Over the past 18 months RecycleNOW Philadelphia has been hard at work collecting over 12,000 signatures, lobbying for public hearings, and making sure our next mayor will implement a dependable weekly curbside recycling program for everyone in the city. Now we need your help…
Come out for an afternoon of Philly’s best local bands playing to […]
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported today on the first mayoral debate of the campaign season last night, hosted by the Pittsburgh Design Coalition. Check out this quote from the article:
The two agreed on major transportation issues: that Oakland and Downtown should be better linked by mass transit; that the subway extension to the North Side is a waste of money; and that the northerly portion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway is dead. Mr. Ravenstahl said the expressway wasn’t even in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s most recent request for federal funding.
Boy, are we glad to hear it! Now let’s hope the candidates can agree that finding workable alternatives for Pittsburgh and the Mon Valley should be among the priorities for our region’s transportation planners.
We’re working on helping communities in the proposed dead road’s path connect with opportunities to attract new transportation investment that supports smart growth. We can’t do it without your help! Take a moment to contribute, and click on "comments" below to let us know what you think our region’s transportation priorities should be.
Please join the City of Philadelphia to review our progress on GreenPlan Philadelphia: The City’s Blueprint for Sustainable Open Space.
greenplan_fall2007_meetings.pdf
Supporters of the Mon-Fayette Toll Road, a proposed Turnpike expansion project in southwestern Pennsylvania, say the project is necessary to attract economic development and to retain young people in our region. But that underestimates the impact that the Mon-Fayetteâs car and truck pollution would have on the area’s residents, economy, and quality of living.
In this podcast, PennFuture’s Andrea Boykowycz speaks with Braddock Mayor John Fetterman and Michael Parker of Group Against Smog and Pollution. They elaborate on just how the Mon-Fayette would affect our health, and the health of our regionâs economy– and the outlook is bad on both counts.
Braddock is squarely in the path of the proposed Pittsburgh leg of the Mon-Fayette Toll Road. As Braddock Mayor John Fetterman testified last month before the State Transportation Commission, the proposed toll road is a menace to his community in more ways than one. The threat that the Turnpike would acquire right-of-way for this road has been an obstacle to economic and community re-development in Braddock for decades — and the traffic that the road would deliver (if it’s ever built) would blanket it in diesel fumes. Braddock already has some of the highest asthma rates of any municipality in our region. Plowing a highway right through the middle of town will only make Braddock’s residents sicker.
It’s not just Braddock’s lungs that would suffer, either. Because Allegheny County is a non-attainment area for PM 2.5 pollution (meaning, the EPA has determined our air doesn’t meet federal standards for soot pollution), any new fine particulate pollution source — such as a new four-lane highway – would make it that much harder for new businesses to locate here, or for existing businesses to expand. This is because we’re prohibited by federal law from adding to our pollution problem; any new emissions sources would need to pay to mitigate the effects they’d have on our region’s air quality.
Far from delivering economic opportunity to the Mon Valley, the Mon-Fayette would only create an additional obstacle to development. Building it would cost $3.6 billion – but it would also cost us our health and a sizable chunk of our economic future.
We shouldn’t have to shoulder any of those costs. Communities in the Mon Valley deserve much better.
For more information about the Mon-Fayette and what we can do to help Mon Valley communities move forward with achievable alternatives, visit PennFuture’s Mon-Fayette campaign page. While you’re there, you can make a tax-deductible contribution to our work. As always, we welcome your comments. Just email us at podcast (at) pennfuture (dot) org, or click on "Comments" below.
some details on rendell’s embattled plan:
At the heart of Rendell’s energy plan is an $850 million Energy Independence Fund.
Of that, $500 million, would be invested in clean-energy projects such as biofuel plants, solar and advanced coal technologies. Another $100 million would be used to help state firms expand clean-energy production and attract private-sector investors.
There would […]
Battle for Energy
Independence Starts
The Senate kicked off the Special Session on Energy Policy this week with a hearing
on the PennSecurity
Fuels Initiative. On Monday Governor
Rendell will discuss the Energy
Independence Strategy before a joint session of the General Assembly.
