The Better Path Coalition will host a program on Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment January 27 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral, 221 N. Front Street in Harrisburg starting at 2:30.

Opportunity and Obligation: Article 1, Section 21, Pennsylvania’s Green Amendment will feature a panel discussion on the amendment and its importance. 

The Amendment says, “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

The panel speakers are--

-- Franklin Kury, former PA State Senator, Representative and author of Article 1, Section 27

-- Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and author of the book, The Green Amendment

-- Jordan Yeager, partner at Curtin & Heefner whose legal arguments concerning Article I, Section 27 resulted in the landmark Act 13 (Robinson Township, Delaware Riverkeeper Network et. al v Commonwealth) ruling that breathed life into the amendment

-- Anthony Ingraffea, Dwight C. Baum Professor Emeritus, Cornell University who will discuss shale gas development’s role in climate change and environmental devastation in Pennsylvania

-- Pouné Saberi, President of the Board of Directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Philadelphia

-- Ashton Clatterbuck, Sunrise Movement organizer and member of Lancaster Against Pipelines

-- Karen Feridun, Better Path Coalition

At 4:30, attendees will be invited to walk from St. Stephen’s to the Capitol steps for a candlelight vigil.

On January 28, there will be a Team Lorax Rally and Petition Delivery events starting at 11:30 in the Capitol Rotunda.

Children dressed as the Lorax will deliver the petition and copies of the Seuss classic to Gov. Wolf and legislators. Freshman legislators will also receive a copy of the award-winning book, The  Green Amendment, so they can fully understand their obligation to protect our environmental rights.

The petition calls on our elected officials to uphold Pennsylvania’s Green Amendment by taking strong action on climate change and to prevent pollution and environmental devastation occurring in the state.

Questions about these events should be directed to Karen Feridun, Better Path Coalition, 610-678-7726, betterpathpa@gmail.com.

For more information on this initiative, visit the Better Path Coalition website.

Resource Link:

Dr. Seuss: The Lorax Project

Seussville: The Lorax Project In The Classroom

Seussville: How To Host A Lorax Project Student Earth Day Event

Related Stories:

StateImpact Video: The Story Of Environmental Rights In Pennsylvania

Op-Ed: Taking The Public Trust Seriously: The PA Supreme Court’s Landmark Decision In PEDF v. Commonwealth

[Posted: Jan. 18, 2019]

1/21/2019