PennFuture (Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future)

PennFuture is closely related to another environmental group, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, and the two groups share staffers and funding. ³

Activities

PennFuture’s efforts are centered around diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ), with a particular focus on racial minorities. The organization has incorporated DEIJ into its hiring practices and workplace culture. ²

In June 2025, a coalition of environmental and community groups represented by Earthjustice, Donahue, Goldberg, and Herzog, and Clean Air Task Force, filed a suit challenging President Donald Trump’s April 2025 decision that granted two-year exemptions to 68 power plants across 23 states from the 2024 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). Plaintiffs, including PennFuture, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Environmental Defense Fund, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Clean Air Council, the Air Alliance Houston, Downwinders at Risk, the Montana Environmental Information Center, the Environmental Integrity Project, the Dakota Resource Council, and the Environmental Law and  Policy Center, argued the exemptions were granted without public process and that many of the plants already comply or have widely available controls installed. ⁴

PennFuture had been lobbying against a $2 billion package of tax credits for hydrogen, petrochemical, and natural gas. When the package was signed by then-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) in 2022, PennFuture’s president and CEO, Patrick McDonnell, said it would only “perpetuate Pennsylvania’s addiction to fossil fuels.” Other left-of-center environmentalist groups, including the Clean Air Council, also criticized the deal. ^{5  6}

In July 2020, the Brennan Center for Justice represented PennFuture and the Sierra Club, both environmental advocacy groups, in an election-administration and voting policy dispute. The organizations filed a motion to intervene in the Donald J. Trump for President v. Boockvar case, a federal case in which the plaintiffs, including the Republican National Committee, President Trump’s 2020 campaign, and four sitting members of the U.S. Congress sought to roll back several of Pennsylvania’s expanded voting provisions, including the expansion of mail-in ballots provided to all registered voters. ⁷

History

PennFuture was created in 1998 through a partnership between the Heinz Endowments and the Pew Charitable Trusts. In 2024, the Heinz Endowments were still funding the organization, granting $400,000 to help transition Pennsylvania to weather-dependent energy sources. ⁸

People

PennFuture was founded by John Hanger in 1998. In 2008, then-Gov. Ed Rendell (D) appointed Hanger as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). He ran for the 2014 Democratic nomination for governor of Pennsylvania and qualified for the primary ballot but withdrew before the primary election. ⁹ Hanger supported removing criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana, and legalizing, regulating, and taxing recreational marijuana in Pennsylvania. ¹⁰

Patrick McDonnell, who served as first the director of policy and then the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection under former Gov. Tom Wolf (D), became the president and CEO of PennFuture in October 2022. PennFuture was actively working to influence several initiatives McDonnell oversaw when serving as Secretary of the Pennsylvania DEP, including Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The group was trying to intervene in legal cases over the RGGI, a program that limits greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, which McDonnell had helped advance through state government. He transitioned from working for the agency that created the initiative to the nonprofit lobbying group that would litigate it in court. ¹¹

PennFuture has a recurring pattern of personnel movement between its offices and the state’s top environmental regulatory positions. Founder John Hanger led PennFuture from 1998 to 2008, before becoming Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. In 2015, Gov. Wolf named PennFuture’s then-CEO Cindy Dunn to lead the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, after she spent 12 years at PennFuture. ¹² Patrick McDonnell stepped down as the Secretary of the Pennsylvania DEP in July 2022 after 25 years at the agency to become CEO of PennFuture. ¹¹