Episode 011: Turning Environmental Activism into Political Action

Shana sat down this week with Tara Zrinski. Tara was born and raised in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. In 2017 she was elected to Northampton County Council and now she is setting her sights on making bigger waves of change in Pennsylvania’s legislature. Currently, she is running for Pennsylvania’s 138th House District, a community that is ravaged by the Penn East Pipeline. Over the last few years, she has fought for her constituents against corporations and big polluters lurking in her own backyard. Unfortunately, as a County Councilwoman, she has limited power and impact on environmental issues facing her community. If elected as a State Representative, she is determined to fight for her constituents and all Pennsylvanians.

In addition to her career in politics, Tara has been a fierce advocate for clean energy and sustainability within our local communities, while working as a Solar Energy Consultant for SunPulse Solar, and supplementing her adjunct teaching career that she has held since 2019. Tara has taught Philosophy at Northampton Community College, Lehigh County Community College, and Lehigh University.

Shana and Tara had a lively discussion about her campaign and what inspired her to run for office. Issues like hydraulic fracturing, sewage sludge aka biosolids, and pipeline production were the main topics of their conversation and influences of her campaign.

On September 7th, Labor Day Tara’s campaign is hosting a virtual concert series Eco Jam at 6-8 pm EST. If you care about climate change, love live music, and want to support Tara’s campaign, this is the event for you!! To get your tickets, go to her campaign’s Act Blue account. If you would like to find out more about her campaign, donate or volunteer please visit her website, Instagram, and Facebook pages.

We all need to vote in this very important election on November 3rd! Here in Pennsylvania, you have until October 19th to register to vote, October 27th is the last day to request your mail-in ballot and must be postmarked before November 3rd to count. Don’t forget if you decide to vote in person, Election Day is November 3rd. Polls in Pennsylvania are open from 7 am-8 pm. If you would like to register to vote or request your mail-in ballot, please go to votespa.com.