Saturday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips 4.30.22

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House returns to session May 23, 24, 25

     -- Committee Schedule

Senate returns to session May 23, 24, 25

     -- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events

 

-- Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership: Outdoor Recreation Spending In PA Up 26%  [PaEN]

-- WeConservePA Urges General Assembly, Gov. Wolf To Boost Conservation Investments - There Has Never Been A Better Time

-- DEP Now Accepting Applications For $17.9 Million In Growing Greener Plus, Section 319 Water Quality Improvement Grants  [PaEN]

-- Lancaster Farming Guest Essay: Growing A Greener Tomorrow - By Russell Redding, PA Secretary Of Agriculture  [PaEN]

-- Lancaster Clean Water Partners Announced $1.7 Million In Grants For Watershed Restoration Projects; Apply For Next Round Of Grants  [PaEN]

-- Reminder: Lancaster County Water Week June 3-11 

-- DEP Chesapeake Bay Office: Healthy Waters Partnership, Progress Newsletter

-- DCNR Wildfire Danger Map - April 30 

-- TribLive: Pittsburgh Celebrating Arbor Day April 30 In Mellon Park

-- WHYY: On Arbor Day, Iconic Philly Tree Replaced With 3 New Ones

-- Republican Herald: Arbor Day Celebrated In Pottsville

-- Williamsport Sun: Arbor Day In Williamsport Brings Laughter, Joy, Memories

-- Warren Times: Arbor Day Highlights Role Of Trees In The Community

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Awards $6.6 Million In Consumptive Use Mitigation Grants  [PaEN]

-- May 19 Lower Susquehanna Source Water Protection Partnership meeting. SRBC Offices, Harrisburg or via Zoom. 9:00 a.m. to Noon

-- PA American Water Files Proposed 24% Rate Increase With PUC

-- Physicians For Social Responsibility Release 8th Compendium of Scientific, Medical, Media Findings On Risks, Harms Of Fracking And Oil & Gas Infrastructure  [PaEN]

-- WHYY - Susan Phillips: Clean Energy Advocates Say PGW Seeking To Block Transparency In Budget Proceedings

-- TribLive: Police Warn Of Uptick In Catalytic Converter Thefts Across Pittsburgh Region

-- Susquehanna Greenway: Communities Across The Susquehanna Unite To Collect Thousands Of Pounds Of Trash  [PaEN]

-- Dept. Of Drug & Alcohol Encourages Participation In National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day April 30

-- DCNR To Begin Spraying Forests In Spongy Moth Suppression Effort  [PaEN]

-- Warren Times: Prescribed Burns Provide Benefits To Forest Lands

-- May 13 South Mountain Partnership Spring Meeting. Lakeview Pavilion, Gifford Pinchot State Park, York County. 9:00 to 11:30 a.m.

-- Registration Opens May 1 For 2022 Annual PA Firefly Festival, Glow & Know Campouts In Western PA  [PaEN] 

-- Philly Voice: ‘Aqua Marooned!’ Game Pays Tribute To Indigenous Flora, Fauna Of The Lenapehoking Region In The Delaware River Watershed

-- May 10 Chester County Planning Commission Open Space Summit. Springton Manor Farm, Glenmoore. 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. 

-- April 29 Take Five Fridays With Pam From PA Parks & Forests Foundation  [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette - John Hayes: PA Is Poised For A Summer Of Ticks And The Diseases They Carry 

 

PA Politics

 

-- Politics PA: The Politics Of Hunting In Pennsylvania

 

True Energy Independence Means Renewables

[Listen To What European Allies Need, Not To What Our Natural Gas Industry Wants]

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Appalachian Natural Gas Companies Aren’t Enjoying Those High Prices - Yet

-- NYT:  Why Americans Became More Vulnerable To Oil Price Spikes

[“No matter how often ‘drill, baby, drill’ is held up as a solution,” said Michael Greenstone, a professor of economics and director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, “the basic economics of it are the U.S. is still a small share of global capacity and global production, and therefore can’t affect the global price very much.”] 

-- Reuters: U.S. Petroleum Fills The Gap Left By Russian Exports: Kemp  

[“While the country has emerged as the supplier of last resort, that is not a role it can shoulder alone for every long without sharply higher prices.’]

-- U.S. EIA: 7th U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas Export Terminal Begins Production In Louisiana 

-- Bloomberg: Europe’s Fragile Energy Market Braces For Putin’s Next Move

-- The Guardian: Russia Doubles Fossil Fuel Revenues Since Ukraine Invasion Began [Oil & Gas Industry Fuels A Despot]

-- Financial Times: Exxon Triples Stock Buybacks, Chevron Posts Best Profits Since 2012

-- Bloomberg: Exxon, Chevron Will Spend More On Stock Returns Than Production

American Rescue Plan Funding

 

-- $11 Billion In Federal American Rescue Plan Funding To PA State Government, Local Governments Has Yet To Be Invested.  What’s Your Community Doing?

