Views from the States

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Kentucky Faces the Facts

by Aubrey Dangelo

Widener University Political Science Major

This year, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear (D), announced plans to incorporate the Next Generation Science Standards into school curriculums. The goal of NGSS is to align the scientific standards for all Kentucky schools, and eventually the entire country, as well as to incorporate lessons about climate change into their curriculums. On Wednesday, though, the state’s Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee rejected the plan in a 5-1 vote. The governor intends to continue with his agenda though. Not surprisingly, he is being criticized by conservative groups throughout the country. Some groups are the claiming that the NGSS policy does not reflect the will of the people of Kentucky, but the Governor is assuring the public that he will not submit to the right on this issue. On Wednesday, he stated that if the Kentucky legislature votes to reject the plan, he will veto their decision.

I think that this is a step in the right direction for not only the state of Kentucky, but also for the United States as a whole. Climate change is accelerating faster than in ever has in history, and this is no time to be denying the facts. How can we, as a country, take definitive action to reverse the affects of global warming when schools aren’t equipping students with the knowledge they will need to confront these issues? When 97% of scientists agree that global warming is happening and that human activity is its primary cause, we cannot go on acting like climate change is nothing more than a hypothesis. I sincerely hope that other governors will follow in Steve Beshear’s footsteps.

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Governor Corbett’s Agenda and the Fall Session of the PA Legislature

by J. Wesley Leckrone

Associate Professor of Political Science, Widener University

I wouldn’t hold out much hope of any of the big three items on Governor Corbett’s agenda being passed this year (transportation, liquor privatization and pension reform).  If there is hope on anything it would be the transportation funding bill. That’s been a high profile issue that resonates with voters especially with the weight limits imposed on some bridges. It can also be seen as a jobs creation bill. However, I don’t see the conservative wing of the House GOP agreeing to Governor Corbett’s plan for uncapping the wholesale gas tax going into an election year. I also think that the same group of legislators will become increasingly opposed to anything that Corbett wants because of his plan to extend health benefits.

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The PA DEP & Problematic Pits

by Sarah Cox

Widener University Political Science Major

Clearly the gas drilling industry has many concerns when it comes to environmental safety as well as how human health will be affected. Range Resources Corp. has dug a retaining plastic covered pit next door to a small Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania farm. The pit is bigger than a football field and can hold 15 million gallons of water for shale-drilling purposes. As expected, the once peaceful neighborhood is in upheaval around the noisy, smelly and dangerous pit. These pits are susceptible to spills of chemical water, which makes them extremely dangerous to the farm land around them.

The fact that the State Department of Environmental Protection is letting this pit stand is slightly disheartening. Why will the DEP fight to block smaller, open top pits, but not these larger pits? These large pits are designed for transfer stations, which means heavy truck traffic will be driving in and out of the neighborhood location, often spilling chemicals and releasing air pollutants if the tanks are not sealed properly. Even more concerning is the fact that there are seven Range sites like this one in the DEP’s data base and all seven have received at least one state violation. These environmental violations are usually focused around improper waste handling, which is exactly what you would want in your back yard and around your kids, right?

Industrial sites such as these pits do not belong in residential or agricultural based areas.

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Fracking Fee Is NOT Enough

by Paul Berger

Widener University Environmental Politics and Policy Student

I am one that is definitely against fracking, but the way I see it, is that it is something that cannot be stopped, only slowed. The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center (PBPC) says that the Impact Fee from the drilling of the Marcellus Shale will not be as beneficial to Pennsylvania as much as it is other states. If PA decides to stay with the impact fee that they created in 2012, the environmental and fiscal costs leave little room for profit. The solution that the PBPC are suggesting is to impose a 4% tax on drilling of new wells. These kinds of numbers will generate 1.2 billion dollars per year by 2020, which is three times the current fee. They go on to talk about how other states like West Virginia and Texas have these taxes in place, and their benefit will increase as production increases, while other states like Pennsylvania will not see an increase in profit. If PA keeps this fee instead of the tax, they are going to leave millions of dollars in revenue that could be used for schools, infrastructure and healthcare. If fracking is going to be something that cant be stopped, then why not benefit from it economically and help the state in other ways, even if it will destroy the environment

http://www.phillytrib.com/cityandregionarticles/item/10698-policy-center-reports-marcellus-shale-not-beneficial.html

