G2. Local Greens

Our August newsletter here! The latest edition of The Energy Activist includes:

• A message from our new executive director, Tamara Kennedy
• Announcement of our Fall 2025 Clean & Affordable Energy Conference in Portland
• Spotlight on one of our member organizations, Energy Trust of Oregon
• Federal, regional, and state updates

Read it here.

The post August 2025 Newsletter first appeared on NW Energy Coalition.

CHESTER, PA (August 22, 2025) –  Clean Air Council, City of Chester, and partners are proud to announce that Sun Village Park in Chester, PA, has officially reopened! The newly revitalized park includes a storybook walking trail, new benches and picnic tables, native plantings and mural arts installations. The project is the culmination of a three-year climate resilience communities project funded by the William Penn Foundation, and led by Clean Air Council, along with many Chester residents who contributed their feedback to the process. 

Clean Air Council worked with Olin Design to map and better understand the potential climate impacts to residents living in communities along the Delaware River. Residents provided extensive feedback on where they notice stormwater runoff, flooding, and heat islands, as well as where they would like to see a green infrastructure project installed to help mitigate potential flooding and heat impacts from climate change. Residents chose Sun Village Park and selected all of the new features that have now been installed. 

Additionally, as part of this community-led project, residents gathered at the Sun Village Park pavilion every week this summer for “Arts in the Park” workshops with Bonita Taylor from Bonnie’s Community and Development Corporation and Katarina Sindoni from Legacy Arts Chester. Children from the community gathered weekly to create sculptural mural arts from recycled materials, painting and building flowers and other three-dimensional pieces that have now been installed throughout the park. A vibrant mural was also installed on the pavilion pillars by Carrie Kingsbury of Promised Land murals. The murals reflect the colors and musical theme of the first book in the storybook walk.

“Sun Village Park is a shining example of what happens when community voices lead the way. This beautiful space reflects the creativity, resilience, and pride of Chester’s residents — especially our young people, whose artwork now lives in the heart of this neighborhood,” stated Mayor Stefan Roots. “I’m grateful for the collaboration with Clean Air Council, Legacy Arts Chester, and all our partners who helped make this vision a reality. Together, we’re building a greener, safer, and more vibrant Chester for generations to come.”

The incredible partnership that made this possible was honored Friday with a grand opening celebration. Dozens of community members and representatives from Clean Air Council, City of Chester, Legacy Arts Chester, and the Friends of Sun Village Park were in attendance. Local residents enjoyed a free water ice truck and the opportunity to explore the new storybook walking trail and see the new murals, including sculptural mural arts made by children in the community from recycled and upcycled materials.

“I am very excited about the revitalization of Sun Village Park,” said Bonita Taylor, long-time Sun Village resident and Friends of Sun Village Park leader. “This is a project we have been waiting for for many years; it is bringing happiness and a safe space to our community.’ 

For more information, visit the Friends of Sun Village Park’s Facebook page.

“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.

Join the Transit For All PA campaign for sustainable transit funding to keep our State moving forward.

Have a community project you want to fund and support? Check out the Public Space Enhancement Mini-Grant from Feet First Philly! Applications are due October 1st, full list of requirements and further information can be found here.

Plan Philly: Bus late during an emergency? This pilot program will help you get where you need without spending a dime – Philly residents who regularly walk, bike, carpool, or take public transit to work can enroll in the Emergency Ride Home service, a program that reimburses the cost of an alternative form of transportation in the event of an emergency or if the usual transit is unavailable. The Clean Air Council is now testing out a pilot voucher-based version of this service that will help bus riders get to where they need to go if their bus doesn’t show up. Participating residents of the Fair Acres region who regularly take SEPTA bus routes 110, 111, 114, or 117 can now activate a $50 voucher on the Uber app if their bus is seriously delayed, cancelled, or doesn’t go to where they need to get to in an emergency. For more details, see here. 

NBC10: Philly unveils plan for upcoming SEPTA service cuts, fare hikes – Philly is preparing for a world without usual SEPTA services. Cuts to bus services will roll out on August 24th, the day before schools in the Philadelphia School District start classes. On September 1st, fares will increase, followed by regional rail cuts going into effect on September 2nd. City officials have urged motorists to avoid driving through Center City at rush hours; the city is preparing for an influx of traffic by readying various groups. Throughout September, residents can pay $1 a month to use Indego Bike Share with promo code “indecycle25.”

NBC10: SEPTA cuts may ‘lead to deterioration’ of Amtrak services across the Northeast – SEPTA cuts are arriving fast, and they are likely to impact other transit services. Certain SEPTA-operated commuter trains use Amtrak rails, for an annual cost of $71.1 million. If SEPTA is no longer able to provide that funding, Amtrak’s financial ability to maintain those tracks will diminish, slowing its own trains. Most impacted will be Amtrak’s Keystone Service Line, which operates between Philly and Harrisburg, and New York City.

BillyPenn: A week out, SEPTA cuts loom: Will they affect you?

WHYY: Ahead of SEPTA cuts, Philly tells residents to plan for extra commute times next week

6abc: Several bus routes to be eliminated, starting Sunday, in first phase of SEPTA cuts in Philadelphia

CBS News: What buses, trains is SEPTA cutting next week? What to know about cuts, new schedules, fare hikes

Pennsylvania Capital-Star: SEPTA funding crisis could affect central Pennsylvania’s Amtrak service, congressman warns

Philly Voice: Trump administration reluctantly resumes Biden-era funding to install EV chargers

​​Law Clerk Annie Fox started at the Council as a legal intern, before being hired as a law clerk. Fox brings a unique perspective to the Council from her time living in Florida and working to protect the Florida Everglades. 

Where are you from and what’s your background? 

I’m from Miami, Florida, so I grew up enjoying the sun, afternoon lightning storms, being surrounded by ducks, and with little lizards darting across my path. Even close to a big city, I spent time in large trees and in the water, so I always felt connected to nature. As a child, I felt a sense of wrongness as wildlife was replaced by urban sprawl, and I suppose that is where my environmentalism took root. My first major environmental actions were working to protect and restore the Florida Everglades, and I think the idea of becoming an environmental lawyer first arose when, after college, I served on the Executive Board of Friends of the Everglades. 

You waited to go to law school, though. Why?

I always loved science, particularly biology. So, I majored in biology at Swarthmore College, then traveled out west studying population ecology. I wanted to help figure out how to best restore ecosystems, but I soon realized that as much as doing so requires more scientific knowledge, there was a more immediate need for laws and policies to protect them. I was also surprised to learn how many of the beneficial laws we have simply aren’t enforced without the efforts of groups like the Council. So, I returned to law school as an older student with a family, and whenever that felt daunting, I thought about how Marjorie Stoneman Douglas began a new career as an environmental champion in her 70s when she founded Friends of the Everglades.

How long have you been with the Council?

I was an intern in the summer of 2018, and have been back for about 11 months.

What’s your expertise you bring to the Council? How do you use it to fight for a cleaner environment?

I think my science background is very helpful. One of the exciting features of environmental law is the need to continually become conversant in various technical matters, like understanding the engineering involved in power plant construction to evaluate permit conditions, or the biology of an area being impacted by a project. I am comfortable picking up scientific literature and diving into numbers, which is an asset in environmental advocacy.

Also, I grew up at the intersections of various cultures, which helps me understand the needs and motivations of various individuals and groups involved in environmental issues. I was raised below the poverty line, yet had the privilege of attending an elite private school. I was by far in the religious and ethnic minority in school, yet in many ways still benefited from white privilege in other areas of life. That background helps me appreciate where people are coming from when approaching environmental issues, has taught me both how easy it is to erroneously attribute motives to people, and the importance of active listening. I think it also makes me more sensitive to the environmental justice challenges that permeate environmental issues.

I also developed useful skills during the years I served on the Environmental Advisory Council for the Borough of Swarthmore, including time as Chair. That experience gives me valuable insight into the nuances of local politics, the sometimes unexpected ways in which communities are impacted by environmental issues, and the value of open space and a healthy environment to people’s daily lives.

