From Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light (http://www.paipl.org):
In this note you will find highlights from the June 2017 PA IPL climate policy briefing call, beginning with opportunities for action and witness.
These monthly calls are intended to build our knowledge base so that we can more quickly understand emerging issues and questions. The next call will be held on July 27th 12:30-1:30. New people may sign up by contacting Cricket Hunter.
In this update:
– take action
– federal policy updates
– Pennsylvania policy updates
– closing meditation
TAKE ACTION
Federal action opportunities
Our legislators head home to their districts for the 4th of July recess, and again for an August recess. Find and register for (or request!) a Town Hall with your Senator or Representative. IPL has a kit ready to make participation easier and more effective.
The Bipartisan House Climate Caucus is growing! Check to see if your Congressman is a member of the Caucus, or has signed onto the Resolution HRes 195, rooted in the Republican-only resolution in the 114th Congress. Thank those who have. Reach out to the Energy and Environment aides in other offices to ask them to sit down with members who are active in this bipartisan effort. Share the religious leadership letter praising the resolution. If your House member is a Republican, you may want to read this description of the real variety of Republican viewpoints represented.
Caucus members have actively proposed legislation, all of which is currently in committee.
– HR 2326, the Climate Solutions Commission Act
– HR 2830, concerning methane leakage in infrastructure
– HR 2858, the SUPER Act, concerning short-term high-intensity climate pollutants
State action opportunities
There is a lot to talk with Governor Wolf about right now! Reach out to his office, or write a letter to your local paper, and send a copy to his office in a link, a scan, or an old-school envelope.
We are urging the Governor to veto SB 561, the state bill that would put a very heavy finger on the regulatory scales in favor of corporations over citizens. Read what Rev. Mitch Hescox of the Evangelical Environmental Network has to say about the bill. Many State Senators from both sides of the aisle voted against it, so the Governor would not stand alone in a veto.
We are hearing that the Governor is helping other governors move toward “no” votes on fracking in the Delaware River Basin, and we appreciate his support for creating limits on methane emission in Pennsylvania.
The former head of the PA Utility Commission Rob Powelson has been tapped for FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission), so there is an opening at the PUC. We urge the Governor to seek candidates committed to 21st century clean, renewable-energy leadership.
We would like the Governor to join other governors and a growing number of Pennsylvania municipalities in committing publicly to meeting the emissions targets set in the Paris Accord. If your household or congregation has made the Paris Pledge —any time since the Paris Accord was signed— be sure to make that part of your message!
FEDERAL UPDATE SUMMARY
The primary work happening at the federal level is work on the 2018 budget. Parts of that budget are relevant to climate and clean energy. The President’s proposed budget cuts the Office Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by 70 percent, including the voluntary, highly effective Energy Star program. EPA budget is cut by nearly 1/3 in the proposal, including the entire enforcement budget. PA IPL bicyclists brought copies of our testimony about the EPA to each of the legislative offices they visited on the Hill, and spoke to aides about the fact that the budget is a moral document, illustrating our priorities.
We continue to follow the “Nonprofit Energy Efficiency Act,” a bi-partisan, bi-cameral bill introduced on April 27— S.981 in the Senate, and H.R.2197 in the House. The PA IPL bicyclists spoke about this bill with Energy and Environment aides in all of their Hill Visits. If passed, this legislation will establish a new pilot program at the U.S. Department of Energy to provide financial grants to non-profit organizations to help make buildings they own and operate more energy efficient. It is particularly aimed at non-profits because they cannot take advantage of tax incentives that other companies can use. Press release by one of the bill co-sponsors (from PA!). Fact sheet by the Orthodox Union, one of many religious organizations supporting the bills.
Senate
Although the Senate version of the Regulatory Accountability Act is missing some of the most concerning provisions of the House version, we remain concerned that S.951 requires proposed regulations to be evaluated in light of purely financial costs to companies, without considering either costs or benefits to citizens and communities, such as the impact of clean air, clean water, and a healthy atmosphere on our public health, or our national security.
