PennEnvironment Hosts Annual Climate Action Lobby Day

All told, we had almost 200 concerned Pennsylvanians join us to lobby their respective state representative and state senator calling for action on climate change. All told, our activists held almost 50 legislative meetings in with House and Senate members–all in one day.

PennEnvironment activists and volunteers hold a virtual lobby day meeting with state Rep. Jenn O’MaraPhoto by TPIN | TPIN

Concerned citizens who participated in our lobby day met with their legislators to build support for policies that will help Pennsylvania achieve 100 percent renewable energy, put solar on schools rooftops, and improve statewide energy efficiency policies. Since lobby day, more than 30 legislators added their names to our priority legislation and others are working with us to help push the policies forward. 

One of the highlights for many of the citizen activists participating in this year’s lobby day was our “Virtual Rally for Climate Action”. 100 activists and volunteers joined us on Zoom to come together in support of climate action in Pennsylvania. Keynote speakers at the rally included state Senator Amanda Cappelletti, who is sponsoring the PennEnvironment-supported legislation to require 100% of energy produced in Pennsylvania to come from renewable sources; State Senator Carolyn Comitta, who serves as the Democratic Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and co-chairs the legislature’s Climate Caucus; and climate champions from the state house, Representatives Sara Innamarato and Tarik Khan.

During the rally, Senator Comitta commented that “every Pennsylvanian deserves clean air, clean water, and a healthy quality of life. To uphold those rights, we must address the growing impacts of carbon emissions, climate change, and pollution on our communities. We have an obligation to our children and our grandchildren to develop and embrace solutions to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, including joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), updating our Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS), and standing up for environmental justice communities across the Commonwealth.”

Lobby Day attendees showing off their climate action signs and shirts during the Virtual Rally for Climate ActionPhoto by TPIN | TPIN

Senator Cappelletti added, “the recent rise in severe weather events is evidence of our failure to mitigate and decelerate the effects of climate change. Comprehensive policy solutions like Go 100 PA, which I’ve introduced with Senator Katie Muth, would set up our Commonwealth for 100% renewable energy by 2050. By investing in our communities, we can set up our Commonwealth for a successful and sustainable future.”

As you can imagine, a lobby day of this scale is a major undertaking, and we are so thankful to all of our partners, members, volunteers, student interns, and staff who worked tirelessly to make this day a huge success! We are continuing to work together to build even more support and visibility for bold climate action this summer and beyond.