Proposed law seeks to make environmental protesters pay
By The Associated Press
11.05.02
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A bill passed by the state Senate would force protesters to pay for the profit loss they caused a company as a result of an "act of environmental harassment."
The bill, which passed 36-14 in the state Senate, was introduced by Sen. Joseph Scarnati, R-Jefferson, in response to timber mill protests in his district, according to Sen. James Gerlach, R-Chester.
"The protesters chained themselves to some equipment and shut down operations for a day, and the company lost revenue as a result," Gerlach said.
Environmental activists are angry about the bill, which is stalled in a House committee, and say it threatens their rights.
"The representatives of our state are in the process of hijacking our fundamental rights to assemble and exercise freedom of speech on issues of clean air, water, soil, food and public health. The weapon they are using is Senate Bill 1257," a statement from Alliance for a Clean Environment of Pennsylvania said.
Jeff Schmidt, director of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Sierra Club, said activities the bill bans, including threatening or causing violence and destroying property, are already illegal. He said the bill "uses the violence phrase as a cover when the real goal is to shut down protest-type activities, in our opinion."
The protesters in the timber mill were arrested for trespassing. Gerlach said he supports the environmental- harassment bill because it would force protesters in similar cases to pay for lost revenue.
"No one begrudges people their right to free speech and protest," Gerlach said. "But when a company has to shut down and lose money, they should have that lost revenue returned."
Carole A. Rubley, R-Chester, doubts the bill will ever make it into law. She is a member of the House Environmental, Resources and Energy Committee.
She said no action has been taken on the bill since it was sent to her committee in June and that action is unlikely before the end of the year. Bills not acted on by the end of the session die.
Rubley, who said she has "serious reservations about this bill," said opponents shouldn't get overconfident, however. "Some things slip through at the eleventh hour," she said.