Bernard F. Brown

Philadelphia

Managing Editor at Grid Magazine

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Articles

Editor's Notes: Banking on Our Trust

2 weeks ago | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

Back in February, The Philadelphia Inquirer published an op-ed by former Mayor Michael Nutter that left me feeling confused. The piece argues for the role of fossil gas in the home energy mix for Philadelphians, because, Nutter claims, renewables are simply too expensive for low-income households. Yes, this is the same Michael Nutter who, in 2009, created the City’s Office of Sustainability and set aggressive energy savings and greenhouse gas reduction targets.
Editor's Notes: Resisting Resignation

1 month ago | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

A few years ago a friend moved to the suburbs after decades in Philadelphia. Last week she came over for dinner, and she joked about a chicken bone she stepped over on the sidewalk on her way to our West Philly door. There’s nothing like chicken bones to let you know you’re back in the city. It was a small thing, but it hit me as a powerful statement about litter. Did someone toss that bone out of their car window, not caring that they were littering?
Area institution brings birding and citizen scientist groups together to strengthen community and build partnerships

1 month ago | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

The attendees came out for the living birds at the September 22 “Little Sit” held by the In Color Birding Club, the Feminist Bird Club, Philly Queer Birders, Disability Pride Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Center for Adapted Sports, but John Eskate showed up with dead birds in his bag. Eskate, the volunteer and civic engagement senior manager for The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, brought preserved bird specimens from the research collection.
The Transportation Issue

2 months ago | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

Are we in drive or reverse? The truth is that sustainable technologies are nothing new. The chain-driven safety bicycle (safer than the precarious penny-farthing) grew popular in the late 1800s. Electric cars date back to the mid-1800s, and Philadelphia entered the EV history books towards the end of that century, when locals Henry G. Morris and Pedro G. Salom debuted their Electrobat, a battery-driven carriage intended to compete with horse-drawn taxis.
No Pennsylvania agency currently protects endangered insects and other terrestrial invertebrates. New legislation would fix the regulatory gap

2 months ago | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

There aren’t as many American bumble bees (Bombus pensylvanicus) as there used to be in the state the insect is named after. The big black and yellow bees are in decline, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature rating the species as vulnerable. Although the American bumble bee might need protection in Pennsylvania, there is currently no government agency able to coordinate its conservation, or that of any other land-dwelling invertebrate (animal without a backbone).
Editor's Notes: No Power, No Justice

Feb 1, 2025 | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

I had never heard of the Philadelphia Art Commission back in 2022 when I tuned in to a Zoom meeting about plans to build a driving range at the Cobbs Creek Golf Course. When reporting on a public meeting of a City commission, it’s not uncommon to find yourself waiting impatiently through all the other proposals on the agenda ahead of the item you are there to cover. But in this case everything on the docket was absolutely fascinating to an environmental journalist like me.
Why are there so many black squirrels in Philadelphia?

Feb 1, 2025 | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

In 2003 former Tuskegee Airman and pioneering Black journalist Chuck Stone wrote “,” about a Philadelphia boy who bonds with a black squirrel in Fairmount Park. Squizzy was the only black squirrel the boy had ever seen in the park, but visitors today still spot them gathering acorns and running up trees. As Stone wrote in “Squizzy,” black and gray squirrels are simply color variations of the same species, the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis).
Mayor Parker and administration officials answer Grid’s questions on sustainability efforts

Feb 1, 2025 | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

The soaring rhetoric of campaign trails often meets the hard realities of governance once candidates take office. Competing demands, limited budgets and City Council’s own priorities can make for a challenging first year for any new mayor. Back in March 2023, when Cherelle Parker was a candidate in the Democratic primary, Grid published her responses to our sustainability-focused questionnaire. We did the same in November as she faced off against Republican David Oh in the general election.
What have Mayor Parker’s signature “clean” initiatives achieved thus far?

Feb 1, 2025 | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

At her inauguration on January 2, 2024, Cherelle Parker said, “We will make Philadelphia the safest, cleanest and greenest big city in the nation.” Philadelphia has long been plagued by litter, poorly-contained household trash and illegal dumping (“short dumping”) of waste that should be taken directly to a commercial dump: old tires, debris from construction, demolition and apartment cleanouts.
Editor's Notes: Four More Years

Dec 31, 2024 | gridphilly.com | Bernard F. Brown

Like a lot of Grid readers, I’m still adjusting to the reality of the 2024 presidential election. There is my conscious perception of reality, based on the facts of the world, and there is my gut-level sense of reality, colored by how I think the world should be. The two are out of whack. Case in point: We have been planning this electrification guide for almost a year.