Over 23,000 messages of support were generated by PennEnvironment for the proposed Pennsylvania Climate Change Action Plan during the 30 day comment period in October and early November.

In total, the Department of Environmental Protection Received 23,687 public comments, 99 percent in favor of the plan. This was the most comments DEP has ever received on any issue or regulation.

“Pennsylvanians have sent a strong message to state leaders: the time for talking about tackling global warming is over, and the time for action is now,” said Nathan Willcox, Energy & Clean Air Advocate for PennEnvironment. “For too long, Pennsylvania has been a big part of the global warming problem. This plan offers a clear map forward to becoming part of the solution.”

The Climate Change Action Plan maps out how Pennsylvania can achieve significant reductions in global warming pollution in the coming years. Pennsylvania currently creates more global warming pollution than every state besides Texas and California.

Left unchecked, PennEnvironment said, global warming could bring to Pennsylvania everything from more heat-related deaths and unhealthy air days, to more severe flooding and threats to native plant and animal species—including our state fish (brook trout), tree (eastern hemlock) and flower (mountain laurel).

Recognizing the need to take action—and the potential economic benefits of doing so through clean energy solutions—the state legislature passed legislation in 2008 that established the Climate Change Advisory Committee.

The 18-member CCAC is made up of representatives from the labor, utility, mining, business and environmental communities, as well as elected officials and administration officials.

PennEnvironment was appointed by the House Democrats to serve as one of the 18 members.

The CCAC worked with DEP to develop the draft Climate Change Action Plan, which includes a number of key provisions:

A non-binding goal of reducing global warming pollution in Pennsylvania by 30 percent below 2000 levels by 2020—cuts that are consistent with what scientists have recommended from all industrialized nations.

A robust set of policy recommendations that, if implemented by the state in full along with recent state and federal actions, would cut global warming pollution in Pennsylvania by at least 38 percent below 2000 levels by 2020.

The policy recommendations include improving the energy efficiency of our buildings, expanding existing energy efficiency and conservation programs in the state, expanding recycling initiatives, improving and expanding public transportation systems throughout Pennsylvania, and enhancing land conservation and urban forestry programs.

At the same time, the plan is not perfect, according to PennEnvironment.

The plan does not currently call for any increase in the state’s requirement for electricity generation from clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, even though neighboring states and many across the country have implemented much more aggressive renewable energy requirements.

Specifically, Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard requires that 8 percent of the state’s electricity come from clean, renewable energy sources by 2021.

This standard, while helping to advance renewable energy in Pennsylvania, pales in comparison to the standards of neighboring states, including New Jersey (22.5 percent by 2021), Delaware (20 percent by 2019), Maryland (20 percent by 2022) and New York (25 percent by 2013).

Without a more ambitious goal for renewable energy production in Pennsylvania, PennEnvironment said the state will lose out on clean energy development jobs and dollars that will instead go to neighboring states, and we won’t reduce global warming pollution levels as quickly as we otherwise would.

“Expanding clean, renewable energy production in Pennsylvania is critical for any effort to cut global warming pollution, but will also help to create clean energy jobs and grow Pennsylvania’s ‘green’ economy,” said PennEnvironment’s Willcox.

Many other states have gone through similar processes and implemented their own climate change action plans, and some—such as New Jersey—even include mandatory science-based caps on global warming pollution.

In the coming weeks, DEP will make final changes to the plan before it is delivered to Gov. Rendell and state legislators on December 18. And while the historic show of support from Pennsylvanians during the public comment period would seem to suggest a widespread desire for Pennsylvania to do more to tackle global warming, the state is not legally bound to enact any of the plan’s recommendations.

“While this plan and the tremendous show of public support for it are both historic steps forward for Pennsylvania, it is just a plan. Tackling global warming will require real action by leaders in Harrisburg and in Washington, DC,” said Willcox.