The Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit hosted today by U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, and headlined by President Donald Trump, represents a potentially historic inflection point for the Pittsburgh region’s economy, specifically as an opportunity for southwestern Pennsylvania to claim its place in a future shaped by AI.
While we understand the serious misgivings many have about Mr. Trump’s participation in particular, the presence of the president in Pittsburgh has ensured that, for one day, the focus of some of the most innovative sectors in the world economy will be right here.
This is a tremendous opportunity for the people of the Pittsburgh region, and the state, and the state (though focused here), worth an estimated $70 billion.
But it will only be a tremendous success if the focus remains on the people — the actual human beings who call this region home (or might someday call it home), who will use the technology facilitated by investments, who will continue to live on this planet in an increasingly unstable equilibrium with the environment.
For this reason, we are troubled by the lack of even token representation at the summit for experts and practitioners in technology ethics and environmental sustainability.
These are not optional add-ons to conversations about AI, datacenters, energy and so on:
They are, and must remain, integral parts of the discourse, necessary to ensure that whatever gains Pittsburgh, and humankind, make through these advancements are not negated by the costs to the Earth and to ourselves.
We have heard speculation that investments in the Pittsburgh region at an eye-watering scale may come out of the summit — numbers that would far exceed the figures that were predicted, in some quarters, to result from shale gas extraction and its related industries.
The region’s strengths in high-tech education, energy (especially, we hope, nuclear power generation), access to water and, yes, even steel make it a prime candidate to become a national or international node in the developing AI economic ecosystem.
Yet these numbers, no matter how high they might be, will count for very little if they do not improve the lives of actual human beings, and in particular those outside the business and academic sectors who will not benefit as investors.
More important than impressive dollar amounts, for instance, will be the numbers of jobs created, paying family-sustaining wages.
We will be pleased to see boosts to the region’s construction sector, especially for union tradespeople, but we are particularly interested in the number of permanent jobs created in datacenters, energy generation and other facilities.
The region also needs economic policies that will ensure the people here will not bear the burden of increased prices of necessities, especially energy.
Equally important will be the environmental protections that will ensure people will not bear the burden of environmental degradation.
It would be a mistake to consider investments in computing to be “clean.”
The emissions from power generation and the extraordinary amount of water used by datacenters will have serious environmental costs.
Minimizing those costs, and striking the right balance between growth and sustainability, will be essential.
Finally, the fruits of AI itself will continue to be mixed, as we have written.
Today’s focus on Pittsburgh should also make this city a hub of serious, critical conversations about what AI means, and how it can be deployed to enhance human life, and not harm actual human beings.
For instance, we would love to see Carnegie Mellon University — which already has a robust institutional focus on technology ethics — and perhaps a consortium of local universities host an international symposium on AI ethics.
It won’t be as splashy as today’s summit, but it might, in the long run, be just as important.
Today’s summit is a hopeful sign of big things to come for Pittsburgh. But big doesn’t mean good without conscious intention to and specific policies to ensure that it works out well for everyone.
Focusing on humanity, and not financial or technical abstractions, will help ensure our shared future is one worth being excited about.
PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:
-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - July 12 to 18 - Uncontrolled Shale Gas Wastewater Release For 34 Hours; Abandoned Conventional Wells Top 300; 107 New Brownfield Sites [PaEN]
-- Courier Times: Bucks County Residents, Sen. Santarsiero Say DEP Isn’t Doing Enough To Make Energy Transfer/Sunoco Define The Extent Of Petroleum Pipeline Leak And Clean It Up [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - July 19 [PaEN]
-- DEP Invites Comments On 4 Water Quality Permits For Texas Eastern Appalachia To Market 3 Natural Gas Pipeline Upgrade Project In Adams And York Counties [PaEN]
-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Sets July 31 Hearing On Requests To Withdraw Millions Of Gallons Of Water Per Day, Including 11 For Shale Gas Development, 2 Gas Power Plants [PaEN]
-- DEP Posted 103 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In July 19 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- List Of More Than $90 Billion In Energy, A.I. Data Center Investments, Commitments Or Plans Announced At The PA Energy & Innovation Summit [PaEN]
-- NewsClips - PA Energy & A.I. Summit Pittsburgh July 15, 2025
-- PA Republican Lawmakers Rush To Introduce Bills To Give New Tax Breaks, Waive Regulations, Environmental Standards For A.I. Data Centers Already Flocking Into Pennsylvania And Locking Up PA Power [PaEN]
-- Kleinman Center For Energy Policy: What Wasn’t Discussed At Pennsylvania’s Energy & A.I. Summit - By John Quigley, Senior Fellow
-- Utility Dive: Bipartisan Group Of 9 Governors, Including Gov. Shapiro, Say PJM Interconnection Facing ‘Unprecedented Crisis Of Confidence’ And Want A Hand In Filling 2 Vacant Board Seats [PaEN]
-- Environmental Health Project Releases Compounds Of Concern Online Tool To Help Frontline Residents Better Understand Health Symptoms Related To Chemicals In Industrial Pollution, Released By Oil & Gas Facilities [PaEN]
-- Rise Of The Machines: Senate, House Members Express Concern That Demand For Power To Run Computers Is Impacting The Price And Availability Of Electricity For ‘Ordinary People’ [5.12.25]
-- US Dept. Of Energy Releases Report On Electric Grid Reliability, Security Saying Generation Growth Must Match Needs Of A.I. Data Centers; But What About ‘Ordinary People’? [7.8.25]
-- PJM Interconnection Opens Next Electric Capacity Auction Bidding Window Of July 9 to 15 For 2026-27 Electric Delivery; Hold Your Breath! [7.9.25]
-- PJM Interconnection Issues Maximum Generation Alert For July 15; Natural Gas Accounted For Most Generation Outages In June Generation Alert [PaEN]
-- PJM Interconnection Extends Maximum Generation Alert To July 16; Natural Gas Accounted For Most Generation Outages In June Generation Alert [PaEN]
-- PJM Interconnection Issues Hot Weather Alert For July 17 In Its Mid-Atlantic, Southern Regions, Including Parts Of PA [PaEN]
-- Environmental Advocates Oppose Gov. Shapiro’s Attendance At Sen. McCormick's Energy, A.I. Summit Today In Pittsburgh [PaEN]
-- Environmental Groups Rallying To Protect Delaware River Watershed From Shale Gas Fracking [PaEN]
-- Dept. Of Insurance/DEP Highlight 30 Years Of Underground Petroleum Products Storage Tank Insurance Fund Work; Paid Over $1.3 Billion To Clean Up Tank Leaks [PaEN]
-- Gov. Shapiro Stops In Potter County To Highlight Investment In Key Gas Station Near Northcentral Regional ATV Trail To Build Outdoor Recreation Economy [Owner Failed To Comply With Storage Tank Regulations]
-- EPA Is 'Clearing The Regulatory Path For America To Dominate The Global A.I. Revolution' [PaEN]
-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Energy And Innovation Summit Is A Great Opportunity For Pittsburgh, But People Must Come First [PaEN]
-- DEP: $3.47 Million In Alternative Fuel Vehicle Grants Announced To Lower Costs, Improve Air Quality; Deadline For New Applications Oct. 10 [PaEN]
[Posted: July 15, 2025] PA Environment Digest
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