The Allegheny Group, Sierra Club, is honored to have been selected as one of twenty-five Partners in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s annual collaborative fundraising event, June 29, 2012. All proceeds from the ticket sales are donated to the not-for-profit Partner organizations. This special event promises to be a lot of fun, and the proceeds will support our conservation action teams as well as help replenish our local Marcellus Action Fund.

For tickets, as low as $25, call 412-392-4900 or visit the PSO Website.
PLEASE BE SURE TO USE THE PROMO CODE 30309.

200-mile walk protesting PNC’s funding of mountaintop removal ends May 16 in Pittsburgh.

To help get PNC bank out of the business of mountaintop removal coal mining, the Earth Quaker Action Team has organized a sixteen day, 200 mile walk from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, finishing at the PNC headquarters,One PNC Plaza, May 16.

The final stages are May 14 – Greensburg to Murrysville; May 15 – Monroeville to the Pittsburgh Friends Meeting House; where there will be an event at 7 pm. Starting at 9:00am on Wednesday the walk will proceed from the Friends Meeting House on Ellsworth to an 11am rally at PNC head office in Pittsburgh. To sign-up as a Companion Walker, click HERE.

Photo from the PA DEP

First, thanks to all who urged their State Representative to vote NO on HB 1904. This bill, with only a handful of co-sponsors, would outlaw all new federal requirements regarding oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing on Allegheny NF. Apparently there was sufficient public outcry that instead of voting on May 9, possible action on HB 1904 has been delayed until after May 21. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET HAD A CHANCE TO DO SO, PLEASE CONTACT your State Representative now and urge her or him to vote AGAINST HB 1904.

Perhaps sensitive to the concern that the President has not been as protective of the environment as many progressives would have liked, for Earth Day the Obama/Biden campaign issued a fact sheet titled ”Investing in the Clean Energy Future and Promoting Clean Air and Water in Pennsylvania”. The topics covered in the document include fuel efficiency, promoting a clean energy economy, the carbon pollution standard, cutting mercury pollution, conserving public land, and ocean stewardship. If you disagree with Obama’s approach, including the ‘All of the Above‘ energy strategy, then contact the re-election campaign and let them know what you think.

In a May 10 NY Times Op-Ed titled ‘Game Over for Climate’, NASA’s Jim Hansen explains why he is troubled by President Obama’s recent statement that Canada would exploit its tar sand oil “regardless of what we do”. According to Hansen, “Canada’s tar sands, deposits of sand saturated with bitumen, contain twice the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by global oil use in our entire history.” (more…)

On May 1 more than two hundred people gathered on the steps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol building to call on Gov. Corbett to promote administrative policies that strengthen Pennsylvania’s clean energy programs, bridges and rails, and education system. See the VIDEO. Representatives from Sierra Club, the Laborers union (LiUNA), NAACP, PA Council of Churches, and business leaders spoke about the need to kick-start Pennsylvania’s economy by taking action on several fronts including renewable energy, infrastructure projects, and education policies that will create jobs, improve our environment, and ensure that PA kids do not fall behind. (more…)

Photo from the PA DEP

A vote is soon expected in the State House on H.B. 1904. This legislation would hamstring our ability to protect Pennsylvania’s only national forest—the Allegheny National Forest—from gas drilling. Gas drilling companies already have access to 700,000 acres of our state forests for drilling; they’re pressing for mineral rights that are held under our state parks; and they have ability to lease most of the private land that makes up the vast majority of property in the Marcellus Shale region. Why should our elected officials even consider removing federal protections for certain land within the Allegheny National Forest. PLEASE CONTACT your State Representative and urge her/him to vote AGAINST HB 1904.

Demonstrations against the dangers of ‘fracking’ are about to move from the state level to the national scene with the largest-ever anti-fracking event in Washington DC on Saturday, July 28. Among the leading sponsors are Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Earthworks, NRDC, and the Sierra Club. Activists from Western Pennsylvania will be interested to know that this event, announced May 1, will be the concluding event of the ‘Tour de Frack’. To enquire about possible transportation to the event, please contact Gloria Forouzan ASAP, at [ gtforouzan at gmail dot com ].

