sources of energy that are life-giving and infinitely renewable.

We need to come together and take that next brave step into the future.

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