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Republican Party Has Record of Accomplishments
on Clean Energy and the Environment
HARRISBURG -- The
chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee expressed
outrage at recent remarks made by Pennsylvania Democratic Party chairman T.J.
Rooney regarding the commitment of state and federal Republicans to clean energy
and the environment.
“The timing of Representative Rooney’s outburst is
strange, to say the least. Perhaps he missed session last week, when the
Republican-led Senate and House passed a compromise $625 million environmental
bond question that will be presented to voters at the upcoming May municipal
primary,” said Senator Mary Jo White (R-Venango). “What Representative
Rooney fails to mention is that it took over a year for the Governor to realize
we can invest in the environment without raising taxes on Pennsylvania residents
and business owners.”
White noted that in passing House Bill 2 last week,
the Republican-led General Assembly rejected Governor Rendell’s call for major
tax and fee increases to fund Growing Greener II. Last year Rep. Rooney
co-sponsored House Bill 2010, which would have imposed more than $150 million in
new annual permanent taxes. Even Governor Rendell has recognized that any
investment which builds on the current Republican-authored Growing Greener
program can be paid for “without any new fees or taxes, whatsoever."
White was also mystified by Rooney’s allegation that
“Republicans simply will not take action to invest in cleaner, more affordable
energy sources." Under the leadership of Senator Ted Erickson and
Representative Chris Ross -- both Republicans -- last year Pennsylvania enacted
the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act (AEPS). This act, which was
championed by the Rendell Administration, will require that at least 18% of
Pennsylvania electricity be generated from cleaner, more efficient energy
sources within 15 years. Even one of the most liberal environmental
organizations in Pennsylvania called the landmark AEPS legislation “among the
nation’s strongest” clean energy standards.
In addition to the AEPS legislation, other notable
accomplishments by the Republican-led General Assembly last session include:
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providing $10 million to the PA Energy
Development Authority for financial assistance to promote alternative energy
research and development;
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restructuring the Commonwealth’s Alternative
Fuel Incentive Grant (AFIG) program to provide increased grants for those
purchasing alternative or hybrid fueled vehicles;
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establishing and evaluating energy profiles for
state-owned buildings.
“It’s clear what Representative Rooney’s agenda is
-- to attack Republicans at both the state and national level,” said White.
“It’s also clear that voters have rejected Rooney’s inflammatory and, to be
frank, somewhat infantile rhetoric, and expressed a strong preference for the
pragmatic, collaborative Republican approach to public policy, as evidenced by
both state and national election results.”
In addition to President Bush’s re-election last
November, Republicans also expanded their legislative majorities at both the
state and national level.
“Representative Rooney is no doubt frustrated by
voters’ repeated rejection of Democratic candidates. Resorting to falsehoods
and misrepresentations as he has done again only serves to further alienate
voters and increase partisanship.”
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