Patricia DeMarco Ph.D.

"Live in harmony with nature."

Category Archives: Call to Action


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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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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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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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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!


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For 2025 A Call for Solidarity and Organizing in the Face of Tyranny

In this essay, I reflect on the 2024 election results, give some analysis of the situation we face, and some actions forward to create a better outcome. We need a better narrative of how we see the future as a nation of shared prosperity in a healthy, peaceful world. And we need to use the tools of the 21st century to communicate ideas and programs. We need to tell the success stories of taking paths of true and tested policies that support a return to an American Dream that includes everybody, not just the top 10 % of wealthy people.

For me, the solutions are at the community level, because communities- Mayors, Church leaders, civic leaders – we are on the front lines, regardless of what mayhem is cast out from federal policies. Basic institutions have failed everyday people. But tearing down the government does not solve the problems. Returning to the policies of the “Guilded Age” will assure a greater divide in the wealth gap, and leave even more people falling into poverty and despair. We need to build a narrative of inclusion, hope for a better future, and justice for people exploited by this devolution of our society. We must stand together and rethink our way forward from the bottom up. In the United States of America it is not OK for children to go to school hungry, for the maternal and infant mortality rates to fall among the level of underdeveloped countries, for people to work three jobs and still not make ends meet. We need to revive the sense of caring for each other, creating a culture of celebrating the dignity of each person and giving true opportunities for all to thrive together.

Going forward we must hold those in power accountable. If our goal is to build an America where shared prosperity in a healthy world is a reality, not a pipe dream subject to derision and mockery, we must build solidarity. We must re-learn the lessons of the unions that brought safe working conditions and living wages to millions of workers. We need to prepare for meaningful resistance and constructive redirection. We need to study the history of our country and avoid the descent into chaos.

Freedom is not free; democracy comes at the price of citizen responsibility and respect for the rule of law. Freedom without accountability yields chaos. We need to sharpen the tools of resistance to tyranny. We need to sharpen the tools of organizing collective action. Could we mount a general strike or a rolling series of strikes these days? Do consumers have the knowledge and tools to harness boycotts to bring polluters to heel? Do we have a communication system to support organized resistance to discrimination, racism and suppression of rights? We need to step onto our power and build a New American Dream that makes liberty and justice for all a reality.

I wish all of you my readers, colleagues and friends all the Blessings of this Christmas and Holiday Season. May we build a New Year for Peace in the world, with love in our lives, and Joy in our hearts.

Buon Natale!

Patricia DeMarco

23 December 2024

(Download the full essay below.)

Reflections on 2024 A Call For SolidarityDownload


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2024 Petrochemical Lunch & Learn Series

Your Health and Your Environment

the Black Appalachian Coalition partnering with the Ohio River Valley Institute is continuing the Petrochemical Lunch & Learn Series in 2024. Archbishop Marcia Dinkins and Patricia DeMarco have collaborated in producing this series taking a deep dive in 2024 connecting the health of people with the health of the environment. We recognize that too many front line communities experience daily conditions of air, water and land pollution that seriously deteriorate the health of people, especially children and the elderly. We also recognize that the mainstream systems for health care often do not reach communities of color living in the shadow of industrial facilities.

This series of webinars proposes to arm people who live and work with frontline communities with information, resources and tools to understand the situations they face. We hope to provide connection by sharing lived experiences from people who have food solutions and are moving forward.

We believe that health is a human right, not a privilege for those who can buy enough health insurance. We believe that to have healthy people we must have clean air and water, land that provides safe, fresh food accessible to everybody, and free of contamination. We are working together to build connections among communities with common problems from the Appalachian region, to the Gulf South, to the industrial East Coast. We have a common vision of a better future we can build together.

We depend on the living Earth for fresh water, clean air fertile ground and the wonderful array of living things in the interconnected Web of Life, of which humans are but one part. If we preserve our Mother Earth, we will have all we need to survive and to thrive for generations and generations.

