Pennsylvania has the strongest Environmental Bill of Rights of any state in the union, and yet, until recently, few knew about this unique superpower.
The Initiative is marking its first year of educating citizens—about their constitutional rights to a livable environment under Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment (ERA)—and public officials, who have a constitutional obligation to act as trustees for the environment.
The Initiative is bringing together diverse groups and individuals working to protect our climate.
“The Environmental Bill of Rights was born in 1971, in the spirit of bipartisanship,” said the Initiative’s Executive Director, Michael Sklaroff. “It passed unanimously in both houses of the Legislature. And then was approved by voters across the Commonwealth by a vote of four to one.”
The Initiative will also be celebrating the Honorable Ron Castille, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. A Republican, he wrote the 2013 opinion that brought the ERA back to life.
Ratified overwhelmingly by voters in 1971, the Pennsylvania Environmental Rights Amendment is a unique and powerful tool that has never been fully implemented. It contains four features that no other state constitution has in full measure:
-- The ERA gives every Pennsylvanian, including future generations, a right to a livable environment.
-- The ERA makes every public o>icial, elected and appointed, a trustee for the environment.
-- The ERA is self-executing: it needs no further act of the Legislature to be effective.
-- The ERA is contained in Article I of the Constitution—the Pennsylvania Bill of Rights— alongside religious freedom, the right to vote, the right to own property, and freedom of the press.
Speakers include:
-- Rabbi Julie Greenberg, Climate Director, Power Interfaith;
-- Emily Schapira, President & CEO, Philadelphia Energy Authority;
-- Robert McKinstry, environmental lawyer and consultant;
-- Joseph Khan, environmental lawyer;
-- Peter Meier, environmental economist and member, New Hope Borough Council;
-- Ashlei Tracy, Deputy Director, Pennsylvania Bipartisan Climate Initiative; and
-- Michael Sklaro, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Bipartisan Climate Initiative.
Click Here to R.S.V.P.. Questions should be directed to Executive Director Michael Sklaroff at (215) 206-0266 or msklaroff@paclimateinitiative.org.
The Pennsylvania Bipartisan Climate Initiative educates people across the state about their constitutional rights to a livable environment under Pennsylvania’s powerful Environmental Rights Amendment, and public o>icials of their constitutional obligations as trustees for the environment.
PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:
-- DEP Issues Violations To 3 Shale Gas Drillers For Failing To Report Fracking Chemicals, Including At EQT’s Lumber Well Pad In Greene County [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - September 28 [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 73 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In September 28 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
20 Years Of Shale Gas
-- Observer-Reporter: Local Officials Have Had To Grapple With Fracking Since It’s Arrival - Cecil Township, Washington County [Part II] [PDF of Article]
-- Observer-Reporter: ‘Shale Revolution:’ A Look Back At 20 Years Of Gas Drilling In Southwest PA [Part I] [PDF of Article]
Related Articles This Week:
-- House Committee Meets Oct. 1 To Consider Bill To Diversify Energy Generation, Improve Grid Reliability, Lower Consumer Energy Costs [PaEN]
-- PA House Republicans Introduce Bill Creating An Energy Advocate With Power To Veto Any Action By Any State Agency That Harms Energy Reliability, Affordability [PaEN]
-- PA Solar Center Hosts Oct. 18 Webinar On Solar For Schools Grant Program [PaEN]
-- Learn How To Save Money On Energy Thru PA Solar Center’s G.E.T. Solar Program In Oct. 31 Webinar For Businesses, Nonprofits, Communities [PaEN]
-- Physicians For Social Responsibility PA’s Dr. Ned Ketyer Shares Summary Of Studies Of Shale Gas Development Impacts On Human Health [PaEN]
-- The Energy Age Blog: Doctor Summarizes Health Studies On Shale Gas Development Health Impacts
-- US DOE: China Is Biggest Destination For US LNG Gas Exports; PA Shale Gas Industry Says We Have ‘Duty’ To Export Gas To China, Our Military, Economic Competitor [PaEN]
-- Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community, Partners Release New Disability-Centered Guidance For Transportation Accidents, Petrochemical Plant Spills, Releases [PaEN]
-- Zillow, First Street Will Introduce Flood, Wildfire, Wind, Heat, Air Quality Climate Risk Information On For-Sale Property Listings [PaEN]
NewsClips:
-- Marcellus Drilling News: EQT Gas Driller Says Natural Gas Price Spikes Coming Next Year Moving From $2 to $3 Range Up To As High As $9 [PDF of Article] [PA Is 59% Dependent On Gas To Generate Electricity]
-- The Guardian: Pennsylvania, 6 Other States Biggest Winners In Landmark Federal Clean Energy Funding
-- Observer-Reporter: Federal Grant To Power Up Battery Production At Weirton’s Form Energy
-- PublicNewsService.org: York, PA Hydropower Turbine Manufacturer Uses Federal Funding To Boost Jobs
-- EPA Now Accepting Applications For $965 Million To Fund Clean School Buses
-- WHYY: SEPTA To Try Out Hydrogen Fuel Cell Buses As Early As This Fall
-- EPA/AmeriCorps Launch Nationwide Environmental Justice Climate Corps
-- PittsburghUnionProgress.com: PA Turnpike Will Use Excess Land For 15 Solar Energy Facilities
-- Beaver County Times Guest Essay: RiverWise Solar Energy Initiatives Have Potential To Save Communities, Schools, Municipalities $74 Million Generate 24.6 MW - By Daniel Rossi-Keen, RiverWise
-- Inside Climate News: Understanding Rural Opposition To Solar Energy Facilities [New PA Study]
-- MCall: New Report Reveals How Much Lehigh Valley Contributing To Climate Change
-- The Allegheny Front: Study: Colleges With Fossil Fuel Funding Can Become ‘Vehicle Of Climate Obstruction’
[Posted: September 28, 2024] PA Environment Digest
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