Over the last ten days, I’ve been in Aotearoa, New Zealand as part of a climate research, education, and capacity-building team from Penn State. It has been a joy to be here a second time and learn more about forests, fire, carbon, and biodiversity as well as Māori culture and practices, national and local government, … More Ten days focused on people, land, & climate in Aotearoa
Let me start by saying this: hypocrisy is a killer. If we don’t keep our promises to ourselves, we can’t keep promises to the Creation. Where climate action is concerned, we need to do right, do it well, and do it consistently. If we are consistent as individuals and work well together, we can effect … More Climate change is…about each of us.
I’ve been watching people get wrapped up in manufactured controversies—manfufactroversies—lately. The zombie armies of climate change deniers, doubters, boomers, and climate inactivists are out in force. Their goal is to undermine the public’s confidence in good actions. Who are they and what do they do? When some special interest sees an issue as a threat … More Taking on the Merchants of Doubt in 2024
Last week, WPSU kicked off Earth Month with a day for high school students on climate change & environmental education. They brought a myriad of organizations together, showing how we are capable of living, learning, & playing in better harmony with the creation. … More Learn about climate change. Talk about climate change. Do something together about climate change.
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or … More With climate change, what happens on campus doesn’t stay on campus
Two of my poems are featured in the Spring 2019 edition of The Watershed Journal. They’ve assembled submissions by writers from northwestern Pennsylvania. All of our pieces celebrate our place in northern Appalachia, some with folk wisdom like “Today” by Greg Clary and others with a nice convoluted wit like “Wait Not” by Byron Hoot. My poem … More “Vespers” and “Memorial Day” in The Watershed Journal
“Nature helps you to easily understand what’s bothering you and how to deal with it. It also helps to fill the void in your heart and helps when you feel lonely.” New research on the townships of South Africa shows something the wise and little children know: that people find “peace, calm, and perspective while … More Research from South Africa shows that when we are in the forest, the forest is in us. That’s a good thing.
The people of Spring and Benner Townships have a difficult decision to make. Should the Nestle Corporation be allowed to build a bottling plant that would extract over 400,000 of gallons of water from the aquifer each day and sell it in single-use plastic bottles? The importance of this decision can’t be overstated. Given the public relations … More Nestle doesn’t care about communities. We do.
A few years ago I lived at a boy’s boarding school. The Kiskiminetas Springs School—Kiski—rests on 350 acres in rural western Pennsylvania. There was a run I loved to do there. From spring through fall, I’d run off of campus, across a pair of bridges, to an old canal trail paralleling the Conemaugh River. A … More Eulogy to a fox
silent sentinel barred owl leaf shadow dappled crossed crooked rock creek [Yesterday I saw a barred owl in Yellow Creek State Park while I was mountain biking.]
Peter Walks for Democracy 