Blue Pennsylvania: Happy Earth Month
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Let’s get right to it. According to U.S. News and World Report, Pennsylvania comes in 38 out of 50 states with regard to its air quality, and fortieth with regard to the quality of its drinking water. Republicans like to boast how their anti-woke environmental policies are beneficial to the economy, but once again, according to U.S. News, Pennsylvania ranks 29th with regard to employment, 39th on economic growth, and 37th in terms of its business environment. U.S. News finally places Pennsylvania in the bottom quintile of best states overall, leading one to wonder how exactly trashing the environment is good for the state.
And it’s not only Pennsylvanians who are affected. Our state is responsible for the production of 1% of all greenhouse gases in the world, coming in fourth behind Texas, California, and Florida. The effect has been palpable. Just recently, we learned that March was the hottest month on record for the continental United States.
Compounding all of these problems is the proliferation of data centers in the state which are expected to support the expansion of AI services. These thirsty energy hogs will place a significant burden on our energy grid, and will likely increase the demand for fossil fuel, while draining our reservoirs and aquifers of clean water. Fifty-three such data centers are in the planning stages across the state. Although Shapiro has called for greater regulatory authority over these data centers, he has also supported their expansion as well.
Unfortunately, the political will to remedy these problems in any meaningful way has been close to non-existent. Last year’s state budget battle ended four months into the new fiscal year, only after the Pennsylvania lower house sacrificed the commonwealth’s membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), in order for the state senate to agree to a budget increase of $2.27 billion, to be used mainly for education, helping indigent families, and small business development, and while Governor Shapiro’s six-part Lightening Plan includes PACER, a cap-and-trade similar to RGGI, it also contains elements that would fast-track new fossil fuel projects.
Meanwhile, Gene Yaw, the Republican chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, has been leasing his land to fracking companies and has received royalties from them as well. Yaw has recently introduced legislation designed to fast-track fossil fuel production.
Yet while these environmental issues should promote the type of activism that we have seen for the treatment of immigrants, the Epstein files, and the war in Iran, it has been difficult in recent years to engage folks around the environment. The Swedish teenager who took the world by storm not that long ago with a powerful personal story no longer captures the interest of journalists, and the Sunrise Movement, that inspired so many high school and college students has far more lapsed members than current ones today; and does anyone even remember the Peoples Climate March of 2017? Explanations for such apathy have been plentiful: The fragmentation of environmental organizations, the feeling that there is no immediate crisis, despair, burnout, and the complications of environmental science.
While all of this news might be disheartening to those environmental readers, there is a way forward, and that way comes right out of the underlying foundation of environmentalism – that the world is a system composed of a myriad of sub-systems and that everything is inter-connected. Just like the wings of that proverbial butterfly that can cause violent hurricanes thousands of miles away, our votes for good jobs, good schools, good law enforcement, and good government can bring about radical environmental change. That’s because many of the candidates who support all of those items in the previous sentence also, for the most part, support clean air and water, and a reliance on renewable energy.
So, even if a living wage for all of Pennsylvania’s workers may be lower on your wish-list than solar for all, supporting those candidates who support the former will be the best way to achieve the latter.
We are so close – two state senate seats away – to getting us to a position where we can begin to claw back much of the environmental ground that we have lost over the past few decades, but we need environmentalists and labor and education and good government advocates to help us flip the senate and widen our advantage in the house. Below are a list of those candidates who are most likely to get us there.
PA Senate
SD-6 - Eileen Harnett Albillar – Bucks County “She’ll go to Harrisburg and fight to lower our costs, grow our local economy so we have good paying jobs that can support a family, and fully fund our public schools.” Learn more about Eileen at https://www.eileenforpa.com/ |
SD-24 - Chris Thomas – Berks and Montgomery Counties “Now, he’s running for Pennsylvania State Senate in District 24 to take on the cost-of-living crisis and stand up for working families. He believes no one should have to choose between groceries and prescriptions, heat and rent, or child care and keeping the lights on. Chris is running to fully and fairly fund public schools, lower everyday costs, and make healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone — because the government should work for the people, not the powerful.” Learn more about Chris at https://www.christhomas.vote/ |
SD-40 - Brian Wrightson - Lackawanna, Monroe, and Wayne Counties “Affordability, healthcare access, transportation, utilities, housing, clean energy, and broadband — are all connected. When one part fails, the whole community feels it. His approach is practical and rooted in listening.” Learn more about Brian at https://wrightsonforsenate.net/ |
PA House
HD-142 - Kristin Egan – Bucks County Education “Our current funding model is unconstitutional and puts an unfair burden on local taxpayers. I’m running to fix the system so that cyber charter schools stop siphoning away our hard-earned tax dollars and every student in District 142 has a safe, modern place to learn.” Cost of Living “Our seniors, who have given so much to this district, deserve to retire with dignity and not be taxed out of their homes.” Living Wage “A living wage isn't just a 'cost'; it’s an investment in our local economy.” Learn more about Kristin at https://www.kristineganforpa.com/ |
HD-137 - Jeff Warren – Northampton County
Learn more about Jeff at https://www.jeffwarrenforpa.com/ |
HD-160 – Elizabeth Moro – Chester and Delaware Counties Education “she’s committed to ensuring fair education funding so that every child receives access to the resources of a great education, no matter their zip code. She will also work to ensure higher education is affordable and expand job training and skilled trades programs so that the next generation has the tools they need to build a stronger Pennsylvania.” Health Care “Elizabeth understands the connection between mental and physical health and will work to reduce the price of prescription drugs, make sure our hospitals are properly staffed and funded, and that those who provide healthcare receive the support that they need.” Housing “Elizabeth will work to increase housing supply, protect renters, and support tax policies that help reduce housing costs while supporting sensible development.” Local Economy “Elizabeth will fight to lower costs, increase Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, and bring good, family-sustaining jobs in the skilled trades back to our community.” Learn more about Elizabeth at https://elizabethmoro.com/ |
Thanks,
Coleman
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