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Renew Growing Greener Coalition Supports Allocation From Oil & Gas Fund
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The Renew Growing Greener Coalition this week sent a letter to members of the Senate and House expressing its support for a provision in the House version of Marcellus Shale legislation-- House Bill 1950 (Ellis-R-Butler)-- which would make an allocation from DCNR's Oil and Gas Fund to support the award-winning Growing Greener Program. Here's the text of that letter--
With the legislative recess concluded, the Renew Growing Greener Coalition is hopeful that you are nearing a resolution on a Marcellus Shale bill and that the final package contains funding for the Growing Greener Environmental Stewardship Fund.
The Coalition strongly supports the provision put forth in House Bill 1950 that allocates 25 percent of the revenues from leases under the Oil and Gas Lease Fund to the Growing Greener Environmental Stewardship Fund.
We urge you to ensure that any final measure contains this provision.
In fact, the Oil and Gas Lease Fund was established for this very purpose – to reinvest revenues from the extraction of nonrenewable oil and gas resources from state lands back into conservation and recreation programs benefiting all Pennsylvanians.
In recent years, the Fund has also been used to supplement the operating expenses of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).
And it can continue to do so.
Revenue projections clearly indicate that there is ample funding to support both the Growing Greener Environmental Stewardship Fund and DCNR, and that additional leasing of state parks or forestland is not needed.
Further, to satisfy short-term needs, the Coalition supports allocating a significant portion of an impact fee to the Growing Greener Environmental Stewardship Fund.
The Coalition also encourages the Commonwealth to restore Growing Greener tipping fees to their original purpose of funding Growing Greener projects instead of paying bond debt expenses.
The Renew Growing Greener Coalition is the largest coalition of conservation, recreation and environmental organizations in the Commonwealth, consisting of nearly 350 organizations and government entities from across the state.
More than 140 government entities, including 33 counties, representing more than seven million Pennsylvanians, have passed resolutions calling for a dedicated source of funding for the Growing Greener Environmental Stewardship Fund.
Please hear our voices, which continue to grow larger and louder every day.
Please ensure any final Marcellus Shale package allocates 25 percent of the existing Oil and Gas Lease Fund revenues to the Growing Greener Environmental Stewardship Fund and provides significant funding for Growing Greener through an impact fee.
As Maurice “Doc” Goddard and other conservation, recreation and political leaders recognized more than five decades ago, as natural resources are extracted from our state public lands it is only right that the revenues from the extraction be reinvested to protect out natural resources and provide recreation opportunities for the benefit of all – today and tomorrow.
I am happy to meet with you to further discuss the Coalition’s position and to answer any questions you may have.
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1/23/2012 |
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