Council is concerned about, and what scientists in the US and globally are increasingly focused on, is not just the dangerous “fracking” stage of extraction but rather “the whole fracking enchilada,” a term author and filmmaker Sandra Steingraber coined to describe the cradle-to-grave impacts of the entire process of extraction, from deforestation at stage one to toxic-waste troubles at the end. If the public comment period is not extended past Mar. 16, gas-drilling operations will begin upstream from Philadelphia later this year. DRBC just announced this week there will be no public hearings anywhere in the Philadelphia area. Advocacy groups see DRBC’s failure to schedule a hearing near any of the population centers which depend on the Delaware for drinking water as undemocratic. “It’s a remarkable show of bad faith,” said POW’s Jerry Silberman. “We need City Council, Mayor Michael Nutter, and the entire Philadelphia legislative delegation, as well as our federal Representatives and Senators, to fight for the Delaware River watershed right now,” said Dixon. City Hall observers speculate that, if given a measure passed by Council, Nutter may make a formal request to DRBC for a hearing in his city – a request it would be hard for DRBC to avoid, coming from the leader of the Delaware River 26 JANUARY, 2011
Basin’s most-populous city.
Casey Intros Legislation to Use Unspent Highway Funds U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) has introduced two bills aimed at utilizing federal money allocated to highway projects that remains unspent. Recent reports indicate that almost one in three dollars earmarked for highway projects since 1991 remain unspent, totaling $13 billion nationwide and $392 million in Pennsylvania. “This legislation will ensure that funding already directed toward highway projects is put to good use, improving our roads and bridges and creating more construction jobs,” said the Senator. “This legislation will help Pennsylvania move forward on critical highway projects and relieve the financial burden these unspent funds are causing the State.” The Redistribution of Unspent Earmarks Act will require any earmarks that are over three years old and not obligated to a specific project to be returned to the state transportation department with jurisdiction over the project, allowing the money to be spent on other federally approved projects. The Use It or Lose It Act will require congressionally directed funding from the Highway Trust THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD
Fund to be obligated for a project no later than three years after the funds were first made available. If funds are not obligated in that time frame, they will be released to the State Transportation Dept., which will then be able to direct it toward other federally approved transportation projects in that state.
Goode Wants Council To Check City’s WorkforceDevelopment At City Council’s first meeting in 2011, Councilman W. Wilson Goode, Jr. introduced a resolution to authorize the Committee on Commerce & Economic Development to hold hearings to strategically assess the City’s workforce development system. On Nov. 22, 2010, Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the appointment of Mark Edwards as President and CEO of the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corp. PWDC, which has an annual budget in excess of $100 million, is the largest single entity in the City’s workforce development system. Founded in 1999, the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, Inc. is also a nonprofit organization that serves as the staff to a volunteer Board appointed by the Mayor under the federal Workforce In|
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