A few days ago we asked for your help in encouraging the City of Philadelphia to continue funding the PHS vacant land program. You responded with hundreds of e-mails and phone calls to Mayor Nutter, and we are very grateful for your passion and loyalty.
We learned on Wednesday that the $2.4 million funding at stake was not eliminated; however $849,000, or 35 percent, was cut from the vacant land program.
In coming days and weeks, we will decide on the best use of the $1.56 million that we will receive. We do know that the reduction means no new lots will be stabilized in Philadelphia. There will also be a reduction in maintenance of existing lots, as well as a reduction in the full- and part-time green jobs that maintain the land. The impact on the neighborhoods that have been transformed through the vacant land program will be considerable.
That said, please know that your support and outreach made a huge difference in the outcome of this program, which contributes so much to the quality of life, environment, and economy of the city.
This effort is not over, and we will continue to urge the city to restore this funding. You can send a letter to the Mayor by using this link to the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance website: click here.
If you haven’t already, please click on the link above and show your support for vacant land transformation projects in Philadelphia!
Here at TTF, we are extremely committed to turning vacant lots into community spaces — especially gardens that can help manage stormwater! So we really, really do not want to see the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s vacant land program disappear. Read on for the bad news, courtesy of the Next Great City newsletter, and what you can do to help!
SAVE VITAL FUNDING AND PROGRAMS FOR PHILLY NEIGHBORHOODS
Philadelphians instinctively know, and research shows, that a well cared for lot is better for communities than a neglected one. That’s why Next Great City identified cleaning and greening vacant lots as one of our ten action recommendations for the city. And Philadelphia residents and business owners agree.
PHS’s vacant land program has cleaned and greened thousands of vacant parcels in Philadelphia, creating well-managed open space for communities to enjoy and attracting private investment. But now, because of a significantly reduced city budget, $2.4 million in funding for PHS’s vacant land program, which supports community revitalization and employs more than 300 people in full- and part-time green jobs, is on the chopping block.
While these are difficult times, cutting funding to this program will hurt neighborhoods and remove a vital tool for economic development.
Please contact Mayor Nutter today to urge him to continue his support for the valuable work PHS is doing to revitalize our city one vacant lot at a time. Don’t delay, email the Mayor at Michael.Nutter@phila.gov or call the Mayor’s Office at 215-686-2181.
The PA Land Trust has announced that Governor Ed Rendell is proposing that Pennsylvania cut $132 million dollars out of the state budget’s environmental fund. This cut would essentially eliminate:
Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund
Growing Greener (the Environmental Stewardship Fund)
farmland preservation program and more
The PA Land trust explains what this could mean and how YOU can help. Please do your part to preserve Pennsylvania!
If this proposal moves forward — and it will unless conservationists push back hard — there will be NO state money for community parks, open space protection, farmland preservation, community-centered environmental restoration and other conservation efforts. There will be NO Growing Greener grants, NO Keystone grants, NO allocations for counties for farmland preservation.
Tell your state senators and representatives to take a stand against any budget that would cut these critical sources of funding. Instead of raiding environmental funding, the General Assembly should raise additional funds by levying a severance tax on natural gas drilling, with a significant portion dedicated to Growing Greener.
PLEASE ACT IMMEDIATELY:
1ST ACTION – Call your state representative and senator and demand that they stop the raid on environmental funding. Tell them that these funding sources are critical to your community’s well being. Tell them that environmental programs have already undergone far more than their fair share of cuts in recent years.
2ND ACTION – Follow up with an email and old-fashioned letter.
3RD ACTION – Get as many people as you can to do the same. We have to put immediate pressure on legislators and keep the pressure up as the budget enters a critical negotiation stage.
Please read the following press release from American Rivers regarding the press event that took place on Wednesday. Sarah was there representing TTF, along with the President of our Board, Gerry Kaufman, who is quoted below. It’s long, but chocked-full of important information about protecting the Delaware River.
American Rivers Names Upper Delaware River Most Endangered in U.S.
Philadelphia Leaders to DRBC: Cease Construction on Exploratory Wells; Deny Water Withdrawal, Drilling Permits
Industry Response: Unconventional Drilling, Conventional Obfuscation Strategies
Iris Marie Bloom
Philadelphia: June 3, 2010
The Upper Delaware River, the drinking water source for 17 million people across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, is at risk from shale fracking for natural gas, a process that poisons groundwater and creates toxic pollution. This threat landed the Upper Delaware in the number one spot in America’s Most Endangered Rivers 2010, a report released yesterday by the national nonprofit group American Rivers.
In Philadelphia yesterday, American Rivers spokesperson Liz Garland opened a press conference at City Hall, “In shining the spotlight on gas drilling in the Upper Delaware River, we chose a time when preventive action is still possible. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) is making major decisions right now which will affect the fate of this river, and the people who drink this water have a chance to weigh in on that decision.”
Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, said, “The Delaware River is the longest free flowing river east of the Mississippi, much of it designated Wild and Scenic. Many, many people have worked and billions of dollars have been spent to bring the Delaware back to life after decades of abuse. As we face the advent of gas drilling in the Upper Delaware River Watershed, we face the possibility of losing everything.”
Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown, who introduced a successful resolution earlier this spring calling on the DRBC to ban shale gas drilling until an Environmental Impact Statement is assessed for the Delaware River Watershed, drew parallels to the Gulf disaster. “The BP rig which blew up was an exploratory well. It had special exemptions. We have to learn something from this. The DRBC is exempting exploratory wells right here in our watershed, which supplies our drinking water. The have to stop letting companies drill without a DRBC permit, and they should deny the Stone Energy water withdrawal permit, and all drilling-related permits, until we have the Environmental Impact Statement. We don’t need a disaster here.”
