Is Pennsylvania a Red State in Disguise?

Last week the New York Times published an article titled "9 States in Plan to Cut Emissions by Power Plants" (by Anthony DePalma, August 24, 2005). Essentially the article said that 9 states in our area have banned together and created a policy to mimic the Kyoto treaty that would freeze and then cut carbon emissions from power plants. This is an amazing achievement. As I’ve indicated in the past, the Bush white house has been opposed to measures such as this from day one. Finally, the states are beginning to break ranks with his illogical assumption that global warming is real threat to our planet. California, Washington and Oregon are planning a coalition of their own.

So, which 9 states are we talking about? Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. Basically all the NE blue states. Do you notice any missing? I do. My own, Pennsylvania.

I’m stating to believe that although we carried the state for Kerry, our state is actually a red state at heart. Obviously for many years our House and Senate have had Republican majorities and I don’t have the records but I would guess that we’ve had more Republican governors as well.

So what is our state legislature up to? What kinds of laws are they working on passing? Well, I know of one that I talked about in the past, House Bill 1007. Have you heard of that one? Take a look here and here to see what that one is all about.