PA Environmental Groups Release Marcellus Scorecard for State Legislators

Scorecard grades General Assembly members on recent gas drilling votes

(Harrisburg) – Four of Pennsylvania’s largest citizen-based environmental organizations released their joint “Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Scorecard” today, giving each state senator and representative an environmental grade based on their votes related to Act 13, the omnibus Marcellus Shale legislation signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett on February 14.

Between November, 2011 and February, 2012, the Pennsylvania state legislature held a series of votes on HB 1950 (Act 13), a bill that overturned local ordinances on gas drilling, establishes one of the nation’s lowest gas extraction fees, and makes only minimal improvements to environmental and public health protections from oil and gas drilling.  Passage of Act 13 is the first significant legislation enacted in Pennsylvania since the Marcellus Shale gas drilling boom began over four years ago.  The Marcellus Scorecard provides Pennsylvania’s residents with information on how their legislators voted on this law which will have far reaching impacts on all Pennsylvanians.  The Scorecard covers final passage votes as well as votes on floor amendments to the bill.

“When voters head to the polls this year, they should know how their legislators handled the Marcellus Shale, the biggest environmental issue facing Pennsylvania. Combined, we expect our organizations will distribute this scorecard to more than a quarter million Pennsylvania citizens and give every voter online access to this data,” stated Josh McNeil of Conservation Voters of PA.

“We are glad to see that we have some environmental heroes in the state legislature who stood up to protect our water, our air, and our neighborhoods from gas drilling.  Unfortunately, far too many legislators earned failing grades in this Scorecard,” stated Jeff Schmidt, Director for the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter.

42 State Representatives and 14 State Senators earned perfect 100% scores, including:

·         Senate Minority Leader Senator Jay Costa (D-Allegheny)

·         Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Minority Chair Senator John Yudichak (D-Luzerne)

·         Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee members Senator Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery) and Senator Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester)

·         House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee members Rep. Scott Conklin (D-Centre), Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware), Rep. Steve Santarsiero (D-Bucks), Rep. Eugene DePasquale (D-York), Rep. Bryan Barbin (D-Cambria)

·         Minority Caucus Chair Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny)

Legislators scoring below 50% include:

·         Senators Charles McIlhinney (R-Bucks), Stewart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery), Richard Alloway (R-Franklin), Edwin Erickson (R-Delaware), and Bob Mensch (R-Montgomery), each of whom signed a letter to the Governor opposing HB 1950 and vowing to protect municipal rights only days before voting in favor of the bill.

·         Senator John Wozniak (D-Cambria), Senator Tim Solobay (D-Washington), and Rep. Peter Daley (D-Washington), who represented the lowest scores among Democrats

·         House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee members Rick Saccone (R-Allegheny), Randy Vulakovich (R-Allegheny), and Martin Causer (R-McKean)

·         House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Majority Chair Rep. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango)

·         House Speaker Rep. Sam Smith (R-Punxsutawney)

·         Majority Leader Rep. Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny)

“It should have raised red flags for the Pennsylvania legislature when they voted for a bill supported by the industry that had a financially vested interest in the outcome, yet was opposed by environmental, public health and sportsmen’s groups, and local government officials from both parties and every corner of the Commonwealth,” stated David Masur, Director for PennEnvironment.

“It’s disappointing to see that protecting the public and the environment no longer gets bi-partisan support.  While there are members of both parties that had low scores, there were no Republican members who earned a passing grade.  One of the main reasons that Act 13 passed was that Republican members who used to support environmental protections chose to side with Governor Corbett and the gas industry,” stated Myron Arnowitt, PA State Director for Clean Water Action.

Democratic members of the state legislature earned scores ranging from 0% to 100%.  Democrats earning a failing score under 63% included:  Sen. Wozniak (Cambria), Sen. Solobay (Washington), Sen. Brewster (Allegheny), Rep. Daley (Washington), Rep. Gergley (Allegheny), Rep. Gibbons (Beaver), Rep. Mullery (Luzerne), Rep. Wheatley (Allegheny).

