Patricia DeMarco Ph.D.

"Live in harmony with nature."

Author Archives: patriciademarco


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Endangered but Not Yet Doomed

12.Feb.2026

By Patricia M. DeMarco

This year has seen so many long days of cold harsh reality crashing through the optimism and hope of the last two years. From the vision from ReImagine Appalachia to the many responses to the Community Change grants and the burst of enthusiasm for what was supposed to be a stable ten -year commitment to renewable energy support all had the rug pulled out from under them. The Trump flurry of Executive Orders, rescissions and retractions of approved funds, even grants under contract has sent shock waves through one community after another.  The deliberate cruelty with which federal assistance for disasters has been withheld or retracted, sometimes based on partisan vindictiveness, stands with little challenge. Now comes the gleeful revoking of the Endangerment Finding that supported EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, and point source pollution from power plants, factories and fossil extractive industries.[1]We are numb. Stunned into a shocked silence.

Well, the time for stunned inaction is over.  The America built on immigrant blood, sweat and tears, the America striving toward shared prosperity and a more just, equitable and inclusive future, the America of hope, compassion and joy must rise up again. We who believe in a government of the People, by the People and FOR THE PEOPLE must stand up and take back what is good and right as our responsibility and our duty.  We know that the science supporting the need to control greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels gives a short and closing window of timing for effective action. 

This graph, based on the comparison of atmospheric samples contained in ice cores and more recent direct measurements, provides evidence that atmospheric CO2 has increased since the Industrial Revolution.

Luthi, D., et al.. 2008; Etheridge, D.M., et al. 2010; Vostok ice core data/J.R. Petit et al.; NOAA Mauna Loa CO2 record. Find out more about ice cores (external site).

We dare to believe that excellent education for all makes stronger citizens and a stronger economy.  We insist that the health and well-being of all people depend on access to health care for everyone. We know that to have healthy people we depend on clean water, fresh air and fertile ground as well as the vast number of species that provide our life support system. It is our duty to protect and strengthen the laws and regulations that control and prevent the massive pollution that has become the hallmark of modern civilization. It is time for an effective national law on Climate Change.

No longer can we tolerate sweeping the climate issue to the side, whispering about it in closed enclaves. We must no longer tallow climate action to be disparaged as “woke” or succumbing to the “Climate is a hoax” dogma issuing from Trump and his minions.  The fossil industries who bought this President are bringing down our entire civilization.[2]These multi-national corporations have allegiance to no country, and certainly see no value in preserving humanity or any part of the natural world.  Next quarter profits are their only metric.  And if we look to the fate of our grandchildren, twenty years hence, the corporations do not care.  They have no children. They do not breathe air or drink fresh water. They do not bleed in war. They do not get illnesses from their filthy enterprises. The stock market is soaring.  The GDP is fine, what is our problem?

We need to focus on the fundamental systems that support a better future for all of us. That means we must address the unjust and skewed wealth distribution in our country. It is not a viable situation for the top 1% of people to control 86% of the wealth while the lowest 50% control less than 15%.[3]  The frozen federal minimum wage at $7.25/hour combined with a systematic attack on unions and worker organizing has killed the middle class.[4] The Tax Reform Act of 1986 under Ronald Regan and the “Big Beautiful Budget Bill” of Trump have combined to increase the disparity in wealth distribution.  Money is the heart of this evil. Unfettered capitalism feeds greed. And greed kills. Policies that demonize equity, inclusion, immigrants, and dignity to any outside the cult of wealth are destroying the best of what made America a great country. Now ripping away the Endangerment Finding assures the destruction of our life support system:clean air, safe drinking water, fertile ground and the millions of species that constitute the great Web of Life, of which humans are but one part. 

Climate must be on the agenda for the Mid-term Elections.  Rescinding the Endangerment Finding does not rescind the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the climate. It just cuts out the ability of our government to move in a more positive and healthy direction. We can thrive without fossil fuels. But we cannot even survive in a planet warmed above the range of viability for all living things…including humans. We cannot have healthy, thriving people without a healthy thriving environment. We are facing our own extinction.  It is time to ACT!

Adopt a National Energy Act for Climate Resilience. We must recognize that the energy system is in the midst of a critically necessary transformation away from a fossil resource -based system that moves from extraction to production to trash. The renewable resource based, circular materials and energy management system is emerging worldwide, in spite of all U.S. efforts to stifle its progress.  We must boldly examine the regulatory infrastructure that can support a distributed energy system and a circular materials management system.  The laws and regulations governing utilities are designed for one way flow of power from central power stations to customers distant and connected by wires.  The emerging energy system is based on renewable resources. A distributed energy system accommodates multiple sources of electricity generation from net zero buildings that sometimes produce more energy than they need to microgrids linked with long duration battery storage systems and interconnected with load management software that balances loads and resources.  Customers generate some or all of their own power, from solar PV on their roofs and car batteries in their garages, and utilities struggle to accommodate two-way flows. Many large customers can also generate all of their own power with dedicated systems linked to their unique demands, and drop out of the grid altogether.  We need to examine an update to the laws and regulations governing the production and exchange of power to address the reality of a shifting energy system. A distributed energy system powered by renewable resources can sustain a better future. We need a regulatory infrastructure that enables this transformation in law.

The laws of nature are not negotiable.  As we increase the concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, the planet will continue to warm. That is just physics. Trump may try to erase Black History. He has reversed decades of policy supporting immigration as America the melting pot. He has re-aligned alliances and trade agreements. He can eliminate public education and limit health care and benefits.  BUT he has no power to change the laws of atmospheric physics and chemistry. He has no power to control the response of living systems, including humans, to changes in the environment.  He has no power to re-write the laws of Nature. We ignore these at our peril.

It is time to put our life support system on the agenda. It is time to protect our world for our children.  We can live without luxury cars. We can live without plastics.  We can live without gilded buildings. We cannot live without oxygen-rich fresh air, or clean water, or fertile ground that provides food. We cannot live without compassion and empathy for each other in communities of caring people. We cannot live without the ecosystems that support life on earth.

Endnotes and Resources:

[1] Environmental Protection Agency. President Trump and Administrator Zeldin Deliver Single Largest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History:Trump Admin Eliminates Obama-Era Endangerment Finding, off-cycle credits, start-stop feature. Feb 12, 2026.  https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/president-trump-and-administrator-zeldin-deliver-single-largest-deregulatory-action-us  Accessed Feb 12, 2026.

[2] Dharna Noor. “Big oil spent $445m in last election cycle to influence Trump and Congress, report says.” The Guardian. 23 Jan 2025.https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/big-oil-445m-trump-congress   Accessed Feb 12, 2026.

[3]   Urban Institute calculations from the Survey of Financial Characteristics of Consumers 1962, the Survey of Changes in Family Finances 1963, and the Survey of Consumer Finances 1983–2022.  Urban Institute. April 25, 2024.  https://apps.urban.org/features/wealth-inequality-charts/

[4] Mills Rodrigo. “America’s Wealthiest Are Getting Even Richer.” Inequality.org. January 31, 2026.     https://inequality.org/facts/wealth-inequality/   Accessed Feb. 12, 2026.


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A Dream of America with Justice, Equity and Inclusion: in Honor of Rev. Martin Luther King

On this day commemorating the life of Rev. Martin Luther King, I reflect on his dream of a better America, where the country would be “…true to what you said on paper in the Constitution…honoring the Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. All assuring the Constitutional right to protest for what is right!”[1] His words ring true for us today in so many ways. “When people get caught up with that which is right and are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping the outcome short of victory.”[2]  In the depths of the civil rights movement in 1962, he described the days of challenge to make America a better nation. His words and his passion for justice roused the conscience of our nation, and the world because he spoke to what is universally recognized. We are more alike as humans than different in race, religion, culture or even political persuasion. 

            Rev. Martin Luther King lifted up  the need for strengthening the moral fiber of society to recognize and act on the racial injustice and  poverty as a policy choice and war as an instrument of oppression. 

            There is a sort of poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific      and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have          become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea             like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.[3]   

[1] Martin Luther King  speech to the Memphis Refuse Workers. April 3, 1968. https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1228320048/black-history-mlk-speeches-martin-luther-king

[2] ibid

[3] Martin Luther King. Nobel Prize Lecture. Netherlands. December 11, 1964.  https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1964/king/lecture/

See the full essay here:

1-19-2026 A Dream of America with JusticeDownload


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The Special Power of Women in Shaping Good Governance

Presented to Three Rivers Democratic Women, Pittsburgh
November 20, 2025.

