When running the ActiveState Perm Package Manager I try and add a repository but I get the error: certificate Verify Failed. The repository is on a web site for which there is no way I can verify it's certificate. I will answer my own question in a minute because it took me forever to find the solution and I thought the community might benefit.
add the environment variable: PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME with a value of 0