The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) is putting funds from the Federal stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) to good use. The Pennsylvania Home Heating Equipment Rebate Program offers rebates for non-electric home heating and water heating equipment. Begun in April 2010, on August 2 the DEP announced that rebates have increased from the original range of $100 to $500 to a range of $250 to $1,000. (more…)

It is understandable for Congressmen like Rep. Mike Doyle to be frustrated with their colleagues in the Senate. In June 2009, the House passed a Clean Energy Bill (H.R.2454) designed to reduce carbon emissions 80% by 2050, develop electric cars, halt deforestation, and more. In another major step in May, the House passed the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act (H.R.5019) by a vote of 246-161. Finally, last Friday, by a vote of 209-193 the House passed the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act (H.R. 3534). Local Republicans Murphy, Shuster, and Thompson voted Nay.

This is all serious stuff. For example, the CLEAR Act creates a framework for the restoration of the Gulf of Mexico, places stricter regulations for the siting of energy facilities, for the first time provides full and dedicated funding for the important Land and Water Conservation Fund, and removes the $75M cap liability for clean-up costs. (more…)

Curb-side sign in Ithaca, NY.
Photo: P. Wray

The increasing alarm over Marcellus Shale drilling has created attempts to place moratoriums on new drilling until the impacts of such drilling are thoroughly understood and necessary regulations are in place. The following is a summary of the moratoriums on future drilling that have been proposed in Pennsylvania and New York. Prospects of moving the bills of the various  committees is dim, unless public outcry overcomes the push for state revenues, etc. (more…)

On June 22, a federal judge blocked a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling put in place by President Obama following the BP disaster in the Gulf. On June 7, 2010, Hornbeck Offshore Services filed a lawsuit challenging the moratorium. Several other oil service companies joined the lawsuit against the Obama administration. The Sierra Club intervened on behalf of the government, along with other groups including the Florida Wildlife Federation. The groups are represented by Earthjustice. (more…)

The following column by Don Gibbon, environmental education chair of the Allegheny Group, appeared in the June 20 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Although aimed at the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, it has a direct bearing on high-risk ventures such as the rush to drill for Marcellus Shale natural gas in Pennsylvania and the push to revive the nuclear power business. (more…)

Three Mile Island
Photo: Excelon Corporation Website

The gathering concern about our dependence on fossil fuels for electric power generation causes legislators to re-examine the use of nuclear power. At present there are 104 commercial reactors at 65 nuclear plants in the US. With no new plants for thirty years, in February President Obama announced $8.33 billion government loan guarantees for the construction and operation of two new nuclear reactors at a power plant in Georgia. In the negotiations for a federal energy bill there have been proposals for twenty new nuclear plants.

Locally, the push for new nuclear plants is of interest to the Pittsburgh region because of the presence of Toshiba-owned Westinghouse Electric Company headquarters in Cranberry.

The following is an explanation of the Sierra Club’s position on nuclear energy:

“Although nuclear power produces less CO2 than fossil alternatives, nuclear power is not safe, affordable, or clean with currently available technology and practice. Mining uranium risks workers’ health and creates toxic residues. All current plant designs are complex, prone to accidents and have severe security vulnerabilities. Nuclear waste transportation, storage and disposal problems remain unsolved. The industry is heavily subsidized by public payments, incentives and liability shielding everywhere it operates, dependencies that dramatically increased in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. The nuclear fuel cycle increases weapons proliferation and risk among nations and non-state entities.

The Sierra Club will continue to oppose nuclear power unless these deficiencies are eliminated. While it is possible that a different approach to nuclear power might substantially address these issues, the likelihood is remote given the decades of research and investment already made. Clean energy resources are sufficient to address climate change and are cheaper than nuclear power. In addition, the huge investment to bring additional nuclear facilities online would siphon capital from much more cost-effective uses of financial resources, especially investments in efficiency.”

The environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico shares some similarities with the steady increase in oil and gas drilling on the Allegheny National Forest: lack of adequate federal oversight and a belief that the industry is self-regulating. For years environmentalists have watched with dismay the incidences of water contamination, air pollution, forest fragmentation due to road building, opening of gravel pits, etc.

Photo: Bill Belitkus
This stone pit used for OGM development on Allegheny NF did not require NEPA.

As described below by Ryan Talbot of the Allegheny Defense Project, a small group of organizations, including the Sierra Club, has filed lawsuits to force the US Forest Service to ”do what is right”. This is an update on the continuing legal battles.
(more…)

The environmental and economic catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico has drawn attention to the nation’s energy policy in ways that environmental advocates alone could never have achieved. While pictures of suffering wildlife appall us all, and while a moratorium on deep sea drilling in the Gulf and off the Alaskan North Slope is welcomed, environmental organizations are placing the catastrophe in a broader context.

On the eve of Memorial Day weekend, the Sierra Club and the American Security Project released a joint 15-page report entitled “Ending Our Dependence on Oil,” which shows how America’s addiction to oil threatens our national security, our economy and our environment.

