Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania is making the environment a top priority across the Commonwealth.

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PA can support workers, protect the environment by funding public transit

Lawmakers in Harrisburg are on the clock to pass legislation that will continue support for working class and communities of color, boost the state’s economy and improve air quality, as funding for public transit is scheduled to sunset at the end of 2022.


Act 89, bipartisan legislation signed by former Governor Tom Corbett in 2013, provided the largest investment in public transportation in decades. But we can’t afford to let the state’s highly partisan politics derail necessary, commonsense legislation to address this looming issue.

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Philadelphia needs the federal jobs plan to fight massive threats of climate change

You don’t have to look far to see the devastating effects of climate change. Severe storms that cause dangerous, costly flooding, and power outages are becoming more and more common. Temperatures are climbing, worsening childhood asthma. These impacts are felt even more acutely in cities like Philadelphia that lack trees in many neighborhoods and suffer from the “heat island” effect.

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Congress, legislature key to saving SEPTA, fighting climate change

President Biden’s plan to fight climate change by investing in critical infrastructure is the shot in the arm our economy needs. 

It promises to put millions of people to work in good-paying union jobs replacing lead pipes that threaten our children’s development, building new charging stations for growing numbers of electric vehicles and installing solar panels and wind turbines to expand access to clean, renewable energy.  

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Leading PA environmental group highlights importance of passing Biden infrastructure plan in response to Buttigieg visit

Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania Executive Director Josh McNeil issued the following statement in response to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s visit to Pittsburgh today, which focused on the importance of passing President Biden’s American Jobs plan to build a robust transportation infrastructure that will create jobs, make critical progress towards racial justice, fight climate change, and deliver cleaner air and water:

President Biden’s American Rescue Plan was a crucial first step in getting our country back on track by putting COVID-19 vaccines in people’s arms and shoring up our economy...

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Leading PA environmental group hails Biden Phila. visit to highlight transit investments

Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania Executive Director Josh McNeil issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s visit to Philadelphia today, where the president highlighted the importance of investing in public transportation as part of the American Jobs Plan:

A vibrant public transit system is one of the main drivers of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s economic competitiveness. Our region’s trains, subways, buses and trolleys connect hundreds of thousands of working families to their jobs, to their families and, now, to COVID-19 vaccination appointments. This is particularly true for people of color, who make up more than 70 percent of SEPTA’s ridership...

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Conservation Voters of PA, PennFuture release joint statement regarding Derek Chauvin verdict

PennFuture and Conservation Voters of PA applaud the jury’s decision today to convict Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. 

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Josh McNeil: The American Jobs Plan will build a better future for us all

We are at a critical moment in our nation’s future. In Pittsburgh last week, President Biden laid out a plan to meet the scale of the twin climate change and jobs crises with his American Jobs Plan.

We need to get people back to work and build back our economy by investing trillions of dollars in the industries of the future — clean energy technologies and green infrastructure that create millions of new union jobs while curbing the pollution that threatens our air, land, and water. We don’t need to choose between responding to climate change and rebuilding our economy — and in fact, the work goes hand in hand.

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‘Not just climate change’: An activist explains how Biden’s infrastructure plan improves the environment

The $2 trillion infrastructure plan that President Joe Biden rolled out during a stop in Pittsburgh last week does more than just rebuild the nation’s crumbling network of roads and bridges, it also fast-tracks the nation’s pivot away from fossil fuels; builds up electric vehicle infrastructure, and provide tax breaks to encourage new, climate-friendly technology.

This down payment on environmental spending also calls for calls for $10 billion for a Civilian Climate Corps, $16 billion for capping abandoned wells and cleaning up abandoned mines, and a general commitment to “protect and, where necessary, restore nature-based infrastructure.” And if you’re guessing that it’s already drawing comparisons to the New Deal, you’d be correct.

As you might expect, environmental activists are welcoming this emphasis from the White House, where former Secretary of State John Kerry has been tapped to be a new climate czar. One of those advocates, Josh McNeil, the executive director of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, took a few minutes to talk about Biden’s sweeping plan and its implications for Pennsylvania. The bottom line: Jobs, jobs, and more jobs.

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In Pennsylvania visit, Biden proposes $16 billion for plugging abandoned oil and gas wells

President Joe Biden’s massive infrastructure spending plan earmarks $16 billion to plug abandoned oil and gas wells across the country.

It’s a potential solution for an expensive and overwhelming problem for Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection. During House budget hearings last month, DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell told lawmakers the department spends an average of $17,000 plugging one abandoned well.

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Leading PA environmental group hails Biden proposal to respond to climate emergency by creating millions of jobs

Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania Executive Director Josh McNeil issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s visit to Pittsburgh today, where the President unveiled a new proposal to respond to the growing climate emergency with game-changing investments in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure. 

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