Report for PERC on the Need of Pennsylvania to Act on Climate Change while recognizing the leadership of certain PERC schools on human-induced warming.
The report recognizes the leadership of all twenty-nine Pennsylvania schools that have signed the American Colleges and University Presidents Climate Commitment (http://www.acupcc.org), and Carnegie-Mellon University and Duquesne University for setting a greenhouse gas emissions target and adopting an action plan. In addition, the report particularly recognizes Allegheny College, Dickinson University, and the University of Pennsylvania for their exemplary leadership.
The report concludes that Pennsylvania needs to act to reduce the threat of climate change. The report explains how the latest science on climate change that is being articulated by the most prestigious scientific institutions including the National Academy of Sciences leads to the conclusion that there is an urgent need of governments at all scales to act to reduce the threat of dangerous climate change. The report also explains how climate change will likely affect Pennsylvania and hundreds of millions of poor, vulnerable people around the world. Given this, the report explains why Pennsylvania also needs to plan to adapt to climate change impacts that are now very likely even if governments respond more aggressively than they have in the past. The report also compares Pennsylvania’s response to climate change to other US states and recognizes leadership on climate change by Pennsylvania colleges and universities, religious intuitions, and local governments.
The report furthermore discusses a Pennsylvania law adopted in 2008 that requires Pennsylvania to take certain actions on climate change including the development of an action plan to reduce greenhouse gases from Pennsylvania. Although a report was produced in 2009 under the 2008 law by a bi-partisan committee that found that Pennsylvania could reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) by 30% below 2000 levels by 2020 while producing 65,000 new full-time jobs and adding more than $6 billion to the Commonwealth’s gross state product in 2020, the plan has been largely ignored by the current Commonwealth government.
- Adopt a legally-binding GHG emissions reduction target consistent with Pennsylvania’s fair share of safe global emissions.
- Work with the Climate Change Advisory Committee identified in the 2008 Pennsylvania Climate Act supplemented by vigorous public participation to identify strategies to reduce Pennsylvania GHG necessary to achieve the legally-binding GHG emissions reduction target.
- Adopt any laws or regulations necessary to implement the action plan and achieve the target.
- Greatly ramp up Pennsylvania’s commitment to non-fossil energy.
- Develop and periodically update a climate change adaptation plan.
- Encourage, support, and recognize actions and programs to reduce the threat of climate change by Pennsylvania sub-state level governments, businesses, organizations, and educational and religious institutions.
For the full report, please see the document HERE.