Letters: Rendell right to order state-land drilling ban
The editorial "Corbett: Acres of drilling" (Friday) rightly criticizes Gov. Corbett for making it easier to drill for natural gas in state parks and forests, and says, "Late last year, as his term was almost over, [former Gov. Ed] Rendell woke up and banned natural-gas drilling on 1.5 million acres of state forest." Such criticism of Rendell's executive order could not be further from the truth or more unfair.
The editorial "Corbett: Acres of drilling" (Friday) rightly criticizes Gov. Corbett for making it easier to drill for natural gas in state parks and forests, and says, "Late last year, as his term was almost over, [former Gov. Ed] Rendell woke up and banned natural-gas drilling on 1.5 million acres of state forest." Such criticism of Rendell's executive order could not be further from the truth or more unfair.
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which I headed at the time, completed an analysis - two years in the making - concluding that no additional leasing of state forest land involving surface disturbance could occur without significantly altering the ecological integrity and wild character of our state forest system. That analysis - not politics - motivated Rendell to ban further leasing.
Rendell promised to issue that ban in April 2010, but held off because a leasing moratorium was moving through the General Assembly. The ban passed the House, but when the Senate adjourned in October without acting, Rendell issued his executive order.
Frankly, the timing of the order is irrelevant. The policy - and the science behind it - are the real issues. And the science shows that we can't protect our forests if we open them to wholesale drilling.
John Quigley
Camp Hill