Climate watch: Centre County Earth Day events and more
Wednesday, April 22 is officially Earth Day, but there are events preceding that date.
Watershed cleanup
Many local volunteers will participate in Clearwater Conservancy’s Watershed Cleanup Day on Saturday, April 18 from 8 a.m. to noon to keep trash from entering our local waterways.
State College festival
Sustainability State College, the Borough’s sustainability initiative, will hold its third annual Earth and Arbor Day Festival on Tuesday, April 21 from 5-8 p.m. in Sidney Friedman Park. It will feature booths, activity stations for adults and children, sustainable arts and crafts, and food vendors. The focus is on environmental conservation, sustainability and climate change initiatives. Citizens’ Climate Lobby will be among those with info booths.
Lunch and learn
And if you are looking for something on Earth Day itself, consider the “Lunch and Learn” talk by Laurene Allen, Goldman Environmental Prize winner for her fight against per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). This event is free and open to all from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at the State College Borough Building, Room 201. Lunch is provided by Webster’s Bookstore Cafe.
Food Bank goes solar
The local solar parade continues. The State College Food Bank, at 169 Gerald St., just off the Benner Pike in College Township, is putting solar panels on its roof this year. Funds for the project came from a federal capital improvement grant awarded to the Food Bank in 2024.
Kudos to Burkholder’s
Congratulations to Burkholder’s Market in Millheim for being named a “USA Centennial Retailer of the Year” and one of the nine best independent grocery stores in the nation. Not least among Burkholder’s many attractions —for me, at least — is that the store is powered by a 581 KwH, 1,200-solar panel array put on a carport over its parking lot. It offsets two-thirds of the store’s annual energy bill. And the carport system also powers free electric vehicle charging stations for customers.
12 new EV stations
PennDOT in March announced that it is funding construction for 12 new electric vehicle charging stations along Pennsylvania roadways. The state has already built 30, leading the nation in stations erected using National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) federal funds. An additional 53 stations are planned. The Trump administration had withheld Congressionally approved NEVI funding but lost a suit brought by Pennsylvania and 15 other states and the money was released. The 12 new stations will be built in nine counties, the closest to Centre being in Cambria and Perry counties.
Warehouse solar passes PA House
A bill (HB 1260) requiring new warehouses and distribution centers to be built “solar ready” passed the PA House of Representatives March 23. It also permits local governments to give tax exemptions to retrofit existing warehouse and distribution centers for solar panels. Reps. Takac and Conklin voted with the majority. Rep. Benninghoff voted against it. The bill still must be considered by the Senate.
Design to curb flooding
Heavy rain events, which are accelerating due to climate change, have caused washout and flooding problems in the tiny Mifflin County borough of Juniata Terrace, about 30 miles southeast of State College. Now a team of Penn State undergrads has come up with a design to restore natural vegetation and create a diversion swale, steering water away from the borough. It’s part of the university’s Sustainable Communities Collaborative.
Richard W. Jones is a volunteer with the State College chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Reach the chapter at PaStateCollege@citizensclimatelobby.org.