However, the highest Republican score was only 54%.  This is in stark contrast to Scorecards put out in past years by these environmental groups where numerous Republican legislators earned scores of 90-100%.

The Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Scorecard is available on the websites of all four organizations:

http://www.cleanwateraction.org/pa

http://pennenvironment.org/page/pae/2012-marcellus-scorecard

http://www.pennsylvania.sierraclub.org/

http://www.conservationpa.org/

New Ads Put Face on Cost of Carbon Pollution In PA Public News Service-PA

http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/25298-1

(03/12/12) HARRISBURG, Pa. - New television ads you may be seeing in Pennsylvania aim to shed light on the health effects of industrial carbon pollution, especially on children.

Two environmental groups are rolling out a large-scale advertising campaign to bring problems connected to industrial carbon pollution to light. The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club say emissions from power plants hurt health, the economy and potentially, the future.

NRDC Senior Scientist Kim Knowlton says the ads take into account growing evidence that warming temperatures are making smog pollution from industrial sources worse, which in turn causes asthma attacks and other respiratory illnesses.

"For the people of Pennsylvania, this is a set of issues that really hits home, around air pollution, extreme heat, flooding and the health risks attendant on that."

William Kramer, field organizer for the Sierra Club's "Beyond Coal" campaign in Pennsylvania, says asthma rates in some communities around Philadelphia are running at 20 percent, even 30 percent in lower-income and African-American neighborhoods.

"We're really talking about a public health cost that industry is not paying, and they need to clean up their act so that other people don't suffer as a result of their dirty business."

Kramer says the goal of the ad campaign is to grab the attention of Pennsylvanians while they're in their chairs, with a message that can spring them into action.

"Make phone calls, write letters, do all the basic stuff with democracy, to make sure that our elected officials work for us and not for the polluters. And we'll accomplish our job."

The groups say they're hopeful for change, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected as early as this week to propose the first-ever safeguards against industrial carbon pollution from new power plants.

Click here to view this story on the Public News Service RSS site and access an audio version of this and other stories: http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/25298-1

State Legislators Scored by Green Groups

(Harrisburg) – Sierra Club and Clean Water Action released today a new scorecard for all current Pennsylvania state legislators for their support for environmental laws and regulations over the past two years. State House members and State Senators were scored based on floor votes in the legislature, or other official actions taken by legislators on environmental matters.

“Before voters head to the polls next Tuesday, the Environmental Scorecard is a way to see what a state legislators’ actual record has been over the past two years. Voters who care about the environment should hold their elected officials accountable,” stated Jeff Schmidt, Pennsylvania Chapter Director for the Sierra Club.

The two groups noted that there were large differences between legislators who have a history of supporting environmental positions and those who are clearly opposed. Myron Arnowitt, PA State Director for Clean Water Action stated, “It is striking that the House Environmental Resources Committee Chair, Rep. George (D-Clearfield) had one of the highest scores at 92%, while the senior Republican on the House Environmental Resources Committee, Rep. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango) had one of the lowest scores at 13%. This stark difference shows how the outcome of the State House elections could have a big impact on the environment.”

The Environmental Scorecard is available for download at http://www.cleanwateraction.org/pa .

Key votes in the Scorecard include votes on the severance tax on natural gas extraction, a moratorium on further gas leasing in state forests, clean energy policy, and state funding for environmental programs. For the first time, legislators received extra points for some non-voting actions, including co-sponsorship of key bills, or by officially supporting or opposing key clean water regulations enacted this year. As a result, a few legislators received scores over 100%.

Sierra Club and Clean Water Action dubbed 13 State House members and 10 State Senators as “Environmental Heroes” for scoring 100% or higher on the Scorecard.

These legislators are:

Rep. Bradford (D) 105%, Briggs (D) 115%, Freeman (D) 106%, Harper (R) 101%, Hornaman (D) 106%, Houghton (D) 106%, Lentz (D) 104%, McIlvaine Smith (D) 106%, Melio (D) 106%, Murphy (D) 105%, Santarsiero (D) 106%, Santoni (D) 101%, Wagner (D) 101%.

Sen. Dinniman (D) 110%, Farnese (D) 115%, Ferlo (D) 115%, Fontana (D) 105%, Hughes (D) 105%, Kasunic (D) 100%, Kitchen 105%, Leach (D) 115%, Tartaglione (D) 103%, Washington (D) 105%.

In the House the highest scoring Republican was Rep. Kate Harper (R) with 101%. High scoring Republicans in the Senate were Sen. Lisa Baker (R) and Sen. Charles McIlhinney (R) both with 90%.

The lowest scores on the House side were fifteen members who scored under 25%. These were: Rep. Brooks (R) 22%, Rep. Causer (R) 13%, Cox (R) 18%, Ellis (R) 22%, Gabler (R) 22%, Hutchinson (R) 13%, Kieger (R) 18%, Knowles (R) 20% Metcalfe (R) 18%, Perry (R) 24%, Pyle (R) 22%, Rapp (R) 13%, Roae (R) 13%, Stevenson (R) 13%, Turzai (R) 22%.

The lowest scores on the Senate side were a group of six Senators who all scored 50%. These were: Sen. Earll (R), Folmer (R), Orie (R), Robbins (R), White, Mary Jo (R), White, Donald (R).

Sierra Club is national environmental organization that was founded in 1892. It has 10 local Groups in Pennsylvania, representing over 24,000 members. The Sierra Club works to protect and restore the natural and human environment through education and advocacy.

Clean Water Action is a national, member supported, environmental organization working to protect our waters, build healthy communities, and make democracy work for all of us. Operating in Pennsylvania for 25 years, Clean Water Action has over 100,000 members in the state.

12 organization enthusiastically endorsing progressive candidates

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Corbett Gas Ads Mislead the Public

Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, PennEnvironment and Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania call for the Corbett campaign to stop airing ads on Marcellus Shale

Harrisburg – In the last week, gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett has launched two campaign ads that focus on Marcellus Shale drilling and the severance tax. The first, a radio ad, refers to the severance tax as “a huge extra tax on drillers” that will: “make it more difficult for companies to compete, kill jobs, and increase utility bills.” The second, a TV spot, calls a severance tax “a massive Pennsylvania energy tax that will kill jobs and drive up utility bills.” These statements paint a dire and inaccurate picture of the economic impacts of a severance tax. PennEnvironment, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, Clean Water Action and the Sierra Club ask Mr. Corbett to pull these ads off the air.

“These ads are pure and simple fear mongering without any facts,” said Myron Arnowitt, PA State Director, Clean Water Action. “The reality is that communities have had their drinking water contaminated by gas drilling. It’s only fair to ask these multinational oil and gas companies to pay to clean up the damage.”

“A massive/huge extra tax”: Pennsylvania is the only major gas producing state that does not require gas drillers to pay for our natural resources. Montana charges an effective rate of 7.5% on gas drillers. New Mexico: 7.3%. Oklahoma: 6.7% The proposals for a PA severance tax fall into this same range. Pennsylvania is also the only state in which property taxes cannot be collected on drilling rights, lowering the Commonwealth’s overall tax rate for drillers. It’s not a huge tax, it’s a tax that’s in line with established practice throughout the country and one that drillers expect to pay. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that a drilling executive from Dallas told Rep. Karen Beyer (R., Lehigh) that the industry is willing to pay a production tax. Beyer called Pennsylvania's lack of an extraction tax "an outrage."

“Drilling poses serious risks to Pennsylvanians and our environment. A severance tax will compensate communities and fund projects that repair environmental damage,” state Dennis Winters, Chair of Sierra Club’s Pennsylvania Chapter. “It is time the drillers pay their fair share in Pennsylvania. The public deserves to be told that the severance tax is a tax on producers and not consumers. Mr Corbett seems to be running the same ads as the American Petroleum institute, the industry’s mouthpiece.”

“Drive up utility bills”: Gas is bought and sold on a worldwide market and the production price of any single gas source has a negligible effect on the market rate. Currently, most Pennsylvanians get their gas from out of state, from states that already impose a severance tax. Gas that is produced in Pennsylvania goes into the same gas market as the gas from everywhere else, meaning that an increased production cost in Pennsylvania due to a severance tax will have little bearing on the price paid by consumers.

“Mr. Corbett’s advertisement feels a bit like an Alice in Wonderland scenario where everything is topsy-turvy,” stated David Masur of PennEnvironment. “The environmental community by and large has vocally supported the passage of the natural gas severance tax so for Mr. Corbett to attempt to claim the environmental high ground on this issue by opposing the extraction fee is a bit ridiculous.”

“Kills jobs”: The argument that a severance tax will kill jobs is based on the idea that a tax will slow the production of gas in Pennsylvania and thus delay the creation of drilling jobs. This argument supposes that increased taxation will lead to less drilling. The massive amount of drilling currently occurring in Texas, Colorado, and the other states, each of which currently maintains a severance tax, belies this argument. Pennsylvania’s location, next to the major gas markets of the American northeast, means that Pennsylvania drillers will always have an advantage over other states due to decreased transportation costs.

Additionally, a recent Penn State study* reports that a severance tax will actually create jobs in Pennsylvania. The study predicts that for every $100 million paid in severance taxes, the Commonwealth will see a net job gain of 1,100 jobs. Meanwhile, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development estimates that 70% of the jobs at Marcellus Shale sites currently go to workers from out of state. The job increase from state and local spending based on a severance tax would employ primarily Pennsylvania workers, meaning that the net job gain for Pennsylvanians would be even higher than the study reports. The real truth is that failing to enact a severance tax will cost Pennsylvania thousands of jobs each year.

“If you want to lead Pennsylvania, misleading its citizens is a bad place to start,” said Josh McNeil of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania. “Mr. Corbett needs to take down these deceitful ads.”

Neither the Sierra Club nor Clean Water Action have made an endorsement in the Pennsylvania Governor’s race. Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania and PennEnvironment have endorsed Dan Onorato.

*Rose M. Baker and David Passmore, Benchmarks for Assessing the Potential Impact of a Natural Gas Severance Tax on the Pennsylvania Economy, September 13, 2010 http://www.personal.psu.edu/dlp/remi2010/#/.

Clean Water Action and Sierra Club Score State Legislature on Environment Votes

Clean Water Action and Sierra Club Score State Legislature on Environment Votes

(Harrisburg) – Sierra Club and Clean Water Action released today a “Pennsylvania General Assembly Environmental Scorecard” which rates state legislators on their voting record on environmental issues in 2007 and 2008.

The Scorecard covers a range of environmental issues tackled by both the State House and State Senate over the past legislative session. Votes on the Scorecard include ones on air quality, energy, climate change, open space, transportation, and environmental funding.

The Scorecard is available for download at either www.cleanwateraction.org/pa or at www.pennsylvania.sierraclub.org/pa_environmental_scorecard.pdf .

Myron Arnowitt, State Director for Clean Water Action, stated, “The state legislature tackled some important environmental issues over the past two years, including funding the cleanup of our toxic waste sites, and funding alternative energy programs. However, critical work is left undone, including helping residents save on their energy bills through energy efficiency, and protecting the safety of our drinking water supplies.”

Dennis Winters, Political Chair of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, said, “Many of the issues included in this Scorecard affect the health, safety of Pennsylvania’s citizens and the environmental we all depend on. We believe that the public has the right to know how their elected officials vote on these matters, so they can hold their legislators accountable. The public interest is better served when these decisions are exposed to daylight.”

Two State Senators, Vincent Hughes (Philadelphia) and Michael Stack (Philadelphia) got perfect 100% scores. Close behind were Senators Ferlo (Allegheny), Fontana (Allegheny), Kitchen (Philadelphia), Tartaglione (Philadelphia), and Anthony Williams (Philadelphia) with 90% scores. The highest scoring Republican Senator was Stewart Greenleaf (Bucks) with an 80% score.

