PA Campfire Dispatch
A monthly report from Grassroots groups across the state, with new articles quarterly, calling us to a more just and environmentally responsible Pennsylvania
Volume 3, Issue 6 - - - - - - - -Autumn of 2024 Issue
Monthly Sections:
Campfire News, Articles on Grassroots Groups and Issues
Periodic Sections
Biographies, Words of Wisdom, PA Convergence News, Art & Photography, Eco-Friendly Living Tips, Corporation Storm, Legislative Garden Patch, Campus News, Funding Forest, Riddles
Feature Article:
EQAT’s July Action Ramps up the Pressure Against Vanguard
Feature
EQAT’s July Action Ramps up the Pressure Against Vanguard
By Dawn Kane
Under a blazing summer sun, the Earth Quaker Action Team, EQAT, and supporters from around the country came together in Malvern, Pennsylvania on July 3rd to protest Vanguard’s continued investment in fossil fuels.
The company reports that in 2024 they have $9.3 trillion in assets under management. According to Fossil Free Funds, 9.8% of those funds, $561.78 billion is invested in fossil fuel stocks.
On a day in which high heat necessitated safety plans that included plenty of water stations, EQAT board member and activist Jonathan Ogle says that a group of approximately 300 diverse, intergenerational activists assembled at nearby Cedar Hollow Park for workshops on how to raise awareness, take back communities, and put pressure on Vanguard. Then the group marched in peaceful protest to the company gates.
“It was a good day,” says Ogle. “We had people from as far away as Alaska. We had speakers from speakers from Appalachia, North Carolina. A speaker who came from Boston, but is originally from Uganda, has been working on the fight against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline.” Others included: Ms. Zulene Mayfield, who spoke about the work of CRCQL, Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, on environmental justice for Chester, PA; a busload of Summer of Heat activists came from New York, and a significant cohort of Quakers from a gathering at Haverford College.
Victory, for now, for Cyclone, PA
Attorney Lisa Johnson successfully filed a temporary supersedeas and petition for supersedeas recently on behalf of residents near the proposed Cyclone PA Injection Well, and learned that Judge Beckman, of the PA Environmental Hearing Board granted the temporary supersedeas, essentially an emergency injunction, to stop injection before they have a hearing on the superesedeas. The hearing for the supersedeas will be in December in Erie. This prevents injections from happening in the short-term, and that’s worth celebrating as the long-term fight continues.
Funding Forest
Mountain Watershed Direct Support Fund
Help your Grassroots Group Grow!
Applications evaluated monthly. The Direct Support Fund provides small grants to grassroots groups and advocates working toward social change on environmental justice, shale gas and petrochemical issues. Proposals are reviewed on the third Friday of each month. In order to be considered, applications must be received one week prior to this date.
Community Foundation for the Alleghenies
The Community Foundation supports the work of nonprofits through grants to organizations directly from our donors and competitive grantmaking in Bedford, Cambria, Indiana, and Somerset counties, and sometimes nearby counties. Spring 2025 Grant Requests for Proposals (RFPs) should be posted later in November 2024. You will need to set up a Grantee Portal.
PA Campfire Dispatch Quarterly Announcement and Election Story
By Jim Highland
The Editorial Board of the PA Campfire Dispatch has been…busy, for a number of months: busy with environmental organizing, with jobs, with family…and with an election that just ended. Given our busy schedules we need to modify how often we put out new articles in the PA Campfire Dispatch. So, we’ve decided that our new articles will come out quarterly, once every three months. We will still send reminders each month to check the Campfire News section of the website, for information about which groups are doing what in Pennsylvania. We feel like we can keep the Campfire News section current, and have articles on a quarterly basis. Our apologies for the delay in this current issue, which we’ll call our 2024 Autumn Issue.
For those of you who are feeling concerned regarding the results of the most recent election, here’s an election story that requires you to imagine the challenge of a new administration in Washington as a kind of flood that is coming down a river.
Turtle, Fish and the Flood
One day, after an election, Fish and Turtle were swimming around in the river. Both of them noticed dark, storm-clouds that had gathered upstream of the river, and could almost see the rain that was pouring down that way. Neither really knew what to expect, but both felt they were in for a flood, probably a big one at that.
Why I don’t give lectures anymore
By Barbara W. Brandom, MD
Recently I was very happy to visit with my granddaughters. I had to travel, by plane, across several states and the Mississippi River. I confess that such travel is a terrible indulgence, but I took the increasing risks because visiting with my grandchildren inspires me to keep working for their future. I hear the advice that we should talk with our neighbors. When surrounded by strangers, I used to always keep to myself. On this trip I took a book with me, one chosen to evoke questions from fellow travelers. Petroleum-238, by Justin Nobel, has a catchy subtitle on the front, “They’ve known for 110 years but haven’t done a thing to stop it. It is the secret of the century.”
