DEP Awards Grants For Local Plans To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

The Department of Environmental Protection this week awarded nearly $300,000 to seven municipalities to help develop plans to reduce climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions in Allegheny, Bucks, Butler, Centre, Crawford and Delaware counties.

 

Funding for the program was provided by Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) as a legislative initiative.

 

"These progressive communities, as well as the other recipients across the state, recognize the importance of creating their own programs to address climate change," said Environmental Protection Acting Secretary John Hanger. "The pilot projects funded by these grants will assess the local potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That hard data will help provide the climate stability Pennsylvania's economy depends on."

 

"This pilot program will allow several communities statewide – some working on their own and some working together – to demonstrate the environmental and financial value of inventorying and reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the local level," Rep. Vitali said. "These communities are ready and willing to take meaningful action on climate change to benefit local businesses and residents. What they need in order to move forward is state-level leadership and financial assistance. It is my hope that this pilot program leads to an even more comprehensive, statewide funding program to assist communities in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and moving toward cleaner, efficient and less-costly energy use."

 

The grants awarded include:

 

Swarthmore, Rose Valley and Rutledge boroughs, along with Nether Providence Township, jointly accepted a $79,115 grant to inventory greenhouse gas sources, develop a reduction goal, and draft a climate change action plan that can be implemented in the future. They will employ Temple University's Center for Sustainable Communities to gather data and develop action plans.

 

Like the other grant recipients across the state, the multi-municipal Delaware County grantee was selected from a pool of applicants that have demonstrated the ability to take actions like reducing energy consumption, purchasing electricity from renewable resources, and addressing land use and transportation through Smart Growth principles.

 

The four municipalities represented by the Swarthmore region have track records of leadership in all areas, Acting Secretary Hanger added.

 

The Borough of Swarthmore is a Pennsylvania Clean Energy Community and the top-ranked Green Power Partner in the state according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Nationally, Swarthmore Borough is ranked first among Green Power Communities in its use of green power as a percentage of total power used, and has pledged to increase that percentage from 14 percent to 20 percent by the year 2010.

 

Nether Providence Township created the first Environmental Advisory Committee in the state in 1978. In 2007, the township extended its leadership role by being the first Delaware County community to commit to greenhouse gas reductions under the "Cool Cities" program.

 

The smaller boroughs of Rutledge and Rose Valley have acted to soften their impact on the environment, as well.

 

Last July, Gov. Rendell signed the Pennsylvania Climate Change Act, which requires Pennsylvania to conduct a statewide inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, set up a registry for business and industry to track emissions and get credit for pollution reduction, create a climate change advisory group and develop a state plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.