2024 Petrochemical Lunch & Learn:  Your Health and Your Environment Production

Archbishop Marcia Dinkins- Convenor and Welcome

Ben Hunkler- Ohio River Valley Institute -Technical support and evaluation surveys

Patricia DeMarco, Ph.D. – Research and Background

Kidest Gebre- BLAC Fellow – Communication and Coordination

Esther Baldwin- BLAC Fellow – Organizing and Support

The 2024 Petrochemical Lunch & Learn Series addressed these topics:

1. Health is a Human Right Feb 21, 2024 explored the connection between people and the environment; every person has the right to breathe clean air, have safe water and freedom from pollution

2. Air Pollution March 21, 2024- sources, health harms and mitigation

3. Water is Life– April 18, 2024 water pollution, health harms and mitigation

4. The Land Beneath Our Feet– May 16, 2024- abandoned mined lands, abandoned oil and gas wells- health effects, amelioration and reclamation

5. Forever Plastics- Everlasting Poisons June 20, 2024 Addressed plastics in our everyday life, avoiding and substitutes

6 When Disaster Strikes– Protecting Vulnerable Populations August 15, 2024

7. Environmental Justice and Building a Clean Energy Economy Sept. 19, 2024

8. Healthy Mothers and Children in a Healthy World Oct. 31, 2024

9. Action Strategy- November 21, 2024. Mobilizing and empowering people to hold polluters accountable. Freedom to Breathe Campaign

Here is a link to the Toolkit assembled by Ben Hunkler including recordings, all speaker presentations and resources for all of the sessions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FLSdlMwHfr20pow0Afqhj7llhDH1Mp3cfXkLC-IEIGo/edit?tab=t.0. You can select a single session at a time.

The programs reached over 1,500 registered attendees from 28 states and three countries. Clearly, there is much work yet to do in bringing frontline communities into a greater state of awareness and empowerment to take action against the chronic and damaging pollution that has become an accepted part of industrial might. This cannot be contiued at the expense of the health of millions of people exposed to toxic materials exposure through contaminated air, land and water.

As we look toward 2025, we will focus on moving from awareness to action. We will harness the power of informed citizens to hold the polluters accountable. BLAC launched the Right to Breathe Campaign at the end of this series. This will carry forward the momentum for health as a human right into the next year.

It has been my honor to be involved with this highly impactful series of programs. Archbishop Marcia Dinkins has inspired many discussions and brought hope to people enduring situations that cannot be considered normal and right, sometimes for generations. Ben Hunkler of the Ohio Valley Research Institute has kept the whole operation operating technically smoothly and has assembled and added to the resources in the Petrochemical Lunch & Learn Toolkit.


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2024: A Pivotal Year for Action

This is a pivotal year in many ways, especially in the urgent need to make the policy U-turn from an extractive to a regenerative economy. Without the restructuring of our economy, and indeed our civilization, away from fossil fuel combustion within the next five or six years, the climate tipping point may be irreversibly crossed. 2023 was the hottest year in recorded history, with many regions experiencing unlivable conditions for at least part of this year. https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-2023-hottest-year-record Conditions will only worsen if we continue the slow walk on climate action.

Engaged and informed citizen action has never been more important.

Growing from the Petrochemical Lunch and Learn Series of 2023, we saw great interest in further exploration of environmental-related health harms and how to address and prevent them. I am partnered with the Black Appalachian Coalition (BLAC) and with the Ohio River Valley Institute to dive deeper into the connection between environmental pollution and our health. https://blackappalachiancoalition.org/
Our first sessions of the series are:

  • February 15 – Health Is a Human Right
  • March 21 – Air Pollution: Sources, Health Harms, and Mitigation
  • April 18 – Water is Life
  • May 16 –  The Land Beneath Our Feet

This series of workshops empowers people with information and guidance for action, especially in communities affected by petrochemical and extractive industries. A healthy environment is necessary for healthy people; it is a human right for people to have clean air, water, and access to health care.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApcuqqrz0vGdSlxRBjkfkT4FusY64Cpz_2?blm_aid=0#/registration

Personal Focus for 2024:

I have ended my term as an elected official on December 31st 2023., and I have been appointed to the Forest Hills Community Alliance, the community development corporation for Forest HIlls.  To structure and organize my consulting activities,  I have joined The Main Street Associates in Braddock as a Principal Associate.https://www.themainst.org Work here includes developing Community Benefit Plans and Agreements required by grant recipients under the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. I have a focus on the regulatory infrastructure necessary to promote and enable renewable energy systems to thrive in PA. Shifting from a central fossil fueled power station with distant customers must give way to a Distributed Energy System. We are working to build a shared prosperity for our communities.

