Ready to get busy? Check out our Action Group Activities and Opportunities to Get Involved!
Environmental Action Team Update – Lambertville is a hub of environmental action fueled by volunteers and we are only getting started! Indivisible LNH members and community allies have fought climate change this year with tenacity and innovation. Below is only a snapshot of the incredible work folks like YOU have been up to!
PennEast – ILNH worked alongside incredible Stop PennEast allies like Lambertville CAP, Hunterdon and Mercer CAPS, HALT, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Rethink Energy and Sierra Club NJ to support homeowners, urge legislators to act and demand permit denials from the NJDEP and DRBC. The NJ AG’s office won an important case in this fight, which will prohibit PennEast from taking state owned preserved lands along the route. The project is stalled, but we must remain diligent in advocating for NJDEP and DRBC to DENY all PennEast permits before them.
Greening the Pipeline is an initiative and creative approach to fighting PennEast started by Lambertville resident Michael Heffler. Aggregation is a program available to towns to buy electricity. What the Greening the Pipeline program is proposing, is rather than just lower the cost, they change the mix of electricity to lower the natural gas used and increase the percentage of renewables. This hits PennEast in the wallet. Towns along the proposed pipeline route that have passed the ordinance to join the program are Frenchtown, Delaware Township, Kingwood and Lambertville. Pennington, Stockton and Alexandria are in the process of passage and discussions have started with Hopewell and West Amwell. This program will save all of us money, shrink our carbon footprint with no cost and no risk. Thank your town council for joining the energy coop, saving all of us money and taking it from the companies investing in Penneast.
The Lambertville Environmental Commission in partnership with volunteers throughout the City launched the Ditching Disposables Initiative. The DD Initiative seeks to empower businesses and residents to minimize their consumption of single use plastics and transition to more sustainable alternatives. One of the kickoff events was the T-Shirts to Totes event, where residents turned unused t-shirts into reusable bags that will be donated to the local food pantries. The success of this event was due largely in part to the incredible dedication of Cindy Sternfeld and her team of ILNH volunteers who rocked it at the sewing machine! Ditching Disposables has continued to roll out with programs like the Sustainable Business Forum and Green Innovator Award! To learn more follow Lambertville Environmental Commission on Facebook.
On Oct 1 the ILNH Environment Team was joined by Student Climate Strike Organizer Patrick Artur and Eric Benson from Clean Water Action NJ. Patrick shared what inspired him to organize the Climate Strike and how students can inform future Environment Team actions. Eric Benson from Clean Water Action shared about the top issues facing NJ today and what we can do to address them!
Call to Action!
Urge NJDEP and DRBC to Deny All Permits to the PennEast Pipeline
Sign petition to the NJDEP https://www.greenactions.org/stop-penneast?sc=hlt&fbclid=IwAR2SlWQMpEGr9jPNtQg8EGX3BMoQE-3T-iK6PN6FPYc23xo6KYv_k955HF8
Sign petition to the DRBC
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZvhXXAppbzQKrZ_5s6lnIdHdUiyIg0hO0_2SN5FsV-8qUZQ/viewform
Civil Rights Action Group is Active as Heck! – check out the upcoming events. Contact Shara Durkee for more information, locations and to RSVP.
- Book Club Meeting – Wednesday, October 9 at 6:30 pm in Lambertville – Subject is Solitary by Albert Woodfox, who served more than four decades in solitary confinement – 23 hours a day in a 6-foot by 9-foot cell – for a crime he didn’t commit. Even if you don’t have time to finish or haven’t even started the book, please join us for a lively discussion!
- Volunteer at Books Through Bars in Philadelphia – Saturday, October 19, 11 am – 2 pm
- Civil Rights monthly meeting – Monday, October 21 at 6:30 pm in Lambertville.
- Presentation and Discussion with Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills, authors of If These Stones Could Talk: African American Presence in the Hopewell Valley – Saturday, October 26, 3-5 pm – Methodist Church, 108 N. Union, Lambertville – A decade ago, Beverly Mills and Elaine Buck began formal collaboration into researching the lives of their African American ancestors, most of whom were likely to have been brought up the Delaware River as slaves to–what is now the Hopewell Valley region in Central New Jersey. Active community members, Mills and Buck both serve on the board of the Stoutsburg Cemetery Association, a burial ground for African American residents and veterans in the region.
- Tour of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia – Saturday, November 9, 11 am – This one hour tour highlights Eastern State’s fascinating 142-year history, revolutionary architecture, notorious inmates and world-wide influence. The tour will also focus on criminal justice. For the group tour, prices are $11/adults, $10/seniors, $8/students ages 7-12.
- Workshop “Dismantling the Racism Machine: Myths, Taught to White People that Perpetuate White Supremacy – Wednesday, November 20, 6:30-8:30 pm, Lambertville Public Library – With Karen Gaffney, author of Dismantling the Racism Machine: A Manual and Toolbox.
Join ILNH Leadership Team! We have roles to fill and need your help. We need to flesh out our GOTV team now, including an overall lead, NJ and PA specific leads, and those who want to focus their energies on righting the ship by educating and encouraging voters through November 3, 2020.
We’re also looking for someone to head the Swag team, including identifying merchandise to sell, caring for and maintaining inventory and adding to the ILNH finances by successfully SELLING the stock at meetings and other appropriate locations and events.
In addition, a Fundraising co-lead will join Diane Abatemarco to help plan activities and other mechanisms through which we can support the financial health of ILNH.
Write for Us! The ILNH Take A Stand Newsletter needs writers. Part of the ILNH mission is educating our community and one of the ways we do so is through this newsletter. Contribute a single piece to express your passion and/or knowledge, or be a regular staffer who keeps their finger on the pulse of the incredible amount of news and subjects that help us be informed citizens – the choice is yours. Contact Deb Kline via email or Slack.