 

Other States/National/International

-- Reuters: U.S. EPA Issues Waiver To Allow Temporary Sales Of Summertime E15 Higher Ethanol Fuel

-- Utility Dive: Midcontinent Electric Grid Prepares For ‘Worst-Case Scenarios,’ Heads Into Summer With Insufficient Firm Generation

-- Bloomberg Green: World Lacks Time, Not Minerals For Climate-Saving Technology 

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Opening PA’s Primary Elections Would Help De-Radicalize Politics 

-- Inquirer: Republican Candidate For Governor Sen. Mastriano Leading In Primary, Insiders Trying To Stop Him

-- TribLive: Republican Candidate For Governor Sen. Corman  Vows To Undo Bridge Tolling Plan

-- Politics PA: The Politics Of Hunting In Pennsylvania

-- PA Capital-Star: Q/A With Republican Lt. Gov. Candidate Clarice Schillinger

-- TribLive Editorial: Domestic Violence And Public Office

-- PA Capital-Star: Republican Cong. Scott Perry Votes Against Military Aid For Ukraine 

-- PA Capital-Star Editorial Cartoon: Meet The Chair Of The U.S. House Freedom (From Reality) Caucus - PA Republican Cong. Scott Perry

-- Gov. Wolf: State Police Prepared To Implement Stricter Ghost Gun Regulations

-- Inquirer: 9 Local Gun Shops Supplied 15,000 ‘Crime Guns’ In Philly, New Report Shows

-- Altoona Mirror Editorial: Bipartisanship Necessary On Gun Violence

-- Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh Houses Of Worship Receive State Grants To Enhance Security

-- AP: Fmr AG Kathleen Kane Jailed Again Awaiting Hearing On DUI Arrest 

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: The Perverse Logic Of Capital Punishment

-- Erie Times Guest Essay: PA Nursing Homes Still Fighting Pandemic, Need Fair State Funding

-- WITF: Dance Teachers Wanting Easier State Certification Get Lawmakers To Strut Their Stuff 

-- PA Capital-Star: Civil Rights Group Sues Harrisburg Over Public Gathering Restrictions

-- PA Capital-Star: Philly Council ‘Turns The Key’ On Affordable Housing Program

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Allegheny County’s Botched Spot Assessment Shows Need For Broader Approach

-- MCall: Pennsylvania Leads The Nation In Home Fire Deaths

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[Posted: April 30, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

Lancaster Farming Guest Essay: Growing A Greener Tomorrow

By Russell Redding, PA Secretary Of Agriculture

This guest essay first appeared in Lancaster Farming on April 30, 2022--

On March 4, 1681, William Penn received his royal charter for Pennsylvania. One day later, he proclaimed Pennsylvania would be the “seed of the nation,” employing agricultural and conservation principles to fuel commerce and economic development.

He then wrote the Commonwealth’s first conservation law — and one of the first conservation laws of the 13 colonies — requiring that for every 5 acres of land cleared, 1 acre of trees must be preserved.

The precedent set forth by William Penn more than 300 years ago remains deeply embedded in the Commonwealth’s identity. 

His vision for stewardship and entrepreneurship continues driving us forward, influencing policy and programs that protect our land, water and natural resources.

Earlier this year, Gov. Tom Wolf proposed $450 million of federal American Rescue Plan dollars to fund Growing Greener III, which builds on the legacy of bipartisan Growing Greener I and II legislation, investing in land conservation and preservation, clean water restoration, and community revitalization.  [Read more here.]

For Pennsylvania agriculture, this means additional funding to agriculture conservation programs, including the Conservation Excellence Grant Program and the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program.

A few weeks ago, I joined Gordon and Carole Hoover on their farm, Welsh-Vista Farms, in Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, to highlight the progress of the Conservation Excellence Grant Program.  [Read more here.]

As we were joined by the Lancaster County Conservation District, Lancaster Farmland Trust and conservation stakeholders, it was an amazing moment to pause and recognize the township’s innovative and collaborative approach to conservation.

Salisbury Township has created a boots-on-the-ground approach. 

The Lancaster County Conservation District and Gordon Hoover, through his role as both a township supervisor and agricultural outreach coordinator at Lancaster Farmland Trust, meet with farmers on their operations to discuss how conservation practices can be achieved and their potential for long-term environmental and economic success.

The Conservation Excellence Grant Program then assists by helping conservation management decisions become feasible.

It offers farmers financial options through a bundle of grants, loans and tax credits to implement best management practices such as cover cropping, riparian buffers, stream bank restoration, nutrient management plans and more.

Salisbury Township is a great example of how the Conservation Excellence Grant is empowering communities to take ownership of local conservation efforts and needs.

The State Conservation Commission has worked with each county conservation district in the Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties of Pennsylvania’s Watershed Implementation Program to tailor the application and criteria to meet the needs of local watersheds and on-farm best management practices.

Since 2019, the Conservation Excellence Grant Program has invested more than $4 million in 68 conservation projects, strengthening community-based conservation efforts across six counties in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. 

The investments proposed through Growing Green III will only strengthen this work.

The Commonwealth’s commitment to conservation is further strengthened through farmland preservation.

Pennsylvania leads the nation in preserved farms. To date, the Commonwealth is home to 6,044 preserved farms, safeguarding more than 611,000 acres for perpetuity. It is an investment in the future of Pennsylvania’s agricultural economy through conservation that ensures food security for a growing population.

It is also a precedent set forth by the people of Pennsylvania. In 1987, the Commonwealth voted to approve a statewide referendum for the sale of bonds to finance the conservation easement purchase program.

Since then, the program has grown immensely, investing nearly $1.7 billion in 58 participating county programs.

But there is still work to be done. More than 1,000 farms remain on county backlog lists waiting to be preserved.

Growing Greener III is designed to help alleviate this backlog by growing farmland preservation investments through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program, permanently preserving viable acres of farmland for the next generation.

For more information about the Conservation Excellence Grant Program and Pennsylvania Conservation Easement Purchase Program, go to [the Department of Agriculture’s website] or call 717-783-3167.

Conservation is both environmental and economic; you cannot have one without the other for the long-term success of Pennsylvania farms.

Growing Greener III is intended to grow resources to make conservation an economic and environmentally conscious choice.

It builds upon the principles set forth by William Penn more than 300 years ago, and it is growing a greener tomorrow, ensuring a viable future for generations to come.

[Visit DEP’s Chesapeake Bay Watershed webpage to learn more about cleaning up rivers and streams in Pennsylvania's portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

[How Clean Is Your Stream?

[Check DEP’s 2022 Water Quality Report to find out how clean streams are near you.]

NewsClip:

-- Lancaster Farming Guest Essay: Growing A Greener Tomorrow - By Russell Redding, Secretary, PA Dept. of Agriculture

-- Reminder: Lancaster County Water Week June 3-11 

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP Now Accepting Applications For $17.9 Million In Growing Greener Plus, Section 319 Water Quality Improvement Grants  

-- Lancaster Clean Water Partners Announced $1.7 Million In Grants For Watershed Restoration Projects; Apply For Next Round Of Grants 

-- DEP Chesapeake Bay Office: Healthy Waters Partnership, Progress Newsletter

-- May 19 Lower Susquehanna Source Water Protection Partnership meeting. SRBC Offices, Harrisburg or via Zoom. 9:00 a.m. to Noon

Related Articles:

-- Two Bipartisan Bills Just Sitting In Senate Waiting To Address Record Number Of Water Quality Impaired Streams Reported In 2022

-- WeConservePA Urges General Assembly, Gov. Wolf To Boost Conservation Investments - There Has Never Been A Better Time

-- Growing Greener Coalition: Action Needed On Bipartisan Growing Greener III Proposals To Address Critical Water Quality, Recreation, Green Infrastructure Needs

-- EPA: State Plan To Clean Up PA's Part Of Chesapeake Bay Watershed Lacks Funding To Meet Water Pollution Reduction Goals

[Posted: April 30, 2022]  PA Environment Digest

Physicians For Social Responsibility Release 8th Compendium of Scientific, Medical, Media Findings On Risks, Harms Of Fracking And Oil & Gas Infrastructure

On April 28, the Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Concerned Health Professionals of New York released their Eighth Compendium of Scientific, Medical and Media Findings On The Risk and Harms of Fracking And Associated Natural Gas And Oil.

The Compendium is a collection of some 2,000 abstracts of and links to medical, scientific and investigative reports about the consequences of oil and gas drilling, fracking, and infrastructure related to public health, the environment and climate.

The 2022 edition includes reports on liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Click Here for a copy of the Compendium.

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP: Latest Penn State Report On Environmental Impact Of Road Dumping Conventional Drilling Wastewater Will Have ‘Immediate,’ ‘Large,’ ‘Intense’ Impact In PA, Nationally 

-- Financial Assurance, Plugging Regulations To Be Reviewed To Prevent New Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells Under Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Plugging Program

-- DEP: Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Prompting Review Of On-Site Disposal Options For Oil & Gas Well Plugging Wastes; Radioactive Waste Disposal 

-- DEP: Draft Updates Coming To Regs. On Conventional Oil & Gas Waste Disposal As Early As July; Waste Reporting Changes Invited

-- DEP Not Seeing Uptick In Oil & Gas Drilling; Expects $8 Million Deficit In Funding Oil & Gas Regulatory Program 

-- House Republicans Move Solar, Wind Bonding Bill; Fail To Plug The $1.8 Billion Hole In Conventional Oil & Gas Well Bonding; Opposed Regs Making Natural Gas Pipelines Safer, Reducing Methane Emissions

[Posted: April 30, 2022]  PA Environment Digest