Thursday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips - 5.29.25

“The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

-- Article I, Section 27 Pennsylvania Constitution  [It’s Not A Suggestion]

House Voting Schedule

June 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30

September 22, 23, 24, 29, 30

October 1, 6, 7, 8, 27, 28, 29

November 17, 18, 19

December 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17

-- Committee Schedule

Senate Voting Schedule

June 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

September 8, 9, 10

October 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29

November 17, 18, 19

December 8, 9, 10

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events 

TODAY Noon: Virtual. DEP Webinar: Maximizing Energy Efficiency In Municipal Buildings

TODAY 3:30: Virtual. Webinar: Introduction To Community Benefit Agreements For Energy, Other Industrial Projects, 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.

June 2-- NEW. House Environmental & Natural Resource Protection Committee meets to consider House Bill 501 (Otten-D-Chester) which would establish the PA Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard to modernize Pennsylvania’s outdated renewable energy standards, incentivizing innovation in nuclear and renewable energy, including battery storage, to remain competitive with other states, create jobs and help diversify energy sources and make energy more affordable (part of Gov. Shapiro’s Lightning Energy Plan) [Read more here];  Senate Bill 349 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) establishing minimum decommissioning bonding and other requirements for solar energy facilities; House Bill 589 (Kinkead-D-Allegheny,  Gaydos-R- Allegheny) establishing a state landslide and sinkhole insurance program (sponsor summary).   Room 205 Ryan Building. 10:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch online.

June 4-- Agenda Posted. Susquehanna River Basin Commission meeting. 4423 North Front Street in Harrisburg. 2:30 p.m.  (formal notice)

June 10-- Agenda Posted.  DEP Citizens Advisory Council meeting.  Room 105 Rachel Carson Building.  12:30 p.m. Check webpage for options for joining the meeting remotely.  Contact: Ian Irvin, Executive Director, iirvin@pa.gov or (717) 787-8171.  Read more here on agenda.

-- PA Elected Officials, Consumer, Clean Energy Advocates Demand Electric Grid Operator PJM Act To Hold Down Electricity Costs  [PaEN]

-- WHYY: Electricity Bills In PA, NJ, DE To Rise Starting June 1; Advocates Say More Renewables Would Lower Future Costs 

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Electric Bills In PA Are Going Up Next Month, Your Utility Can’t Help It 

-- WVIA: Bradford, Northumberland, Tioga And Union Utility Customers Face Rate Hikes 

-- PUC Reminder Of June Hearings On Proposed 11% Columbia Gas Rate Increase 

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Watt Home System Starts Offering No Combustion Fuel Cell Backup Power Solutions In Peoples Natural Gas Territory

-- Guest Essay: Doubling Down On Pennsylvania's Fossil Fuel Extraction Is A Direct Threat To Public Health And Ecological Stability - By Pamela Darville, Co-Chairperson of Climate Justice and Jobs Team at POWER Interfaith  [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: Natural Gas Isn’t Southwest Pennsylvania’s Future - By Lou Tierno III, PA & Appalachian Sustainable Business Networks

-- MCall Guest Essay: Congress Can’t Protect Us Without Protecting Clean Energy - By Tinku Khanwalkar

-- Erie Times: 40 Years Ago Tornadoes Kill 12 In Erie County

-- Inquirer: Penn Climate Scientist Michael Mann $1 Million Verdict Reduced To $5,000

-- Look For It:  DEP Ready To Publish State Plan For Reducing Emissions From Oil & Gas Facilities For Comment In May 31 PA Bulletin  [Visit Webpage ]

-- Glenside Local: Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership Mourning Loss Of Founder Gerry Kaufman

-- Lancaster Farming: Lancaster County Farmer Works With Stroud Water Research Center To Improve Water Quality

-- Penn State Center For Agricultural Conservation Assistance Training Hosts June 24 Webinar On The Pennsylvania Right To Farm Law  [PaEN] 

-- Observer-Reporter: Washington HS Students Plant Trees, Address Erosion Control At City Park

-- Courier Times: These 29 Bucks County Water Suppliers Tested Above EPA Limits For PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ In 2024

-- PA American Water Announces $7.5 Million In Water Line Upgrades For City Of Pittsburgh

