PA - Despite Outsized GHG Output, Almost No Action To Accompany Growing Volume Of Climate Talk
As the federal government under President Donald Trump has worked to roll back environmental protections and individual states have taken dramatic steps to combat climate change, Pennsylvania this year unveiled a sweeping plan to reduce the state’s carbon footprint.
For the first time, the state has a goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and 2050. The plan the Department of Environmental Protection proposed in April recommends policies and initiatives touching nearly every sector, from energy to transportation to agriculture and beyond. Gov. Tom Wolf says Pennsylvania is making progress.
But what’s missing, advocates say, is action. Only a handful of policies have been implemented, and most of the recommendations remain just that. “It is undoubtedly a dire situation, which our Legislature and governor are not reacting to with sufficient urgency,” said Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware, the minority chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.
Thanks to the energy production industry, carbon emissions from the Keystone State make up about one half of 1% of all carbon emitted globally — more than the vast majority of places on earth, said Tom Richard, director of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment at Penn State. That’s even after emissions fell in recent years, and the state projects they will not fall much further without aggressive action.
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https://www.mcall.com/news/pennsylvania/mc-nws-pa-climate-change-state-lags-20190923-kkdahd4th5aotn5gz6qzbvxf2i-story.html