Earth to Philly

Patch Adams, for those who may have forgotten, is a real-life person who survived his canonization via Robin Williams and Hollywood and is still out and about, changing lives and inspiring people in and beyond the world of medicine. He will be speaking at Drexel University College of Medicine, Geary Auditorium B; 245 N. 15th; 6:30 pm on July 23 and at Mercy Neighborhood Ministries, 20th & Venango, 6:30 pm on July 24. Admission is free.

We are glad to have some good news to share with you about the Sandy Recovery effort. New Jersey’s Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has unrolled the reNew Jersey Stronger program, which provides up to $150,000 in grants for qualified homeowners to retrofit and rebuild their homes to an acceptable energy standard.

Will 2013 be the Best Year Yet to Improve Your Home’s Energy Efficiency?

Frances Moore Lappe kicked off a whole subgenre of ecolocgy literature with her beststilling Diet for a Small Planet in 1971. The book challenged assumptions about the redistribution of food and how people's everyday actions might impact the global picture. Her latest, EcoMind, is a book devoted to overcoming mental habits that become obstacles to sustainable progress, and it's just out in paperback. We spoke by phone a few days ago.

The Juicebar Mobile Charger is really using the word "mobile" twice in its name: That is, it will charge your mobile, and it's mobile itself. Best of all, it can be charged on the go.

So Earth to Philly got a pitch to write up a new Earth Day event - The Amazing Rock the Earth Race, which will take place over 7 hours on April 21st "in Denver, Boulder and other spots along the Front Range." Specific race details are somewhat sketchy, though there will be "mental and physical challenges."

The Philadelphia History Museum’s Philadelphia Voices Community History Gallery is now featuring an exhibit on The Energy Coordinating Agency (ECA)!

Go-green initiatives from the Philadelphia Phillies and Drexel University (what, no Eagles?) have helped jump start the Keystone Solar farm into being. And today to a “2013 Project of Distinction” honor at the PV America East 2013 trade show meeting at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

If this is the future, well, it's not bad. The Prohibition-themed car looks pretty cool, actually, though I wonder how much sunshine the "Sunshine Express" is really bringing into its passengers' mornings.

The greener portions of the Web were abuzz this morning with the 'conversion' of UK environmentalist Mark Lynas from anti- to pro-GMO campaigner, centering especially on a takedown by Tom Philpott at Mother Jones of many of Lynas's arguments.

Thank goodness we didn’t go over the cliff, but we will all feel a pinch as our payroll tax deduction goes back to the pre-2011 level. If you’re looking for a proven way to save money in 2013, look at your energy bills.

It's not that the artists have changed their attitude or output - rather, society seems to finally be catching up with the Divers. This is evident in the title of their newest exhibition, which opens tomorrow and runs through Feb. 10th: "Upcycling Trash to Treasure."

All of a sudden, it's OK to talk about climate change again. The weather event known as Sandy - or, if you're part of the media in-crowd, "Superstorm Sandy" - was so intense and overwhelming that many people who tuned out the warnings about bigger, stronger storms are now seeing things that make them go "hmmmm."