Chamber: Draft Climate Change Impact Report Fails To Meet Intent Of The Law

The PA Chamber of Business and Industry expressed concerns this week that diverse viewpoints are not represented in an essential report required by Act 70, the 2008 law that authorized Pennsylvania to proceed with the development of a climate change action plan for the Commonwealth.

 

As part of the process, the state Department of Environmental Protection hired a consultant to prepare a report assessing climate change’s potential impact on and economic opportunities for the Commonwealth.

 

The draft report was recently open for public comments, which DEP is now reviewing before presenting a final report to the state’s Climate Change Advisory Committee.(PA Environment Digest 4/20/09)

 

That report will be sent to the General Assembly ahead of the committee’s final recommendations to the legislature about how the state should address greenhouse gas emissions. Those recommendations are expected later this year.

 

“Job creators and Commonwealth residents have much at stake in the climate change debate,” said Stephanie Catarino Wissman, director of government affairs for the PA Chamber, which submitted official comments on the draft report. “Caution and consensus are crucial to the development of a plan that rationally addresses climate change concerns while not economically harming industry in Pennsylvania or threatening our energy security.”

 

Wissman said the draft impact and opportunities report in its present form fails to fully reflect the diversity of opinions? among entities required to be consulted by DEP.

 

“This mirrors concerns the business community expressed early in the process that expectations for the advisory committee and its final product should not be attached to a predetermined outcome that supports a predetermined agenda by DEP or any stakeholder, and that all viewpoints of CCAC members be considered in order to balance environmental protection with economic growth,” Wissman said.

 

Additionally, the PA Chamber noted that established time frames for preparing the report limited the consultation, detail and level of analysis envisioned for the impact study – time and resource limitations recognized in the report itself.

 

“Such a significant undertaking requires a high level of independent expertise,” Wissman said. “Not only is this not found in the draft report, the document also fails to meet statutory requirements of acknowledging diversity of views within the scientific community and uncertainties about the impact of climate change.”

 

As part of its official comments, the Chamber commissioned an independent third-party review of the draft Impacts Assessment report by Dr. Margo Thorning, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief economist with the American Council for Capital Formation. Thorning spoke at the Climate Change Dialogue event.

 

In her review, Dr. Thorning concluded as well that the report falls short of reflecting a diversity of views. She also concluded that the report fails to put Pennsylvania's carbon emissions in a global perspective, thereby making it difficult for policymakers to understand the costs and benefits of possible mandatory greenhouse gas reduction policies to the environment and the state.

 

“Concerns about the process aside, there is still the question of whether or not it is prudent for the Commonwealth to embark on its own climate change agenda when the issue is best addressed at the federal level,” Wissman stressed. “However, these are all questions and concerns that by law, the Climate Change Advisory Committee has been charged with answering. That is why it is crucial that the committee, and lawmakers who will eventually decide the course of action, have the appropriate time and information necessary to complete their work.”