Recent action

Appalachian Trail bill becomes law

With Pennsylvanians preparing to spend their summer days hiking and camping, Gov. Ed Rendell signed new legislation to protect one of Pennsylvania’s most important wild places: the Appalachian Trail.

“Pennsylvanians care deeply about protecting the Appalachian Trail,” said PennEnvironment Director David Masur. “The state’s residents want to ensure that the Appalachian Trail is protected now and Gov. Rendell showed he understood this by passing the Appalachian Trail Protection Act.”

PennEnvironment played a crucial role lobbying for this legislation in Harrisburg by educating concerned citizens and getting them to voice support for this proposal to their local politicians. We also garnered statewide news coverage in support of this initiative, including articles in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Philadelphia Inquirer, Harrisburg Patriot-News and the Allentown Morning Call.

Great Lakes protection passed

A critical proposal to protect the Great Lakes—including Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie—passed the state Legislature and was signed by the governor this summer. The proposal is Pennsylvania’s effort to ratify the Great Lakes Compact, which was developed to address water withdrawals and other environmental issues.

“The Great Lakes are one of America’s greatest natural resources, and Lake Erie is one of Pennsylvania’s greatest natural assets,” said PennEnvironment Director David Masur. “It’s important that our elected officials are taking the necessary steps to protect this critical part of our natural heritage.”

The Compact needs federal approval, so PennEnvironment’s federal lobby office in Washington, D.C.—Environment America—will be advocating the passage of the Compact as it works its way through Congress.

Mission statement

We all want clean air, clean water and open space. But it takes independent research and tough-minded advocacy to win concrete results for our environment, especially when powerful interests stand in the way of environmental progress. That’s the idea behind PennEnvironment. We focus exclusively on protecting Pennsylvania’s air, water and open space. We speak out and take action at the local, state and national levels to improve the quality of our environment and our lives.

Credits

Photos: Front page: Top: Shutterstock*, Center: Mark Plummer*, Bottom: Staff. Page 2: Top: Staff, Bottom: Hirlesteanu Constantin-Ciprian*. Page 3: Top left: Pavel Cheiko*, Top right: Rep. Patrick Murphy’s office, Bottom: PGC Photo/Joe Kosack. Page 4: Top: Amanda Boutcher*, Bottom:Jeffrey M. Frank*. (*under license from Shutterstock.com.)
Editor: David Masur. Contributors: Adam Garber, Nathan Willcox, Jim Amspacher, Justin Boyles, Zach Cullimore, Matthew Curtis, Sara Landis, Ethan Lavine, Jesse Littlewood, Jenna Perry Leschuk, Ryan Moeckly, Leana Nordstrom, Brittany Paris, Dan Platt, Nathan Proctor, Drew Stephan, Jenne Turner. Publications Director: Richard J. Hannigan. Design: Public Interest GRFX (215) 985-1113.