White: Misleading Environmental Scorecard gets an "F"
Harrisburg – Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee Chairman
Mary Jo White (R-21) issued the following response to the "environmental
scorecard" recently released by PennEnvironment.
"Unfortunately, scorecards from environmental groups have too often been
utilized to portray as 'anti-environmental' legislators targeted by the
group," said White. "Votes are apparently selected to ensure that only
select legislators are portrayed favorably. To achieve this, many votes on
critical environmental legislation are omitted. The result is a terribly
misleading document."
The scorecard excludes the following environmental bills approved
by the Senate:
- S.S. SB 1 - Invests $650 million in alternative energy investment
- SB 2 - Invests $800 million in water, wastewater, dam and flood
projects
- SB 266 - Climate Change Action Plan (a priority of
PennEnvironment)
- SB 356 - Creating Center for Environmental Education in statute
- SB 949 - Comprehensive mine safety update
- SB 1100 - Extended funding for Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act
- SB 1330 - Coalbed Methane Dispute Resolution – additional
protections for landowners
- SB 1341 - Authorizes referendum for $400 million in PENNVEST grants
and loans
- HB 1203 - Clarifies the solar share obligation of utilities under
the AEPS act
- HB 1281 - Protects Appalachian Trail (priority on PennEnvironment's
website)
- HB 1705 - Great Lakes Compact (priority on PennEnvironment's
website)
The scorecard includes the following votes:
- S.S. HB 1 - House members were given credit for passage of the
Alternative Energy Investment Act; Senate members were excluded despite
passing both S.S. HB 1 and S.S. SB 1
- HB 1590 - Authorizes tolling of Interstate 80. Opposing tolling was
regarded as "anti-environmental"
- Cabinet nominees – to our knowledge, votes on cabinet nominees under
Republican governors have never been included.
Contact:
Pat Henderson
(717)787-9684
