By David Heayn-Menendez, Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light

This op-ed first appeared in the Sunbury Daily Item on March 6, 2021-- 

Our river valley community of Lewisburg is filled with charm, history, and access to the lovely Susquehanna River, just like Harrisburg. But our proximity to the river and its tributaries makes our beautiful town susceptible to flooding as well.

As a member of the Lewisburg Borough Council, I am acutely aware that we and countless other communities along the Susquehanna live on a knife’s edge waiting for the next flood, as we continue to ignore the obvious and morally right choices available to mitigate climate change.

Our changing weather patterns are leading to more frequent extreme storms that produce flooding and cause property damage, soil erosion, and the tragic but unnecessary loss of life, leaving the cost for local governments millions of dollars in infrastructure damage.

As a person of deep faith, I know that every tradition urges us to actively live as stewards of God’s creation. One needs to look no further than scripture for guidance.

It tells us that greater even than the creation of mankind is the creation of the heavens and the earth. Hundreds of Bible verses teach us that we must protect the earth and the environment.

People of faith across Pennsylvania believe we have a responsibility to each other and must act where and when we can against climate change.

We have a moral obligation to frontline communities, those most immediately and significantly affected by pollution, disasters, and economic changes.

That is why thousands of us have voiced our support in favor of Pennsylvania participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to cut carbon pollution coming from power plants.

RGGI is a cost-effective, flexible, and proven cap-and-invest program, in which power plants pay for the pollution they produce.

Pennsylvania is a major energy-producing state but also one of the worst greenhouse gas polluters in the U.S.

Without a program like RGGI in place, Pennsylvania’s carbon emissions will rise and continue to choke our cities, pollute our natural areas, and hasten climate change. This is not a fantasy or a radical initiative.

It is one backed by data, supported by science, and one which keeps up with evident economic trends.

It also is an initiative that has been demonstrated to work. The states that participate in RGGI have already reduced carbon pollution from power plants by nearly half and produced more than $2 billion in proceeds to be used for vital and necessary reinvestment in the economy.

The thousands of jobs such an initiative can produce can help lift or keep many out of poverty, increase the tax base, improve schools and communities, and give hard-working families a better future.

The communities that still rely on coal will continue to lose jobs, with or without RGGI, as the market moves away from that dirtiest of fuel sources.

RGGI will produce funds that could be put into those communities so they can move to the future. Without this investment, they could be left behind.

Lastly, the health costs of the fossil fuel industry have weighed heavily on Pennsylvania families and when those jobs went away towns were slowly suffocated by debt, health issues, and the lack of opportunities.

We have a fundamental responsibility, a moral imperative, to our fellow human beings to improve our world and protect our communities and the generations to come.

During COVID it has become even more evident to anyone paying attention that frontline communities and communities of color across America have suffered the most during the pandemic.

People are dying disproportionately in these communities, not because they are taking the virus any less seriously, but because the pollution we continue to pump into the air contributes to asthma, respiratory illnesses, and many other major factors in the comorbidities we have seen ravage communities this year.

RGGI is one step toward addressing the systemic racial and socio-economic injustices that millions of Pennsylvanians face every day.

A future with good job opportunities, thriving communities supported by a responsible government, and breathable air is what I want for my two young boys and the world they will inherit.

Therefore, we must move forward in favor of RGGI to live our moral responsibility to truly be stewards of creation.

[For more information on RGGI, visit DEP’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative webpage.]

David Heayn-Menendez, Lewisburg Borough Council member and Executive Director of Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light, a statewide climate justice organization.

Related Articles This Week:

-- Op-Ed: Pennsylvania Agriculture Is Vulnerable To Climate Change - Pasa Sustainable Agriculture

-- Hershey Company Announces Goal To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions By 25% By 2030 From 2018 Baseline

-- Senate Committee Meets March 10 On Carbon Dioxide Management Technologies

[Posted: March 6, 2021]

3/8/2021