We close 2025 in the waves of disruption and distress from the re-alingment of the federal government under President Trump. Maintaining focus in the face of the Trump administration retrenchment on climate, environmental protections, civil liberties and common decency has been a challenge for most of us in the battle for a sustainable future.  I take hope from the continued advance of regenerative practice at the level of state and local governments across the country and around the world.

Women have the power to bring compassion, balance, dignity and joy to processes of governance too often mired in petty politics and power struggles over ego. It is time for women to stand together and call for a return to a government of compassion and caring; a government of shared prosperity and improved quality of life for all citizens; a government of moral alignment with basic human rights and dignity. It is time for women to step forward and lead from the heart of our nation.

     As we face this New Year, I find hope and sustenance from the many bonds of friendship and community around me.  People need each other, most especially in times of tribulation.  The greatness of our nation is not measured by the number and notoriety of its billionaires but by the wellbeing of the least among us- the children, the elderly, the infirm. We do not yield to hatred and anger but rather embrace the many opportunities to care for each other and for our Mother Earth. Extending dignity and respect to each person we meet reflects joy back and amplifies the sense of belonging to a common purpose.  We build toward a shared prosperity based on regenerative systems for food, energy, and infrastructure. We preserve and strengthen our life support system: clean air, fresh water, fertile ground and the vast diversity of species that constitute the great Web of Life. We are stronger together and together we rise.

     I wish the blessings of this Season of Hope and Joy for you and your families.

Buon Natalé!

11-20-2025 The Special Power of Women in Good GovernanceDownload


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Government of the People, by the People and FOR the People- now under attack!

Dear Colleagues and Friends:

I have just read in full the enclosed Memorandum  on “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence” issued by President Trump on September 25th.  https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/countering-domestic-terrorism-and-organized-political-violence/

Wrapped in legal-sounding language, this memorandum asserts the intention of the President to quell dissent by defining those who disagree with his policies as terrorists.  Followed by his charge to the gathered military generals last week, this, to me, is a declaration of civil war against those who oppose the policies and positions of this President.  Evidence of retributional practices toward his detractors was made plain with the barring of Congressionally authorized funds specifically from states with Democratic leadership and his intent to target “Democratic favored programs” for layoffs and reductions. https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/10/03/government-shutdown-senate-cant-end-standoff-will-continue-through-weekend/ This includes environmental protection, any climate, renewable energy or emissions reduction actions, and any “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/white-house-cancels-nearly-8b-in-clean-energy-projects-in-blue-states

Federal agents clash with demonstrators outside the ICE Detention Center in suburban Chicago. (Dominic Gwinn/Getty Images)

 This is not “Government for the People under any interpretation of the law! I Implore those with power to act to assert sanctuary in our State, County and Borough.  I ask for Resolutions of objection to this perversion of American values. I ask my fellow citizens to speak out to your elected officials at all levels to object to this divisive violence and ask for justice. I am not willing to stand silent while fellow citizens are hauled away in the dark of night, even children, with no notice of charges, refusal of legal representation, or refusal of communication.  This is not the America my Father fought for.  This is not the America I have served for over 50 years. The greatness of our country is not weighed by the number and fame of its billionaires but by the wellbeing of the least of its citizens- the children, the elderly, the infirm and the poor. Living in fear destroys our communities, our quality of life and our future.  We must restore the sense of confidence in the rule of law, in securing liberty and justice for ALL. 

It is time to call ENOUGH! to this abuse of power, corruption and terrorization of our communities.  Is “Innocent until proven guilty” no longer the law here?  Is the right of due process no longer applicable in America if your Governor is a Democrat? Have we lost the basic freedom of speech in the First Amendment of the Constitution that protects the public expression of opinions? Are peaceful protests now to be subject to tear gas, arrest and incarceration, as occurred in Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles? 

This kind of evil will only prevail if good people stand by and say nothing.  We should flood the White House with Resolutions of Objection, signed by the millions who seek to preserve our representative democracy, or the  “government of the people, by the people and for the people” may indeed perish from this Earth in our time.

Patricia DeMarco

Live in harmony with nature


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EPA Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Vehicle Efficiency Standards

The EPA is currently holding public hearings on its proposed reconsideration of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and Vehicle Efficiency Standards that authorized action to curtail greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
Eliminating this regulatory authority will nullify climate change actions to control emissions from power plants, vehicles and industrial operations. EPA is accepting comments until Sept 22,2025. Please consider filing a statement.

Reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OAR–2025–0194
https://www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-HQ-OAR-2025-0194

My testimony is here:

8-18-2025 EPA Endangerment Finding TestimonyDownload


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A Moral Outrage: It may be legal, but it is not right!

Patricia M. DeMarco

     I sit in my sunroom at dawn this midsummer day listening to the insistent trill of the Carolina wren in the rose of Sharon bush just outside my door. The sight of Pasha Pussycat, safely behind the screen, is sending the apprehensive mother bird into a frenzy in fear of a threat to her nest in the niche above the doorway. It is natural for a creature to shriek at a threat in alarm and warning.As I attended  Reclamation! the 2025 Black Appalachian Coalition Storytelling and Policy Summit July 17 to 20, 2025, I heard many people share their experiences and their fears for the impact of the cuts to so many services. I wonder why we all are not shrieking in alarm and warning at the “One Big Beautiful Budget Act” that was signed into law on July 4th this year.

The major cuts to health care and food support will cast millions of Americans into poverty and even death. The major beneficiaries of this OBBBA are corporations whose taxes fall from 35% to 21%, and individuals with net income over $400,000 per year. The budget is the best representation of policy. This budget codifies a shift in values away from standards that long defined America. Here, greed and privilege displace equal opportunity and shared prosperity.

We must restore trust in each other and rebuild confidence in the representative democracy system of governance:

We must restore the sense of dignity and respect for people regardless of their income level, race, gender, religion, or even political affiliation.

We must recognize our responsibility to engage as active citizens.

We must commit to preserving a future for our children, and care for today’s children.

We must face the reality of climate change.  The laws of Nature are not negotiable. 

We must raise our voices in protest. Every Congressional Representative is up for election in 2026. The time to weigh in with them is NOW! 

We the People must take back the narrative of what this country is about. We do not judge our greatness by the number and fame of the billionaires but by how well the children, the elderly, the infirm and the poorest among us are doing. We can build a finer future that is people centered, not profit centered, and recognize that we live in a state of abundance. Shared prosperity will emerge when we shift our values to place priority on people above profits and planet health over the next quarter bottom line. This OBBBA makes a mockery of the message of the Statue of Liberty that has welcomed so many millions to our shores. Our diversity is our strength. We the People must raise our voices in moral outrage at what has become legal but is not right. 

See the full article below. I welcome your thoughts.

Patty

A Moral OutrageDownload


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Interview with Logan Crawford- on my book “In the Footsteps of Rachel Carson”

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Patricia M. DeMarco, Ph.D, author of “In the Footsteps of Rachel Carson: Harnessing Earth’s Healing Power”. Discover how you can break free from old patterns, overcome trauma, and reclaim your life through authenticity, healing, and a deep connection to nature. This powerful interview explores the blueprint to becoming your true self — the author of your own story. Don’t miss this transformative dialogue on personal empowerment and ecological wisdom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfxRwsrpyGw

#globalbooknetwork#gbn#authors#books#PatriciaMDeMarco#InTheFootstepsOfRachelCarson#HealingJourney#TraumaRecovery#AuthenticSelf#NatureHealing#RachelCarsonLegacy#PersonalGrowth#MentalHealth#Empowerment#AuthorInterview#BookTalk#SpiritualAwakening#RewriteYourStory#beyourselfgamer Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/Footsteps-Rach…

About Logan Crawford: Emmy-winning broadcaster and actor who brings authors and storytellers to the spotlight on the Global Book Network.


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Reality Check on the Big Beautiful Budget Proposal

As I look at the proposals coming through for the “Big Beautiful Budget” proposals, I am both shocked and horrified at the implications of this proposed action.  Programs and policies that help the climate transition, basic public health education and well-being as well as basic functions of government to track and monitor conditions are all under attack.  What are we thinking?!!!!

Under the initiative of “Department of Government Efficiency” and a barrage of Executive Orders, every agency of government is being slashed to curtail “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives, “climate change initiatives” emissions controls, arbitrarily and without consideration of due process. Further, government properties related to agencies that monitor or implement such programs are also being sold, lease terminated or privatized.

