environment

August 16, 2021

July 14, 2021

As the Biden administration attempts to restore relationship with its European allies, Nord Stream 2 pipeline has become a point of stark division between the NATO allies. The $11 billion pipeline bringing Russian gas to Germany has raised major concerns over security and environmental issue, as voiced by Nordic and Eastern European allies.

Is this a purely economic project, as Germany and Russia proclaim it to be? What is the U.S. to make of this pipeline? Was lifting the sanction on the construction of the pipeline a mistake by the Biden administration?

This program answers these questions and addresses these issues.

July 1, 2021

Summer is here and so are harmful algal blooms! The Erie region is no stranger to these blooms or the advisories that accompany them. The cyanobacteria in these blooms have been studied for decades, so why haven't we solved this problem yet? Learn why harmful algal blooms are difficult to address and what policies are likely to be the most impactful in addressing them.

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March 31, 2021 

Climate action, like climate change, is multi-faceted and requires innovation in all areas of our society. The quality of our commercial and residential buildings is essential for reducing carbon emissions and will have major implications for our health, wallets, and future. The Erie 2030 District is taking action with commercial building owners to reduce their energy and water usage by 50 percent by the year 2030. Learn how the Erie 2030 District is uniting commercial businesses for energy efficiency, how our buildings can protect us from the worst effects of climate change, and what you can do about it.Climate action, like climate change, is multi-faceted and requires innovation in all areas of our society. The quality of our commercial and residential buildings is essential for reducing carbon emissions and will have major implications for our health, wallets, and future. The Erie 2030 District is taking action with commercial building owners to reduce their energy and water usage by 50 percent by the year 2030. Learn how the Erie 2030 District is uniting commercial businesses for energy efficiency, how our buildings can protect us from the worst effects of climate change, and what you can do about it.

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March 25, 2021 

PennFuture and 12 regional partners published Our Water, Our Future: A Common Agenda for Protecting Pennsylvania's Lake Erie Watershed in December 2020. They identified surface runoff as the number one threat to water quality in the region. Join Sarah Bennett and Renee Reber from PennFuture to learn what impacts stormwater runoff can have on water quality and what can be done to reduce these impacts.

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February 25, 2020

Erie Coke closed its doors in December 2019 after years of environmental violations that disproportionately impacted Environmental Justices communities. In September 2020, Erie County declared racism as a public health crisis. Join Sarah Bennett, PennFuture’s Campaign Manager for Clean Water Advocacy in the Lake Erie Watershed, Gary Horton, Urban Erie CDC President, and Allison Acevedo, Director of the Office of Environmental Justice at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, to learn what environmental justice is, how it impacts the Erie community, and what can be done to create a future where low income people and people of color are no longer disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation and pollution.