For Immediate Release: May 20, 2011
Eleven More Organizations and Municipalities Join Coalition in
Calling for Growing Greener Funding
Support to Restore Funding for Key State Environmental Program Continues to Grow
(HARRISBURG, PA) The Renew Growing Greener Coalition today announced that eleven more organizations and municipalities have joined in supporting the effort to restore state funding for Growing Greener.
Penn’s Corner RC&D Council (Beaver), Friends of McConnell’s Mills State Park (New Wilmington), Friends of Wissahickon (Philadelphia), and Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO (Philadelphia) have signed the Coalition’s Statement of Support, which calls for the establishment of a dedicated and sustainable source of revenue to support the renewal of Growing Greener. They join more than 200 other organizations and groups that have also announced their support for renewing Growing Greener.
In addition, the following municipalities join at least 60 other Pennsylvania municipalities and counties that have passed resolutions urging the Governor and legislature to renew Growing Greener funding:
*Chester County Planning Commission, Chester County
*East Brandywine Township, Chester County
*East Nantmeal Township, Chester County
*East Whiteland Township, Chester County
*Honey Brook Township, Chester County
*Millbourne Borough, Delaware County
*West Sadsbury Township, Chester County
“There is tremendous support statewide for the renewal of Growing Greener,” said Andrew Heath, executive director of the Renew Growing Greener Coalition. “This should send a clear signal to the Governor and the legislature that they need to act now to restore funding for the program and ensure families have access to clean drinking water, fresh air and green open spaces.”
Growing Greener is a bipartisan program established in 1999 under Governor Tom Ridge and later expanded by Governors Schweiker and Rendell. Since its establishment, Growing Greener has created a legacy of success, preserving more than 33,700 acres of Pennsylvania’s family farmland, conserving more than 42,300 acres of threatened open space, adding 26,000 acres to state parks and forests, and restoring over 16,000 acres of abandoned mine lands.
In 2002, a dedicated source of revenue for Growing Greener was identified in an increase in the state’s “tipping fee,” the fee charged for dumping trash in Pennsylvania’s landfills. Those funds were supplemented by a $625 million bond approved by voters in 2005, called Growing Greener II. Unless action is taken, those funds will be largely exhausted as of June 30th, with most of the Growing Greener I tipping fees going to the debt service on the Growing Greener II bonds.
About the Renew Growing Greener Coalition
The Renew Growing Greener Coalition is the Commonwealth’s largest coalition of conservation, recreation and environmental organizations representing more than 260 organizations and government entities. For more information on the Coalition, visit www.RenewGrowingGreener.org.