I continue writing as a Pittsburgh centered author. ReImagine Appalachia- Healing the Land and Empowering the People is In Press now. I have two new writing projects. I am collecting stories and resources to develop the story of the Mon Valley- its past and its future as a journey from the industrial extractive era to the clean manufacturing era. With the passing of my Aunt Rosa, I received the mantle of Matriarch of our Family. With this honor, I will be collecting the multi-generational story of our family from the mountains of Campolieto Campobasso in the Abruzzi region of Italy to the interwoven branches across America.

This will be a year of challenges and trials. Our country seems painfully divided and polarized. But we can come together as a people affirming what is good and true in our culture; learning and sharing with those who bring tradition and wisdom to bear on our common problems, and restore the attribute of treating each person politely with dignity and respect. Without justice, there is no peace. Without compassion, there is no healing. We can build a shared prosperity, a better future, if we work together and respect the laws of Nature as a guide to our way forward.


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The “Forever Chemicals” – What you need to know, and why it matters

Since the 1950s, man-made chemicals called PFAS have been used to make non-stick cookware, water-repellent clothing and consumer goods, fire retardant coatings, stain-resistant carpeting and furniture, some cosmetics, and products to resist grease and oil. The per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. They are long polymers including Fluoride molecules (perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). The next most commonly studied are perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA). PFOA and PFOS have been phased out of production and use in the United States, but other countries may still manufacture and use them.https://atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/index.html

Forever Chemicals

This is one more category of man-made chemicals introduced into wide production and use in consumer products that have turned out to have unintended consequences for the environment, and for our health.

Now ubiquitous in fresh water bodies, in the ocean, even in raindrops collected in the Arctic, PFAS are also found in the bodies of most Americans.

PFAS- The Forever Chemicals now are global contaminants. Dr. Arlene Blum and her colleagues at the Green Science Policy Institute in Stamford University have studied these materials and explain why they are harmful and what you can do to protect yourself and your family from the worst of these chemicals. https://greensciencepolicy.org/harmful-chemicals/pfas/

For deeper information and publications on this subject see the excellent work of Dr. Arlene Blum and her colleagues here: https://greensciencepolicy.org/resources/publications/#white-papers

PFAS in Consumer Products

Here is a four minute introduction that will give you a good overview of this issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmZUJJ8keBE&t=15s

And here are some resources for consumers to help you avoid PFAS in your own home: https://greensciencepolicy.org/resources/consumer-resources/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Arlene Blum is also author of mountain adventures documenting her incredible journeys to the heights of the earth. “Annapurna- A Woman’s Place” is my favorite of her mountaineering adventures. I thank her for permission to post this material on my blog this month. You can learn more about her here https://www.arleneblum.com


by

Reaching “Energy Independence” – The Reality under the Mirage

By Patricia M. DeMarco, Ph.D.

May 1, 2022

Land Acknowledgment: I write from Pittsburgh, which occupies ancestral lands of the Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Osage, and Shawnee peoples.