To gradually transition the country to a post-oil economy the authors propose a series of smart and interconnected policy options including:

• Tightening fuel economy and emissions standards for all vehicles;
• Promoting the development and deployment of electric vehicles of all types;
• Investing in rail for freight and also passengers;
• Creating livable communities where transit, walking and biking are real, oil-free choices; and
• Exploring fuel choices such as advanced biofuels, hydrogen fuel cells and natural gas as alternatives to oil.

Below are some facts contained in the Transportation, National Security, Economic Security, Environment, and Solutions segments of the report.
(more…)

In 2004, the Seward power plant was opened by then Reliant Energy at a cost of $800 million, with $400 million of that in tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by the Commonwealth. Now owned by RRI Energy, the plant sits on the Conemaugh River near New Florence in Indiana County. It uses about 3.5 million tons of low-grade “waste” coal a year from an estimated 100 million tons of waste coal available in a 50-mile radius.

On May 24, 2010, just over six years later, the Sierra Club joined with PennEnvironment and Defenders of Wildlife in a notice of intent to sue both US EPA and Pennsylvania’s DEP over the current owner’s violations of the Clean Water Act, the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Representing the three environmental groups are the Environmental Integrity Project, based in Washington, D.C. and the National Environmental Law Center in Boston.

(more…)

Map: NY Times

News of British Petroleum’s crisis in the Gulf of Mexico is getting plenty of coverage elsewhere, but we cannot refrain from guiding visitors to a daily mapping that very clearly illustrates the scope and evolution of this terrible disaster.

Audience at the
“Chill the Drills”event
at the Art Institute

A roomful of Sierra Club members and friends were given a solid dose of oil and gas drilling at the Art Institute in Pittsburgh on May 20. Erika Staaf of PennEnvironment opened with a description of Marcellus Shale drilling and what is being done to curb the environmental impacts.

See a photo spread from the event!

Moving further north, the Sierra Club’s Arctic expert Kit McGurn first made the point that warming of the Arctic ecosystem and the discovery of huge underwater mineral resources are causing the five“Arctic nations” to scramble for territorial rights. He next described the fragility of the Alaska’s North Slope, and the impact of expanding oil extraction on the ecology and the people of that area. Inevitably the question of deep sea drilling was raised after Kit’s talk, and he described the exploratory drilling by Shell Alaska.

The Allegheny Group’s Endangered Species Action Team deserves thanks for making the evening a solid success.

Protestors and media mix at the BP Oil Spill event in Pittsburgh, May 12.

On a gloomy, gray day close to forty Pittsburghers gathered on the north shore of the Allegheny River to express their dismay and anger at the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. At the invitation of the Sierra Club, several speakers denounced the reckless behavior of BP, a company that as some have said, engaged in a huge experiment without regard to the possibility of failure. Participating in the demonstration were members of Clean Water Action, Green Party, National Wildlife Federation, Pittsburgh United, Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network, and Sierra Student Coalition

YOU can write to President Obama and urge him to ” impose a moratorium on all new offshore drilling, including in Alaska, and promote clean energy and climate legislation that cuts our dependence on oil and ensures this type of accident doesn’t happen again “.

The Sierra Student Coalition (SSC) is carrying the fight for a coal-free future to campuses across the nation. As a diverse community of youth leaders at colleges and high schools, the SSC is active in four states around the country where smoke stacks stand tall among academic buildings. Pennsylvania is one of the states targeted by the SSC, with “Beyond Coal” campaigns active at five specific campuses.

The goal of the “Beyond Coal” campaigns is to retire campus-based coal plants and move schools off coal-fired electricity purchased from the grid. This goal has already been achieved at the University of North Carolina.

If you are interested in taking up the challenge of a Coal Free campus, click HERE, and for more information on what is happening in Pennsylvania  contact Justin Wasser  at <justin dot wasser at sierraclub dot org>.

Brown pelicans on
threatened Breton NWR

“Clean It Up: Our Gulf Coast, Our Energy”
The Gulf Coast oil catastrophe is quickly growing into one of the largest environmental disasters in United States history. On Wednesday, citizens in our region will demonstrate support for Gulf Coast residents who are facing widespread destruction of marine life, beaches, and wetlands, and the loss of vital fishing and tourism industries as a result of the oil disaster.

WHEN: 12:00 noon, Wednesday, May 12th

The Sierra Club and partners will stage a mock oil slick on Pittsburgh’s river shore to protest BP’s reckless behavior and call for an end to risky offshore drilling and other dirty energy.

WHERE: North Shore, near the Korean War Memorial by PNC Park
100 N. Shore Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15212

RSVP at the national Sierra Club site.

For more information: Contact the local Sierra Club offices by calling 412-802-6161 or e-mailing Rachel dot martin at sierraclub dot org or randy dot Francisco at sierraclub dot org

While the Senate drags it feet on a Climate/Energy bill, the shift away from fossil fuels is taking place on a variety of fronts. For example, in a major measure to conserve energy, on May 6 the House passed the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010 (H.R. 5019), by a vote of 246 to 161 vote. The bill will help create clean energy jobs by setting up a $6 billion program to retrofit millions of homes to make them more energy efficient and to lower consumers’ energy bills. (Reps. Altmire, Dahlemper, Doyle, and Murphy voted for the bill.) (more…)