The progress to date on climate action to protect both land and people is being slowed or curtailed. This includes thousands of jobs already created under the Inflation Reduction Act in domestic manufacturing as well as investment stimulation from private sector initiatives.

Budget is policy. As debate continues in Congress for the budgetary implementation of these policies, we must call out the unintended, or perhaps cruelly intended, consequences of these actions. Our country is yielding its leadership position on climate adaptation. Willful denial and pushing the regulatory system to favor fossil resource extractive industries will only worsen the consequences for everyone, now and for our children. The laws of Nature are not negotiable, nor can they be rescinded or revoked.

Call your Representative and Senators and ask for restraint on destroying our life support system. https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

Find the full article here:

5-18-2025 What are we thinking! A Reality Check on the %22Big Beautiful Budget%22 ProposalDownload


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55th Celebration of Earth Day

My Dear Colleagues and Friends.
The passion for preserving our life support system – the living earth – runs as an elixir of inspiration through our work as teachers, guides and models of living in harmony with Nature. Regardless of any pronouncements or Executive Orders, the laws of Nature are not negotiable.

Earth Day has marked annual community clean-up days, opening farmer’s markets, flower displays and recycling events. But really in this year where the EPA Administrator gleefully proposed rolling back 31 environmental protection regulations that were intended to curtail toxic air emissions like mercury and proliferation of forever chemical materials like PFOS, we need more than one-time reminders and displays. We need to take the issue of actively protecting our life support system seriously. That means addressing climate change with leadership and courage. That means curtailing pollution from man-made materials, especially plastics. And that means looking at our own lifestyle for ways to live with less burden on the earth.

On this Earth Day I share with you Rachel Carson’s words:
“…man, far from being the overlord of all creation, is himself part of nature, subject to the same cosmic forces that control all other life. Man’s future welfare and probably even his survival depend upon his learning to live in harmony, rather than in combat, with these forces.” {From Rachel Carson’s essay on Biological Sciences for the National Council of Teachers. In Lost Woods- the Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson. Linda J. Lear (Ed.)Beacon Press. Boston. 1998.Page 165.}


As we celebrate this 55th Earth Day, may we remember that the greatness of a nation is not determined by the number and fame of its billionaires but by the well-being and shared prosperity of its children, the elderly, the infirm and the poorest among us. We cannot have healthy people in a polluted environment. We must offer leadership and give voice to the 73% of Americans, of both parties, who want more direct action on climate change. We who know cannot remain silent in defense of the Living Earth that provides fresh water, oxygen-rich air, fertile ground and the millions of species that constitute the great web of life, of which we humans are but one part.

On this Earth Day re-dedicate yourself to stand as a strong advocate for preserving our living earth…every day! Call you Senators and Congressional Representative today and remind them that our quality of life, indeed our survival, depend on preserving and restoring a healthy environment.

One tulip spared by the rabbits and deer!

Here is the link to my presentation for Earth Day at the Duquesne University Law School

4-22-2025Duquesne_Law-Earth_DayDownload

and my interview with Dr. Dana Noescue.
4-22-2025Duquesne_Law-Earth_Day.pptx (11054 kB)
Healing the Land and Empowering the People: A Message for Earth Day

DKLL LEGAL TALK SERIES Patricia Demarco-Event.pdf  (255 kB)
Event Sponsored by DKLL and the 2025 Students of Climate Change Law, Research, and Writing

The interview with Dr. Dana Neascu can be found here.

https://dsc.duq.edu/law-dcli-speakers/10/


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Standing Up for Democracy- The Power of One Voice

by Patricia M. DeMarco

Senator Corey Booker has illustrated how we all need to stand up for democracy. Each of us has an obligation of citizenship to participate actively in the governance of our communities, our states and our country.  It is the value of each person’s voice that makes a representative democracy work.  The Constitution defines the rights of all citizens, but with those rights comes the obligation to adhere to the commonly accepted rule of law.  Our government operates by the consent of the governed.  Each citizen also inherently holds the obligation to participate. Active citizenship means we must vote in every election, every time.  So many people all around the world fight hard for this right, yet in America, many elections see less than 40% participation in national elections. Active citizenship also means we hold those elected to represent us accountable for their actions in office.

