The wurster, the better

I was invited to attend a PennFuture conference at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA this weekend. I just wanted to jot down my impressions.

Our trip started from Sarah’s house in Downingtown. There were 4 of us, me, Sarah, Jackie and Rick. The 4 of us mature adults had similar interests and had supported PennFuture for a while. One was a lobbyist at one time and a consultant for all of the organizations who I routinely donate to (Defenders of Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, etc.). One was a retired EPA employee. All of us had a common interest and concern with global climate change. How do we spread the word? How do we get people to believe and be serious about what’s happening to our planet? How to we fix it?

At dinner I met new people who seemed to be more open in how they help out, much more than I which got me wondering why I was here. I seemed to be just a regular concerned citizen, not one who was on a government committee, or who wrote a book or who made a movie. Not a professor who teaches about this. Not a consultant who advises organizations. Not a pastor who imparts this philosophy to his congregation. I’m just a guy trying to do what’s right, something at my personnel level and local community level. Just sharing knowledge and learning from others.

It was surprising to learn the backgrounds of this rag-tag group of concerned citizens. It is something we hope to share with one another after we parted our ways yesterday. We need to take advantage of each others skills and knowledge in leading good, productive lives helping mother earth and us survive the future, as well as the present.

During the social hour, I met some whose jobs were therapists. One was interested in all of this from a universal perspective, having mentioned Thomas Berry at one point in her conversation. I had read one of his books and knew where she was coming from. It was one of my many interests, too and so we chatted. Then I spoke with someone from Allegheny College having been just hired as the Coordinator of Sustainability. She had much to do and was a 2002 graduate from the college. Her friend who also just got a job at the college as a psychologist/counselor was also a BSC and so we related at that level since my daughter has been getting wraparound services for 5 years. And so we chatted. Many, all of us, had our own “stories” to tell. I hope we get an opportunity to get these in writing so that we can all share the knowledge.

This word “story” seemed to be important in many of the discussions I heard that night. We need to make this problem/solution/what we’re doing/how it impacts us shared amongst all. Sharing on a personal nature, face to face, if possible, is important. The internet and technology has it’s place but up close and personal is much more meaningful.

When I got up the next morning after sleeping soundly, I saw a bunch of fishermen and women and children in the stream behind the dorm. They must have been locals who know this was a good place to fish. They certainly weren’t students.

Here are just some random thoughts I need to followup on:

• Rick referred to a link to a website explaining CO2
• He also referred to a video on the earth and faith which he has used in many talks
• Amy hadn’t heard of transition towns and I did my best to explain it to her – I need to send her a link
• What about education at the community level? I need to followup with someone.
• What about sharing knowledge and stories at Borders, at a school, at adult classes?
• We got PennFuture totes and I mentioned to Sharon about my idea to get the disabled involved in making these bags from recycled material. I need to followup.
• clean energy jobs 40,000
• climate change advisory committee -> state global warming action plan
• check on PennFuture’s website for committee and sub-committee meeting dates – we the public can attend and / or call in to listen and comment
• http://www.realclimate.org
• IPCC provides data used by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
• Will PECO rates go up? Maybe not since things will be competitive.
• Announcement of the mega mega large power plant in India.
• List of grants for solar installations is on PennFuture website.
• Reduction is not the key in percent by 2020, but rather the total amount of CO2 produced. This means we could hit the proposed percent, but exceed the amount that is now being identified as the critical issue.
• What about CCS? Will it be good? Much discussion and concern.
• Send Gabe an email about getting a copy of the “Sisters of the Planet” video.
• http://www.350.org
• http://www.wiserearth.org
• How will PennFuture share the resources and information gained at this summit?
• Read the book “Plan B 3.0” by Lester Brown. A slide show presentation is available free for download.
• We also shared initiatives that each region of the state remembered at this time and made a list. We need to share this will all of us and keep it updated.

All in all, I had a great time and a great experience.

I sent the following letter to 3 local newspapers (PhillyNews, Delaware County Times, and News of Delaware County) and 2 of them contacted me to ask if they could print it.

Dear Editor:

I thought the Republican legislators from the Philadelphia area were smarter and more in touch with the pulse of their constituents. But their stubbornness about the governor’s energy plan tells me that they are out of touch and following their own agenda.

I am kind of surprised that Senators Pileggi, Erickson, Greenleaf, McIlhinney, Wonderling and Tomlinson are just repeating the ideology of their party’s right wing. They need to think for themselves. I certainly expected more from them than just the simple “no tax” slogans. I expect them to pass an energy plan that makes sense for Pennsylvania’s future. Others see the future, why can’t they. Perhaps they should “keep their minds wide open”.

It’s time that they not only listened to their constituents but also to their hearts and do what is right.

Thank you

Well, our elections across the country seemed to indicate we don’t agree with Bush. A lot of Democrats won. All of my election choices in Pennsylvania won. I choose the Democrats except for William Adolph our representative. And he won.

A friend in France sent this Bush Speechwriter link. Try it out.

Like most parents, we have a hard time making ends meet. We have especially run into difficulties with the rise in energy costs to us, the consumers. Having to think about driving to the store or to the doctors and what in our budget will be affected by the additional gas prices is a bit unnerving. It places added stress on us at a time when we don’t need it. I don’t know about you, but we have three cars in our family (my wife and I and our daughter). In the good old days, our budget of about $30.00 per week gave us the ability to live our lives in a normal way. The recent “pricing crisis” has more than tripled this cost to us. With a limited budget, much suffers.

The media has definitely made us aware of the rising energy costs. Our household has personally made a variety of energy saving changes. We’ve installed a solar house fan. We’ve replaced most of our energy-consuming incandescent light bulbs with energy-savings compact fluorescent light bulbs. We’ve also set our central air conditioning to 79 degrees. We buy green appliances. We check our tires in order to make sure we get the best gas mileage. I even conserve on water by turning off the shower when I lather up with the soap instead of letting the shower run. We also recycle. So, we are a good environmentally concerned family who does a lot to help. But, in the end, we the consumers still pay the price.

As I mentioned before, we have had to make choices between driving and buying food to eat. Luckily my employer understands this and I am allowed to telecommute from home. This saves me $10.00 to $20.00 a week in gas costs. This helps quite a lot, but is not the ultimate solution.

I have been concerned about the environment since the 1960’s when I got my degree in environment science from Drexel University. I have made changes in my life since then. I would hope that others have done and will do this, too. We need to have strong leaders not only locally but also at the federal level who can help us ensure a clean environment for future generations.

We need to conserve the precious resources that we have. If we don’t, we will pay the price, literally. I am very happy that the current administration in our state has taken measures to conserve. One example is the investment in hybrid vehicles. This cuts gas and oil consumption. It saves us taxpayers money while helping to save the environment. Our state is a great example not only for our residents but also for other states.

Our state is also implementing other smart energy solutions to cut our expenses and to provide economic incentives to attract more businesses to Pennsylvania. One example is the alternative energy portfolio that requires 8% of our electricity come from clean homegrown energy sources like wind and solar energy.

Pennsylvania’s commitment to clean energy has attracted the attention of wind energy companies. Gamesa, the second largest wind energy company in the world, has located their headquarters in Philadelphia and their manufacturing facilities in Bucks and Cambria counties. Over the next 5 years their investment will create 1,000 jobs and help increase the amount of wind energy produced in the state. Today 153 megawatts are produced and there is potential to produce 3,000 megawatts in 15 years, enough to power about 4 million homes in Pennsylvania.

I want to see this commitment continue. Make sure you understand the candidates positions on energy and the environment when it comes time to vote. I support the current administration and any of our elected officials who will help us in our quest for smart energy solutions and conservation of our environmental resources. I know who I plan on voting for. Do you?

I sent this letter to several local newspapers. It will be published in the Delaware County Daily Times in a week or so.

I attended a forum today sponsored by the Governor’s Office of Health Care Reform. The topic was long term care system reform. I was hesitant on going, but it’s never too early to start learning the processes that will affect our daughter’s life. I would say that about half of the people who attended were the recipients of the care services. I was very humbled to see these people coming to the meeting in their wheelchairs either alone or with a family member or with their caregiver. It is very important to listen to the consumers of these and other services provided for by the state.

We brainstormed for a while as we were divided into small groups of 6 or seven people. We talked about the positive and negative experiences we had with the system of care. Fortunately, I sat at a table where there was one other parent, a foster parent, of 5 disabled children. My concerns and complaints for our daughter paled with respect to having 5 children with multiple disabilities. I applaud her for her caring and stamina and desire to make things better.

The general consensus of the group’s issues fell into 5 categories:

1. Training for workers
2. Training for consumers
3. Incentives for workers
4. Professionalizing care
5. Accountability and administration

I met a lot of very nice people and looke forward to see the results of our forum as well as all the others that happened across the state.

We got a couple of web sites to use to help us as we make our way through the care system.
The National Clearinghous for the Direct Care Worker is a resource that provides the latest information on improving the quality of care services by improving the quality of direct-care jobs.
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute objective in Pennsylvania is to improve the quality of direct-care jobs, as well as the quality of services received by consumers.

There were many negative stories related and there were some good, positive ones, too. There is hope. As one put it, the glass is more than half full (on many days).