Global warming heats up

Cranbury public Library to sponsor programs on climate change, environment.

By: Lacey Korevec
The Cranbury Public Library wants residents to face the heat.
    A two-part program titled "Global Warming — A Hot Topic" will be offered at the library on April 14 and April 17 to help residents learn about the issue of global warming and help make a difference.
    The event will feature discussions led by residents, including Jim and Beverly Gerberich, Paul Mullen, Ralph Izzo and Mayor David Stout.
    "I think it’s a great outreach program so that we can all be better informed about what’s going on, what’s predicted to happen and how we can all take steps to help," Mayor Stout said about the series.
    The first part of the program is scheduled for National Climate Action Day. For Cranbury residents, the day will kick off at 12 p.m., when the Student Library Council will create a banner that reads, "Step it up, Congress! Cut carbon 80 percent by 2050." Residents of all ages are invited to decorate the banner from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., according to a press release sent out by The Cranbury Public Library.
    The banner is part of Step it Up, a nationwide campaign under way in communities in all 50 states urging Congress to take immediate action on the issue of global warming, said Cranbury Public Library Technology Services Librarian Marilynn Mullen, who coordinated the event.
    Also at 1 p.m., Mr. and Ms. Gerberich will give a presentation on how they installed solar panels on their Evans Drive home.
    "I was so excited to find out that two people in Cranbury had installed solar panels," Ms. Mullen said. "And I said, ‘If I’m interested in that, there’s got to be other people.’"
    Mr. Mullen, a member of the Cranbury Alternate Energy and Sustainability work group, as well as the Cranbury Environmental Commission, will be at the library as well to discuss ways to save energy with florescent lighting.
    Mayor Stout will speak at 2 p.m. about different ways the community can pull together to make Cranbury more energy efficient. He said Tuesday that he plans to talk briefly about sustainability and some of the goals of the Alternate Energy and Sustainability workgroup.
    Mayor Stout, who created and is working with the Alternate Energy and Sustainability work group, also works as vice president of Arcadis BBL, an engineering and environmental management service company located in Cranbury.
    "I think it’s great that the citizens are getting together to talk about and exchange ideas about this issue," he said. "The scientific research is clear that it’s not going away. So, to the extent everyone can understand it and try to help in any way they can, that’s certainly to the benefit of us all."
    The event will end with a photograph of the completed banner made by the Student Library Council. Residents are encouraged to be a part of the photograph, which will be sent to Washington, D.C. for members of Congress to see, Ms. Mullen said.
    "It will be up to anybody who comes if they want to have their picture taken with the banner to be sent out because we will send that in to (U.S. Rep.) Rush Holt and we’ll also post it on the Step it Up Web page," Ms. Mullen said.
    The program will continue on April 17 when Mr. Izzo, president, CEO and chairman of the board of Public Service Enterprise Group, an energy services’ company located in New Jersey, will discuss global warming. According to the press release from the Cranbury Public Library, Mr. Izzo recently spoke to lawmakers in Washington, D.C. about the dangers of climate change on behalf of his company.
    Ms. Mullen said that having Mr. Izzo speak to the community shows that Cranbury has access to a wealth of information on the subject of energy-use reduction.
    "I think this is something that Cranbury residents should know," she said, "that we have such an influential person and somebody who’s got new ideas and is looking at how the energy industry can take part in reducing carbon and stopping global warming."
    "Global Warming — A Hot Topic" is the first of a new, adult-
education series the library is launching that will offer free educational programs to community members, Cranbury Public Library Director Howard Zogott said.
    "It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time and we’ve been encouraged by the adults in town to do something like this," he said.
    Global warming was the perfect topic for the library to take on, Mr. Zogott said, adding that the issue is important for community members to focus on right now.
    "We noticed books going out here," he said. "We noticed folks talking about it so we thought this is the perfect program to begin the series with."
    More information about Step it Up can be found at the Web site www.stepitup2007.org.