Gov Wolf will miss mark on climate commitments unless PA halts fossil fuel expansion

Background: Today, Pennsylvania agencies released the 2021 Pennsylvania Climate Impacts Assessment. It projects a nearly 6 degree Fahrenheit temperature increase in the coming decades, and with it rising temperatures and more flooding and heat waves. The state’s 2019 Pennsylvania Climate Action Plan set state greenhouse gas reduction goals (26% by 2025 and 80% by 2050, below 2005 levels) but has limited strategies to address oil and gas emissions.

Statement of Nadia Steinzor, Senior Policy Analyst with Earthworks:

“Pennsylvania’s climate assessment paints a sobering picture of impacts to health, communities, and the economy — some of which are already happening. Yet state plans to rein in climate pollution largely ignore a significant source: oil and gas wells and processing facilities. Governor Wolf won’t meet his climate commitments unless he limits new oil and gas permits and phases out fossil fuel production.”