Update from Sweden

Hi dear 3E-COE members and friends! I arrived two weeks ago in Uppsala, Sweden, where I'll be living for the next two years and finishing my studies long-distance. I'm sorry that I had to leave at the moment when the anti-disposable water bottle campaign has been heating up, but I'm thrilled to hear about all of the exciting developments and progress you've been making there!

Some of you may know of Sweden's record of being very progressive on the environmental concern/protection front. Well, reading about these developments from afar was great, but seeing many of them in action is even cooler. For example, in our apartment complex, we have recycling bins for plastics, metals, cardboard (paper must be brought to one of four municipal facilities), compost (yay!!), and trash, of course.

While all of these options are exciting, what blows me away the most is what happens to the trash. According to an excellent report of the city's developments, seventy percent of household waste gets converted into fuel for 50 city buses. Seventy percent!! The report also states that the facility that converts waste to fuel is being expanded so that 100% of the city's household trash can be used as fuel for public transit. Amazing, huh?

Something else that's quite exciting is how many people ride their bikes here and how the city accommodates/encourages cycling. For example, there are bike paths, many streets have dedicated bike lanes, and in some cases there are separate traffic signals for bicycles. Further, part of Uppsala's "Stop the Unnecessary 2.0" campaign includes encouraging individuals to bike to work. Other parts of that campaign include having e-meetings, keeping an eye on how much we print, turning off lights, etc.

If you have the time and interest, there are several pages in the report that focus on environmental efforts that the city is taking to make life in Uppsala more sustainable. It's mind blowing and very inspiring...seeing all of these efforts here reminds me of how much hope there is of similar amazing things happening in the U.S. In State College, we already have the awesome bike paths...

Let's go for a coal-free campus

A new friend of ours from Sierra Club has just alerted me that we have a chance to be part of moving us a little closer to freeing us from the choke of coal.

Sierra Club’s Coal-Free Campus Campaign at Penn State will be kicking off the semester with a press conference tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:30am on the South Side (lawn-side) of Old Main. We're releasing a national report detailing coal use on university campuses, which is featuring Penn State. We're gonna be launching an effort to retire Penn State's 80-year-old coal plant and clear the way for clean energy, as part of an nationwide campaign, led by the Sierra Club, on more than 60 college campuses. PSU students Rose Monahan and Melissa Hannum will talk about the problem with Penn State's coal use and we'll be calling on our administration to lead the country in building a clean energy future.

The event will run from 11:30-11:50, and will be attended by local media outlets.

What: Coal-Free Campus Media Event this Wednesday Sept 16th @ 11:30 by Old Main's south entrance.

We hope you can make it by for the event--we could use your support! The more people we have there, the bigger the message will be. If you're able to attend, do your best to wear a Penn State shirt to show the Lion Pride that's behind clean energy here on campus. Definitely bring your friends who also want clean energy, and if you can make it at 11:20 to help hold a sign or join the crowd, all the better!

The way the recession could affect Pennsylvania state parks

The following press release came out earlier this month from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. In my opinion, we are blessed with some great natural areas, state parks, and state forests in Pennsylvania. I've hiked, biked, and camped in several state forests including Tioga, Forbes, Michaux, Allegheney, Rothrock, and Bald Eagle and am constantly blown away by the beauty and grandeur in our state. There are also thousands of square miles of basically untouched forest where the "wild" is kept in wilderness. But the upcoming state budget before the state's senate could threaten that. Read on and consider calling DCNR or your state senator:

NEWS RELEASE

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol
Harrisburg, PA 17120

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Christina Novak
DCNR Press Secretary
(717) 772-9101

SENATE’S BUDGET WOULD CLOSE AT LEAST 35 STATE PARKS, PUT HELP FOR COMMUNITIES, NATURAL RESOURCES AT RISK
Families, Outdoor Enthusiasts Would Miss Out on Popular Destinations; Businesses Relying on Visitors Will Suffer Millions in Losses

HARRISBURG (May 14, 2009) — The millions of visitors who flock to Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests to relax and experience nature’s beauty would have fewer opportunities to do so under a budget plan that passed the Senate last week.

