Press releases and Action Alerts:
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Free Library Lectures Make You
a More Informed Activist
Join the Listserve and Take Action!
Join the Pa-SEPA News & Events listserve
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Southeastern Pa Group a few times each month.
The listserve is an opt-in system. Listserve regula-
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Free Library Lectures Make You
a More Informed Activist
The SPG Free Library Lecture Series brings acknowledged experts in
environmental topics to the Philadelphia Free Library for informative
lectures that will make you a more aware and effective advocate for
the natural world.
Free Library Educational Program Monday, June 8, 6:45 p.m. Protecting Headwaters Streams
Th e Free Library of Philadelphia, 19th and Vine Sts, 4th Floor. See separate ad page 5 for details. Contact: billbrainerd@gmail.com.
SPG Free Library Education Program Features SEPTA Manager, PhillyCarShare Interim General Manager SEPTA General Manager Joe Casey and PhillyCarShare Interim GM Jonathan Klein spoke at the November 24 Sierra Club educational program at the Free Library of Philadelphia. SEPTA ridership is still up 4% over last year, despite falling gas prices. To help the environment, it’s recycling wash water and bus antifreeze. It’s buying (1) 400 hybrid buses over four years at $160,000 each. Th ey have better mileage and emit slightly fewer
particulates than normal buses. 26 are already in service. (2) 120 Silverliner 5 rail cars, which have side entrances like buses for faster ingress and egress. SEPTA bought eight used railcars from NJ Transit. Maintenance on railcars is now done at night so they can be used by day. (3) 25% of its electricity from renewable sources within a few years. It will be used to power trains, trolleys, and buildings. PhillyCarShare (PCS) rents cars for an hour or more at modest cost. PCS is the biggest of thirteen such companies nationwide. It has 380 cars stationed mostly in Center City. The environment is less a reason people use it than price. Urban car ownership is too expensive for the amount most people drive. They’ll order a low mileage car from PCS instead of a hybrid if it’s cheaper. Companies like PCS won’t prosper where parking and car insurance are cheap. Nor will it work without mass transit, since short-term car rental is not a substitute for ownership. It requires a mature, stable population that knows better than to take advantage of car rental at a relatively low price. Generally, this excludes universities.
