The presidential election dominated media attention and most people’s minds in 2024. We know that the results of the recent election will reverberate for years to come, and we are clear-eyed about the challenges facing the environment in a coming Trump presidency.
Even as we prepare for the future, however, it’s critical to celebrate the accomplishments we achieved in 2024 that will better enable us to protect Pennsylvanians’ right to clean air and water, expand access to clean energy, and fight the climate crisis.
Despite the challenges of a divided state legislature, we secured important investments in the state budget Governor Shapiro signed into law this year. These investments are geared toward making sure that Pennsylvania is able to unlock the full potential of historic federal investments in our climate and infrastructure included in the bipartisan infrastructure law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
This includes $25 million in funding for the Solar for Schools Program, which helps leverage federal funding for solar energy to boost renewable energy production while lowering energy costs for school districts across our commonwealth.
At the same time, we secured $11 million in funding to plug abandoned oil and gas wells. Pennsylvania has the highest number of orphaned wells in the nation, which leach toxic chemicals into our rivers and streams while contributing to climate change. This investment will allow Pennsylvania to draw down additional federal dollars and create union jobs that boost local economics in communities across our commonwealth.
We also secured $50 million toward Pennsylvania’s Clean Streams program. This funding will enable landowners, farmers and conservation organizations to adopt best practices to protect our commonwealth’s fragile rivers and streams by planting riparian buffers, permanently protecting sensitive habitats and better managing agricultural runoffs. In the end, these projects will also help reduce climate pollution and lower costs for our farmers.
Taken together, these investments demonstrate that we can build a bipartisan consensus in support of pro-conservation and clean energy policies, securing wins that create jobs and protect our environment.
This momentum will power us into a 2025 that is filled with challenges.
In Harrisburg, we will work to make Pennsylvania a bulwark of good environmental priorities by continuing to push for policies, like community solar, that expand the ability of Pennsylvania families to choose clean, locally produced and renewable energy.
READ: New Study Finds That Pennsylvanians Overwhelmingly Support Stricter Regulations on Fracking
We will also push for additional investments in programs, like the Whole-Home Repairs initiative, that lower costs for working families by helping us to reduce energy usage and transition to clean energy.
And we will continue to push for investments that protect Pennsylvanians’ access to clean drinking water and to preserve our precious open space even as we fight to ensure that transit systems across our commonwealth, including SEPTA, are properly funded. While we applaud Governor Shapiro for a one-time cash infusion to head off transit cuts in Southeastern Pennsylvania, the legislature must pass a permanent fix that takes cars off the road and reduces pollution from our transportation sector.
We will be able to continue going on offense in the state Capitol because we protected our narrow pro-environment majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the last election.
This historic achievement — even more impressive because it bucked national trends — enables us to continue pushing an ambitious agenda at the state level and helps provide us with additional tools that will enable us to fight back against the impacts of environmental rollbacks in Washington.
We will pursue these fights together with our many supporters across Pennsylvania who care deeply about protecting our environment, as well as with our partners in organized labor who share with us a deep concern about the quality of life of their members and an interest in maximizing the economic benefits that a clean energy transition heralds for our commonwealth.
Our work with Governor Shapiro, with environmental champions in the legislature, and with our partners in labor have been key to our movement’s success over the past two-year legislative session.
This partnership has allowed us to move from defense to offense as we shift perceptions about what Pennsylvania can achieve.
And it is providing us with energy and a renewed sense of purpose.
As we prepare to step into a 2025 filled with challenges, our resolve has never been stronger to continue to fight to build a bright future for all Pennsylvanians.
