Young father to bike to Harrisburg to meet with Corbett

“The Corbett administration's actions for the gas industry are out of control.”

Pine Grove Mills, PA. On Wednesday, March 9, Peter Buckland will ride his bike 110 miles from his home in Pine Grove Mills (Centre County) to Harrisburg to arrange a meeting with the Governor. Peter is a PhD candidate in the PSU College of Education and the father of a 3 year old son. He plans to arrive in Harrisburg by about 1 p.m., in time to participate in a protest being organized by Penn Environment, that will be held at the Capitol Forum.

Immediately afterward he will go to the Governor’s office to personally deliver his written request for a meeting. Peter says, “I will do this in person, with some insistence, instead of through the faceless email system or fax system. My point is to put another real face to this. Unlike the gas industry, we don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy access to the governor but he HAS to talk with us, he is OUR governor."

Up to this point Buckland has attended a few environmental protests, but is now compelled to activism on a higher level, saying “The Corbett administration's actions for the gas industry are out of control. Yanking the DCNR's ability to assess potential impacts on state land and gutting the DEP's ability to monitor air quality from drilling sites pushed me to this point.. For me this is very personal because I spend hundreds of hours in Rothrock, Bald Eagle, Moshannon, Sproul, and Tioga on my mountain bike, on hikes and camping.”

Buckland believes that the governor needs to reinstate the former DCNR policy that would limit new drilling and that he must impose a severance tax on the natural gas industry. He adds, “It is also about the quality of our water and air and my hopes and fears as a father. As a citizen of this commonwealth, the commonwealth's government should help me and my fellow common people to reach the common good. I will ride even if it rains or snows.”

Buckland invites those at the rally to join him afterward as he delivers his meeting request to the Governor. Other concerned citizens from around around the state have already agreed to join
him. He encourages others to submit their own meeting requests on Wednesday.

Peter Buckland can be reached at peter.evolves@gmail.com