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Op-Ed: State Government Is Ignoring Pennsylvania’s Constitutional Right To A Clean Environment For Generations Yet To Come
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By Ron Evans, President, PA Environmental Defense Foundation Reportedly, when President Andrew Jackson disagreed with a decision of the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, he said, “John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it”. All three branches of Commonwealth government are saying the equivalent regarding a ruling the PA Supreme Court made in June, 2017. At that time the court ruled in favor of the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF) who was suing the governor for not executing the environmental amendment of the PA Constitution. Article 1, Section 27 of the Constitution states “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.” PEDF’s suit specifically contended that the Governor and legislature were ignoring the amendment in the management of state parks and forests The PA Supreme Court decision in PEDF’s case clearly stated that the amendment means state lands and resources are owned by the citizens of the Commonwealth in the form of a public trust. In addition, the trust includes any money gained from the sale of the resources. The court ruled that the role of government at all levels is to act as a trustee of the public trust, not as proprietors, by conserving and maintaining public lands and resources. The legislative and executive branch’s abrogation of their responsibilities as trustees becomes especially damaging with the rush to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region of the state. The governor and legislature have not permanently banned additional drilling on public lands, even though the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has stated that any additional drilling will endanger fragile ecologies. The PA Supreme Court in its ruling deemed the Oil and Gas Lease Fund, established to mitigate damage caused by drilling, to be part of the public trust. The Fund can be used only to maintain and conserve public natural resources. Starting with the Rendell administration approximately $1.2 billion have been taken out of the public trust and diverted to the General Fund. Governor Wolf and the legislature continue to ignore the PA Supreme Court decision by diverting $61 million from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund to the General Fund for the 2020-21 budget. Consequently, PEDF filed another suit specific to the diversion of Oil and Gas Lease Fund money to the General Fund. After a 2 year wait, Commonwealth Court has ignored the decision of the PA Supreme Court by ruling that some of the Oil and Gas Lease Fund can be used to fund the operation of state departments and agencies. Now all three branches of state government are complicit in ignoring the PA Supreme Court decision in the PEDF case. PEDF is appealing the ruling to the PA Supreme Court. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the agency charged with conserving and protecting public lands is ignoring the PA Supreme Court. In the current plan for state forests, DCNR, in effect, has rejected the philosophy of ecosystem management which had guided decisions since 1995. Ecosystem management is a philosophy that meets both ecological and human needs. In other words, an activity that meets a human need but damages the ecology is antithetical to sound ecosystem management. The 2016 Plan for state forests reverts to a multiple use approach in which DCNR functions more like an owner of the resources, not as a trustee as mandated by the PA Supreme Court. The plan states that oil and gas extraction is a legitimate use of public natural resources. Initially PEDF engaged in discussions with DCNR to get them to change the plan to be consistent with the PA Supreme Court decision. DCNR refused to make the change so PEDF is challenging the plan in court. In 1971, the legislature passed, the governor signed and the citizens ratified a visionary amendment to the Commonwealth’s Constitution. For almost 50 years, state government largely ignored its responsibility to act as a trustee of a public trust consisting of public lands and resources. In 2017 the PA Supreme Court made an unambiguous ruling mandating that government fulfill its trustee responsibilities. However, all three branches continue to ignore the ruling. As citizens and owners of the public trust, we cannot allow this undemocratic challenge to a PA Supreme Court decision to persist. For more information on PEDF’s legal actions, visit the PA Environmental Defense Foundation website. Click Here to watch a WITF documentary on Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment and learn more at the PA Conservation Heritage website. (Photo: Forbes State Forest by Rusty Glessner, Winner PA Parks & Forests Foundation Photo Contest.) NewsClips: Click Here For A Week’s Worth Of Political NewsClips Click Here For PA Coronavirus NewsClips Click Here For A Week’s Worth Of Environment & Energy NewsClips Support Local Journalism! Related Articles: PA Supreme Court Accepts PA Environmental Defense Foundation Appeal Of Ruling On Gas Drilling Revenue Transfers To Pay DCNR, General Fund Expenses [Includes history of the PEDF legal cases so far] Op-Ed: Earth Day 50 - A Reflection - Stop The Deception Before It’s Too Late - Larry J. Schweiger, Former President, National Wildlife Federation Op-Ed: My Fellow Conservatives Are Out Of Touch On The Environment - Fmr. Gov. Tom Ridge House Republicans Pass Bill Blocking Environmental Regulations; Likely Going To Governor Related Articles - Earth Day 50 PA: Op-Ed: My Fellow Conservatives Are Out Of Touch On The Environment - Fmr. Gov. Tom Ridge Op-Ed: 50th Earth Day: Time To Consider Wiser Course - We Are All Of This Earth And Dependent On It - Bernie McGurl, Lackawanna River Conservation Association Op-Ed: Earth Day 50: A Wakeup Call To The Scientific Community - Science Matters: By Roland Wall, Director, Ruth Patrick Center For Environmental Research Op-Ed: Earth Day 1970 Changed My Life: By Carol Collier, The Academy of Natural Sciences Op-Ed: Earth Day - 50 Years And Counting - Joanne Shafer, Centre County Recycling Coordinator Op-Ed: Earth Day 50 - A Reflection - Stop The Deception Before It’s Too Late - Larry J. Schweiger, Former President, National Wildlife Federation Earth Day 2020 – Bringing Pennsylvanians Together Even Though We’re Apart DEP’s Blog: By Acting On Climate, We Help Make Every Day Earth Day DEP’s Blog: Earth Day 50 PA: DEP Staff Reflections DEP’s Blog: Peregrine Falcons Soar In PA As Earth Day Celebrates 50 Years DCNR Good Natured Blog: Looking Toward Earth Day 2070 Earth Day 50 PA: Edwin Charles: The Earth Day Teach-In Must Continue Earth Day 50 PA: Marci Mowery: A Sense Of Place In This World Earth Day 50 PA: Richard Lewis: What I Did On The First Earth Day 50 Years Ago Earth Day 50 PA: Wayne Kober: Impact & Inspiration From First Earth Day Earth Day 50 PA: Earth Day At 50: Progression, Emergence, Park & Rec Involvement PA Environmental Council At 50: We Had To Do Something PA Environmental Council At 50: Taking The Lead PA Environmental Council At 50: A New Millennium PA Environmental Council At 50: Securing Our Environmental Rights PA Forestry Assn: Special Earth Day Edition Of Pennsylvania Forests Quarterly PA Parks & Forests Foundation Posts Special Earth Day 50 PA Newsletter Happy Earth Day 50 PA! Special PA Environment Digest [Posted: April 29, 2020] |
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5/4/2020 |
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