PennFuture Launches Green in �18 Campaign to Back PA Common Conservation Agenda Developed by Statewide Coalition of Environmental Groups

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PennFuture Launches Green in �18 Campaign to Back PA Common Conservation Agenda Developed by Statewide Coalition of Environmental Groups

PHILADELPHIA, PA (May 9, 2018) – PennFuture is launching the Green in ’18 campaign this month, a grassroots movement that aims to spur the gubernatorial candidates to prioritize environmental issues, while simultaneously supporting the first-ever Pennsylvania Common Conservation Agenda, developed by a coalition of 25 unified environmental groups across the state.

The Common Agenda consists of a comprehensive series of publicly popular, fiscally responsible policy solutions to the state’s most significant environmental challenges, outlining a promising blueprint the next governor can use as a tool to address Pennsylvania’s 19,000 miles of unusable streams and rivers and poor air quality. In addition, the agenda provides the candidates with common sense solutions for the state to move towards a clean energy economy, restore funding for the primary state agencies responsible for safeguarding state residents from environmental threats, and increase environmental protection for our most vulnerable communities.

“With a pivotal election for governor on the horizon, we worked with our many partners to offer an array of policy solutions to the environmental threats looming in Pennsylvania – solutions that can and should be enacted by the individual whom voters choose to lead the state,” said PennFuture President and CEO Jacquelyn Bonomo. “The actions called for in the Common Agenda can be implemented by the next governor using his or her executive authority and we look forward to educating the public about this blueprint through PennFuture’s new Green in ’18 Campaign.”

During the 2018 election cycle, coalition members will take the agenda to the gubernatorial candidates, urging each one to enact the recommended policy solutions if elected. Leaders of the coalition recognized early on that it would take more than their efforts alone to get the candidates to consider and ultimately implement the agenda. It requires a groundswell of support from the people of Pennsylvania, which led to the creation of the Green in ’18 campaign.

“We will engage with the gubernatorial candidates on the campaign trail, ask them to explain their plans to safeguard the state’s environment, and make sure they’re well-informed about the common sense recommendations in the Common Agenda,” said Saleem Chapman, Campaign Manager of Green in ’18. “The Pennsylvania Constitution states that we, the people, have a right to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the environment. The actions taken by the governor over the next four years will determine whether or not our citizens enjoy the benefits of that Constitutional right.”

The 25 member organizations of the coalition represent nearly one million Pennsylvanians from every corner of the state, every political party, and all walks of life.

Joanne Kilgour, Director of the Sierra Club’s Pennsylvania chapter, a coalition member, is one of many leaders endorsing the Common Agenda.

“The Common Agenda represents the unprecedented coming together of environmental, conservation, recreation, clean energy, environmental justice, and civic engagement organizations from throughout Pennsylvania to help chart a brighter path, a more equitable and prosperous future, for the people of this state,” Kilgour said.

To read the agenda in its entirety, click here.