Will Pennsylvania win energy
independence or surrender? The stakes are that big.
Politics as usual will lose
the battle for energy independence by doing nothing, or passing small items
that make no real difference to how much energy is consumed or how energy is
made. Winning energy independence means boosting energy conservation and curtailing
the addiction to oil and coal.
To be specific, winning this
vital battle means Pennsylvania must require:
Bipartisan Support Grows for HSCA
Funding
Representatives Rick
Taylor (D-Montgomery) and Mike Vereb
(R-Montgomery) this week introduced House
Bill 1810, which taps $30 million of surplus budget revenues to make sure
the Hazardous
Sites Cleanup Account (HSCA) is fully funded for the remainder of the
2007-2008 fiscal year. There are 79 co-sponsors
of this bill and counting.
Senator Charles McIlhinney (R-Bucks)
plans to introduce companion legislation, Senate Bill 1059, in the very near
future.
Haul Your Ash Out of
Here
A report
by the Clean Air Task Force and Earthjustice examines the practice of
allowing power plant fly ash to be dumped into abandoned coal mines. Records
from 10 of 15 mines in Pennsylvania examined show unsafe levels of arsenic,
lead, cadmium, chromium and other pollutants in nearby streams and ground
water.
Don’t have time for the
exhaustive report? Watch the video.
Vance Proposes Shift in
Truck Idling Practices
Diesel soot pollution from trucks is a burgeoning public
health problem for Pennsylvania. And it is not just an urban problem.
Interstate 81 and numerous truck warehouses help make Cumberland County one of
the 25 worst places for this fine particle pollution in the nation according to
the American
Lung Association.
This week Senator Pat Vance (R-Cumberland and York) introduced
legislation to significantly restrict the idling of commercial diesel
vehicles. Senate Bill 1095 prohibits these trucks from idling more than five
minutes, with certain exceptions, if the outside temperature is between 40 and
80 degrees.
On May 16, the Environmental
Quality Board voted to accept DEP’s recommendation that the agency develop statewide
anti-idling regulations. The move was in a response to a petition submitted by
the Clean Air Board of Central
Pennsylvania.
Not Another Lawyer Joke
Know a sharp legal eagle interested in working to protect Pennsylvania’s
environment and economy? Please send her or him our way. PennFuture has an opening for an attorney to
work in our Pittsburgh office.
A Seminar in Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investing
Now at three locations!
• On Thursday, September 20th at 6:30 PM the seminar will be held in Lansdale at the offices of Apollo Financial Services at 100 West Main Street, Suite 201, in Lansdale, PA 19446.
• Hosted by James Cox and Scott Hall of Apollo Financial Services, a […]
A Seminar in Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investing
• On Tuesday, September 18th at 6:30 PM the seminar will be held in Philadelphia at Kaffa Crossing located at 4423 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia, PA 19104.
•
• Hosted by James Cox and Scott Hall of Apollo Financial Services, a seminar will be presented on socially and environmentally responsible […]
Wind energy is the best energy source in Pennsylvania when one considers the options available and the costs and benefits to our economy, environment, and to public health. PennFuture’s President and CEO took to the Capitol to speak to people directly about the overwhelmingly positive aspects of wind energy production and development in the Commonwealth. Pictured to the right are but a few reminders of how coal causes harm: through mining, through poisoning wildlife such as birds and fish via toxic pollution, and by creating many public health problems such as worsening asthma or contributing to premature deaths when burned for electricity. More than half of Pennsylvania’s electricity production comes from coal-fired power plants.
In this podcast, listen in as John details why wind is a win for Pennsylvania during a press conference, and why PennFuture is committed to working to help reduce the long list of damages caused by traditional power production. Our work to promote clean, alternative energy like wind is complemented and strengthened by our work fighting air pollution and toxic mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, working to protect communities from devastating impacts of coal mining, and striving to stop global warming and its many impacts on all aspects of life.
