Air
Air is one of the essentials for life, but pollution turns it into a threat to health and life. Air pollution is implicated in causing and exacerbating a variety of health problems, including asthma, heart disease, and birth defects. When people take unnecessary car trips, leave lights on, or set the thermostat too low in the summer or too high in the winter, they waste energy and create unnecessary air pollution which is a serious problem here in the Lehigh Valley.
The Alliance, the Bethlehem Partnership for a Healthy Community, Clean Water Action, and St. Luke’s Community Health Department, are working together to increase awareness of asthma and reduce Diesel pollution and ground-level ozone. More… →
New York’s Little Revolution
The following was published by Yes! Magazine, a non-profit magazine that focuses not only on all that’s wrong but on positive approaches, a transition to a better world. New York’s Little Revolution How the state’s fight for clean water is reshaping … more
Idling Gets You Nowhere!
This page is adapted from a poster created by intern Julia Ward. Save Money, Your Health, & the Environment — Be Idle Free! If you’re going to be stopped for more than 60 seconds, turn your engine off (except in traffic). … more
Diesel Pollution in the Lehigh Valley
Many believe that school buses are the safest method of transportation for children to get to school, but is it the healthiest? Diesel pollution is becoming a more significant problem across the United States today and specifically, the Lehigh Valley … more
Testing Mother Nature’s Limits at Our Expense
by Martin Boksenbaum — Is it just me or does it seem to you too that those in control—of industry, food production, energy systems, land development, planet and animal genetic patents, and us too—are testing Mother Nature’s limits? What can … more
Precautionary Principle for Marcellus Shale
Health and Environmental Experts: Follow the Precautionary Principle on Natural Gas from the Marcellus Shale Since 2007, Pennsylvania has witnessed a dramatic increase in unconventional development of natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation using high-volume hydraulic fracturing, also called … more
Signers: Precautionary Principle for Marcellus Shale
Experts working in environmental or health field Patricia T. Bradt, PhD Environmental Science, Muhlenberg College John A. Cigliano, PhD Biology; Cedar Crest College Joseph C. Colosi, PhD Natural Science & Plant Ecology Chrysan Cronin, PhD Biology & Public Health; Muhlenberg … more
Sustainability & Public Health
Let’s look at sustainability in terms of how our practices affect human health, both immediately and over the long term. Whether we call them health problems or environmental problems, though, the prescription for corrective actions is almost identical. The health lens is … more
Marcellus Shale – Background
Info from Wikipedia: The Marcellus Formation is a black shale formation found throughout the Allegheny Plateau, running across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions of New York, in northern and western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, through western Maryland, and throughout most of West Virginia extending across the state line into extreme western Virginia. The Marcellus bedrock … more
Impacts of drilling in Marcellus Shale
In this section, we focus on the environmental impacts of drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formations using the fracking or fracturing method (some background info is given on the Marcellus Shale page). Thoughts about use of the resultant … more