Why did you want to return to working for the Council after being a legal intern? What’s your favorite aspect of working here?

I love that I get to do work that matters by helping both the environment and people. I also enjoy the variety of the work, getting to be involved in both regulatory matters and litigation. Most of all, though, I love the people at the Council. Everyone I have worked with is not only deeply committed to the issues, but is genuine, kind, and passionate, often with fascinating outside interests and hobbies. I am honored to be part of a community that cares deeply about the world.

What are you working on? 

Right now I am primarily working on challenges to permits for potential new power plants. In granting the permits, the agencies skipped important steps like evaluating the true costs of the proposed projects to Pennsylvanians, and in some cases would allow illegally high levels of harmful air emissions.

What legal battles or challenges are you following closely in Pennsylvania?

The legal challenges to Pennsylvania joining RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, may have far-reaching consequences to our ability to fight climate change. Also, I am watching the courts’ evolving stance on the environmental rights of Pennsylvania’s residents which are protected by the Environmental Rights Amendment of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Those rights were ignored for a long time, and I am proud of the Council’s advocacy to ensure that the people, including future generations of Pennsylvanians, receive the full protections guaranteed by our Constitution.

(August 20, 2025) The fight to preserve Pennsylvanians’ right to clean air, safe water, and a healthy environment won another huge victory this week as Alterra Energy announced it had ended plans to open a facility in Sugarloaf Township.

Alterra was hoping to open a “chemical recycling” facility in this rural area of Luzerne County. Despite dubbing its work “recycling,” however, Alterra’s rebranding of outdated trash incineration is no solution for the climate crisis. The plant would have been conducting plastic pyrolysis, a way of cutting chemical bonds with heat powered by burning fossil fuels. The “recycled” plastic this method produces is actually mostly made of new fossil fuel-derived materials and is, at most, 10% recycled material. 

Its byproducts are even worse: toxic chemicals that are linked to health problems like cancers, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, nervous system issues, reproductive problems, and respiratory issues. This facility, which would have operated around the clock, would have produced chemical pollution in the air and water, and would have generated plastic waste that includes the worst of the worst pollutants: known carcinogen benzene, dioxins, PFAS “forever chemicals,” and volatile organic compounds or VOCs.

Not only would facility employees have been exposed to plastic dust and chemical vapors on the job, but they would also be at risk of dangerous fires. Toxic and very flammable synthetic oil would have been stored in two 185,000-gallon tanks on the property before being transported in trucks and rail cars. On top of these hazards, such a plant would have been a nuisance to the residents of Sugarloaf, bringing traffic, noise, light, and air pollution, and damaging rural roads. 

Members of the Luzerne County Community Coalition were vocal in their opposition to this proposed site and are celebrating this news. Local residents collaborated in their organizing with neighbors from nearby Northumberland County who just last year stood strong against a similar proposal for their area from Texas-based company Encina. Sugarloaf even had support from a resident of Akron, Ohio, where Alterra has been operating an incineration plant whose permit renewal was loudly opposed by the community this summer. 

Clean Air Council and its partners – including Beyond Plastics, Save Our Susquehanna, Moms Clean Air Force, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, and Environmental Health Project – were proud to support the Luzerne community as they sought to understand the potential harms of Alterra’s proposed facility and the influence they might wield. The Council commends this level of passion and commitment to a healthy environment and hopes to see this type of collaboration continue throughout the Commonwealth.

Join the Renewable Hydrogen Alliance at the 2025 Northwest Renewable Hydrogen Conference – the longest running and only locally led hydrogen conference in the Pacific Northwest. Returning to Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, this year’s conference will focus on the latest policy and project developments in our region and give you the opportunity to network with RHA members, policy partners, and local industry leaders.  

The Conference will also include exclusive RHA member only networking opportunities on Monday, September 15, and will conclude with RHA’s Annual Member Meeting on Wednesday, September 17.

The post Northwest Renewable Hydrogen Conference first appeared on NW Energy Coalition.