Ecotourists of all ages will flock to the Delaware Riverfront this weekend to enjoy outdoor events highlighting the region’s best natural asset, the tidal Delaware River.  These events include Southeastern Pennsylvania Coast Day and the “Cradle of Birding” Wildlife and Conservation Festival in Philadelphia, A Celebration of Jersey Fresh in Camden, and the Delaware Coastal […]

Party like there is a tomorrow! GreenFest Philly is a HUGE green street festival on September 9th that will span four blocks (7th-11th) on South Street from 11am until 6pm– and it’s free! 
Enjoy–130+ exhibitors, “Green building” speaker symposium, sustainable fashion show, MusEcology concert, eco-film forum, eco-poetry project, a real on-site “green wedding” at Zagar’s mosaic […]

PennFuture’s Session Daze is designed to be a brief, informative and occasionally humorous look at public policy in Pennsylvania. Please visit our website for more information about PennFuture.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat â Except with Black Gunk
In a cycle seeming without end, FirstEnergy’s Bruce Mansfield power plant smokestacks continue to belch black gunk that settles all over the town of Shippingport and neighboring communities like Raccoon Township in Beaver County. After each episode, residents demand to know what potential health problems they might suffer â going so far as to getting their own tests of the black rain â and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) fines FirstEnergy for violating its clean air permit.

Now the Beaver County Times reports that local residents are trying to jump off this not-so-Merry-Go-Round. Shippingport Borough Council members demanded answers from officials from FirstEnergy and DEP. According to the newspaper report, Councilman Terry Ordich said a DEP report on the incident seemed to be written in a foreign language.
Residents want plain English explanations of the problems at the plant and also want the problems there fixed. They are also demanding details about the composition of the pollution and the possible health impacts of it for their families, pets, and wildlife. PennFuture and the Environmental Integrity Project have notified FirstEnergy that they intend to sue to stop these massive air pollution violations.

The Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund Two-Step
Step One - Representatives Rick Taylor (D-Montgomery) and Mike Vereb (R-Montgomery) will be introducing legislation to keep the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund (HSCA) solvent through the end of this fiscal year. The legislation, HB 1810, has already attracted 55 co-sponsors of both parties. It would transfer $30 million of the state’s budget surplus to HSCA. (Note: There is still time for more members to sign on before the bill’s formal introduction later this month.)

Step Two â Senator John Rafferty (R-Berks, Chester, Montgomery) has introduced a bottle bill, SB 1035, to provide permanent funding for HSCA. The legislation would authorize a nickel deposit on beverage containers and use money collected but not redeemed by consumers as the revenue source.

This bill has attracted the opposition of a coalition of business interests that includes soda and water bottlers and beer brewers, waste companies and associations, convenience and food store associations and others who claim that a bottle bill is bad for the state, the environment and consumers. That flies in the face of the successful programs up and running in eleven other states. Some of these programs are so successful at reducing litter and expanding recycling that states are expanding their programs.

This Preview is Rated P-G
Coming soon to the Capitol and to the Pennsylvania Cable Network, premiering on September 17: "Survivor Pennsylvania - The Special Legislative Session on Energy Policy."

This special session is brought to you by a deal between Governor Rendell and Senate Republicans that was struck when the budget agreement was reached.

The governor wanted the Energy Independence Strategy to be addressed in June along with the budget. The strategy includes an $850 million fund for development of renewable energy projects, energy efficiency measures, and consumer rebates for energy efficient appliances. The legislators refused to consider it in June, but promised to provide funding during the special session.

Also on the agenda: moving the PennSecurity Fuels Initiative, which would commit the state to producing 900 million gallons of its own transportation fuel âcompletely offsetting the amount we currently import from the Middle East. PennFuture is also drafting legislation that would require that energy conservation be increased to reduce growth in electricity demand and to require utilities to install smart meters in customers’ properties. Governor Rendell and a growing group of bipartisan legislators support both initiatives.

Preseason Scrimmage - House Consumer Affairs Committee Hearing
The House Consumer Affairs Committee held a hearing on Wednesday to gather information about how the end of caps on electricity rates will affect consumers and the utility industry. PennFuture’s president and CEO, John Hanger, testified at the hearing emphasizing the important role of renewable energy, energy conservation and smart meter technology in helping to minimize the expected rate increases after 14 years of electricity rate caps. Expanding supply with renewable fuels and reducing demand by cutting waste is the only recipe for easing the impact on household budgets.

Others testifying included J. Michael Love, president and CEO of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania; Stephen Feld, Associate General Counsel, FirstEnergy; Lisa Crutchfield, Senior Vice President, Regulatory and External Affairs, PECO Energy Company; Doug Krall, manager of regulatory strategy for PPL Electric Utilities; PUC Chairman Wendell Holland; Dave Turner, Senior Vice President, Geslalt; Sonny Popowsky, Consumer Advocate of Pennsylvania; William Lloyd, Small Business Advocate; Douglas Biden, President, Electric Power Generation Association; and Frank Lacey from Direct Energy, who spoke on behalf of the Retail Energy Supply Association.

More than Just a Place to Congregate
A workshop to help congregations reduce their energy costs, "Energy Costs and the Environment: The Practical and Moral Bottom Line for Your Congregation," will be offered two times, once each on Saturday and Sunday, October 6 and 7 at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral in Harrisburg. The workshop will feature Andy Rudin, coordinator for the Interfaith Coalition on Energy and offer practical advice and real solutions to cutting energy costs. The workshop is limited to the first 100 registrants, cost is $20, and the deadline for registration is September 28. For more information contact Anne Yellott.

The Mon-Fayette Toll Road is a Turnpike Expansion project that has been planned for decades to connect Morgantown, WV to Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River Valley. The proposed 24-mile âPittsburgh legâ of this road is currently projected to cost $3.6 billion, more than twice whatâs been spent on all other sections of the Mon-Fayette and Southern Beltway projects combined. The regionâs roads and bridges are suffering from neglect partly as a result of all the money thatâs been spent on the Mon-Fayette in Washington and Fayette Counties â but ironically this fact is being exploited by the toll roadâs boosters, who peddle their multi-billion dollar boondoggle as the only way to provide transportation access to the Mon Valley from Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, completing the Mon-Fayette will only draw more resources away from maintenance and safety investments in the region’s infrastructure.

Improving accessibility in the Mon Valley doesnât have to cost billions. Some projects that operate on a much smaller scale have the potential to boost economic and transportation investment in the region, without damaging the environment. In this podcast, PennFuture’s Western Pennsylvania Outreach Coordinator Andrea Boykowycz tours the future riverfront trail connection between McKeesport and Pittsburgh with Steel Valley Trail Council President Hannah Hardy, and talks about future Pittsburgh Mon Valley trail connections with Friends of the Riverfront Executive Director Tom Baxter. You can follow along with Andrea and Hannah on the SVTCâs trail map. 

For more information about the Mon-Fayette and what we can do to help Mon Valley communities move forward with achievable alternatives, visit PennFutureâs Mon-Fayette campaign page.  While you’re there, you can make a tax-deductible contribution to support our work. As always, we welcome your comments.  Just email us at podcast (at) pennfuture (dot) org, or click on "Comments" below. 

Event: Art & Truth On The Roof
When: Thursday, September 6, 2007 6-10pm
Where: Rooftop of Whole Foods South St
Admission: Free
WEAN (Wissahickon Environmental Action Network) together with the Sierra Club, Whole Foods, and Skin Radio will be hosting an evening of live percussion (bring a drum or pots and pans and join in!), a recycled art […]