In 2024, a majority elected a President who has been throwing away the rule book, delving deep into archaic laws for justification for actions that define doctors and women seeking reproductive health care as criminals, and sweep entire segments of our population out of the country with no due process. Willful denial of reality like climate change will reduce the ability to prepare and respond to climate disasters. Willful elimination of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies as well as recognition of environmental justice needs will increase disparities and divisions based on race and gender. In the name of “efficiency,” entire Congressionally mandated agencies and operations are rescinded, dismissed and cruelly removed, in most cases, with no reason and no justification other than the temper of the President or the directive of unelected and unconfirmed civilians.

The function and purpose of government differs significantly from the functions and purpose of a corporation. While a corporation has obligations to its stockholders to generate profits measured by quarterly performance goals, government has the obligation to preserve and promote the safety and well -being of all citizens. Government exists to serve and protect all the people with the power to generate revenue to address needs. It is the obligation of government to meet the needs of the people and to generate revenue in a fair and equitable manner to meet those needs. In the public interest, some government functions may not be profitable when measured by strict corporate monetary standards. The public good has value in governance, while public benefits may not be a requirement for a corporation.  Applying strict corporate economic standards to government functions displaces the basic focus of government on achieving the public interest, and protecting the common good of the country as a whole. This includes public health and welfare, education, preserving natural resources such as parks and wildlife refuges, as well as defense and international relations.

We have the obligation as citizens to call out the authoritarian behavior displayed by the current administration. We have the obligation to stand up for the rule of law, the balance of powers among the branches of Government, and the due process put forth in the Constitution. We must hold our elected Senators and Representatives accountable for exercising their duties in providing oversight. We must call for public investigations and hearings to hold the Administration to account for actions that clearly defy logic and do not serve the public interest.

No American wants to see a return to the pollution of air and water and land that was rampant before enactment of the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the National Environmental Protection Act. No American wants to see children go to school hungry or have inadequate classroom support. No American wants to have health care denied to veterans, children, elderly or disabled people. No American wants to see prices on all commodities go up from vindictive and retaliatory tariffs. And no American wants to alienate our strong and loyal allies. 

We must recognize that until another election, we must brace for the consequences of reduced or eliminated services from the federal government. However, people will still require assistance, we will still need to address the effects of climate change in our communities, and we will still need to educate children, provide health care, and keep our communities safe and functioning. As the resources from the federal level are reduced or cut off, communities will need to work together. We will need to press the corporate entities that purportedly benefit from these changes to contribute more to support the common good. And we will need to become stronger as active citizens.

Local government forms the front line of democracy. People in the small towns of America will turn to their Mayors, their Borough Council and their municipal managers to meet their needs. The small towns of America can hold the line for democracy by engaging citizens, educating people on civic responsibilities, and empowering people to express their opinions where it matters. 

 Listening to citizens and hearing their needs and concerns lies at the heart of a democracy. Listening to the voices of people where they are and responding to their suggestions and helping to advance their ideas makes democracy actually work. As one example, the ReImagine Appalachia Blueprint, drawn from 45 listening sessions with over 1,000 people participating across four states (PA, KY, OH, WV), was incorporated into the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act within two years.  Funds authorized by Congress under these laws flowed to communities across the country, with 80% of allocated funds going to Republican Congressional districts. This kind of local investment is accelerating the clean economy across the country.

Every citizen can act according to his or her own skill, talent and interest. I have taken a commitment to serve my community as a candidate for Mayor of the Borough of Forest Hills. With gratitude for the leadership and long service of Mayor Frank Porco, who has set an admirable example of service with 16 years on Borough Council and ten years as Mayor, I have agreed to try and fill his shoes. I am joined by a wonderful Tree City Team for Council: Angelo Baiocchi, An Lewis, Barb Martin and Tom Theilacker; and Tax Collector Nina Sowiski.  We are leading Forest Hills together into a future that carries forward our history of innovation, with a commitment to serve all the citizens of our community, to collaborate with our neighbors, and to keep Forest Hills affordable, safe and beautiful. See https://TreeCityTeam.com for the full platform.

We each do what we can with what we have where we are. The greatness of a country is not measured in the number and fame of its billionaires but by the well-being and prosperity of its children, the elderly and all working people. Write to your Senators and Representative today! And find a way to get involved with your local government. Be an engaged citizen. It is the only way a representative democracy can work FOR THE PEOPLE!