Advocates Rally for Climate Action in Montgomery County
PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center
Norristown, PA – On Saturday, August 25th, citizens joined PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center for a “Beat the Heat” Rally with free Rita’s water ice at the Montgomery County Courthouse to show that while Pennsylvania can cool off with frozen treats now, citizens need to make their voices heard and call for long term solutions to beat the heat and prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
Local leaders in the fight for a clean energy economy, including Olivia Brady, Council Member at Large for the Municipality of Norristown; William Madway, Press Secretary for PennFuture’s Green in ‘18 Campaign; and Breana Hashman, Program Assistant for Clean Water Action joined citizens to raise their voices for climate action and to show that Pennsylvanians demand real climate solutions, not the unraveling of decades of hard work and life-saving environmental protections.
“Pennsylvanians want a safer environment and at PennEnvironment we believe that the Commonwealth should not have to suffer from a federal government that’s reversing all of our progress and making people sick,” said Amanda Lapham, PennEnvironment’s Montgomery County Climate Defender Organizer.
Across the country, and right here in Pennsylvania, record heat waves have been threatening citizens’ health and wellbeing. These impacts will continue to worsen without action to mitigate climate change. But instead of listening to people feeling the heat, the Trump Administration continues to undermine our progress on climate change.
“We can’t allow the hard-earned progress our country has made on this urgent threat to stall, or worse, be reversed. We in Montgomery County, and across Pennsylvania, must make our demands for immediate action on climate change be heard in Harrisburg and Washington, DC” said Bill Madway, spokesperson for PennFuture’s Green in ‘18 Coalition.
Just this month, two major proposals were announced that would severely weaken our environmental protections. These proposals include a rollback of the federal clean cars standards and the recently announced replacement of the Clean Power Plan. Both of these proposals would severely diminish the standards that decrease our greenhouse gas emissions – the type of pollution that accelerates climate change and puts communities at risk.
In the face of these federal attacks, local action on climate change is more important than ever. So PennEnvironment partnered with local organizations and leaders in Montgomery County to rally for solutions at every level of government.
“The municipality is working to reducing our carbon footprint by looking into sustainability measures, improving our recycling, encouraging developers to reduce impervious land and plant native landscapes. We are doing what we can to make sure that Norristown has a kinder and gentler impact to this Earth,” said Olivia Brady, Council member At Large, Municipality of Norristown.
The event attendees, speakers, and sponsors committed to continue working together to fight climate change and fight back against the Trump Administration’s rollbacks of environmental protections, helping to ensure a livable climate for future generations of Pennsylvanians.
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PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center is a citizen-based, statewide environmental advocacy organization working to ensure clean air, clean water, and protecting Pennsylvania’s great natural heritage. For more information about this and other PennEnvironment projects, visit www.PennEnvironmentCenter.org.