The man sitting next to me in the airplane, a pharmacist from Ohio, did ask me about what I was reading. He even took a phone picture of the front of Petroleum-238. I described what Nobel documented about radioactivity in fossil gas and the many people who got seriously ill from exposure to this. I said that California is going in the right direction. For example, Mark Z. Jacobson designed an energy system for Stanford University which allowed turning off the gas powered electricity generator there in 2016.
The pharmacist replied that crazy things are going on in California. They will kill the economy. He went on to say that he admires Elon Musk as a decision maker, but no one can afford to pay $65,000 for an electric car. I was almost speechless.
Legislative Garden Patch
Clean Air Council: Contact your Representatives to Protect PA from Harmful Carbon Capture Practices: Oppose SB 831
Please oppose Senate Bill 831. This bill will harm property owners and place an undue burden on DEP to monitor carbon dioxide (CO2) storage sites, while essentially absolving industry operators from responsibility in the long run. Allowing storage operators to acquire ownership of pore space with just 60% of surface owners’ consent forces property owners to give up pore space rights even if they are wary of the environmental and health risks associated with carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). Stored CO2 can migrate and contaminate groundwater or poison humans at high enough concentrations. Given the long lifespan of CO2 in the atmosphere, there is no realistic time in the future when stored carbon can be released. By absolving storage operators of monitoring responsibilities and pushing them to DEP after 10 years, this bill fails to hold operators responsible for any future storage issues.
Applications evaluated monthly. The Direct Support Fund provides small grants to grassroots groups and advocates working toward social change on environmental justice, shale gas and petrochemical issues. Proposals are reviewed on the third Friday of each month. In order to be considered, applications must be received one week prior to this date.
Campfire News
Sierry Club Pennsylvania October 30th (Recorded) Webinar: It's Scary Out Here! How Oil & Gas Waste Haunts Pennsylvania (A Clean Energy for All Webinar):
Beyond Pesticides / Move Past Plastics Online Webinar on Thursday, November 14th, 1:00-2:00PM EST
“Imperatives for a Sustainable Future: Reversing the existential crises of pesticide-induced illness, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency” a roundtable on the petrochemical threats to human health and ecosystems, and the path forward to eliminate reliance on petrochemical-based products, featuring Dr. Tracey Woodruff and other distinguished panelists.
March on Harrisburg, Friday, November 15, 6:00-8:30 PM EST
Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) In-person meeting at Vanguard. Wed., Nov. 20th, 2:00-4:00PM EST
Meet with EQAT to encourage/ pressure Vanguard’s new CEO, Salim Ramji, to move Vanguard to more sustainable and environmentally just investments.
CRCQL - Chester Environmental Justice - General Meeting, Thursday, November 21st, 7PM
Zoom meeting with Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, confronting trash incineration in population centers, the danger of liquified natural gas, and related issues
Fair Districts PA, December 7th Statewide Conference: Mapping Pennsylvania's Future-Next Steps in Redistricting Reform at the Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill, PA, 9AM-4:30PM EST
Legislative Garden Patch
March On Harrisburg & HB484
Legislators should be responsive to the will of the public, not gift-giving lobbyists. Currently, there are no limits on what lobbyists can give to public officials in Pennsylvania.
PennEnvironment
Tell Harrisburg: We Need Solar for All Pennsylvanians: Community Solar, HB 1842
Establishing community solar in Pennsylvania allows neighbors, businesses, farmers, or other community members to come together to 'share' solar power. This would be a game changer for Pennsylvanians who want to go solar but can't put it on their own roofs because they rent, have old or shaded roofs, or face financial barriers, and will reduce climate and air pollution.
Center for Coalfield Justice
Tell your PA State Representative, vote yes on HB 2577
This summer, our state legislature passed Solar for Schools – allowing school districts in Pennsylvania the opportunity to cut energy costs by installing on-site solar. Modeled on this successful bipartisan effort, Representative Merski from Erie County introduced HB 2577. If passed, it would allow municipalities and emergency responders to apply for a grant to install their own solar systems to cut energy costs. This legislation will provide several benefits. The grants will allow municipalities and first responder agencies to save money and become more resilient. Solar energy systems can decrease energy bills at these facilities, allowing them to operate more efficiently.
Coming Next Month!!
Send us your group’s events, fundraisers, war stories from the frontline!
The PA Campfire Dispatch is a monthly newsletter meant to draw together a diverse, inclusive peaceful gathering of groups, organized to demand urgent legislative and administrative action on climate. The path to climate justice necessarily includes the phase out of greenhouse gas production, a just transition to clean, renewable energy free from the influence of the exploitative fossil fuel and petrochemical economy, for those most affected by it. Content does not include any event or information source that inhibits or prevents the rapid phase out of greenhouse gas production.