Penn State Brandywine Environment Club

An essay I wrote on the sun for the last eclipse I witnessed:

Sun Salutation The sun [is] a toddler insistently refusing to go to bed. —John Green, The Fault in Our Stars Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, “You owe me”. Look what happens …

"Responding to the Climate Emergency," A Campus Talk by Eric Orts, Professor, Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania
Location: Penn State, Brandywine, 25 Yearsley Mill Rd., Media, PA
Tuesday, October 5th, Main Room 101, 12 PM Noon
Public Invited

We are living in a climate emergency, one that threatens the health, economies, and ecosystems of the entire planet. Professor Eric Orts will be discussing this challenge and speaking about the practical proposals in his climate change plan that has been extolled by well-known environmentalist Bill McKibben as the most detailed and comprehensive one available to the American public.

Eric Orts teaches in the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics and Professor of Management. He specializes in environmental law and policy, professional ethics, environmental management, securities regulation, and theories of the firm. He was Director of the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership from 2007-2020 and has held visiting appointments at Harvard University, New York University School of Law, University of Michigan Law School, UCLA School of Law, University of California Santa Barbara, and the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. He is the author or editor of numerous books and articles on environmental law, business ethics, and corporate responsibility.

https://lgst.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/ortse/

For more information (or questions), contact Dr. David Macauley, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies. Email: [email protected]

Strawberries from the Sustainable Campus Garden at PSU, Brandywine.

h/t Emily Dozer

http://www.greenphillyblog.com/news/penn-state-brandywine-wins-award-in-local-gardening-contest/

Penn State Brandywine Wins Award in Local Gardening Contest Penn State Brandywine’s green thumb just got greener. Penn State Brandywine’s Honors Garden won second prize in the Community Vegetable Garden category of the Delaware County Master Gardeners’ 2015…

http://sustainability.psu.edu/spotlight/penn-state-brandywine-takes-sustainable-initiatives

Penn State Brandywine takes on Sustainable Initiatives Last summer, the Penn State Brandywine Vairo Library staff enrolled in the Green Paws program. Green Paws is a certification program designed to help offices at either University Park or other Commonwealth Campuses to be more sustainable. Since the campus Green Paws initiative started in early April...

Earth Day 2016 at Brandywine:

http://brandywine.psu.edu/story/3966/2016/05/06/brandywine-celebrates-earth-day

Brandywine Celebrates Earth Day At the end of April, Penn State Brandywine celebrated Earth Day with many outdoor activities organized by the Brandywine Sustainability Committee.

Walkers for Environmental Justice: Swarthmore Friends Meeting Hosts Potluck on Monday April 30th

For decades, coal companies have exploited the Appalachian region for its natural resources. In 2001, the Bush administration redefined regulatory definitions of "fill." This permitted an extreme form of strip mining in which coal companies explode mountains to get at thin layers of coal,and then dump the "waste" material into nearby valleys and streams. Thousands of miles of streams in Appalachia have been buried. In the last decade, there have been increased rates of cancer, respiratory disease, heart disease, and birth defects in communities located near mountaintop removal sites. Other consequences of "mountaintop removal" include irreversible destruction of the region's biodiversity, permanent loss of topsoil and contamination of headwaters that feed rivers in the southeastern United States.

PNC bank is a major financier of coal companies that engage in this form of mining. (Details of their financial connections have been documented by Rainforest Action Network.) The "Green Walk for Jobs and Justice" will start in Philadelphia on April 30th and end on May 16th, in Pittsburgh, at PNC Bank's headquarters. Along the way, the walkers will call attention to the plight of Appalachian communities and urge PNC to end its financial support for mountaintop removal.

We ask PNC to create a "sector exclusion" by May 31, 2012, prohibiting loans to coal companies that engage in mountaintop removal coal mining. We will collect pledges from PNC account holders, to close their accounts if the bank does not comply.

The Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) is dedicated to creating a "just and sustainable economy" through campaigns that draw on the Quaker legacy of nonviolent direct action. Join us on Monday, April 30th, to meet the walkers, after their first day on the road. Swarthmore Friends Meeting (12 Whittier Place, Swarthmore, PA 19081) will host a potluck (at 6 PM) and EQAT will provide a program (at 7 PM) with singing and videos. Learn about how the BLAM! (Banking Like Appalachia Matters) campaign is having an impact. Come away with a clearer vision and a greater sense of hope.

Community Screening of Films Promoting Alternative Energy

When: Saturday, April 21, 3:30 to 5:30 PM, and Sunday, April 22, 3:30 to 5:30 PM

Where: Science Center, Room 199, Swarthmore College

The Swarthmore Meeting Environmental Group will screen two films and facilitate discussion on the topic of alternative, sustainable energy. On Saturday, April 21, we will show The Last Mountain, an inspiring film that documents residents of Coal River Valley in West Virginia standing up to the lawless tactics of Massey Energy, which through mountaintop removal mining has scarred the local landscape. The film ends with an inspirational documentation of the benefits of wind power to support the local economy and environment. On Sunday, the film Carbon Nation will be shown; more evidence of clean energy technology development across the U.S. will be presented.

Jill Stein, Green Party Presidential candidate, spoke on our campus today. The event as sponsored by the Penn State, Brandywine Philosophy Club. Hope many of you were able to attend. Here is a link to her webpage. http://www.jillstein.org/

Jill Stein for President We need a new politics for the other 99% of America that doesn’t collect a CEO's salary or write big checks for politicians. America deserves a Green New Deal that provides a secure future for we the people and the planet we depend on.

Screening of "Gasland" & panel discussion. Swarthmore Friends Meeting annual Forum is on the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") as a method of natural gas extraction. Friday March 18th (7:00 pm) at Science Center 199 at Swarthmore College. "Gasland" describes the impacts of this practice. Contact the Swarthmore Friends Meeting website or Paul Greene: [email protected]

Gasland When filmmaker Josh Fox is asked to lease his land for drilling, he embarks on a cross-country odyssey uncovering a trail of secrets, lies and contamination.

APPLE PICKING TOMORROW ON THE CAMPUS LAWN DURING COMMON HOUR!

"Transformed Life of an Environmental Activist" Join us for a community forum led by Hollister Knowlton on the environment and Quaker testimonies. Hollister gave up her car & became a vegan for reasons of conscience. She then gave up paid work to devote all her energy to living in right relationship with creation. Tues, May 4, 7:30 PM Swarthmore Friends Meeting, 12 Whittier Place Swarthmore [email protected]