House
The House Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus has been both growing and active. We believe it’s most productive to support bipartisan work, as well as to urge both parties to grow their own climate champions, and move forward on climate action, and a fast, fair transition to a clean, renewable-energy future. More information and many links at the top of this summary under Federal Action Opportunities.
Of the House bills listed above, we are particularly interested in HR 2858, (nicknamed the SUPER Act) that deals with very powerful, short-lived climate pollutants. This group of climate pollutants are estimated to account for nearly half of the human-caused climate change we are now seeing. Slashing these emissions could have a large climate impact, and reductions will have a more localized and immediate impact on the health of impacted communities, and even on crop yields.
DAPL in the courts
A June 14 Federal Court decision found legal flaws in the Army Corps’ permitting process for the Dakota Access Pipeline, noting, importantly, that the Army Corps didn’t adequately consider what could happen to fishing rights, hunting rights, or other aspects of the enviroment if htere were to be an oil spill. The US District Court for the District of Columbia began a status hearing on June 21 to deterimine how it will proceed, including whether the pipeline will be switched off while the Army Corps complies with any directives.
STATE UPDATE SUMMARY
The primary work happening at the state level is on the state budget. Part of that must be providing adequate funding for the DEP to do its job and fulfill the state’s obligations under Article 1, Section 27 of the PA Constitution.
PA Supreme Court decision
The PA Supreme Court just ruled that the state government must act as trustees for public natural resources under the Environmental Rights Amendment (Article 1, Section 27 of the PA Constitution). The decision overturns a lower court decision and rules that the state government did not comply with its constitutional duties to Pennsylvanians when it acted to least public land to oil and gas interests without directing the profits toward conservation efforts— and that future leasing decisions must include an assessment of the public interest. More at State Impact PA.
Methane
The comment period on General Permits has ended (PA IPL’s comments), but a portion of the legislature wants to bring these up in front of the legislature. The House State Government Committee has had hearings on this, and we understand that industry does not want that, nor do many members. The linked regulatory package for existing standards will likely move very slowly until after budget work is complete. There will be a comment period as that package moves forward.
We continue to follow SB 175, which would bar PA from implementing methane regulations more stringent than those of the federal government, despite the fact that Pennsylvania is on the leading edge of methane emissions (and impacts), and despite Colorado, a similarly impacted state, having introduced stronger standards. It looks as though this will not come up before the budget finishes.
Clean Air Task Force fact sheet on health impacts of methane pollution in PA.
Coal
As previously reported, SB 624 requires legislative approval of regulations costing greater than $1 million. It currently resides in the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee (ERE). It amends the Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act to require that if DEP approves an underground mine plan, it cannot consider presumptive evidence the mine could cause pollution or permanent damage to streams. The bill is retroactive to all permits issued and heard by the Environmental Hearing Board after June 30, 2016, so it could impact the case pending an Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) decision brought by the Sierra Club and the Center for Coalfield Justice against Consol’s planned mine under Ryerson Station State Park.
CLOSING MEDITATION
We close each Policy Update call with a meditation or prayer.
We marked Ramadan in May with a prayer from the Muslim tradition. Ramadan came to a close with Eid-al-Fitr at sundown on June 24. In honor of the Solstice, and the gratitude for the gifts with which we are surrounded, June’s offering is
Beatitudes for Earth Sunday, by Richard Gilbert
Blessed are the heavens,
for they declare the power of creation.
Blessed is the earth, our beloved home,
for she is a planet of plentitude
Blessed are the waters thereon,
for they gave rise to living things.
Blessed is the land,
for it is the source of life abundant.
Blessed is the air we breathe,
for it fires us to life and love.
Blessed are the beasts of the field,
for they are glorious to behold.
Blessed are the birds of the air,
for they care a graceful arc in the sky.
Blessed are the mountains and the seas and the valleys,
for their variety makes rich our habitat.
Blessed are the fields of grain, the orchards of fruit,
for they give sustenance, asking nothing in return.
Blessed are the dwellers on earth,
for they cherish the privilege of living upon it.
Blessed are they who protect the earth and all her creatures,
from the plants of the field to the trees of the forest,
for their reward shall be harmony with the web of existence.
Rejoice, and be glad,
for the earth and her people are one.
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