Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission denies Right to Know Law request

[This post, and more information about this issue, can be found at savealleghenymountain.org]

Despite a brand new website with a section labeled "transparency," the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) denied PennFuture's Right to Know Law request, which sought information about the agency's proposal to rip through the Allegheny ridge in order to eliminate the Allegheny tunnels.

PennFuture attempted to access the documents on behalf of its client, the Mountain Field and Stream Club, which owns and conserves the land along the ridge that will be destroyed if the tunnels are turned into an open cut. Rather than release any documents, the PTC made a number of legal arguments about why it did not need to release any information that would provide public insight into its decision making process and, instead, directed us to its project page. However, the project page appears to have been last updated in 2013. The PTC even sought to hide documents relating to its last decision to not proceed with this project, back in 1996.

Among the highlights in the agency's response denying our request: 

• Despite the fact that the PTC has its own website about the project, the Commission claims to not know what documents we are seeking in its response. 
• Even though our request sought the hard data that supposedly supports its need for the project, the PTC denied access to the documents under a claim that it concerns "pre-decisional" discussions. Ironically, this includes a study that the PTC claims will "evaluate public involvement." 
• The Commission says it hasn't made a decision on its "preferred alternative" and can keep the public in the dark until it makes that decision. That sure seems to us to defeat the point of transparent government that claims to include public involvement. 

PennFuture has appealed the Commission's decision to the Office of Open Records. 

Valessa Souter-Kline is western Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Pittsburgh. She tweets @ValessaSK.

Here we go again: Stop the new (old) industry bill that imperils state wildlife

In early March, strong citizen action from across our state stopped Pennsylvania House Bill 1576, which was driven by natural gas, coal, and oil interests.

HB1576 would have undermined the ability of Pennsylvania's wildlife management agencies to protect threatened and endangered species, and our best native trout streams.

PennFuture helped lead a diverse coalition of environmental, conservation, hunting, angling and recreation organizations opposed to HB 1576. This broad coalition generated thousands of e-mails, phone calls, letters, office visits and letters to the editor across the Commonwealth. 

Support for this bad bill greatly eroded in both the House Republican and House Democratic Caucuses as members heard from their constituents and grasped the fact that HB 1576 was an attack on science-driven wildlife management and essentially a solution in search of a problem.  

Now these industries are launching another attack -- essentially re-packaging the same bad ideas in a different bill. 

The same industries who couldn't take no for an answer have launched the 'Son of House Bill 1576' proposal that would similarly give political appointees the ability to second guess and veto decisions to list wildlife species as threatened or endangered, or to designate wild trout streams.

This proposal has yet to be formally introduced -- but it could be voted on by the House as early as the week of April 28. 

Please TAKE ACTION and urge your House member to oppose the 'Son of  House Bill 1576' that would give the oil, gas, and coal industries even wider latitude to destroy habitats and wildlife. 

We stopped this bill once, and we can stop it again -- with your help. 

We need to tell Harrisburg and the fossil fuel industry that enough is enough.

Andrew Sharp is PennFuture's Director of Outreach and is based in our Philadelphia office. He tweets @RexBainbridge.

The future of wildlife rests here

Yes, they’re at it again – gas and oil interests and their political allies are pushing another bad bill that sacrifices wildlife to the ever-growing industrialization of our wild places. This latest effort, House Bill 1576, represents an historic attack on Pennsylvania’s wildlife and their habitats.

PennFuture has fought against this bill, along with coalitions of sportsmen and women, anglers, hunters, and conservation and environmental groups, together representing well over 100,000 Pennsylvanians –- but it is going to be a heavy lift against the well-funded interests supporting it. If you haven’t yet, please take action and email or call your state representative today to find out where they stand, and urge a NO vote if the bill comes to a vote.

Looking out the window of PennFuture’s ninth-floor Wilkes-Barre office, we have a reminder right here of the importance of threatened and endangered species protection. In addition to views of the cityscape, flocks of pigeons, and a nearby wind farm, we have a peregrine falcon whose flights and loud caws are a regular sight to those in the know.

Downtown Wilkes-Barre peregrine falcon; photo courtesy of David Weaver

It’s been on the Pennsylvania endangered species list for good reason –- much like the bald eagle and others, it suffered catastrophic decline due to pesticides. After nearly 30 years with no nesting pairs, it’s now making a return with several dozen pairs in the state. We know that protecting species at the state level is the best way to prevent their decline and extinction. So why risk successful efforts such as these by politicizing and lengthening the process to list species, which this bill would do?

This bill is chiefly promoted by the fossil fuel industry, including the Marcellus Shale Coalition — and it undermines the ability of Pennsylvania's wildlife management agencies to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. It would also erode wildlife agencies' ability to designate wild trout streams -- impacting our environment and our state economy that depends on outdoors recreation.

As we noted in our message this week: Who do YOU trust to protect our natural world: scientists who make it their life's work, or extractive industries and the politicians doing their bidding? We need to tell Harrisburg and the fossil fuel industries that enough is enough.


Kate Gibbons is PennFuture's Northeastern Pennsylvania outreach coordinator and works in our Wilkes-Barre office.