Preparing for press conference outside Sen. Pippy’s Mt Lebanon office: Erika Staaf (PennEnvironment), Anita Barkin (Jefferson Hills), Claudia Kirkpatrick (Sierra Club), Steve Hvozdovic (Clean Water Action), Deborah Lee, Dave Tucci (Mt Lebanon), Patrick Grenter (Center for Coalfield Justice). Photo: T. Hoffmann.

Let your state Senator and Representative know that you know how he voted on Act 13 (HB1950)

Want to know how your representatives in the state legislature voted on the disastrous Marcellus Gas bill, Act 13 (HB 1950)? Four state environmental organizations including the Sierra Club have produced an interactive county-by-county scorecard on eight votes in the Senate and thirteen in the House. After checking the scorecard, please let your Senator and Representative know what you think of their performance, GOOD or BAD.

Among the local Senators scoring 100 pct are Jay Costa, Jim Ferlo, and Wayne Fontana (all of Allegheny County). Senators scoring 0 pct are John Pippy (Allegheny), Rob Robbins (Lawrence), Edler Vogel (Beaver), Kim Ward (Westmoreland), Don White (Indiana), Mary Jo White (Clearfield), and John Wozniak (Cambria).

Local Representatives scoring 100 pct are Bryan Barbin (Cambria), Dom Costa (Allegheny), Paul Costa (Allegheny), Bill DeWeese (Fayette), Dan Frankel (Allegheny), Deberah Kula (Westmoreland ), Rob Matzie (Beaver), Adam Ravenstahl (Allegheny), and Matt Smith (Allegheny).

Representatives scoring below 25 pct include Jim Christiana (R-Beaver), Scott Hutchinson (Venango), Jim Marshall (Beaver), Rick Saccone (Allegheny), Sam Smith (Indiana), Richard Stevenson (Lawrence), Mike Turzai (Allegheny), and Randy Vulakovich (Allegheny).

“When voters head to the polls this year, they should know how their legislators handled the Marcellus Shale, the biggest environmental issue facing Pennsylvania. Combined, we expect our organizations will distribute this scorecard to more than a quarter million Pennsylvania citizens and give every voter online access to this data,” stated Josh McNeil of Conservation Voters of PA.

“We are glad to see that we have some environmental heroes in the state legislature who stood up to protect our water, our air, and our neighborhoods from gas drilling. Unfortunately, far too many legislators earned failing grades in this Scorecard,” stated Jeff Schmidt, Director for the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter.