TOPHarrisburg Cake Walk
January 30, 2015
Protesters en route to the Wolf inauguration, held January 20th in Harrisburg.

There was a peaceful and respectful fracking protest during Wolf's inauguration last week. RDA members participated, and Barb Jarmoska reports on the event in our feature, questioning how the Governor intends to "have his cake & eat it too?" 

 

Now that the Wolf administration is up & running, our Governor seems to be keeping his campaign promises. Thankfully, a new ban on further leasing of our public lands has been enacted, but with all the land already leased, there is still much work to be done. "Striving for Transparency" highlights the progress Wolf has made during his first week in office, and also showcases an important letter RDA sent to DCNR's newly appointed Secretary regarding the Clarence Moore lands of the Loyalsock State Forest.

 

In Other News presents a PEDF update as well as a story on PA's legal compensation to an anti-drilling environmental group. There are also plenty of action points for you to take part in.

 

RDA is continuing our efforts to protect our communities and special places, and we are still seeking new memberships and active participation in our endeavors. Please consider getting involved.
 

Thank you for caring & staying informed.

 

Sincerely,


Brooke Woodside

Managing Editor

 

Visit our website at:  www.rdapa.org
Harrisburg Cake Walk
by Barb Jarmoska, RDA Treasurer

When asked his opinion of the recent New York state ban on deep shale gas drilling, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf replied, "I want to have my cake and eat it too." The phrase alludes to making a choice between two options that are mutually exclusive and unable to be reconciled.

 

Did Wolf realize how accurate the idiom is to gas drilling? Has he read this 20-page summary of the available research and scientific data collected on shale drilling between 2009 and 2014? This meta-analysis played a key role in the New York state decision to ban high volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF).

 

Referring to the report, Dr. Anthony Ingraffea of Cornell University asks, "Where do you think the science was done that convinced New York state to ban shale gas development? Not New York, we don't mine shale here.  It was places like Colorado, Texas, and Pennsylvania where the science was done. So, New York gets to use the science on health impacts felt in ongoing experiments where YOU are the subjects, while your states keep denying that the impacts exist and that you are their victims.  The science is the science...if it convinced the New York Department of Health, why not yours?"

 

Dr. Ingraffea is right, if Wolf were to take position based on current science, he would have to agree that HVHF and preservation of public/environmental health are mutually exclusive. Having your cake and eating it too cannot be reconciled.

 

I was among the 200+ folks who traveled to Harrisburg on January 20th for Wolf's inauguration. We were there to remind PA's new governor of our concerns. The Grace United Methodist Church provided the staging area and opened its doors and large meeting room to us to meet with the press. At 10 am, we set out parade-style to make our way for 10 blocks through downtown Harrisburg to the capitol building. There we entered a cordoned off "free speech area" in the grove behind the outdoor stage, constructed for the occasion at the rear of the capitol building. 

 

The protesters were a widely diverse group: male and female, black and white, young and old. They came from across the state, including a busload from both Philly and Pittsburgh. Most carried hand-made signs. We sang, we prayed, we chanted, we talked, we shared our despair - and our hope. Above all, we renewed our commitment to continue doing all we can to rescue democracy from the clutches of greed and corruption, and to preserve and protect public and environmental health and safety, as well as quality of life for present and future generations.  

Striving for Transparency
by Brooke Woodside, RDA working group

As he settles into office, Governor Wolf is making some good moves to follow through on his campaign promises and his commitment to transparency. 

 

This week, our new governor declared a moratorium on leasing additional state lands to the natural gas industry. The original moratorium was imposed during the Rendell Administration in 2010 after it was determined that additional leasing couldn't be done without compromising the natural character of our state forests. Corbett ended the moratorium last May. Click here to read more. You may thank Governor Wolf by writing to [email protected]

 

While we are thankful for this moratorium, we also need to remember that over 750,000 acres of state land has already been leased for gas drilling. In his first week in office, the Wolf administration permitted 22 shale gas wells for five counties in just three days from January 21-23. RDA believes that NO NEW PERMITS for HVHF should be issued based on existing evidence of harm and the need to apply the precautionary principal. 

 

Wolf appointed two noteworthy officials to head the state's environmental organizations: Cindy Dunn will lead the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), and John Quigley will run the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

 

Cindy Dunn formerly served as deputy secretary of DCNR under both the Rendell and Corbett administrations, and most recently was President and CEO of PennFuture, a professional advocacy group for strong environmental and public health policies. Dunn holds a master's in biology from Shippensburg University.

 

Dunn said "I think [Wolf] has got the right ideas about using Pennsylvania's natural assets -- its mountains, its rivers, its forest lands -- to really raise the economy and quality of life in Pennsylvania."

