In June 2017, the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF) won a case at the PA Supreme Court by the skin of their teeth (see PA Supreme Court Hands Antis Partial Victory re State Land Drilling). The case dealt with the issue of how PA can spend revenue raised from drilling for oil and gas under state-owned land. A divided court ruled that money from royalties (not lease signing bonuses) must be used only for “environmental” purposes. Since that time the governor and the legislature have ignored the ruling and interpreted it to mean money can be used to (for instance) fund operating expenses of the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), something PEDF claims is not allowed. Ignoring the ruling year after year has the radicals at PEDF fuming.