Following are but a few basic but important facts about wind energy:
-Electricity from Pennsylvaniaâs wind farms creates no air pollution. Wind energy emits no mercury that is poisoning birds, fish and working its way into the human food chain, no soot that kills 2,000 Pennsylvanians each year and belches from coal plants, no arsenic, no smog causing pollution that sickens and kills humans, and no global warming pollution that is causing dangerous climate change that will destroy Pennsylvaniaâs existing forests.
- Every kilowatt-hour of zero pollution electricity produced at a wind farm is a kilowatt-hour that will not be produced by traditional dirty generation sources that cause massive environmental damage. Supply and demand for electricity must constantly be kept in balance and so every kilowatt-hour produced by a wind farm is instantly consumed and avoids the need for that kilowatt-hour coming from another dirty plant.
- Wind energy helps Pennsylvania reduce our contributions to the global warming problem; Pennsylvania ranks third worst in the nation for production of heat-trapping gases that cause global warming, as much
as 105 countries combined. That equates to a full 1 percent of the worldâs total global warming pollution.
- Wind energy has no fuel costs. Investing in wind energy now means that costs will never escalate in the
years ahead, no matter what. The same cannot be said for traditional sources of energy in Pennsylvania.
- Pennsylvaniaâs forest, wildlife, and water resources are enhanced and protected by wind energy production, since it does not result in pollution. Each and every wind project proposed in Pennsylvania is reviewed thoroughly by four state regulatory agencies, applying guidelines that were designed specifically for the Commonwealth, using the best science from all sources. These reviews are conducted for two years prior to the construction of a wind project. Many wind energy companies have voluntarily agreed to the nationâs most rigorous set of project review guidelines and requirements developed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Pennsylvania is a model for the U.S. in this regard.
- More than 1,000 Pennsylvanians are already employed in Pennsylvaniaâs wind industry. Gamesa, a wind turbine manufacturer, shortly will be hiring another 300 Pennsylvanians. That is just the beginning of the many good paying jobs wind power is bringing now to Pennsylvania.
To learn more about why PennFuture supports wind energy, energy conservation, and the effort to move us toward a clean energy future, visit our Web site. There you can take action to voice your support for energy independence and wind energy, and make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work. As always, we welcome your comments. Just e-mail us at podcast (at) pennfuture (dot) org, or click on "Comments" below.
Ozone can be both very harmful, and a life-sustaining feature of our planet’s composition. Stratospheric ozone, a layer far above ground level, perpetually protects us from the sun’s harmful UV rays. But ground-level ozone, a byproduct of pollution from tailpipes and smokestacks that reacts in sunlight to form what we know better as smog, creates a dangerous and even deadly situation. Ground-level ozone smog has significant health impacts ranging from inducing or worsening asthma to contributing to premature deaths. Medical research tells us clearly that ozone pollution must be decreased in order to protect public health today, and in the world of tomorrow.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes the health impacts of ground-level ozone on human beings; the agency was given the responsibility under the federal Clean Air Act to take steps to reduce and prevent pollution that hurts human health. Ozone pollution standards currently in effect have not done enough to protect us, and the EPA is now considering whether to tighten up the rules, and if so, by how much. Early indications are that the EPA’s proposals are falling short of scientific recommendations on the issue. A series of five public hearings are being held by the EPA to discuss the challenge of reducing ozone in our air, and a public comment period on the proposed rule is open until October 9th, 2007.
In this podcast, PennFuture’s Christine Knapp, who testified on behalf of PennFuture at the Philadelphia hearing, speaks with several individuals who took time to publicly comment on the need for a more protective ozone standard. Join us in listening as Natalie McCloskey, volunteer for the American Lung Association, Kevin Stewart, Director of Environmental Health for the American Lung Association, and Ben Dunham, Associate Legal Counsel for EarthJustice share their perspectives on the many problematic impacts of ozone on our lives.
To read more about the EPA’s findings on the impact of ozone, view their ozone section of their web site. To find out more information about how PennFuture is working to protect health and improve air quality, please visit our Web Site. There you can also make a tax-deductible contribution. We encourage you to join us in discussion of these issues by e-mailing us at podcast (at) pennfuture (dot) org, or commenting through the link below.
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