If enacted, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources acting Secretary John Quigley said the Senate proposal will force the agency to close at least 35 state parks and 1,000 miles of state forest roads, which would sharply reduce access for anglers, hunters and hikers.

Under Senate Bill 850, an additional $19 million would be cut from DCNR’s budget beyond the difficult but prudent reductions Governor Edward G. Rendell proposed in February.

“Families that cannot afford to take a vacation because of the tough economic times could always count on enjoying a little rest and relaxation at a nearby state park or forest,” said Quigley. “However, if the Senate’s budget proposal is enacted, there would be even fewer of those opportunities as we would have to close a number of state parks. That means less traffic and fewer dollars being spent in the rural communities with businesses and jobs that count on these parks and forests.

“The Senate’s proposal would be absolutely devastating to these rural areas and to our efforts to preserve our natural resources for present and future generations. In contrast, the Governor’s budget proposal reflects the difficult economy we now face and would still allow us to provide a quality outdoor experience for our citizens and visitors,” Quigley said, also noting that closing 35 state parks would turn away more than 3 million visitors and wipe out at least $57 million in visitor spending on products and services in nearby communities.

Many other programs that enhance a visitor’s experience at a state park or forest, protect natural resources, or help communities offer more recreational opportunities also would suffer under the Senate’s proposal. About 40,000 acres of forest would be vulnerable to gypsy moths because the department will not be able to apply treatments, while a program that offers one million tree seedlings for purchase by landowners would be eliminated. The seedling program helps protect watersheds, control soil erosion, reclaim former mining areas, and provide food and cover to wildlife.

In addition, DCNR would likely remove state forest rangers who serve as the primary contact for visitors and who promote safety and enforce the law on forestlands. Local governments and communities that depend on DCNR for important topographic, geologic and technical information, as well as help with 1,000 active grants for parks, trails and other recreational developments will receive less help under the Senate’s proposal.

Quigley also noted that the Senate’s plan does not restore funding for the department’s heritage tourism grants, despite repeated criticisms by the caucus when Governor Rendell made the difficult decision to cut the program.

Pennsylvania has 117 state parks and 2.1 million acres of state forests, including 3,000 miles of roads that provide access to the forests.

Ensuring clean water gets to the Chesapeake

For those readers not in 3E-COE (how many might that be at this point?) there is a local meeting of the Penns Valley Conservation Association meeting to discuss maintaining clean streams and profitable farms. We in central Pennsylvania thrive on agriculture but our farms create a lot of waste (manure, chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, etc) that gets into water ways that are themselves part of the Chesapeake watershed.

We've know for quite some time that the Chesapeake is suffering the aggregated effects of our unmindful land and water use. Recently, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF linked above) released a report (link here for the pdf) that ties the decline of the Blue Crab with the Chesapeake's worsening waters which are tied to our farming and waste disposal practices here in Centre County. They report:

Less Crab habitat Sediment from runoff and algal blooms caused by nitrogen and phosphorus pollution are darkening the Bay’s waters, killing the underwater grasses that young crabs need as shelter from predators. More than half of the Bay’s eelgrass has died since the early 1970s.

In total, it is a steady choking of all of the life in the bay. We care most about the crabs because we eat them and sell them. They feed our economy as they feed us. In 1993, 347 million crabs were caught in the Chesapeake. Last year, just 132 million - a nearly two-thirds decline. That 1993 catch is larger than the current estimated population of all crabs in the bay. We in Pennsylvania, through waste runoff into streams like Penns Creek (pictured below) are starving them.

The PVCA meeting is the kind of local community interaction that can help ameliorate these problems. It is an example of local informal education that we need to consider becoming a part of. For those of us becoming trained as school teachers, we might want to join ourselves to this kind of small activism because it brings the community into the school and the school into the community, eliminating the false barrier that says "School is school" and "Work is work" and "Home is home" and all of that stuff is separate from nature because "Nature is nature." We are part of nature at every second.

Perhaps we ought to reach out to these folks and see what we can learn from them.