PennFuture Blog

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Civilian Conservation Corps: Then and Now

by Annie Regan, Senior Program Manager
The Civilian Conservation Corps played a critical role healing our environment and putting Americans back to work. Read more

Chasing Bitcoin is a Bad Investment for Pennsylvania

by Rob Altenburg, Senior Director for Energy and Climate
It takes an obscene amount of energy to mine bitcoin and now companies are looking to power that mining by buying up cheap, dirty, outdated power plants just to run the computers to do the mining. Read more

PennFuture, Partners Challenge DEP's Approval of Renovo Energy Center

by Daniela Rakhlina-Powsner, Legal Intern
If we are truly committed to moving to a renewable energy economy, rather than a fossil-fuel based economy, the first step is to stop building new fossil fuel infrastructure. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is struggling with that first step. Read more

What You Won't Hear During the Aug. 17 Public Hearing on Pipelines in Pennsylvania

by John Ukenye, Policy Analyst
Pennsylvania’s pipelines have not been environmentally friendly, economically sustainable, safe, or at all “beneficial” to the average citizen. Read more

Stakeholders Making Progress on Chesapeake Bay Goals, but Legislature Still Lagging

by Renee Reber, Campaign Manager, Watershed Advocacy
After years of lackluster planning and implementation, Pennsylvania and the other Bay states should celebrate the huge strides that are underway over the last two years since the completion of the Phase 3 WIP. Read more

It's Time to Reimagine America's Infrastructure

by Adam Nagel, Campaign Manager
If we are truly willing to invest trillions of dollars into building back better, then let’s make sure we do just that. Read more

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rules that Drilling Revenues from State Forests Must be Used for Conservation

by Emily Rollins, Legal Intern
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the General Assembly to transfer oil and gas lease funds designated for environmental conservation to the general fund for non-conservation purposes. Read more

Maine’s Innovative Response to Plastics Pollution and What the Rest of Us Can Learn From it

by John Ukenye, Policy Analyst
Something must be done to tackle our plastic waste problem in the U.S., and states like Maine might be leading the way and teaching us all a thing or two about finally solving this issue. Read more

What comes next for plastic bags in Pennsylvania?

by Jessica O'Neill, Senior Attorney
July began with the expiration of a statewide restriction on banning the use of plastic bags. Read more

New Report Details the Use of “Forever Chemicals” in Fracking Operations Despite Serious Concerns to Public Health

by Austin Grace, Legal Intern
The impacts to our communities from fracking are obvious, but the inclusion of PFAS in the mix is even worse than we thought. Read more

Supreme Court Ruled Natural Gas Companies Can Condemn State-Owned Land

by Emily Rollins, Legal Intern
The U.S. Supreme Court recently dealt a severe blow in an ongoing fight to prevent PennEast, a private natural gas company, from building a 116 mile natural gas pipeline from the Marcellus Shale region in Pennsylvania into New Jersey. Read more

Report highlights success of Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters Program

by Adam Nagel, Campaign Manager
This year marks 10 years since the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Water Department embarked on its groundbreaking effort to improve water quality through the implementation of GSI with its Green City, Clean Waters program. Read more

More than Skin-Deep: Environmental Racism, Justice, and Pennsylvania

by John Ukenye, Policy Analyst
It is clear that people of minority groups are facing the brunt of environmental degradation at a harsher rate than other groups, and this is true in Pennsylvania too. Read more

Show Your Support for Our Delaware River Fish Protection Petition!

by Austin Grace, Legal Intern
Earlier this year, PennFuture and our partners submitted a supplemental petition to the Delaware River Basin Commission seeking immediate upgrade of the designated use of a portion of the mainstem Delaware River to protect fish and aquatic life. Read more

Introducing PennFuture's Legal Interns

by Abigail M. Jones, Vice President of Legal and Policy
This summer, we have a fantastic group of law students for our internship, representing a range of backgrounds and experiences. Read more

Will Pennsylvania’s Environment Ever Be A Priority for the Legislature?

by Jacquelyn Bonomo, PennFuture President and CEO
The state budget that PennFuture so optimistically saw as a chance for lawmakers and the Governor to invest in a greener future, fell far short of making those investments, and the support for clean water we were hoping to see never materialized. Read more

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