Ted Popovich of Ben Avon delivers 800 surgical masks at Air Toxic Guidelines meeting. Photo: Tom Hoffman

Members of the ‘Breathe’ project turned out in force at an Allegheny County Board of Health meeting on May 2. The subject of the meeting was the updating of the 1988 Air Toxic Guidelines by a sub-committee appointed in January 2010. As reported by the Post-Gazette, there is a concern that the committee cannot reach a consensus on the new guidelines, especially a provision to consider the cumulative impact from existing sources when issuing a new permit. To make the point that people are suffering while the committee dallies, Ted Popovich delivered over 800 face masks with the names of county residents who had signed the Breathe petition.

Artwork: Mike LaMark

On May 4 the Interior Dept’s Bureau of Land Management issued their proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. In greeting these new rules, the Sierra Club’s Executive Director Michael Brune said “While it is deeply disappointing that fracking on sensitive public lands has been considered at all, we fully expect the administration to implement the toughest safeguards possible to rein in irresponsible practices and protect our public spaces.” No matter how strict these rules become, they will only apply to BLM lands in the West, and after the drilling is completed. There will be a 60-day period for comments.

April is normally the wettest month of the year in central Pennsylvania, but this year the Susquehanna River was so low that the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) temporarily suspended the withdrawal of water from the river for drilling. The companies were able to get water from other sources, but with the need for about five million gallons of water per well, this has to be a concern for the future. According to the SRBC, the Susquehanna River is at levels that haven’t been seen since the severe drought years of 1910 and 1946, even though 2011 was the wettest year on record for Harrisburg. The irony is that the burning of natural gas contributes to climate change, producing more extreme weather and greater chances of drought in Pennsylvania. NOTE. We should also mention that American Rivers has ranked the Susquehanna as the most endangered river in the nation.

Hillary Bright: ‘Beyond Gas’ campaign representative.

Sierra Club activists in Pittsburgh are very pleased that their friend Hillary Bright has accepted a job with the Sierra Club’s ‘ escalating Beyond Gas’ campaign. For a just over two years Hillary was with the Blue-Green Alliance with a desk in the Club’s Oakland office. “While I was with BGA, I had the privilege to work with an incredibly talented staff and an activist base of union members and environmentalists that inspired me everyday. I will take that knowledge and utilize it in my new position with the Sierra Club as the campaign representative for the Beyond Gas campaign.” Based in Pittsburgh, Hillary will spend most of her time helping SC activists in NY, OH, and PA with campaign strategies, developing technical expertise, funding, general organizing, etc.

The Tour de Frack is a 15-day bike tour running July 14-July 28 from Butler PA to Washington DC along the Butler – Freeport Trail, the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O towpath. This ‘action in motion’ is a positive way to explore and open the conversation about the impact of shale gas drilling in our communities. Open to all one-day or long-distance cyclists, the Tour will involve concerts, educational events, and organizing workshops. Watch the video, and volunteer or sign up as a rider HERE.

The following outline of the Tour is based on notes from Michael Bagdes-Canning, a member of the ‘Tour de Frack’ Planning Committee. (more…)

Register now for Memorial Day weekend event, May 25-28.

Heartwood is a cooperative network of individuals and organizations working to protect the hardwood forests of the Ozarks, the Ohio River valley, and the Appalachian mountain region. For the first time since 2001, the Heartwood Council will meet in Pennsylvania. The four-day event will be held in May 25-28 at Boy Scout Camp Olmstead near Warren, PA, just south of the CornPlanter Land Grant. Open to all, registration can be made on-line. (more…)

Pennsylvania Resources Council, in conjunction with various Counties, are again providing opportunities to dispose of your hard-to-recycle materials. (more…)