LWV DelCo Environmental Clearinghouse
Delaware County Environmental Clearinghouse
The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered another power plant, this time an oil and gas plant in Delaware County, to keep its turbines running through the hottest summer months as a precaution against electric shortfalls in the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid.
Pennsylvania is the nation’s second-largest natural gas producer, yet the commonwealth does not provide sufficient resources to its Department of Environmental Protection to properly regulate this industry.
Gas wells are routinely abandoned, many drillers fail to report their drilling activity as required by law and drilling wastewater is illegally dumped on roadways. In the upcoming state budget, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania’s General Assembly must provide additional staffing for the DEP’s Oil and Gas Program to address these problems.
Pennsylvania has awarded grants totaling $22.5 million to 73 schools across the state to help pay for solar energy installations under thew Solar for Schools Program, the Commonwealth Financing Authority announced Tuesday. The Upper Darby School District will receive about $2.4 million for six schools and three other Delaware County districts – Rose Tree-Media, William Penn and Haverford – also were awarded grants.
The Trump Energy Department has indicated that it plans to cut funding for four hydrogen hub projects in blue states while keeping three in red states. In Pennsylvania, that means axing the MACH-2 hub along the Delaware River that was supposed to be fueled by clean off-shore wind farms. Those projects are also being axed while the three remaining hubs will be fueled by fossil fuels.
Public comment is urgently needed on the Trump Administration’s proposed rule change in the Endangered Species Act to eliminate habitat destruction as a covered harm.
While the workload of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has increased dramatically over the past two decades, its staff has shrunk significantly to the point where the department can no longer adequately enforce Pennsylvania’s environmental laws and regulations.
Former Channel 10 weatherman Glen “Hurricane” Schwartz will be the keynote speaker at the 4th Annual Delaware County Sustainability Conference to be held from June 9 to June 14 this year. It will be a hybrid in-person and online conference.
The Pennsylvania House Environmental and Natural Resources Protection Committee voted HB 109 out of committee on a party line vote of 14 Democrats to12 Republicans April 7. The bill was the subject of a packed hearing in Chester in March.
