The House Democratic Policy Committee will hold a public hearing in Harrisburg August 15 on House Bill 2744 (Vitali-D-Delaware) that would offer state financial assistance to municipalities that develop and implement local climate change action plans.

Testifiers are scheduled to include Jim Yienger, director of the ICLEI USA Policy Institute; Lou Thieblemont, mayor of Camp Hill, Pa., which has enacted regulations locally to decrease pollutants; and John Dernbach, a Widener University law professor whose research concentrates on environmental law, climate change and sustainable development. A representative from the Department of Environmental Protection has also been invited to testify.

Rep. Vitali’s legislation would initially provide $300,000 to the Department of Environmental Protection to fund local climate change mitigation grants. Technical assistance would be provided by groups such as the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives, or ICLEI, an organization that is helping local governments around the world develop and implement greenhouse gas action plans.

8/11/2006