The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that “Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court will hear arguments Wednesday in a legal battle over whether the state violated its duty to conserve public natural resources by leasing state forests for shale gas development and using the bonanza to balance budgets.”  

“The case will determine if Gov. Tom Corbett and the General Assembly can go ahead with a plan to raise $95 million for the general fund this fiscal year by signing new natural gas leases under state parks and forests.”  

“It will also provide a first answer for how courts will handle claims under the state’s long-neglected environmental rights amendment, which was rejuvenated in December by a state Supreme Court decision in a separate case.”