Sixteen State House members scored a perfect 100%: Bennington (Allegheny), Casorio (Westmoreland), Freeman (Northampton), Hanna (Centre), Josephs (Phila.), Kessler (Berks), Leach (Montgomery), Lentz (Delaware), Mundy (Luzerne), Roebuck (Phila.), Samuelson (Lehigh), Santoni (Berks), Taylor (Montgomery), Vitali (Delaware), Wagner (Allegheny), Walko (Allegheny). The highest scoring Republican Representative was George Kenney (Phila.) at 90%.

The lowest scoring Senators were Mike Folmer (Lebanon) at 10% and John Eichelberger (Blair) at 20%. The lowest scoring House member was Bob Bastian (Somerset) who scored a 0%.

Sierra Club is national environmental organization that was founded in 1892. It has 10 local Groups in Pennsylvania, representing over 27,000 members. The Sierra Club works to protect and restore the natural and human environment through education and advocacy.

Clean Water Action is a national, member supported, environmental organization working to protect our waters, build healthy communities, and make democracy work for all of us. Operating in Pennsylvania for 25 years, Clean Water Action has over 100,000 members in the state.

How are progressive organizations responding to Palin? Sierra Club

McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy

Washington, DC: Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope issues the following statement in reaction to Senator McCain's pick of Governor Sarah Palin for Vice President:

"With the pick of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for his running mate, John McCain's race towards the Bush administration's failed energy policy is now complete."

"John McCain was once willing to stand up to his own party, but now that he is running for President, he supports the same Bush policies and powerful special interests that put us in the grip of the oil companies. One of the last remaining independent policies putting him at odds with Bush was his opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, yet he has now picked a running mate who has opposed holding Big Oil accountable and been dismissive of alternative energy while focusing her work on more oil drilling in a wildlife refuge and off of our coasts."

"Palin herself told Roll Call earlier this week, 'When I look every day, the big oil company's building is right out there next to me, and it's quite a reminder that we should have mutually beneficial relationships with the oil industry.'" (Roll Call, 8/25/08)

"No one is closer to the the oil industry than Governo Palin. Along with her support for drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and off our coasts, she also opposes a windfall profit tax on the richest oil companies. Under her leadership, Alaska has sued the federal governent for considering listing the Polar Bear as a threatened species even though global warming threatens its very existence.

She has been dismissive of alternative energy, saying "alternative-energy solutions are far from imminent and would require more than 10 years to develop" (The Post and Courier Charleston, SC, 8/16/08), when in reality it is the oil she would like to drill that would take a decade to bring to market."

"Senator McCain has lost any chance of having a balanced or moderate ticket with this choice and has instead opted for the same, business-as-usual reliance on the outdated oil companies that has been the hallmark of the Bush-Cheney administration. On the third anniversay of the hurricane that knocked loose oil rigs and spilled millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf Coast that is bracing for another hit, McCain is sending a terribly indifferent message by selecting a candidate who only repeats Big Oil's talking points."

"Senators Obama and Biden share the common goals of putting America back to work by building a balanced clean energy economy, taking on Big Oil and meeting the challenge of global warming. Under their leadership, our economy can become stronger, and our world cleaner and safer."

Paid for by the Sierra Club Political Committee, http://www.sierraclub.org/, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

McCain: Not Comfortable With Nuclear Waste Through Arizona, But Just Fine for Pennsylvania

www.sierraclub.org
McCain Nuclear Plan Would Bring At Least 6,349 Casks of Dangerous, Highly Radioactive Nuclear Waste Through Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—As John McCain is paying a visit today to the Enrico Fermi nuclear generating station in Monroe, Michigan he can be expected to tout his costly plan to build 45 new nuclear plants by 2030 and 55 more after that. This plan would effectively double the number of nuclear reactors and the amount of dangerous high-level nuclear waste that would need to be transported across the country.

