A common misperception is that once an area is declared protected, or once a program to protect the environment is enacted, the fight is done and we can relax.
Wrong.
In Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf (a Democrat) has proposed transferring over $15 million from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, $10 million from the Recycling Fund, and about $70 million from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund.
The last one was created in 1955 to finance conservation, recreation, dams, and flood control projects. In 2017 the PA Supreme Court said that revenue in this fund had to be used for conservation.
At the federal level the Trump administration has worked to allow Antofagastra, a Chilean company, to mine copper in the Boundary Waters. The Forest Service (part of the Department of Agriculture) said an environmental review was unnecessary. The Boundary Waters area is pristine, and the Obama Administration had ruled against the copper company. I think everyone now recognizes that if Obama did it, Trump will want to overturn it.
I wish to thank PA State Representative Greg Vitali for publicizing the attempt to divert money from PA environmental programs. Information on the copper mine decision is in today’s Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment