Posted: | March 4, 2022 02:00 PM |
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From: | Representative Jonathan Fritz |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | DRBC Fair Voting Reform to Decrease Reliance On Russian Oil and Gas |
As you are likely aware, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has taken a number of concerning actions in recent years, the most notable of which was banning landowners from being able to lease their land for drilling by prohibiting fracking within the basin. This ban has prevented the landowners and natural gas industry from accessing these resources which would be a great benefit to the landowners, our businesses and citizens, and an ideal opportunity to significantly increase gas production in Pennsylvania. It has become imperative that America ends our reliance on foreign oil and gas, particularly that from Russia, considering the country’s recent horrific invasion of the Ukraine. Pennsylvania is perfectly positioned to increase our production of the bountiful resources that our Commonwealth has been blessed with to power both our state and the rest of the country. Unfortunately, actions of the DRBC have gotten in the way. These actions do not respect Pennsylvania as a sovereign entity, nor are they fair considering that the majority of the basin’s territory is within our state. Because of this, I will be introducing legislation which will amend Pennsylvania’s version of the Delaware River Basin Compact to reapportion the voting rights within the DRBC based on the amount of the basin territory that is within each state. Pennsylvania will have 6 votes under this plan, New Jersey will have 3 votes, New York will have 2 votes, Delaware will have 1 vote, and the federal government will have 1 vote. Please join me in sponsoring this important legislation. |
Introduced as HB2450