Environmental advocates set guidelines for lawmakers

(Harrisburg) -- Five environmental advocacy groups are setting guidelines they'd like to see state lawmakers follow this year.

The organizations, including PennEnvironment, Clean Water Action and PennFuture, and the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter have laid out a set of five issues in need of attention.

Josh McNeil is Executive Director of Conservation Voters Pennsylvania, which is participating in the effort.

He says one of the key issues is more funding for the state's environmental agencies, which have absorbed a decade's worth of budget cuts.

"These are the police officers for our environment," McNeil says. "These are the ones who are making sure that corporations and people who might pollute are following the laws. When you cut back on your police force, it means more laws get broken."

McNeil says other guidelines include working for additional transparency and local regulation of natural gas drilling.

He says the guide also addresses the inclusion of mass transit in a transportation funding package and new green standards for state construction projects.