The Sierra Club is today calling attention to the YouTube video that surfaced earlier this year which shows John McCain clearly saying—while shaking his head ‘no’—that he would not be comfortable with nuclear waste traveling through his own home state of Arizona on its way to the unsafe and unproven Yucca Mountain site—something for which John McCain has been one of the Senate’s biggest proponents.

The video can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPlaHQCKc34

Transcript (beginning at 1:14): Interviewer: What about the transportation? Would you be comfortable with nuclear waste coming through Arizona on its way, you know going through Phoenix, on its way to uh Yucca Mountain? McCain (Shaking Head): “No, I would not. No, I would not.”

“Why does John McCain think its okay for hundreds of tons of dangerous nuclear waste to go through Pennsylvania but yet too dangerous to go through his own state?” said Hillary Bright, Sierra Club. “John McCain simply can’t have it both ways when it comes to the nuclear waste issue. Right now he supports running hundreds of shipments of dangerous nuclear waste through Pennsylvania and sticking Nevadans with 77,000 tons of it forever, while at the same time saying he’s uncomfortable with it going through his own backyard for even a day.”

The Sierra Club also pointed out that the very nuclear plant that Senator McCain is visiting today once suffered a partial meltdown. Indeed, a book about the incident is entitled “We Almost Lost Detroit.”

John McCain supports the Bush administration’s plan to store our nation’s nuclear waste at the unsafe and unproven Yucca mountain site—a white elephant that has wasted two decades and billions of taxpayer dollars. A plan to transport the waste released by the State of Nevada based on Department of Energy plans details the likely rail, truck, and barge routes that high-level waste would take on its way to Yucca Mountain. Approximately 6,349 casks of waste would travel through Pennsylvania. Each cask would transport between 2 and 15 tons of high-level waste. In total, the dangerous waste would travel through more than 703 counties in 45 states. More than 123 million people live along the proposed truck routes alone. And more than 10 million people live within a half-mile of the proposed routes.

See link for Proposed Pennsylvania Routes: http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/maps2002/roadrail/pa.htm

“John McCain is asking both Pennsylvanians and Nevadans to gamble with our safety, yet it’s not even a bet he’s willing to take for Arizona,” said Hillary Bright, Sierra Club. “Just like with subsidies—he’s against them, except when it comes to nuclear power and so-called ‘clean coal’—John McCain wants to have his cake and eat it too on the nuclear waste issue. He’s all for moving thousands of tons highly radioactive waste through communities across the country, except when it comes to his home state of Arizona.”

In addition to being dangerous, John McCain’s nuclear plan is a costly distraction from the real solutions to global warming. Based on cost estimates for new nuclear power plants put forth by utilities like Florida Power and Light, McCain’s plan for 100 new nuclear plants could cost more than $1 TRILLION.

Over the years McCain has cast vote after vote in favor of Yucca Mountain and billions in subsidies for the nuclear industry, yet he has consistently voted against renewable energy and has refused to support extending key clean energy incentives that are in danger of expiring at the end of this year. While twice trying to extend these incentives in recent months, they failed by just a single vote. Every other Senator voted on these clean energy incentives, but McCain was nowhere to be found. Failing to extend these incentives could throw 116,000 people out of work in the wind and solar industries alone and sacrifice billions in lost economic growth.

Barack Obama, by contrast, opposes storing nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain site. With regards to the role of nuclear power in general, Obama’s energy plan released yesterday states:

“Before an expansion of nuclear power is considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste storage, and proliferation.”

New Sierra club ad running in Carney's district.

From the Sierra Club Website:

New ad running in Chris Carney's PA district.
"Rolling In It."
The ad urges Members to keep standing strong against Big Oil and calls on Congress to break Big Oil’s stranglehold on America by cracking down on price-gouging, ending the billions in giveaways to the oil industry, investing in renewable energy to give consumers more clean energy options, and by offering consumers real relief at the pump.

Listen to it here.