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Our opinion: A proper pace on environment

Most Americans would agree with initiatives to help the environment. Here in Pennsylvania, we are surrounded by natural wonders. But going too fast has some pitfalls as can be seen in neighboring New York state. So we’re urging caution after last week’s announcement by Gov.Josh Shapiro. He was joined U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael S. Regan, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley, President of the Allegheny-Fayette Labor Council Darrin Kelly and local elected leaders to celebrate the Shapiro ...

Our opinion: Cutting DEP backlog is only the first step

We are glad the state Department of Environmental Protection has significantly cut its backlog of applicants awaiting permits. We also believe more needs to be done. As The Center Square’s Anthony Hennen reported recently, from December of 2023 to the end of June, DEP reduced the number of cases awaiting permits from about 2,000 to 970. “It was our goal early in 2024 to reduce that backlog by 10% each month. We’re hovering very close to that, but we still have a long way to go,” John Ryder, deputy secretary for DEP field operations said, according to the Center Square ...

Our opinion: Carbon capture bill a smart step

State Sen. Gene Yaw’s legislation for state oversight of “carbon capture” technology is an important step in the right direction. As Yaw said, “it’s a pragmatic solution to a problem we all want to solve — reducing our carbon emissions without crippling the reliability of our existing power grid.” We acknowledge that much work must be done for carbon capture and sequestration to be viable. Technologies need to be further developed and improved. But, as this newspaper has noted often, the same can be said of reliance on renewable energy. For solar and wind power to ...

Our opinion: Dems miss open process chance

For a brief moment on Sunday following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek re-election in November, Sen. Joe Manchin considered switching parties back to Democrat to explore running for office. That changed a short while later as support coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris, but don’t expect Manchin, I-W.Va., to sit on the sidelines and simply toe the line for any nominee the Democrats put forth. “I am not running for office,” Manchin said Monday on CBS, comments he reiterated several times through the day. What Manchin said he would like to see ...

Our opinion: Lawsuit means limited response

Some city residents were upset when City Council members limited discussion of the Hudson senior living project at the last council meeting. They shouldn’t be. Now that a lawsuit has been filed over the project by five city residents, including one who is a sitting member of the City Council, no one should expect there to be unfettered discussion of the senior living project until after the issues raised in the lawsuit are settled by a judge. We’re honestly not sure what additional public dialogue does at this point anyway. Because there is a lawsuit against the project city ...

Our opinion: Concert Association’s end a sad note

Over the course of roughly eight decades the Warren Concert Association has been helping bring beautiful music to Warren. The association’s last note has gone quiet with the recent announcement that the association will wind down its operations. Decreasing numbers of subscribers and decreasing ticket sales meant the Warren Concert Association couldn’t afford to bring in the high-quality acts it had been attracting in years past - though one of its final concerts featured Nicole Zuraitis, who won the 2024 Grammy for best jazz vocal album. You could say that performance was a high ...