Scrapbook Photo 03/17/24 - 120 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/33kb5tpe
Legislators, Environmental, Sportsmen Groups Oppose Budget Deal, Want Eco-Friendly Budget
Members of the House and representatives of 30 environmental and sportsmens' groups held a press conference this week opposing the budget deal agreed to a week ago which would lease up to 100,000 acres of State Forest land for natural gas drilling and significantly cut funding for environmental agencies to help raise between $60 and $100 million to balance the budget.

Ironically, the budget agreement announced by the Senate Republicans, House Democrats, Senate Democrats and Gov. Rendell a week ago would result in a $450 million budget surplus at the end of this fiscal year reported Capitolwire.com this week.

Speakers at the event included: Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware), Jan Jarrett, President & CEO of PennFuture, Rep. David Levdansky (D-Allegheny), Majority Chair of the House Finance Committee, Jeff Saunders, PA Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, Kathy Davis, Quality Deer Management and Judy Swank, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania.

Also present were Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Lehigh), Majority Chair of the House Local Government Committee, Rep. Babette Joesphs (D-Philadelphia), Majority Chair of the House State Government Committee, Rep. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks), Rep. John Siptroth (D-Monroe) and Rep. David Kessler (D-Berks).

"We cannot balance the budget on the back of the environment," Rep. Vitali said. "First, the current agreement would require that far too much state forest land be open for Marcellus Shale drilling."

Rep. Vitali said the group also opposed the elimination of the Oil and Gas Lease Fund into which revenues from all mineral leasing are deposited for land owned by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, supports the adoption of a severance tax on natural gas production and restoring $56 million in cuts to the Department of Environmental Protection.

Video Blog:
Rep. Greg Vitali

Jan Jarrett, PennFuture, said inspite of the Governor's assertion there were no winners or losers in this year's budget, she said the winners were the natural gas companies and the losers are forest lands and taxpayers. She added, "We have an incumbent responsibility to protect our public resources from being overused for gas drilling."

Rep. Levdansky noted unlike most public policy decisions made by the General Assembly, if leasing was allowed to go ahead, the impact would be irrevocable. "If we make a mistake on this, the damages and the consequences will last and haunt us forever."

He said the professionals at the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources should be allowed to make the decisions on how much and when State Forest land should be leased, not the General Assembly.

Rep. Levdansky said the group of legislators who share this concern "are big enough to get the attention (of Leadership)." He noted two years ago a similar group of legislators and environmental groups successfully opposed taking $40 million from the Keystone Recreation, Parks and Conservation Fund to support the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program which did not have its own funding source. (Pa Environment Digest 7/13/07)

Jeff Saunders, PA Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, strongly supported the severance tax on natural gas production and denounced the tax on small games of chance which help support local hunting and fishing clubs.

He said severance tax funds should be directed to support the Fish and Boat Commission and the Game Commission to improve the financial stability of these wildlife resource agencies.

Kathy Davis, a biologist and representative for Quality Deer Management, asked, "How rich will we be when we've converted all of our forests, all our soil, all our water resources and minerals into cash?" if we destroy the environment in the process, just like we've done in the past.

Judy Swank, 10,000 Friends of PA, said the state's recent investments in projects like PA Wilds which uses our rich natural resources for recreation and tourism will be wasted if the resource we depend on is destroyed.

"Our State Forests should be managed to benefit all Pennsylvanians and that includes extracting resources in ways that are compatible with sound environmental stewardship," said Swank.

The groups included in the press conference were:Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania, Allegheny Group Sierra Club, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Appalachian Land and Conservation Services, Audubon Pennsylvania, Bucks County Birders, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Citizens for Coal Field Justice, Clean Water Action, Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, Friends of Seem Seed Farm, Green Space Alliance, Group Against Smog and Pollution, Heritage Conservancy, Juniata Valley Audubon, Keystone Trails Association, Kiskiminetas Watershed Association, Montgomery County Lands Trust, PennEnvironment, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, Pennsylvania Forest Coalition, Republicans for Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, Pennsylvania Parks and Recreation Society, The Nature Conservancy, Pennsylvania Chapter, Roaring Run Watershed Association, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, Summit Lake Association for Preservation, United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania.

Status Of Budget

A week after Senate and House Leaders and Gov. Rendell announced agreement on a budget framework, there still are no details on what that budget contains or a schedule for when it will be voted on.

9/28/2009

    Go To Next Article

Return to This PA Environment Digest's Main Page