For most of human history, people struggled to survive and thrive against the forces of nature, as is the case with most other species on the planet. Discovering and harnessing fossil resources to use as fuel released human civilization from the constraints of nature. The Industrial Revolution rested on coal, then petroleum to allow people to conquer seasonal weather challenges, nighttime darkness, travel and industrial operations beyond the scope of human or animal power and bio-based fuels such as wood and whale oil. Burning fossil fuels to support almost all human enterprises has now breached the limits of the natural ecosystems in which we live and upon which we depend for survival.[1]

Humans have surpassed the Earth’s capacity to support us:

However, even as the calls of alarm for the rapid pace of global warming become more urgent, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has become the latest excuse to defer the energy system transformation to a renewable base. As noted by the Council on Foreign Relations:

The United States’ dependence on oil has long influenced its foreign policy. U.S. oil development spans three major periods: the rise of oil as a commodity, beginning in 1850; the post–World War II age of geopolitical competition; and the post–Cold War era of deregulation and diversification. Most recently, Russia’s war with Ukraine has aggravated geopolitical tensions and revived the debate about U.S. energy independence.[2]

Calls for relaxing restrictions on drilling and increasing production for export set back policy momentum for reaching the necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The increases in gasoline prices illustrate how interdependent the U.S. is on the global market which sets the price of petroleum. U.S. energy policy has long been driven by the concept of cheap gas at the pump. People have become accustomed to using the gas price as a barometer of our energy security. In fact, this is just another signal of our vulnerability.

Energy independence is a term of political manipulation with several definitions, all contested by economists and energy analysts. Those who define energy independence as exporting more than we import fail to acknowledge that even when exporting oil, the U.S. still imports oil.[3] In 2021, the United States exported about 8.63 million barrels per day (b/d) and imported about 8.47 million b/d of petroleum, making the United States an annual total petroleum net exporter for the second year in a row since at least 1949.[4]

As long as the U.S. participates in an international marketplace where the price of the commodity is determined by global geo-political forces, the concept of energy independence has no real meaning. Even renewable energy systems are interdependent in the global marketplace, as is evident in the arguments over tariffs on imports of solar panels from China[5], and the sourcing and trade of rare earth materials such as lithium.[6]

Rather than seek an unachievable goal of “energy independence,” we can seek to reduce our vulnerability. It is critical to recognize that failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels to zero, at least by 2050, will be catastrophic for our economy and for the viability of the planet.[7] The laws of Nature are NOT negotiable – the laws that support continued use of fossil fuels must change immediately.

Natural History Museum. Biodiversity Loss[8]

Technology is not a barrier to achieving 100% renewable energy system in the U.S. by 2050. A  2015 analysis  conducted by researchers at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley found that 100% wind and solar power — in conjunction with energy efficiency, energy storage and other advances to complement renewables — could provide electricity to the continental U.S. more reliably than the current system by 2050, and at lower projected costs.[9]

The political will to move the legal and regulatory infrastructure to support this goal has not been mobilized, even though most Americans see climate change as an important issue. Three-quarters of Americans say that human activity, such as the burning of fossil fuels, contributes to climate change at least some, with 46% saying it contributes a great deal.[10]However, opinions are sharply divided on partisan lines. Democrats say human activity contributes a great deal to climate change (71%), while just 17% of Republicans say the same.[11] Major policy changes will be needed to achieve the necessary transformation of. Our energy system, but as the last session of Congress has illustrated, political conditions are unlikely to achieve the necessary level of action.

The complexity of climate change issues and the diversity of impact even within the U.S. complicates mobilization around climate action. A recent study by the Allegheny Conference Energy Task Force in Pittsburgh has chosen a middle of the road path, even though it recognizes that this approach will not meet the climate goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by 2050.[12] The principal focus area for funding identified in this report relies on continued production of natural gas from hydraulic fracturing to produce “blue hydrogen” as an industrial fuel source, and applying carbon capture and sequestration technologies to control emissions.[13] This approach locks in dependence on fossil fuels for another two or three decades. 

People fear the loss of jobs in the energy sector, without recognizing that the skills and capabilities of workers in this sector are readily transferable to the clean energy economy. A federal investment package with annual average allocations of $11.3 billion to Pennsylvania, from 2021 to 2030, along with an additional $19.7 billion in private investments would generate approximately 243,000 jobs in Pennsylvania— enough to bring Pennsylvania’s high unemployment rate back down towards 4 percent.[14]  

The burden of immediate action has fallen to local governments to act. At the local level, people see the immediate effects of climate change vulnerability. In coastal areas, local governments have to address higher tides and more severe storm surges which have been highly dramatized in the media coverage of hurricane damage. Usually there is little or no discussion of the connection of larger, more severe and longer lasting storm systems to global warming and its effects on storm formation. Inland areas see drought and flood damage as well as landslides and stormwater damage. Federal assistance only comes when disastrous levels of infrastructure damage occur, such as in Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Sandy.  

