Budget dog days continue
We're doing our best to keep cool here in Harrisburg as signs of progress on the state budget are few and far between. The House could return to Harrisburg in the near future to approve stopgap funding for Gaming Control Board employees, but most observers are not expecting a breakthrough on the General Fund budget until after Labor Day-at the earliest.
But at least Governor Rendell received a friendly call from Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell (R) to commiserate. The Nutmeg State and the Keystone State are the last two states in the nation without a budget for the new fiscal year.
Economic bright spots - Clean energy, green jobs investments
This week Governor Rendell announced $20.7 million for 25 clean energy projects that will create an estimated 430 permanent jobs; 1,068 temporary/construction jobs; retain 4,110 jobs; produce enough energy to power 26,000 homes; and reduce carbon emissions equivalent to removing over 17,000 cars from the road. Nearly half of the funding came from the stimulus package passed by Congress and President Obama.
Location, location, location
Pennsylvania is the only major natural gas state without a severance tax or conservation fee. The evidence from these other states shows that imposing the tax had almost no impact on production. Transportation costs account for nearly half of the price of natural gas. So, as a story this week in the Fort Worth Business Press demonstrates, the drillers are flocking to Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale formation - and pulling rigs out of other gas fields - because of our strategic location in the largest and most developed gas market in the world in the northeastern U.S.
All the more reason for a severance tax to protect the land, water, wildlife, and communities at risk from the drilling, and help the state solve its budget crisis.
Harrisburg certainly not out of Range
In June we reported that Texas-based Range Resources spent an astounding $208,918 on lobbying the General Assembly and other Pennsylvania state officials for just the first three months of 2009. Well, partner, this Range is hardly free as the company now has spent $407,365 on lobbying for the first six months of 2009 according to the most recent reports from the Department of State. Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy checked in a distant (though hardly poor) second with $127,065 in lobbying expenses for the six-month period. PennFuture has now tracked over $1 million in state lobbying expenses by the natural gas industry in the first half of 2009.
You can't make this stuff up
With the airwaves full of reports of less than civil town hall meetings around the country, and the blogosphere full of charges and countercharges about which participants are really grassroots folks and which are Astroturf, a leaked email shows that this may just get worse. The Huffington Post reports that Greenpeace USA received a copy of a memo detailing the American Petroleum Institute's plans to launch a nationwide Astroturf campaign attacking climate legislation at pseudo public events scheduled before the Senate returns to debate the issue in September. One such event is planned for Philadelphia.
The email memo (download a PDF copy), which appears to come from the desk of American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard, asks API's member companies to recruit employees, retirees, vendors and contractors to attend 'Energy Citizen' rallies in key Congressional districts nationwide in the closing weeks of the August recess. The campaign plan places a special focus on 21 states picked by API for having 'a significant industry presence' or 'assets on the ground,'" reports Huffington Post.
Looks like the polluters are going for their best bang for the buck. Why disrupt genuine town hall meetings when you can create and totally control your own, and pass it off as a public meeting?
Dickinson makes prestigious Green Honor Roll
Dickinson College is one of 15 colleges and universities to land on the Princeton Review's 2010 Green Honor Roll for the most environmentally friendly institutions of higher learning. The college's Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education works to incorporate the environment and sustainability across the college curriculum. The Princeton Review also highlighted the school's efforts on composting, green buildings and biofuels among other initiatives.
Darlene Harris – pothole fixing Queen?
According to WDUQ-FM, Pittsburgh City Councilmember Darlene Harris wants to change the way the city paves its streets by switching to recycling. She recently went to Akron Ohio to see firsthand the new technology that scrapes up the old asphalt, reheats and immediately reuses it to repave the road. And while the recycled asphalt doesn't last quite as long (new asphalt lasts 7-10 years; recycled lasts 5-7 years), Pittsburgh officials estimate that the city could save $2,275,000 annually for every 20 miles repaved. And of course, the benefit to our health and environment is priceless.
Something to talk about, thanks to Bonnie Raitt
When Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal kicked off their coast-to-coast summer tour in Williamsport, they decided to use their musical talents to do more than just chase the blues away. A portion of all tour proceeds will help to raise money for a variety of causes. Thanks to Raitt's invitation, PennFuture tabled at two of the concerts and is eligible to receive a portion of the funds. Please take a moment and vote for the cause the BonTajCollective Action Fund will support. Since we work to ensure safe and sustainable energy and environmental protection, vote for either one or both of the issues! That will help keep us talking-and walking-to protect Pennsylvania's environment and economy.
Podcast of the Week: Your computer's dead. Now what?
In this week's podcast, PennFuture's western Pennsylvania Outreach Coordinator Joylette Portlock takes you on an audio tour of eLoop LLC, an ethical electronics recycling firm in Plum Borough, just outside of Pittsburgh. You'll hear Ned Eldridge, eLoop's president and CEO; Penny Holden, vice president of sales; and Jimmi Burns, director of operations, describe the recycling process step-by-step. You'll learn exactly how our electronic waste – the fastest growing waste stream in the world – should be disposed of. Turns out our televisions, computers, cell phones, PDAs, printers, etc., are full of toxic chemicals that must be disposed of as hazardous waste, and precious metals and other valuable components that can be reused.
Unfortunately, there is no law in Pennsylvania banning all this electronic waste from our landfills. But that could change. Two e-recycling bills currently before the Pennsylvania General Assembly - HB 708 and SB 816. These bills will require manufacturers of electronics to take back their old products and arrange for them to be responsibly recycled. HB 708 has been approved by the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and could be scheduled for a vote by the full House soon. SB 816 is currently before the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.
In late June, PennFuture, eLoopLLC, and the Pennsylvania Resources Council held a special electronics recycling event as part of the Black and Gold City Goes Green Campaign. With just a few days notice, more than 350 Pittsburghers brought their old electronics to Heinz Field and paid to recycle three truckloads - about 20 tons - of old televisions, computers and more. The effort kept between six and seven tons of lead out of landfills.
You can sign up to automatically receive PennFuture Podcasts by going to iTunes and subscribing. And you can make sure you are on the cutting edge of environmental activism by joining PennFuture at our secure website.
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