PennFuture describes how you can take action to keep drilling from polluting Philadelphia’s drinking water supply.
Regulations that would safeguard our drinking water and public health have cleared one hurdle but we need you to speak out now to keep the momentum going.
Last week the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) approved new regulations that would protect our drinking water, rivers and streams from gas drilling wastewater and wastewater from other industries including mining – thanks to your help.
Now these vital regulations will go before the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC), as well as the House and Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committees. These new standards will force drillers and other polluters to pay the costs of protecting our waterways; it’s no surprise that they are fighting back, urging the IRRC and legislators to stop the regulations.
We need you to counter the big industry lobbyists by sending a message to the IRRC and key legislators. Email them now, and let them know that the health of residents, and our economy, relies on clean safe drinking water and rivers and streams.
Thank you to our local House Representatives John Myers and Dwight Evans for voting to pass House Bill 2235, a bill to protect our forests and waterways from Marcelllus Shale Drilling.
HB 2235, which would put a three year freeze on new leases for gas drilling in state forests, was passed by the House yesterday by a vote of 157-33! In addition to the freeze on new deep drilling leases in our state forests, the legislation would give the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) discretion to decide if state forests can withstand additional drilling, and requires the agency to compile a yearly report on the impact of drilling in state forests.
Go to PennFuture’s Website to read more or to send your local representative a letter thanking them for voting to pass HB 2235.
With the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day approaching on April 22nd our government is challenging us to make a change.
President Obama explains that change won’t come from Washington alone when it comes to creating a healthy environment, it has to also come from each and everyone of us. President Obama and TTF challenge you to make a difference and this earth day resolve to do something to promote a healthier environment where you live.
Make everyday earth day in your watershed!
Plant a tree.
Clean your street.
Avoid driving a car when possible, instead take public transportation, walk or bike.
Plant a rain garden.
Make a rain barrel to water your homegrown fruits and veggies.
The possibilities are endless, please share your ideas for making a difference in your watershed!
PennFuture is leading the way on challenging the Marcellus Shale Drilling. Go PennFuture!
Drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale is growing at a breakneck pace – often destroying water supplies and damaging local communities, with no tax in place to restore and repair the damage and reimburse our citizens – it’s clear that taming the Marcellus Shale drillers is Job 1 for next year.
National gas drillers from around the world are coming to Pennsylvania to tap one of our most valuable natural resources – natural gas in the vast Marcellus Shale formation that underlies most of the state. Some of the drillers are conscientious about protecting the environment, but many are not. This brings tremendous risks to our land and water. And right now, those risks are being shouldered by local communities and environmental treasures.
In almost every state that has substantial natural gas deposits, drillers must pay a severance tax on the extraction of the resource to compensate for the depletion of the resource and for damage done to the environment and public infrastructure.
But not in Pennsylvania. This past year, we successfully pushed for a vote in favor of the tax in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, but the Republican-controlled Senate and the oil, gas and drilling industries blocked any consideration in the Senate.
We are determined to push the tax through in 2010…
Visit PennFuture’s website to learn how you can help! Also check out our pastposts on Marcellus Shale to learn more about the issue.
According to the Delaware River Basin Commission, substantial efforts are being taken to protect water and environment from degradation during extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale deposits that span from West Virginia across Northwestern Pennsylvania and up into New York.
According to Carol Collier, Executive Director the DRBC, “We are looking to provide directional signs, not stops signs” in discussing the proposed drilling. But from our perspective, some projects deserve to be stopped!
The headwaters for the Delaware River is one of the areas likely to be significantly impacted by this project. The Delaware River serves nearly 15 million citizens in parts of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Hydrofracing, the process used to obtain natural gas, uses somewhere between three to five million gallons of water per well. About 40-60 percent of that water is reclaimed as wastewater and contains not only additives from the hydrofracing process, but heavy metals, dissolved solids and chemicals picked up from the layers of earth it has passed through. A satisfactory plan for treating this wastewater has not yet been developed. Where will this wastewater go except right back into our drinking water? We can’t stand for big business polluting OUR drinking water!
To read more about natural gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale deposits click here. To voice your opinion about the natural gas extraction, read our previous post on this topic.
Please make sure to read this article about the proposed natural gas exploration in the Marcellus Shale and how it could seriously damage our drinking water!
From the article:
Philadelphians tend to take their abundant, cheap drinking water for granted. However, the quality, quantity, and price tag of clean water in the Delaware River basin, source of Philadelphia’s drinking water, may be at risk due to a new natural gas extraction process called hydrofracking, or fracking. Fracking uses huge amounts of water, mixed with toxic chemicals and injected at high pressure, to fracture the Marcellus Shale, releasing the shale’s natural gas. The Marcellus Shale formation stretches from Ohio through Pennsylvania to New York and is believed to contain enough natural gas to fuel the U.S. for 13 years. But fracking creates polluted wastewater (”frac water”) which is several times saltier than the ocean and contains heavy metals and toxic chemicals. Municipal wastewater treatment facilities are not equipped for this level of pollution, and according to Sierra Club testimony before Congress, “a technological solution may be years away.”
Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC has applied to the Delaware River Basin Commission for approval of a major hydraulic fracturing project for exploration and development of natural gas wells in New York and Pennsylvania. This could have some major consequences for Philadelphia’s drinking water. However, public comment on this plan is welcome. Written comments should be mailed to Commission Secretary, DRBC, P.O. Box 7360, 25 State Police Drive, West Trenton, NJ 08628-0360. They also may be faxed to “Attn: Commission Secretary” at (609) 883-9522 or emailed to paula.schmitt@drbc.state.nj.us. All written comments should include the name, address, and affiliation (if any) of the commenter, along with “Chesapeake Withdrawal” in the subject line.
More information, including the entire plan, is available on the DRBC website.
