Ashleigh Deemer
Former Deputy Director, PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center
Former Deputy Director, PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center
Top 12 industrial polluters account for nearly 20% of Pennsylvania’s global warming emissions
The statewide nonprofit group PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center released on Tuesday a new study, Pennsylvania’s Dirty Dozen, which ranks the largest climate polluters in Pennsylvania as well as for each region of the state.
“The old adage, ‘cheaper by the dozen’ doesn’t apply to Pennsylvania’s 12 largest global warming polluters,” said Ashleigh Deemer, Deputy Director with PennEnvironment. “The Dirty Dozen’s climate-changing emissions are costly to Pennsylvanians and our planet.
“PennEnvironment’s report makes it clear that we still have unclean heavy industry in Pennsylvania. It’s good to call attention to that, said State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler (Philadelphia). “The report also makes it clear that this is the moment to make big changes—that we must take advantage of the federal subsidies provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and quickly expand our renewable energy sector in Pennsylvania.”
The twelve ‘Dirty Dozen’ facilities in Pennsylvania released nearly 46 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses in 2021, the equivalent of 18% of the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 (the last year for which we have complete statistics).
“We have to deliver on the Pennsylvania Constitution’s promise that the people have a right to clean air and pure water,” said State Representative Abigail Salisbury (Allegheny).
The report also finds that:
“Not surprisingly, this pollution that we’re concerned about has profound impacts on the people who are breathing in these particulate matters and other toxic substances.” Said Dr. Walter Tsou with Physicians for Social Responsibility PA, “the fact our state, Pennsylvania, is actually through its greenhouse gas production contributing to global warming, is of great concern.”
All but one of the Dirty Dozen facilities are power plants fueled by coal or gas. The report also finds that in 2020, industrial facilities and power plants were responsible for 60% of Pennsylvania’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
“PennEnvironment’s report makes it clear that we still have unclean heavy industry in Pennsylvania. It’s good to call attention to that”, said State Representative Elizabeth Fiedler (Philadelphia). “The report also makes it clear that this is the moment to make big changes—that we must take advantage of the federal subsidies provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and quickly expand our renewable energy sector in Pennsylvania.”
The report also includes recommendations on how Pennsylvania can reduce its overall greenhouse gas emissions, including:
“We as as a Commonwealth have the opportunity to become a leader in the fight for environmental justice and against climate change,” said State Representative La’Tasha D. Mayes (Allegheny). “As the fourth largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the nation, we have an obligation to all Pennsylvanians to ensure access to clean air, to accelerate the shift to renewable energy and hold corporations accountable for the ways they jeopardize our health for profit.”
Brooke Petry of Moms Clean Air Force added, “Because Pennsylvania is the fourth largest greenhouse gas emitter in the nation, we must address our outsized contribution to climate change. Important programs like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, pathways to transition away from fossil fuels, and efforts at the state and federal level to limit health harming and climate warming pollution will all have important roles to play as we work on solutions to protect families.”
“We all care about the air we breathe. A move toward sustainable energy sources needs to be a collaborative effort between business, labor, and those focused on the environment,” said State Representative Lisa Borowski (Delaware). “No one group will do this alone and we don’t need to sacrifice one for another.”
In addition, PennEnvironment and its allies plan to urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize the strongest possible standards to cut carbon emissions from power plants: The EPA will release a new draft rule in the coming weeks
The report can be found in full on our website.