Clean energy is the future, despite Trump’s rhetoric
To the Times: It’s time to embrace clean energy, for our workers and our kids
President Trump took steps recently to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, an effort by the Obama administration to reduce carbon pollution.
The president says his executive order will bring back coal jobs that have been disappearing for decades.
But it won’t. Because it’s competition in the marketplace, not federal policy, that’s causing those jobs to fade away.
By failing to realize that, Trump not only places Americans’ health at risk, but he does nothing to prepare workers for the jobs that are going to carry us in the future.
It’s time to recognize that clean energy is the path forward. Once we do, we’ll not only reap the economic benefits of the new jobs that come with it, but we’ll help protect clean air and clean water and mitigate health risks for the generations that come after us.
Before I joined the state Legislature, I worked in economic development, supporting locally owned businesses and working to create sustainable, green jobs for our communities. So I know that environmental protection and economic development can work hand in hand.
Driving down emissions and moving to clean energy takes a lot of new investment and labor. Last year alone, there were 73,615 jobs created in solar energy and 24,650 created in the wind industry.
Pennsylvania is already providing workers to fill these new jobs.
Last year’s Clean Jobs Pennsylvania report estimated that 66,000 Pennsylvanians are already working in the clean energy industry – a number that grew by 9,000 in the two years since the previous report. Those workers are employed by 5,900 companies and businesses, up 1,700 in the same time frame.
We can continue that progress and combat climate change while we create goodpaying jobs for our residents.
As a state legislator, I want to see Pennsylvania become a leader in the clean energy market. But I’m also a mom, concerned about the future for our children.
Just days before Trump signed his executive order, I stood with Moms Clean Air Force to support efforts to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, which are particularly harmful to our children’s developing lungs.
Under President Obama, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – something else Trump would like to dismantle – said that unchecked carbon pollution is causing long-lasting changes in our climate and putting our health at risk – especially for those most vulnerable, like our kids.
It simply doesn’t make sense to bury our heads in the sand, pretend climate change doesn’t exist and pretend that the job market isn’t changing.
President Trump might want to cede America’s global leadership on clean energy, but we don’t have to join him.
Other states are leading the way on clean energy jobs and embracing smart climate policies that reduce their subsidies for fossil fuels.
Pennsylvania should be one of them.
Under President Obama, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – something else Trump would like to dismantle – said that unchecked carbon pollution is causing longlasting changes in our climate and putting our health at risk – especially for those most vulnerable, like our kids. It simply doesn’t make sense to bury our heads in the sand, pretend climate change doesn’t exist and pretend that the job market isn’t changing.