-- Fort Indiantown Gap In Lebanon County Offering Regal Fritillary Butterfly Tours July 5, 11, 12, Register Now 

-- Penn State Extension: June 16 Community Forestry Webinar On Resolving Tree-Sidewalk Conflicts  [PaEN] 

-- DCNR Grants: Johnstown Improving Urban Park Access; Wild Resource Grants Available; Bald Eagle Valley Trail Completes Another Phase  

-- DCNR: Shapiro Administration Launches Free Menstrual Products In 68 State Parks

-- Post-Gazette: Free Menstrual Products Now Available At 68 PA State Parks

International/National Impacts On PA Natural Gas

[Energy Independence Means Renewables]

-- AP: Markets Welcome Court Ruling Against President’s Tariffs As Shares, US Dollar And Oil Gain

-- WSJ: Developers Of Constitution, Northeast Supply Enhancement Pipelines To File FERC Paperwork To Revive The Projects

-- Bloomberg: Williams To Revive Disputed Natural Gas Pipeline Projects In New York

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Fluctuate As Traders Weigh US Court’s Ruling President’s Tariffs Are Unconstitutional

-- Reuters: Natural Gas Flows To Freeport LNG Gas Export Plant Drop Again Wednesday

-- Bloomberg: OPEC+ Prepares 3rd Dose Of Oil Shock Therapy, Discuss Large Output Hike Even As Prices Slide

Other States/Nations

-- AP: Oil And Gas Have Boomed In New Mexico, Its Schools Are Contending With Pollution’s Effects 

-- Martins Ferry Times Leader: PA’s Austin Master Services Abandoned Frack Waste Plant Cleanup In Martins Ferry, OH Slated For Completion

-- Reuters: Clean Power Produces More Electricity Than Fossil Fuels In US For 3rd Month In A Row  [Not In PA Or PJM ]

-- AP: $14 Billion In Clean Energy Generation Projects Canceled In US This Year Due To Federal Policy Changes

-- AP: A Journalist Was Killed While Writing A Book On The Amazon Forest, Here’s How Friends Completed His Work

New Federal Administration

-- Detroit Free Press: Michigan Public Service Commission Chair Says There Is No Energy Emergency To Justify US DOE Order To Keep Coal-Fired Michigan Power Plant Open, Will Only Increase Customer Costs

-- Utility Dive: President Aims For 400 GW Of Nuclear Power By 2050, 10 Large Reactors Under Construction By 2030  

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA Senators Try To Reboot Marijuana Legalization Push With New Ideas For Oversight

-- WITF: PA Officials, Attorney General Demand Congress Remove A.I. Regulation Ban From Republican Federal Budget Bill

-- WITF/WVIA: PA Republican Con. Meuser Defends Medicaid Cuts, Tariffs At Schuylkill Chamber Of Commerce Meeting

-- City & State PA: Meet The Elder Stateswomen Of Pennsylvania’s Protest Movement

-- Politics PA: PA Elections Chief: Added Data To Provide More Transparency Into PA Elections

-- Reading Eagle: Court Restores $51 Million In Federal Funds Cut From Reading School District

-- Courier Times: Severe Teacher Shortages Plague Most PA Counties, New Report Finds

-- Warren Times: PA Lawmaker Wants To Overturn Fortune-Telling Ban

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Here’s What Pittsburgh Needs To Hear From President And Nippon About Steel ‘Partnership’

-- TribLive/AP: Federal Trade Court Blocks President From Imposing Sweeping Tariffs Under Emergency Powers Law [Tariffs Adversely Impacted PA Agriculture, Small Businesses]

-- AP: What Happens To President’s Tariffs Now That A Court Has Knocked Them Down? 

-- AP: Markets Welcome Court Ruling Against President’s Tariffs As Shares, US Dollar And Oil Gain

-- Financial Times: What Are President’s Fallback Options To Rebuild US Tariff Wall Against Trade?

-- Wall Street Journal: Federal Trade Court Strikes Down President’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Blocking One Of The Administration’s Most Audacious Assertions Of Executive Power  

-- Reuters: US Court Blocks President’s Sweeping Tariffs, Citing Overreach Of Authority  

-- Wall Street Journal Editorial: Big Law Firms 3, President 0

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[Posted: May 29, 2025]  PA Environment Digest