For the gradual increase of climate effects, local governments have been adopting climate action plans individually[15]and as regions.[16] In all cases, local climate action plans will require federal and state policy support by at least 2030 to support the goals established. For example, in the Forest Hills Climate Action Plan, the predominant sector is Residential. Shifting the heating systems of most houses from natural gas to high efficiency heat pumps will require policy support as well as financial assistance in the form of tax incentives or grants. Local governments have not organized well to pressure state and federal levels of government to respond to these needs.

Forest Hills Borough net zero energy -Volpatt photo

The assumption that reducing energy consumption cuts economic productivity was reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Energy consumption did fall as pandemic restrictions limited travel and other activities.[17] However, decoupling energy use from the economic productivity has occurred in many countries already. It is certainly plausible to decouple primary energy consumption growth from meeting the planet’s energy needs. For example, Denmark has 30 years of proven history in reducing the energy intensity of its economy.[18]  

It is important to recognize that we need to make a transformation of the energy system, not simply substitute renewable fuels for fossil fuels.  The entire approach changes when we focus on supplying the work necessary to meet the needs for people, agriculture, and industry in a different way. There are at least three points here:

  1. primary energy consumption automatically goes down when switching from fossil fuels to wind, solar and hydroelectricity, because they have no conversion losses according to the usual definition of primary energy; 
  2. living standards can be maintained while increasing energy efficiency; 
  3. renewables-based systems avoid the significant energy usage of mining, transporting and refining fossil fuels and uranium.[19]

Ultimately, reducing our vulnerability to energy disruptions comes down to building energy systems that are in harmony with the laws of nature. We must change the dynamic of the conversation about climate change. It is critical for the survival of our planet and for the immediate well-being of every person to move rapidly to a sustainable energy system. 

It is time to recognize the reality of our interdependence as human species to preserve the biodiversity of the planet and to restore the health of the ecosystems we depend on for our survival. Fresh water, clean air, and fertile ground support life on Earth as we know it. If we continue on this path, driven by greed and adherence to a fossil fueled economy, we will destroy ourselves, and all of the living Earth. I close with this reflection from Rachel Carson:

Mankind has gone very far into an artificial world of his own creation. He has sought to insulate himself, with steel and concrete, from the realities of earth and water. Perhaps he is intoxicated with his own power, as he goes farther and farther into experiments for the destruction of himself and his world. For this unhappy trend there is no single remedy – no panacea. But I believe that the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.[20]

Citations

[1] IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson- Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. 

[2] Council on Foreign Relations. Oil Dependence and U.S. Foreign Relations- Timeline 1850 -2022. April 2022. https://www.cfr.org/timeline/oil-dependence-and-us-foreign-policy

[3] Robert Rapier. “What Is Energy Independence?” Forbes. March 9, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2022/03/09/what-is-energy-independence/?sh=29f94867730a

[4]  U.S. Energy Information Administration. Petroleum and Other Liquids. U.S. Net Imports of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products 1975-2021 https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=mttntus2&f=a

[5] David Stanway. “China says U.S. tariff extension on solar products hurts new energy trade.” Reuters February 7, 2022. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/china-says-us-tariff-extension-solar-products-hurts-new-energy-trade-2022-02-05/

[6] Gregory M. LaRocca. “Global Value Chains: Lithium in Lithium-ion Batteries for Electric Vehicles.” U.S. International trade Commission, Office of Industries Working Paper No. 069. July 2020.   https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/working_papers/no_id_069_gvc_lithium-ion_batteries_electric_vehicles_final_compliant.pdf

[7]  IPCC, 2022: Summary for Policymakers [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, M. Tignor, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem (eds.)]. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.   https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/

