Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Governor's Office

1998 Earth Day Message from Governor Tom Ridge

Water is one of Pennsylvania’s most precious and basic resources. In recognition of the importance of water, we are pleased to celebrate Earth Day 1998 with the theme, "Do Your Share -- Care About Water."

Pennsylvanians use 14.3 billion gallons of water every day. Almost all of it 13.7 billion gallons -- is returned to the environment. That means that each of us has a special responsibility to use water in ways that do not harm aquatic life and other water users downstream. But we also must be concerned about water in other ways. Our activities can have a big impact on the severity and frequency of floods that cause loss of life and property damage.

As early as 1866, Pennsylvanians began to show their concern for water resources in a statewide convention held in Harrisburg to investigate the "bad conditions" in streams and lakes and declining fish populations. As a result of the convention, Gov. Andrew Curtin signed a law creating Pennsylvania’s first Commissioner of Fisheries and began a long series of local and state initiatives to improve and protect our water resources.

Today, doing our share to protect water resources means unprecedented interstate cooperation in efforts to protect the Chesapeake Bay; to create the Senior Environmental Corps so that older Pennsylvanians can work with young people to protect watersheds; to expand our Citizen’s Volunteer Monitoring Program; to monitor stream quality; to limit farmland runoff through our Nutrient Management Program; to clean up abandoned mine lands watershed by watershed through coordinated state-local partnerships; to move people off flood plains; and to reduce the potential for flood damage through stormwater planning.

Pennsylvania has adopted a "zero pollution" philosophy that encourages industries, local governments and individuals to constantly look for ways to eliminate or reduce pollution beyond what is required by law. The winners of the 1997 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence, for example, eliminated more than 27 million gallons of liquid wastes, 15 million tons of solid waste and 18 million tons of air pollutants -- not because it was required by law, but because it made sense to do it.

We all need to be good up-stream neighbors. As we celebrate Earth Day 1998, "Do Your Share -- Care About Water."

TOM RIDGE
Governor