PennFuture Challenges Nearly 300 Elected and Appointed Officials, Energy Company Executives, Financiers and Environmentalists to Make Pennsylvania the Green Energy Market Leader

    CAMP HILL, Pa., May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hanger, president and CEO
 of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture), today opened the
 organization's annual clean energy conference by challenging the nearly 300
 elected and appointed government officials, energy company executives,
 renewable energy financiers and leading environmentalists to "reach for the
 stars as well as the sun," and do more to make Pennsylvania the green
 energy market leader in the next decade. Hanger urged the group to join
 PennFuture in leading the way, announcing that the organization had just
 become the state's first public interest organization to go carbon neutral,
 committed to balancing any PennFuture activity which contributes to global
 warming -- driving, flying, heating, shipping -- by purchasing clean energy
 offsets from Pennsylvania clean energy projects.
     Hanger also referred to the Executive Summary of a soon to be released
 report, sponsored by PennFuture, which shows that Pennsylvania's economy
 would grow by $12.8 billion and 25,000 jobs by 2017 through Governor
 Rendell's PennSecurity Fuels Initiative. This initiative is designed to
 replace 900 million gallons of transportation fuel, much of it imported,
 with Pennsylvania-produced renewable fuels within the next decade.
 Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty is
 expected to discuss the fuels project and other clean energy state
 initiatives during her keynote luncheon speech.
     "This report proves that every environmental victory grows the
 economy," Hanger told the conference attendees. "With a new renewable
 energy economy, we will not just expand jobs and investment in the
 Commonwealth, but we will change the very nature of Pennsylvania's economy,
 finally moving beyond our 19th century industrialized heritage and leading
 the way for the 21st century. We are on the brink of a brand new day, where
 a clean environment and a strong economy go hand-in-hand."
     The PennFuture conference "Getting beyond 10 Percent," is an annual
 national conference of renewable energy leaders and advocates who are
 charting the path to grow Pennsylvania and the region's green energy
 market. Speakers at this year's conference, in addition to McGinty, include
 Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Mike
 DiBerardinis, Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff, Public Utility Commission
 Vice Chair James Cawley and key members of both parties of the Pennsylvania
 General Assembly.
     PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization with
 offices in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and a newly opened
 Center for Energy, Enterprise and the Environment in West Chester.
 PennFuture has been called "Pennsylvania's leading environmental
 organization" by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
 
 

SOURCE Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture)