Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump ran on a platform of massive giveaways to billionaire oil and gas CEOs.
Trump has pledged to roll back historic clean energy programs — transformational investments that are creating thousands of union jobs and positioning the United States as an international leader in the 21st century economy.
These programs are designed to lower energy bills at a time of record inflation by making it easier for working families and local businesses to deploy energy efficient solutions and make the switch to heat pumps and solar energy.
As we join with advocates from across the country to safeguard federal clean energy programs, we know that our elected leaders in Harrisburg must also step up to ensure Pennsylvania’s economy remains on the path to a clean energy transition that will create new good-paying jobs and pump billions of dollars of investment into communities across our commonwealth.
Last legislative session, lawmakers overwhelmingly passed Solar for Schools legislation on a bipartisan basis to harness the power of federal clean energy dollars and create union jobs while enabling school districts to lower their energy bills.
School districts across the commonwealth are currently applying for funding.
But more than a policy victory, the passage of Solar for Schools provides a model for how to move environmental legislation through one of the only divided state governments in the country — by building a broad coalition of legislators, environmental advocates, and labor unions committed to clean energy while lowering costs for working families.
READ: Solar for Schools: A Win for Kids, Taxpayers and Pennsylvania
We need to build off this success and pursue bold action in the two-year legislative session that just kicked off earlier this month.
First, to ensure that Pennsylvania doesn’t cede any ground in the fight for clean energy, it’s essential that the legislature advance Governor Josh Shapiro’s proposal to move Pennsylvania to 35 percent renewable energy by 2035. This move would lock in union jobs and help improve the reliability of our electric grid by diversifying our generation sources while ultimately moving us away from fossil fuels — regardless of what happens in Washington.
This legislation will ensure that we create union jobs right here in Pennsylvania as we put people to work building solar fields in Bucks County, installing wind turbines in Northeast Pennsylvania and siting environmentally responsible hydro power in Central Pennsylvania.
Second, we need to fully leverage the newly created state House Energy Committee, chaired by environmental and labor champion Representative Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Phila.), which was created specifically to make Pennsylvania a leader in the 21st century clean energy economy.
We must take advantage of Pennsylvania’s highly skilled workforce and our strategic location to seize opportunities for clean manufacturing. Advanced clean manufacturing processes will breathe new life into communities across Pennsylvania by providing family-sustaining union jobs that don’t require a college degree and that meet the needs of tomorrow’s economy — from wind turbines to advanced battery technology.
READ: Pennsylvania House Blue-Green Alliance Debuts Legislative Agenda
At the same time, we need to work on passing a bipartisan package of bills introduced last session that are aimed at cutting energy costs for families while creating union jobs by boosting clean energy production and promoting energy efficiency.
One of the most important bills in that package would overhaul how Pennsylvania finances clean energy projects, removing red tape to bring projects online more quickly that improve grid reliability and create jobs.
And we need to expand energy choices by implementing programs, like community solar, that have bipartisan support but that have never made it to the governor’s desk.
We believe that doubling down on clean energy is key to ensuring that Pennsylvania remains an economic powerhouse in a changing economy.
READ: The Green Amendment Movement Can Help Prevent Wildfires and Other Climate Disasters
It’s time to deliver on the promise of economic prosperity for communities across our commonwealth — even as we ensure that the air our children and grandchildren breathe and the water they drink is cleaner.
These objectives aren’t partisan — they should unite people from across the political spectrum who believe in a bright future for our commonwealth.
Gridlock and hyper-partisan politics in Washington serve only to distract us from what we need to do right here at home.
It’s time for Pennsylvanians to build a clean energy economy that works for Pennsylvanians.
Let’s get to work.