 

Dunn also wrote a personal email to one of our board members stating "As secretary of DCNR, I'll continue the mission to conserve and protect Pennsylvania's state parks and state forests and work to excite citizens and communities about the outdoors." She also mentioned that she looks forward to working with us in her new role.

 

Governor Wolf's newly declared moratorium on leasing of public lands has no impact on the Clarence Moore tract in the Loyalsock State Forest. The mineral rights to the 28,000 acres are owned outright by the gas industry, making these treasured woodlands and wetlands in northern Lycoming County a "split estate."

 

RDA has written a detailed, 4-page letter to Secretary Dunn, urging DCNR to protect the Clarence Moore lands, something we believe DCNR has both the legal authority and the obligation to do. An excerpt from the letter follows: 

 

As you well know, our most valuable remaining PA wilds are at risk of industrialization and action by the DCNR is needed to protect these invaluable resources...

 

Until DCNR exhausts all viable legal strategies to prevent gas development in the Loyalsock State Forest's Clarence Moore lands, (including full use of the agency's right to control surface activity) we respectfully request that you refrain from entering into a Surface Disturbance Management Agreement with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and Southwestern Exploration and Production Company for development of this tract.

 

Although the Commonwealth does not own the gas rights there, the unique division of property rights in the Clarence Moore lands gives the Commonwealth the opportunity to protect a cherished parcel of state forest from impacts of unconventional gas development.

 

We ask that DCNR use every means possible, through negotiation - or if necessary, litigation - to craft a solution that protects a rare interior forest area treasured for its ecological, recreational, historical and cultural values, while preserving the gas owners' ability to exercise their rights.

 

As you know, Pennsylvania's conservation leaders agree that the Clarence Moore lands are worthy of protection, we believe the staff of the DCNR agrees, too. Protecting the Clarence Moore lands would be a landmark conservation achievement for the Wolf administration in its first year.

 

Click here to view RDA's complete letter to Cindy Dunn.

 

Wolf's other environmental appointee, John Quigley, previously worked at DCNR for 6 years in a variety of capacities, most recently as DCNR secretary from 2009-2011 under Governor Rendell. An economics graduate of Bloomsburg University with a master's in public administration from Lehigh University, Quigley also served as Mayor of the city of Hazleton for 8 years.

 

"The key test and the key challenge I think is to find the balance between economic growth and all of the benefits that the shale gas boom offers Pennsylvania, and environmental protection and public health protection," Quigley said.

 

Regarding administration transparency, Wolf signed two important executive orders into action during his first week as Governor: one for full disclosure and regulation of gifts to political appointees, and another to assure a fair bidding process for obtaining legal services. 

 

Wolf signing Executive Orders. Photo credit: Sean Simmers, Pennlive.com

 

The "Executive branch employee gift ban" states that "such confidence in the integrity of the government demands that significant contact between Commonwealth Executive Employees and special interests, lobbyists and those who employ lobbyists seeking to influence the decisions and administrative actions of such employees, be regulated and publicly disclosed."

 

The other for the "Competitive process for procurement of legal services" states that "Procuring legal services through a competitive procurement process wherever possible will provide greater assurance that legal expenditures are efficiently utilized, will result in a more transparent selection process, and will enhance public perception that the process is fair and not influenced by political or other improper considerations."

 

Click here to see both executive orders in their entirety.

 

Along with signing the executive orders, Governor Wolf also scheduled a class for appointees on transparency in government. Terry Mutchler, founder of the state's Office of Open Records, lead the class intended to train Wolf and his Cabinet members on the state's Right to Know Law. Mutchler said this is "the first administration that sought transparency training right out of the gate." She then went on to tell Jen Murphy of Pennlive "As an expert on transparency, to me, that signals for this governor that transparency is more than a policy on paper. It's going to be practiced." She also mentioned repeatedly offering to train former Governors Rendell, Corbett and their Cabinet members on the law, but only received the opportunity to train their lawyers. 

In This Issue
Events/
Action Points
In Other News InOtherNews
PEDF Lawsuit Update

Today, PEDF attorney John Childe filed an Application for Reargument with the Commonwealth Court, requesting them to consider critical facts and law which PEDF believes the Court either overlooked or misapprehended in issuing its Opinion on January 7, 2015.

 

It is PEDF's hope that members of the Court will consider our Application and hear argument on why the Court should reconsider its Opinion, based on the reasons set forth in the Application.

 

It is still PEDF's intent to file an appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, but PEDF wants to give the Court a chance to correct the record of Opinion before the appeal is filed.

 

Go to www.pedf.org to read both the Application for Reargument and the Opinion.

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PA agrees to pay $40,000 to gas drilling opposition group over terror listing

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The state of Pennsylvania agreed to pay about $40,000 to an anti-gas drilling group that was erroneously characterized in security bulletins as a potential terror threat.

 

The settlement terms between the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition were released Friday. The Associated Press obtained the document through an open-records request.

 

Click to read the full story.