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Will Mayor Nutter make Philadelphia’s Environmental Dreams Come True?

by Aubrey Dangelo

Widener University Political Science Major

Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter recently unleashed a plan called Greenworks Philadelphia, which is aimed at creating environmental sustainability and lowering the city’s energy expenditures. Part of the plan involves a new law that has already been enacted called the Building Energy Benchmarking Law. This new legislation would require the owners of commercial buildings in Philadelphia that exceed 50,000 square feet to report their energy usage for online, public disclosure, and businesses in Philadelphia have until October 31, 2013 to comply with this law without the imposition of fines. This is all part of his strategy aimed at making Philadelphia the most environmentally friendly city in the United States by the year 2015. Among Nutter’s extensive list of objectives are claims to double the number of green jobs in the city between now and the year 2015, save taxpayers money, cut traffic congestion, clean the air, beautify neighborhoods, and improve Philadelphians’ diets. That’s quite an ambitious goal, if you ask me.

Whether or not Nutter fulfills all of these commitments, his plan is sure to have a significant impact on Philadelphia’s environmental practices, and some progress has already been made. Some recent accomplishments that Mayor Nutter boasts are a reduction of energy use in government buildings by 7 percent, an increase in alternative energy use from 2.5 percent to 14 percent, and nearly 90,000 trees planted since 2008. While it is important that the people and businesses of the United States make some drastic changes to their environmental practices, it is somewhat ridiculous of Mayor Nutter to attempt to make Philadelphia the “greenest” city in the U.S. in such a short amount of time. School budgets are being slashed left and right, and out of the nation’s ten most populated cities, Philadelphia has the highest rate of deep poverty. People with incomes below half of the poverty line make up 12.9% of Philadelphia’s populace. Nutter’s goals are well-intentioned, but perhaps a bit hasty.

http://articles.philly.com/2009-05-09/news/25274642_1_sustainability-program-sustainable-development-green-initiative
http://articles.philly.com/2013-07-28/business/40834349_1_energy-efficiency-energy-star-greenworks-philadelphia
http://cityofphiladelphia.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/mayor-nutter-releases-greenworks-philadelphia-2013-progress-report/

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PA’s Pension Problem

by Jonathan Walters

Widener University Masters of Public Administration Student

The Commonwealth of PA has a huge problem on its budgetary plate; a roughly 47-billion-dollar problem to be exact. This is the obligation from PA to its current and retired employees in the form of pension payments.  And according to PA’s Budget Secretary, Charles Zogby, this unfunded liability is certain to cause a further downgrade in PA’s credit rating if it is not addressed.

Given current projections, the State Employees Retirement System and the Public School Employees Retirement System will take decades to pay off. It is also estimated that in the next few years, this debt will grow to $65 billion; which represents a cost of $13K per household. Furthermore, there is a compounding problem resulting from a downgrade which would make it more expensive for PA to purchase capital.

Governor Corbett’s administration has proposed a set of measures to help combat this instability. One such proposal was the introduction of a 401(k)-styled retirement invest for future state or public school employees. This of course would not solve the existing problem, but it would keep the state from loading up on more debt.

Even though this threat is real (Moody’s downgraded PA’s credit rating last July), some are skeptical that pension reform will be addressed during this session.  Senator Rob Teplitz is quoted in the article below as saying that, “I don’t see it happening. At the end of the day, do you really believe the same body that increased its own pensions and caused this mess 12 years ago is going to vote to cut their pensions?” So not only do legislators have to deal with strong opposition from state unions, they would have to fight against their own financial self-interest.

http://paindependent.com/2013/05/future-credit-rating-downgrades-among-unseen-costs-of-pa-pension-crisis/