WEST CHESTER, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture) and the Better Choices for Pennsylvania Coalition, joined by other community and civic leaders, will hold a press conference on Friday, November 18 at 1:30 p.m. on the steps of the Historic Chester County Courthouse, 2 N. High Street in West Chester, to decry the votes of local House members for HB 1950, a bill that gives huge benefits to drillers in the Marcellus Shale while saddling Pennsylvania taxpayers with the environmental damages and other costs of deep natural gas drilling.
More than 70 percent of Pennsylvanians in multiple polls said they support a robust drilling tax and protections for local communities and the environment from drilling, and to make sure that all Pennsylvanians benefited from the exploitation of our natural resources. Despite repeated assurances to local citizens that they would support a robust drilling tax, many local House members voted for HB 1950, which included none of the provisions preferred by voters.
Speakers at the press conference will include:
- Senator Andrew Dinniman, D-Chester;
- Sharon Ward, executive director, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center;
- Joyce Chester, executive director, Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Center;
- Sarah Caspar, board member, Chester County League of Women Voters ;
- Paula Coyne, board member, S.A.V.E. (Safety, Agriculture, Villages and Environment); and
- Anne Crowley, southeastern Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture.