Guest Essay: Keys For The Keystone State To Help Tackle The Climate Crisis

By Flora Cardoni, PennEnvironment & Michael Mann, Penn State University

This guest essay first appeared in the Centre Daily Times September 6, 2021--

The remnants of Hurricane Ida hit us hard this week, depositing torrential, flood-inducing rains across a huge swath of the eastern United States. 

Here in Pennsylvania, torrential downpours, dangerous flash flooding, and tornadoes destroyed homes and vehicles, disrupted and contaminated water supplies, devastated communities, and resulted in tragic and avoidable deaths. 

Unfortunately, Ida is just the latest and most extreme manifestation of climate change we’ve experienced in the Keystone State this summer.

The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been warning the world about the threat of global warming since its first report in 1990. 

And the IPCC’s sixth version of the report, released in August, warns of increasingly damaging and deadly floods, heat waves, and droughts unless we begin “immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.”

While the latest IPCC report presents dire consequences of inaction, it offers hope, too. We can prevent climate change from getting much worse if we take remediating actions now.

As the fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the United States, Pennsylvania has a responsibility to lead when it comes to implementing climate solutions and reducing carbon emissions. 

And Pennsylvanians from all walks of life know we’re already experiencing adverse effects of climate change in a variety of ways.

Ida is the third tropical weather system to strike in just the latter half of August: Pennsylvania endured flash floods from the remnants of Tropic Storm Fred and appears to have dodged a bullet with Tropical Storm Henri.

If you’re someone who enjoys hiking in the Appalachian mountains, climate change will find you there, too. 

Beyond the prevalence of disease-bearing ticks and mosquitoes, look out for poison ivy, which is now stronger and itchier than ever thanks to the same rising carbon dioxide levels that are warming the planet. 

Love trout fishing? Climate change threatens these fish by making streams “low and warm” according to Larry Myers, president of the Forbes Trail Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

The solutions are clear: We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate these effects. Congress needs to follow through on infrastructure investments discussed in recent months — and we need to hold the Biden administration accountable for its campaign pledges. 

But after four years of federal inaction and — even worse — some actions that exacerbated global warming, the fact that the federal government is again seriously addressing climate change gives us momentum.

Here in Pennsylvania, we are on the verge of joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2022. 

Pennsylvania’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission just voted to approve the regulation that allows the Keystone State to join 11 eastern states from Virginia to Maine in participating in RGGI to cap and reduce global-warming carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector. 

But sadly, pro-fossil fuel legislators in Harrisburg are expected to challenge the regulation this fall.

Given the outsized role of fossil fuel emissions in causing global warming, committing to 100 percent renewable energy should be our next step in Pennsylvania. 

Eight states have already committed to a timeline to transition to powering their electric grids with 100 percent renewable energy sources. 

With the support of state Representative Chris Rabb (D-Phila) and state Senators Amanda Cappelletti (D-Delaware, Montgomery) and Katie Muth (Berks, Chester, Montgomery) and people across our state, it’s time to become state number nine.

Tackling a crisis takes strong strategies and prudent decision-making. 

Since the first IPCC report came out 30 years ago, we’ve developed strong strategies, but we haven’t made enough prudent decisions at local, state and federal levels to thwart climate change. 

But as the IPCC report notes, we’re running out of time, so we need to implement new plans as soon as possible. 

Pennsylvania can be a leader in preserving safer and healthier communities for generations to come. 

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

(Photos: Schuylkill River and Conestoga River flooding from Hurricane Ida.)

Flora Cardoni is the field director with PennEnvironment. Michael E. Mann is distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State. He is author of the recently released book, “The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back our Planet.”

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-- Independent Regulatory Review Commission Votes To Approve The Final RGGI Carbon Pollution Reduction Regulation Covering Power Plants

-- Republicans On House Committee Approve Resolution To Kill Final Power Plant Carbon Pollution Reduction Regulations

-- How Did We Get Here: Background On The Final EQB Regulation Reducing Carbon Pollution From Power Plants [RGGI]

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-- After More Than A Decade Of Warnings Significant Funding Was Needed, Floods Are Again Devastating Pennsylvania

[Posted: September 7, 2021]  PA Environment Digest