[8] Yvonne DaSilve. Major study shows biodiversity losses can be reversed. Natural History Museum https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2015/april/major-study-shows-biodiversity-losses-can-be-reversed.htmlYvonne

[9] Mark Z. Jacobson, Mark A. Delucchi, Mary A. Camerona and Bethany A. Frew. “Low-cost solution to the grid reliability problem with 100% penetration of intermittent wind, water, and solar for all purposes.” PNAS. December 8, 2015. vol. 112 no. 49   www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1510028112

[10] Alec Tyson, Cary Funk and Brian Kennedy. “Americans Largely Favor U.S. Taking Steps to Become Carbon Neutral by 2050.” Pew Research Center.March 1, 2022. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/03/01/americans-largely-favor-u-s-taking-steps-to-become-carbon-neutral-by-2050/

[11] Katherine Schaeffer. “For Earth Day, key facts about Americans’ view of climate change and renewable energy.” Pew Research Center. April 22, 2022.   https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/04/22/for-earth-day-key-facts-about-americans-views-of-climate-change-and-renewable-energy/

[12] Allegheny Conference Energy Task Force. “Our Region’s Energy Future – A strategy for accelerating decarbonization, investment and inclusive growth in the Pittsburgh region.” April 2022.  https://www.alleghenyconference.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022_EnergyReport_D.pdf

[13]  Ibid. Page 12. https://www.alleghenyconference.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022_EnergyReport_D.pdf

[14] Robert Pollin, Jeannette Wicks-Lin, Shouvik Chakraborty and Gregor Semieniuk. Impacts of the ReImagine Appalachia & Clean Energy Transition Programs for Pennsylvania – Job Creation, Economic Recovery, and Long-term Sustainability. University of Massachusetts Amherst, Political Economy Research Institute. January 2021.  https://reimagineappalachia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Pollin-et-al-PA-Final-Report-1-22-21.pdf

See also https://patriciademarco.com/2022/03/20/%EF%BF%BC-patricia-demarco-%EF%BF%BCenergy-independence-means-good-union-jobs-in-clean-energy%EF%BF%BC/

 [15]  Borough of Forest Hills Climate Action Plan. December 16, 2020. https://files.dep.state.pa.us/Energy/Office%20of%20Energy%20and%20Technology/OETDPortalFiles/ClimateChange/Local_Climate_Action/Final_Forest_Hills_Climate_Action_Plan-12-17-2020.pdf

[16]  Congress of Neighboring Communities. Infrastructure and Utilities Coordination Working Group.  CONNECT Climate Action Plan. May 2022 (In Press)   https://www.connect.pitt.edu/working-groups/infrastructure-utilities-coordination-working-group

[17] Peng Jiang, Yee Van Fan and Jiri Jaromir Klemes. “Impacts of COVID-19 on energy demand and consumption: lessons and emerging opportunities.” Applied Energy. March 1, 2021. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7834155/#__ffn_sectitle

[18]  T.W.Brown, T.Bischof-Niemz, K.Blok, C.Breyer, H.Lund, B.V.Mathiesen .  Response to ‘Burden of proof: A comprehensive review of the feasibility of 100% renewable-electricity systems.’ Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Volume 92, September 2018, Pages 834-847.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.04.113   See also article to which this response is directed:https://www.utilitydive.com/news/why-100-renewables-isnt-feasible-by-2050/560918/

[19] T.W.Brown, T.Bischof-Niemz, K.Blok, C.Breyer, H.Lund, B.V.Mathiesen .  Response to ‘Burden of proof: A comprehensive review of the feasibility of 100% renewable-electricity systems.’ Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Volume 92, September 2018, Pages 834-847.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.04.113   See also article to which this response is directed:https://www.utilitydive.com/news/why-100-renewables-isnt-feasible-by-2050/560918/

[20] Rachel L. Carson. “The Real World Around Us.” In Linda J. Lear (Ed.) Lost Woods – The Discovered Writing of Rachel Carson. Beacon Press. Boston 1998. Page 163.