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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State Rep.
Greg Vitali |
  
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Landmark global warming legislation headed to governor's desk
HARRISBURG, July 3 – Global warming legislation will be enacted for the first time in Pennsylvania when the governor signs the Pennsylvania Climate Change Act (S.B. 266), according to state Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware, an advocate of the measure.
Senate Bill 266, sponsored by state Sen. Ted Erickson, R-Delaware, would require Pennsylvania to conduct an inventory of greenhouse gas emission, set up a registry for business and industry where they can track their emissions and get credit for pollution reduction, provide for an advisory group for the state Department of Environmental Protection, and require DEP to develop a state plan to reduce emissions.
"This will be a good planning tool for Pennsylvania to help with coordination of the various measures the state has implemented and those it should implement to combat climate change in the future," Vitali said. "Climate change is the most important environmental problem we're dealing with in Pennsylvania -- we produce a full 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emission. I applaud Senator Erickson, and thank everyone for the work they've done to keep this issue alive in both chambers over the years."
Vitali said initial language for global warming legislation was drafted nearly a decade ago by Don Brown, currently an associate professor of environmental ethics and program director for ethical dimensions of climate change at Penn State. He is the former senior counsel for sustainable development at DEP, and has worked for both the state and federal governments on environmental issues.
"Don Brown came up with the initial idea of this legislation, drafted the language for the original bill, and his knowledge and counsel have been invaluable to this process and the issue of global warming," Vitali said. "Senator Erickson's bill is a good bill that incorporates those same principles. I think this is a historic moment in our state's history – a time that will prove to be a turning point in our endeavors to curb global warming as a state."
Brown's language was embodied in a House Resolution (H.R. 200) that Vitali introduced in 2001. Eventually, Vitali introduced H.B. 110, which was the companion legislation to the resolution. Both bills were approved by the state House.
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