Transition Harrisburg meeting 2-24-11

Hello friends,

Our next general meeting of Transition Harrisburg is this coming Thursday, February 24th, at The Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg. We will start promptly at 7:00 p.m. in the Education Room in the gymnasium.

The Boys & Girls Club is on Berryhill Street, near 13th Street. There is ample off-street and on-street parking. Please enter the gym from the parking lot side. The Education Room is downstairs and to your left. People will be there to greet you and give you directions.

Since Transition Harrisburg is working with the Boys & Girls Club and Ngozi Eco-Village to create a permaculture garden there (up to two acres!), and a market, we will be facilitating a "Visioning". This process asks us, as small groups and then as the larger group, to create a vision of what this garden will look like 10 years from now. Once we have that vision (and the roadblocks!), we can start to "backcast" the steps needed to get to that vision! This forms our roadmap to success, which we will check and update periodically. Your participation is essential to making this work.

See you there!

Susan 

...............................................................................

Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that are modeled on the relationships found in natural ecologies.

Permaculture is sustainable land use design. This is based on ecological and biological principles, often using patterns that occur in nature to maximise effect and minimise work. Permaculture aims to create stable, productive systems that provide for human needs, harmoniously integrating the land with its inhabitants. The ecological processes of plants, animals, their nutrient cycles, climatic factors and weather cycles are all part of the picture. Inhabitants’ needs are provided for, using proven technologies for food, energy, shelter and infrastructure. Elements in a system are viewed in relationship to other elements, where the outputs of one element become the inputs of another. Within a Permaculture system, work is minimised, "wastes" become resources, productivity and yields increase, and environments are restored. Permaculture principles can be applied to any environment, at any scale from dense urban settlements to individual homes, from farms to entire regions.

(see the entire entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculture)

DAYS OF ACTION: TESTIFY in TRENTON Thursday Feb. 24th... then Concert/Dance to Protect Our Waters

What:  Come to Trenton, NJ to testify at Delaware River Basin Commission hearing about draft fracking regulations

           This is the only formal DRBC hearing within an hour of Philadelphia prior to March 16th deadline

           If DRBC finalizes these regulations, that ends the moratorium on shale gas drilling in our watershed. This toxic extraction process will have negative impacts on our health, ecosystem, climate, and economy.   

Carpool / Trainpool Coordinator:  Jerry Silberman, ajs805phila@verizon.net   /  cell (215) 219-5158 

When:  Thursday February 24th, two sessions:  sign up in person by 12:30 for 1:30 - 5 PM session; 

                                                    sign up in person starting at 5 PM for 6 - 9:30 session. 

Where:  Patriots Theater, War Memorial

             1 Memorial Drive, Trenton, NJ

             Capacity:  1,833

TRAIN INFORMATION: scroll down below the "why" section!

AFTER-PARTY INFORMATION:  scroll down below the "train" section!

Why:  Come to testify: these regulations are inadequate and must not be finalized.   

If you are not ready to testify or can't sign up in time, come as a show of support for clean air, water, earth and food.

Why else:

The pro-drilling lobby with their deep pockets are providing free buses and free lunches to Trenton. 

This could create the mis-impression (in the media and in the public mind) that most Delaware River watershed residents want drilling to happen fast and furious.  Pro-drilling forces are pushing for no delay, don't want to wait for any EPA study or Cumulative Impact Study, and want to frack away despite zero regulation of methane, a greenhouse gas which is 100 times more potent than carbon dioxide when measured in a twenty year time frame.  

We must not ignore the accumulating health impacts people in Western states, and western PA, are experiencing!  Over 1000 instances of water contamination from shale gas drilling have been reported across the country.

We need clean energy jobs and a sustainable, renewable energy-based economy, not dangerous toxic extraction.

The facts:  

With current practices and current exemptions shale gas drilling is not safe; it does irreparable harm to water and air while escalating global warming by spewing unregulated methane into the atmosphere through the extraction process. The EPA study about hydraulic fracturing risks to water and air will not be complete for two years, and carcinogens such as benzene are turning up in drinking water near shale gas drilling sites in many states.  No cumulative impacts study whatsoever has been done in the Delaware River watershed and such a study is an absolute minimum requirement prior to any rules being finalized and the lifting of the moratorium here.

Congress is investigating right now how and why Halliburton and 11 other drilling companies injected 32 million gallons of diesel fuel underground as part of shale gas drilling operations from 2005 to 2009.  The EPA just announced that methane emissions at shale gas drilling sites are 9,000 times greater than they previously thought.  People and animals have gotten sick from toxic exposure to shale gas drilling operations, through water and air. 

We believe:

"STUDY FIRST" is absolutely the least we can demand.  Join us and fight for clean water and air, clean land and food, your health and your grandchildren's well-being. 

TRANSPORT FROM PHILADELPHIA:

DRBC public comment sessions for Thurs. Feb.24th are from 12:30-5pm and 6-9:30pm. Arrive at least an hour ahead of time in order to sign up to speak. First come, first serve.  We have several cars leaving at 11 AM and 3:30 PM. To join in contact

Jerry Silberman, ajs805phila@verizon.net   /  cell (215) 219-515

By SEPTA: Take the Trenton train (NOT the West Trenton train) to the last stop. Round trip evening tickets are $17.50. The trip takes 55 minutes. There's a train leaving 30th Street station in Philly at 11:05am and 3:59pm.During the day trains run about every hour. At rush hour, every half hour. 

There's a return train at 6:00pm and 9:39pm

By Amtrak: Take train heading towards New York and get off in Trenton. One way trips are $25 or $36. Trip takes a  half hour. There's one leaving 30th street station at 11:17am. and 3:56pm. Trains run about every half hour or hour during the day. At night, they run about every hour. For the night return trip, there's an 8:58pm or 10pm.
The Amtrak and Trenton Transit staions (where SEPTA regional rail goes) are located next to each other in Trenton. It is a  5 minute walk to the Patriots Theater War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive. Walking Directions:  Head south on S.Clinton Avenue. Take first right toward Market Street. Turn right at Market. Take Market a ways until Factory St. Turn left onto Factory. Continue straight to Memorial Drive.

WHEN YOU GET BACK FROM TRENTON... or IF YOU CAN'T GO, HAVE SOME FUN ANYWAY:

(You can even enter your DRBC comments at this concert / dance party / fundraiser for POW):

Frack is Whack — A party to protect the Delaware River and the safety of Philly's drinking water

Thursday, Feb. 24, 7:30 PM till late

Danger! Danger! Gallery, 5013 Baltimore Ave., on the #34 Green Line trolley. 

Suggested donation $5-30

Featuring: Lillie Ruth Bussie
Todd Henkin of The Great Unknown
Joshua Marcus
Jack Ohly of West Philly Orchestra
Beth Nixon, Morgan Andrews and more!

Join us for live music, a booty-shakin dance party, river-themed cocktails, dancers, video projections, artwork — and a chance to submit a public comment to the Delaware River Basin Commission before fracking in our watershed begins in earnest! Proceeds go to Protecting Our Waters. 

From Cecily Anderson and the POWers

-- 

Iris Marie Bloom
Director, Protecting Our Waters
www.protectingourwaters.com

Host, "Frack Radio: The Shale Gas Report"

Episode 5: Bradford County's Bastion of Hope (half hour) http://wfte.org/?p=734

Episode 4: "Mythbusting Ingraffea and Philadelphia Courage"  http://wfte.org/?p=716

Episode 3:  Protest in Pennsylvania  http://wfte.org/?p=548

Episode 2:  Marcellus Money & Clean Water in the Age of Corbett http://wfte.org/?p=532

Episode 1:  Fractured Democracy: Rules Rushed in Delaware River Basin

http://wfte.org/?p=487

Contact Iris:c (215) 840-6489
protectingourwaters@gmail.com

"The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives"
                             --Teton Sioux

"A stream is not just a collection of resources for us to exploit, but a community of which we are members."
        -- James G. Blaine,
        "Seeing the Whole River,"
        Waterkeeper (Volume 6 Number 1)

The Best of The Oil Drum 2005-2010

Hello Transitioners!

The link below is to the best articles from the Oil Drum, 2005-2010.  If you are not familiar with this site, it is a place designed to raise awareness about the many energy issues at hand in the world, to allow for a civil discussion on these matters, to independently research and evaluate the information openly, and finally to assist the global community in dealing with the problems we all face about energy. 

It is a place I check often and it is worth your time to read, especially with this "Best Of" taking much of the work out of sifting through all the information available.  As the site is updated regularly, this best of list is longer than you might find some other places.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/7191#more

-Scott

Meeting on Thursday, February 10

Hello friends,

Please join us at Mechanicsburg Middle School for Transition Harrisburg and Green CAUSE! One of Transition's goals is to form coalitions with other organizations that are focusing on environmental, food security and community-building events. Paul Garrett's Green CAUSE is an excellent example of the work a dedicated group can accomplish.

I will be presenting "What is Transition?" from 7:00 pm to 7:30 pm on Thursday, February 10th. Find out what makes the Transition movement tick, how we look as the issues facing our world and how we as individuals and as groups can work to make ourselves and our communities more resilient to a changing climate, energy supply and economic situation.

Invite family and friends!

Susan Norris

Transition Harrisburg

February 10th, Thursday, Mechanicsburg Middle School 

1750 South Market St., Mechanicsburg, PA 

Room #160 from 7:00 - 8:30

Third meeting of Green C.A.U.S.E. 

Hosted by Mechanicsburg Area Environmental Club.

Green C.A.U.S.E. + Mech. ADULT E. CLUB AND MASH E. Club

7:00 - 7:30 Guest speaker: Susan Norris from Transition Harrisburg

Transition Harrisburg is part of a worldwide movement to re-localize our economies, rebuild our communities and reconnect with our neighbors. We do this by creating a vision of what we want our neighborhoods to be like, and by creatively working toward these goals. We find ways to make our lives more resilient to a world changed by economic instability, climate change and peak oil.

TransitionHarrisburg.blogspot.com

7:30 - 8:00 Municipal Environmental Club Meetings

8:00 - 8:30 Green C.A.U.S.E. leadership and municipal clubs

February 24, HACC Midtown

H.A.C.C.’s Midtown 2 Bldg.

1500 Third Street, Harrisburg, PA

7:00-8:30, Room #111, Guest speaker: Penny Rhodes

“Natural Undertaking” -- BACK  BY POPULAR DEMAND… a huge EYE-OPENER!

Penny will share the beauty, intimacy, hows, dos and don’ts of natural funerals. Learn about how inexpensive Natural Undertaking can be.

Could YOU?…WOULD YOU? Would you know what to do? The legalities? Have you spent anytime educating yourself about this reality that WE ALL must face?? It is unbelievable, what we just assume we must do.… And how ignorant we are about this looming topic. Come and learn about this alternative…this choice that YOU have! 

http://www.naturalundertaking.org/

Invite family and friends to both events!