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Regional Meetings Scheduled To Support Moratorium On State Forest Natural Gas Leasing
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PennFuture and other environmental groups are sponsoring a series of six regional meetings and rallies to support House Bill 2235 (Vitali-D-Delaware) which would impose a five year moratorium on further leasing of State Forest land for Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.
The two-year budget agreement in October requires Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to produce $60 million from oil and gas leases to help balance the 2009-10 budget and there is an agreement to require DCNR to produce $180 million from leases to balance the 2010-11 budget.
In past years $174 million was used from DCNR's Oil and Gas Lease Fund to balance the 2007-08 budget and $43 million to balance the 2008-09 budget.
In announcing the meetings, PennFuture said, "We need forest heroes- our legislators and Gov. Rendell must pledge not to support a budget that relies in drilling in forests. Instead, they need to enact a gas extraction impact fee to pay for the damage to natural resources and communities that drilling causes. Our legislators need to support the impact fee and the Save our Forests legislation (House Bill 2235), which puts a five year freeze on new deep natural gas drilling leases in state forests."
Here is the schedule of events---- April 14, 12:15 - 12:45 p.m. - Philadelphia. Demonstration to Save Pennsylvania’s Forests. Gov. Rendell's Southeast Office, 200 South Broad Street (near Broad and Walnut). Join us during your lunch hour as we conduct a fun demonstration with a local arts group to show support our remarkable state forests.
-- April 15, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. - Ricketts Glen State Park. Picnic in Ricketts Glen State Park to Save Pennsylvania’s Forests. Rickets Glen State Park Picnic Pavilion #2, 695 State Route 487, Benton, PA. Gather your friends and family and join us for a relaxing lunch in the park to show your support for protecting our state forests and to simply enjoy the beauty of Ricketts Glen State Park.
-- April 17, 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.- Philadelphia. Annual PennFuture Watershed Workshop: Bold Action to Protect Water Quality in Philadelphia and Beyond. Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St, Philadelphia, PA. This workshop will discuss changes Philadelphia is making to ensure the health of our waterways and take a look at Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling, and why it is relevant to local water quality.-- April 20, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.- Pittsburgh. Rally for the Trees to Save Pennsylvania's Forests. Portico steps of the City-County Building, 414 Grant St, Pittsburgh, PA. Grab your friends and spend your lunch hour showing your support for Pennsylvania's state forests. -- April 20, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. - Ohiopyle. Celebrate Our Forests - and learn more about gas drilling Ohiopyle Stewart Community Center, 15 Sherman Street, Ohiopyle, PA. Learn more about natural gas drilling - what it is and what the impacts will be - and share your stories about what our state forests mean to you. We’ll deliver your stories to elected officials on Earth Day in Harrisburg. -- April 22, 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. - Harrisburg. Earth Day Rally to Protect Penn’s Woods, Pennsylvania State Capitol Main Rotunda. Gather your friends, postcards, and signs and join us in a rally encouraging our legislators to protect Penn's Woods. |
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4/5/2010 |
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