Growing Greener Coalition Renews Pressure On Senate, House

The Renew Growing Greener Coalition sent this message to members of the House and Senate on restoring funding to the award-winning Growing Greener Program--
           The nearly 350 supporting organizations and local governments representing over 7 million people who are part of the Renew Growing Greener Coalition have one objective I hope you share—restoring funding to the award-winning Growing Greener Program to preserve farmland and open space, reclaim abandoned mines, restore watersheds and develop trails, greenways and parks in our communities.
           The coalition is united in its support for environmental, conservation and recreation funding and urges lawmakers to take this opportunity currently available to secure significant long-term funding for the program.
           Specifically, we support the provision in the House-passed version of House Bill 1950 that allocates 25 percent of the revenues from the existing leases under the Oil and Gas Lease Fund. This provision could generate $1.2 billion for Growing Greener over the next decade and restore funding to levels that our environment has not seen in years.
           The Renew Growing Greener Coalition also supports environmental funding in Senate Bill 1100. However, the Coalition encourages members of the Senate to strengthen the language to specifically ensure that money is available to protect our drinking water, preserve our farmland and conserve our open space, parks and trails.
           We hope you share these objectives and can support a reborn and vibrant Growing Greener Program in the future!