Pennsylvania elected officials show leadership on climate issues

In the past month, Pennsylvania’s federal elected officials have stepped up and made major announcements in support of climate action to compliment Pope Francis’ “courageous” call to action on environmental degradation.

Senator Casey Supports the CPP: 

On September 18, Sen. Bob Casey publicly pledged his support for the Clean Power Plan (CPP) at an interfaith climate event in suburban Philadelphia. Sen. Casey joined the majority of Pennsylvania’s voters that support the CPP as a much-needed action to address a major contributor to climate change – carbon pollution from existing power plants. The CPP is an essential first step toward mitigating climate change and improving air quality.        

As the third largest carbon emitting state, Pennsylvania has an important role to play. The rule is designed to give states the opportunity to craft customized Implementation Plans, which will spark investment in clean, renewable energy along with energy efficiency measures - creating good-paying jobs and saving people money on their electric bills.

Below is an excerpt from Sen. Casey’s updated constituent letter on the CPP, which summarizes his reasons for supporting this critical climate action: 

Climate Change is already affecting much of the Nation, including Pennsylvania, and it is imperative for us to develop sensible policies to stave off more dramatic consequences over the next century. I strongly believe that we have a duty to preserve the environment not just so we can have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, but because this world is in our care for our children and our children's children. Although addressing climate change represents a significant challenge for the Nation and the world, Pennsylvania has the necessary natural and intellectual resources to minimize and mitigate these impacts while moving us towards energy independence and creating jobs across the Commonwealth. I am confident that Pennsylvania can rise to the challenge and for that reason I support the Clean Power Plan. 

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to extend your thanks to Senator Casey for standing up for Pennsylvanians now and in the future with his support of the Clean Power Plan.

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http://1.usa.gov/1NGePCG

Three PA Congressmen Support Republican Climate Change Resolution in U.S. House: 

Led by U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson of New York, eleven Republican members of the House pledged their support to a resolution affirming that climate change is real, that human activity contributes to climate change, and that action is needed. Pennsylvania is well-represented among the group with U.S. Reps.Patrick Meehan, Michael Fitzpatrick, and Ryan Costello all signing on as co-sponsors. 

While the resolution stops short of endorsing any specific action, this is an important statement from a coalition of Republicans that climate action is needed. In particular, the resolution highlights a few key bipartisan areas of agreement on climate action including the need to be good environmental and economic stewards, while also recognizing the pressing threats posed by climate change including risks to wildlife, natural places, human health and safety, national security, and vulnerable populations. Full text of the resolution may be found here. 

Katie Bartolotta is southeastern Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @KatieBartolotta.  

No joy in Mudville: General Assembly strikes out down the stretch on key environmental issues

Our preview of the stretch run of the fall legislative session discussed the need for the General Assembly to defeat two bad environmental bills along with the opportunity to pass two excellent bills. Unfortunately, by passing both bad bills and failing to pass either good bill, the General Assembly went 0 for 4 and wore the collar as fans of clean water, acting responsibly on climate, protecting public health, and reducing energy use were left to ponder what might have been in the face of these strikeouts.

Let's look at the legislative box score, which is chock full of errors.

The passage of House Bill 1565 will undermine the current requirements for riparian buffers that protect High Quality and Exceptional Value streams, Pennsylvania's best waters. Riparian buffers reduce flooding and stormwater runoff, improve water quality, decrease pollution, protect drinking water and improve habitat for fish and other wildlife.

HB 1565 rolled into the Senate with considerable momentum from its lopsided passage in the House. A hard push by environmental, conservation and angling organizations made the Senate vote close, but unfortunately the bill was approved 27-22 and has just been signed into law by Governor Corbett as Act 162 of 2014.

The passage of House Bill 2354 will delay and harm Pennsylvania's ability to develop an effective plan to comply with the proposed U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Power Plan. The EPA plan would deliver significant carbon pollution reductions from power plants, help fight global warming, and improve public health, and represents an extraordinary opportunity to boost renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts in Pennsylvania and across America. HB 2354 now risks a federal takeover of Pennsylvania's carbon compliance efforts.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 14-12 to approve a compromise amendment offered by Senator John Rafferty, R-Montgomery, that would have given the General Assembly significant input into the crafting of the Pennsylvania compliance plan but without jeopardizing the ability of the Department of Environmental Protection to submit a state plan to the EPA in a timely manner as required by law.

PennFuture supported the Rafferty amendment and commends the eight Democrats and six Republicans who voted in favor. Unfortunately, the full Senate voted 29-20 to return to the previous version of the of the legislation and thus nullify the Rafferty amendment. Governor Corbett has now signed HB 2354 into law as Act 175 of 2014.

House Bill 343, sponsored by Rep. Ron Miller, R-York, would have provided important and long overdue standards for private well water construction that will protect human health and water resources. Over three million Pennsylvania residents rely on one million private water wells for their drinking water supply, with approximately 20,000 wells drilled annually. Only Michigan has a larger population served by private water supplies. Despite these facts, Pennsylvania remains one of two states lacking statewide regulations for private well construction.

The House passed HB 343 by a wide margin on June 27, but the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee whiffed on the bill and did not give it further consideration. Rep. Miller is retiring at the end of the session so hopefully other legislators will step up to the plate on this important issue.

House Bill 34, sponsored by Rep. Kate Harper, R-Montgomery, would have required high-performance green building standards in most state-owned building construction projects. Passage of the bill would be a win for both the environment and Pennsylvania taxpayers as there would be substantial reduction in operating costs and energy and water use over the life of the buildings.

The House passed HB 34 by a wide margin in early 2013, but the bill stalled in the Senate. In the waning days of the session, the bill started to move in the Senate but an apparent deal with the House to pair Senate action on HB 34 in return for House action on a Senate building codes bill fell through.

PennFuture thanks the members of the General Assembly who opposed HB 1565 and HB 2354, and worked to pass HB 343 and 34. We can only hope that next year's legislative lineup will be stronger when it comes to conserving Penn's Woods and protecting its citizens.


Steve Stroman is state policy director for PennFuture and is based in Harrisburg. He tweets @SteveStroman1.