Missed Opportunity
A Lump of CoalThe General Assembly played Scrooge in the closing moments of this
year's session. Rather than adopting "win / win" proposals
to fund public transportation, environmental clean-up and the protection
of open space, our elected officials passed flawed legislation that
benefits narrow Some might say that, "It's business as usual in Harrisburg," but it didn't have to be this way. With no more effort than it expended on passing bad legislation, the General Assembly could have passed good bills. What went wrong? Why did the legislature ignore the crisis in public transportation? Why did a bipartisan bill that would require energy efficient appliances to be sold in Pennsylvania pass the House overwhelmingly, only to die in the Senate? Why did the legislative leadership break its promise and prevent Governor Rendell's Growing Greener II $800 million environmental bond issue and hazardous waste clean up plan from coming to a vote? According to the legislative leaders, the reason for the failure lies with the Rendell Administration. They say that the Governor sends conflicting signals; that they don't know what his real priorities are. But if they wanted clear signals, they could have heeded the people. Why aren't they paying attention to Pennsylvanians, who tell us in poll after poll that they want more money spent on environmental protection and clean up. Why aren't they looking out for their constituents, who would save millions of dollars in energy costs, if the appliances sold in Pennsylvania met stronger efficiency standards? In addition to saving money, these standards would eliminate thousands of tons of air pollution and reduce the need for new power plants. Truly a "win / win." The Republican legislative leadership plays Scrooge again when
it comes to funding for public transportation. Millions of Pennsylvanians
rely on public transportation; to get to their jobs, shop for food
and clothing or to visit family. For many of them, there is no alternative.
Several major transit systems are nearly bankrupt and are moving
to reduce service and to make dramatic fare increases. Instead of
acting to save these transit systems, leadership turns its back
and tells Governor Rendell to divert money from other programs.
Instead of solving the problem, their solution is to "rob Peter
to pay Paul." To the people's needs, they say, "Bah! Humbug!" Rather than approve energy efficiency legislation, which had no organized opposition and had passed the House overwhelmingly, the General Assembly passed flawed "alternative energy standards," which will promote the burning of coal waste and municipal garbage. This will result in more air pollution and water pollution from inadequate waste disposal requirements. This pollution will occur in some of the most polluted areas of the state. While it is true that the alternative energy bill will give some support to renewable energy sources, it is also true that the bill calls for a larger share of energy to come from the dirty sources such as coal and solid waste than it does from clean renewables like wind and solar. This flawed approach makes Pennsylvania an embarrassment nationally in the effort to promote truly renewable energy sources. Proponents of the final version tell us that, "It was the best we could get," instead of coming back next year with a stronger campaign to pass true renewable energy legislation. So the coal industry wins, while electricity consumers lose. Developers win while open space loses. And transit riders lose, period. These legislative actions combine to dirty our air and contribute to global warming. Pennsylvanians deserve better than the lump of coal our elected officials are giving us. Click here to return to the political homepage Sierra Club® and "Explore,
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