Audobon
Audubon Society Meeting: Marcellus Shale-Gas Drilling and Forest Fragmentation
Wednesday, Feb 25 - 6 pm

James V. Brown Library
Lowery Room - 3rd Floor

Effects of Marcellus Shale-Gas Development on Forest Fragmentation and the Forest Bird Community in North-Central Pennsylvania

with Lillie Langlois, PhD Candidate, Wildlife and Fisheries Science at Penn State

The rapid expansion of Marcellus Shale drilling has been breaking up the largest unbroken block of trees spanning the state's north central region. This is the basis for Lillie's research, and her presentation to LAS.

NYBan
Governor Wolf: Follow NY's Lead & Ban Fracking Now
This petition is brought to us by Food & Water Watch.

This victory came after years of education, mobilization and advocacy work done by Food & Water Watch as a co-founding member of New Yorkers Against Fracking, and the strong network of allies and grassroots activists in NY.

After activists demanded that New York study the health effects of fracking, a two-year investigation by the state's own commission confirmed what the movement has been saying all along, that fracking cannot be done safely. 

PublicHerald
Wolf - Agree to Public Herald Interview
Journalist and documentary filmmaker Melissa Troutman is on a mission to sit down with PA Governor Tom Wolf to discuss issues with fracking uncovered by investigative news nonprofit Public Herald.

Troutman wants to sit down with Wolf to talk about fracking in PA, justice for those who've already been harmed, constitutional rights, and whether the governor-elect supports the study of health impacts in the state.

Pipelines
Stop the Mariner East and the Atlantic Sunrise Pipelines
The Clean Air Council has prepared the following petitions:

Mariner East Pipeline

Sunoco Logistics is attempting to get air quality permits from the DEP for three more pumping stations along the proposed Mariner East pipeline in Huntingdon County, Dauphin County, and Perry County.

If approved, the pipeline would transport 70,000 barrels per day of ethane and propane across Pennsylvania to ship overseas for plastic manufacturing. While Sunoco Logistics would reap the profits from this project, our communities would be left with the dangers of these explosive products at higher pressures in the pipeline that is over 80 years old!


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Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline

The proposed Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline would span 178 miles through eight counties in PA. If approved, it would directly impact the lives of thousands of people living in these communities.

Help protect PA from the construction of this damaging pipeline. By signing this petition, you are urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and PA elected officials to deny the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline and to instead protect PA homes, farms and natural areas. 


Representative Mark Pocan (WI-2) recently introduced a bill to ban fracking on all public lands - the strongest piece of federal legislation against fracking to date. Fracking on public lands means clear-cutting forests for well pads, air pollution, potential water contamination and thousands of trucks carrying water, toxic chemicals and waste.

Our US parks and national forests are irreplaceable. Not only do they provide beautiful recreational areas and essential wildlife habitat, they also protect critical drinking water sources. 

Join RDA!
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We welcome your active participation and are in need of help for special events, publicity, research and other projects.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, RDA relies on donations for the important work we do. In order for RDA to continue its valuable education and advocacy outreach in 2015, please consider a tax-free contribution to our efforts.

You can send a donation to the address listed at the bottom of this email, click here to donate via PayPal, or click here to download our current membership form to fill out and send in along with your donation.
 
Membership levels:
Adventurer..................$10 
Explorer......................$20
Woodlander................$50
Guardian..................$100 
Naturalist..................$500 
Preservationist.......$1,000 


Past Newsletters
RDA Newsletter

Brooke Woodside, RDA Working Group, Managing Editor
Barb Jarmoska, Treasurer - RDA Board of Directors, Editor
Ralph Kisberg, RDA Working Group, Contributing Editor
Ted Stroter, RDA Working Group, Chemical Advisor & Contributing Editor
Jim Slotterback, President - RDA Board of Directors
Robbie Cross, Vice President - RDA Board of Directors
Jenni Slotterback, Secretary - RDA Board of Directors
Mark Szybist - RDA Board of Directors
Roscoe McCloskey - RDA Board of Directors 
Dianne Peeling - RDA Board of Directors

This biweekly e-newsletter is written and designed by the RDA consultants and Board of Directors and sent to RDA members/subscribers. Every effort is made to assure complete accuracy in each issue. This publication and the information contained herein is copyrighted by RDA and may not be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved. Readers are invited to forward this newsletter in its entirety to broaden the scope of its outreach. There is a forward link below. Readers are also invited to submit articles to be considered for publication in a future issue.    

Please note: The RDA newsletter includes reporting on a variety of events and activities, which do not necessarily reflect the philosophy of the organization. RDA practices only non-violent action in voicing the organization's beliefs and concerns.

Responsible Drilling Alliance | [email protected]
Phone:  888.332.1244 (toll free)

Please mail donations to:
RDA, PO Box 502, Williamsport, PA 17703