Pennsylvania Works! campaign kicks off
This week a coalition of environmental, conservation, preservation, housing and research groups, including PennFuture, kicked off a new campaign to create public policy that puts Pennsylvanians to work and builds a resilient, robust and green economy for all. The Pennsylvania Works! coalition will to create public policies that will build great jobs and economic development, promote government efficiency, and create vibrant, prosperous, and livable communities throughout Pennsylvania.
Several members of the General Assembly attended the press conference to highlight some of the legislation included in the campaign. Senator Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) discussed his housing trust fund legislation (Senate Bill 599); Senator Dave Argall (R-Schuylkill) highlighted forthcoming legislation on rehabilitating vacant properties; Representative Bob Freeman (D-Northampton) advocated his historic preservation incentive legislation (House Bill 42); and Representative David Levdansky (D-Allegheny, Washington) summarized his business subsidy accountability bill to be introduced in the near future.
Organizations can endorse Pennsylvania Works! at the campaign website.
We have bad news and good news
First, the bad news. This week the Pennsylvania Senate passed Senate Bill 490, which diverts $174 million from conservation projects in state parks and state forests and puts it in the General Fund. This is a new way of doing things. Since 1955, a state law has directed money from the sale and drilling of nonrenewable oil and gas resources in state forests to a fund that invests in conservation and maintenance and improvement of our parks and forests. In a tough budget situation all programs must make sacrifices, but diverting more than 90 percent of the revenues from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund is too much.
Now, the good news. 17 senators voted to oppose the SB 490, despite the fact that the diversion was proposed by Governor Rendell and supported by the Republican and Democratic leadership in the Senate. PennFuture and 13 other major conservation organizations sent a letter in opposition to the bill and in support of a severance tax on natural gas. Citizens across the state also pitched in with emails, calls and faxes to Senate offices.
We salute the 17 members of the Senate who opposed SB 490: Lisa Baker (R-Luzerne), Andy Dinniman (D-Chester), Edwin Erickson (R-Delaware), Larry Farnese (D-Philadelphia), Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheny), Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny), Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery), Vince Hughes (D-Philadelphia) Richard Kasunic (D-Fayette), Shirley Kitchen (D-Philadelphia), Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery), Charles McIlhinney (R-Bucks), John Rafferty (R-Montgomery), Robert Tomlinson (R-Bucks), LeAnna Washington (D-Philadelphia), Rob Wonderling (R-Montgomery) and Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming).
Drill, baby, drill
Thirty-nine states, including major natural gas producing states, charge a severance or extraction tax on natural resources. But rather than have drillers in the Marcellus Shale natural gas field pay their share given the environmental risks and consequences of the activity, the House Republican Energy Task Force has other ideas. They want to open up another 390,000 acres of our state forests--nearly one-fifth of all state forest land--to drilling in the next three years.
A new Turnpike rivalry
While Pittsburgh and Philadelphia didn't wind up opposing one another this year in the Super Bowl, there is a new turnpike rivalry springing up, according to the Trib p.m. With single stream recycling now in full force in both cities, the winner so far is the Black and Gold, with 65 percent of the population participating. But the City of Brotherly Love isn't far behind, with 50 percent of its citizens recycling. Philly is a lot bigger than the Burgh, though, so Philly wins in the sheer amount of recycled material, 11,000 tons to 50,000 tons. And both cities have considerable bragging rights over our friends to the south in Charm City. Only 30 percent of Baltimore's citizens recycle.
The hour is near
On Saturday, people across the state and around the globe will be participating in Earth Hour, one of the largest climate events in history. Participants will turn off lights from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. as a reminder of how wasteful energy use can be. Earth Hour originated in Australia in 2007. WWF expanded the event globally in 2008 when an estimated tens of millions participated. This year the goal is more than one billion participants worldwide.
And while you're at it, why not take the time to change a few lights and a few habits. Remember, changing how we use energy and what kind of energy we use is the single most important thing we can do to fight pollution.
Podcast of the Week: (Almost) Live from Harrisburg
This week's podcast features the press conference announcing the formation of Pennsylvania Works! (See first story). You can have PennFuture podcasts download automatically to your desktop or iPod. Just download the free software iTunes and follow the directions to subscribe to PennFuture's podcasts.
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