Conservation Voters of PA highlights three endorsed Pittsburgh state House candidates
Updates • • by Ryan Deto at Pittsburgh City Paper
Environmental policy is an area where state legislators have considerable sway. With an EPA controlled by President Donald Trump that is set on rolling back regulations, a lot of environmental protections in Pennsylvania currently fall to elected officials in Harrisburg.
With that in mind, statewide environmental group Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania (CVPA) has endorsed three Democratic candidates for state House seats in Allegheny County. Not only do legislators from the area vote on important environmental bills in Harrisburg, the Pittsburgh area is on the front line of air pollution and faces significant environmental impacts from the fracking industry, which has a large footprint in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
'Climate change is real,' Rep. Shusterman tells local residents
Updates •
State Rep. Melissa Shusterman Thursday joined PennEnvironment, Conservation Voters of PA, and other local groups for a “Climate on Tap” event at Crowded Castle Brewing Company in Phoenixville.
Over 50 constituents from the Phoenixville and Tredyffrin areas came out to discuss local climate change impacts, how to promote clean energy solutions, and to call on Pennsylvania and the nation to transition to 100 percent renewable energy as quickly as possible to combat climate change.
Chester County, other suburbs can lead way on environmental issues
Updates • • by Josh McNeil at The Philadelphia Inquirer
This month, dozens of newly elected officials took the oath of office in Southeast Pennsylvania, capping off a profound shift toward pro-environmental protection in places like Chester, Delaware, and Bucks counties. New faces include Josh Maxwell and Marian Moskowitz on the county board of commissioners, as well as 15 other candidates endorsed by my group, the Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, to municipal office and several other candidates to county judgeships.
Rep. Friel Otten seeks second term in 155th state House District
Updates • • by Daily Local at Daily Local
State Rep. Danielle Friel Otten will seek a second term to represent the 155th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2020.
In 2018, Otten bested three-term incumbent Republican Becky Corbin by 9 percentage points to return the seat to the Democrats for the first time in 28 years.
Advocates criticize shifting $10M from Pa. environmental fund
Updates • • by Marie Cusick at Penn Live
A coalition of sixteen environmental groups sent an open letter to Gov. Tom Wolf and legislators Tuesday decrying the transfer of approximately $10 million out of Pennsylvania's Environmental Stewardship Fund in this year's state budget.
The fund was established nearly two decades ago to support environmental programs, including flooding and storm water management, Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts, and farmland preservation.
Grades on environmental, business scorecards differ for Congressional Democrats, Republicans
Updates • • by J.D. Prose at The Times
While congressional Democrats scored big while Republicans did poorly on a new environmental scorecard, the situation was reversed when it came to recent pro-business rankings.
The Conservation Voters of PA last week released the results of the League of Conservation Voters 2018 environmental scorecard and its executive director had flattering words for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, who scored 93 percent, and some harsh ones for U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Lehigh County, who was given a score of zero.
Collett, Greenleaf Jr. square off for 12th District Senate seat
Updates • • by Dan Sokil at The Reporter
"I am proud to be endorsed by the Sierra Club and Conservation Voters of PA and will fight to stop gutting our DEP, expand DOH (Department of Health) resources for residents concerned about exposure, and pressure the federal government to act more swiftly and pay its fair share," said Maria Collett.
DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS ARE COMING TO HARRISBURG. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES?
Updates • • by Reid Frazier at StateImpact PA
Executive director Josh McNeil says it’s not just because of their policies, but how they talk about them.
“They were campaigning on issues of environmental justice and environmental racism. Summer Lee was maybe the first candidate for state office that I’ve ever seen talk about the inherent racism in a lot of the way that environmental impacts are distributed in this country,” he said.
New report on shale industry spending is a clarion call for campaign finance reform
Updates • • by Editorial at Penn Live
The [Marcellus Money] report should serve as a clarion call for a serious push for campaign finance reform in Pennsylvania, where the sky's the limit on campaign contributions and the only direct corporate contributions are banned.
Killion Receives 100% Rating from Top Environmental Groups
Updates •
Senator Tom Killion (R-9) has received a 100% legislative scorecard rating from Pennsylvania’s leading environmental organizations. The perfect score is based on votes cast by Killion during the current 2017-2018 legislative session. The groups issuing the newly released rating include the Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, Sierra Club of Pennsylvania, Clean Water Action of Pennsylvania and PennEnvironment.