On May 17th, voters will be asked to consider a $625 million bond issue to fund a statewide initiative titled “Growing Greener II”. This is an initiative that has broad bipartisan support from the Governor’s office, our elected officials and environmental organizations across the Commonwealth.

The ballot asks: "Do you favor authorizing the Commonwealth to borrow up to $625,000,000, for the maintenance and protection of the environment, open space and farmland preservation, watershed protection, abandoned mine reclamation, acid mine drainage remediation and other environmental initiatives?" No new taxes or fees are contained in the ballot question.

The work to restore, preserve and maintain our natural resources got a jump start with the original five-year, $1.2 billion Growing Greener program initiated by Governor Tom Ridge in 1999.

We’ve made substantial progress since then reversing some of the damage to our natural resources and preserving our most pristine and valuable land from uncontrolled development. Watershed organizations rely on Growing Greener funding for projects to capture and treat abandoned mine discharges that have polluted hundreds of streams in Pennsylvania.

The program funds the decontamination of old industrial sites so they can be recycled for new businesses while at the same time preserving our more treasured green spaces. Funds are also made available to maintain and upgrade our state and local parks.

All of us have benefited in a number of ways from the program. We’ve proven to ourselves that we can still grow our economy while protecting our natural resources. A healthy environment and flourishing economy are not mutually exclusive.

This is our opportunity as voters to keep the momentum and success story going. Please ask your family, neighbors and friends to express their priority for a greener future by voting “yes” on May 17th.

5/6/2005