Nikil Saval

Environment / Energy

Fracking has been incredibly damaging to the climate, human health, and community vitality throughout the state. It has destroyed the quality of life in resource communities, not enhanced it. The process of extracting the gas has polluted drinking water, affected the livelihoods of farmers, and enabled a massive buildout of fossil fuel infrastructure up and down the east coast. New York and Maryland have both banned fracking due to the processes’ toxic impacts. Our state subsidizes fossil fuel companies to the tune of nearly 4 billion per year, which could be better spent supporting hard working families and building a clean energy economy. Pennsylvania is also one of the few states still mining coal in the nation. The state needs to ban fracking, stop all new fossil fuel permitting, and end fossil fuel subsidies. Workers and communities affected deserve a just transition. We can do that by establishing and resourcing a Just Transition Fund to provide remediation of polluted sites, economic diversification, and pathways to good union jobs. Learn more

Access to energy, water, and broadband are human rights and should be treated as such. The cost of living keeps increasing, and people are having to choose between paying their utility bills or buying groceries. In the last year, nearly a third of Americans struggled to pay their utility bills. Climate change is making dangerously hot days more common, especially in the summer. These days put people – especially those with medical issues and the elderly – at risk when they do not have proper access to their utilities. Right now, Pennsylvania has laws on the books that ensure that households do not experience energy shutoffs in the coldest months. These laws are under review this year. Our neighboring states of New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware have all expanded expansive temperature-based shutoff restrictions that cover high heat days. Access to energy, water, and broadband are human rights and should be treated as such. PA should extend its shutoff moratorium year-round to ensure that all households have access to energy, water, and broadband so that no family has to fear losing potable water or heat. Learn more

Heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, water to cook with and drink, and access to the internet are all critical to every Pennsylvanian. However, the cost of living crisis has made paying for these basic services harder and harder, especially in Philadelphia. 17% of low income households in Pennsylvania experienced energy shutoffs in 2019. As climate change makes extreme heat and storms all the more prevalent, shutoffs for electricity, gas, water, and broadband must be permanently stopped; we need to make sure that every household has access to these vital services. Learn more

New incentives – often called elective or direct pay – make it possible for public agencies and nonprofits to directly invest and finance clean energy projects. This means that Pennsylvania could champion the building of clean energy in the state – solarizing all public buildings, siting solar on state-owned land, and coordinating with landowners across the state. Furthermore, it could work with city authorities, like the Philadelphia Energy Authority (PEA), to coordinate even more rooftop solar projects by taking on the hurdle of upfront capital for the project, and making solar more accessible to households all across the state. We would be following places like Detroit solarizing vacant lands – including the state’s extensive brownfield and toxic site inventory – and New York’s recent law that incentivizes the state’s Power Authority to build renewables. Learn more

In addition to banning shutoffs, Pennsylvania should make sure that families can pay their bills and do not get saddled with utility debt. Getting behind on utility bills can send families into debt spirals, with costs mounting over the months and credit penalties harming their ability to get back on their feet – particularly for low income, elderly, and disabled community members. The Commonwealth needs to make sure that utilities are affordable in the first place, as well as ensure that families can manage their utility bills if they find themselves in arrears. While there are some programs operating to lower utility burdens, they are far from enough and largely rely on utilities to determine how to manage the arrears. Los Angeles implemented a new “Fresh Start” program to relieve residents of their debt and help stabilize payments. Pennsylvania should eliminate all late fees, set a debt ceiling for any residential customer, and coordinate with programs like Whole Home Repair (WHR) and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to ensure that every customer can receive weatherization support to lower bills in the first place. Learn more

There are billions of federal dollars available through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to decarbonize our economy. The state should take full advantage of these funds to build clean energy, bring new jobs to the region, and invest in communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. In 2023, Pennsylvania ranked 45th in terms of energy production from wind, solar and hydro with those renewable sources making up only 3% of the electricity system. The state must massively increase its clean energy production and make sure that the transition is affordable and equitable for Pennsylvanians while creating high quality jobs. The IRA offers huge incentives to decarbonize, and the Commonwealth should take full advantage of this generational opportunity to lead the energy transition. Learn more

Pennsylvania is slated to host two of the seven national hydrogen hubs funded by the IRA: the Appalachian Hydrogen Hub and the Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub outside of Philadelphia. The oil and gas industry has platformed hydrogen as a transition solution because it uses much of the same technology and infrastructure. However, the process of making even the “cleanest” hydrogen fuel requires massive amounts of clean energy better used for electricity to heat homes, and also comes with higher risks for health and safety than wind and solar energy (including explosion). These hubs are likely to be located in some of the communities most decimated by the fossil industry – like Chester County and southwest Pennsylvania – exacerbating histories of environmental injustice. We should ensure that the companies that created the crisis are not the ones that extract money from the solution. Learn more

A clean, safe future for all means phasing out fossil fuels. Pennsylvania is the third largest fossil fuel supplier in the country. Fossil fuel infrastructure – from the pipelines stretching across the state to the gas stoves in our kitchens – creates public health and safety risks. The state needs a plan to transition off of fossil fuels and keep communities healthy and whole. We must ensure a just transition for the hardworking Pennsylvanians who have worked for the fossil fuel industries over the decades. Learn more

Fifty percent of residential households rely on natural gas to heat their homes. Not only is natural gas a fossil fuel that warms our world, but it is also toxic in people’s homes. Recent studies have shown that 13 percent of childhood asthma cases can be attributed to gas stoves and their impact on air quality. Not only does gas impact indoor air quality, but pipes can also explode. Just this year, a gas leak exploded row houses in Port Richmond. The IRA has multiple residential rebates to support homeowners to switch from gas to electric, but without a coordinated and managed transition off the gas infrastructure, many low-income families, especially renters, could be stuck with an increasingly expensive and aging grid. Cities like Philadelphia deserve a coordinated transition that not only makes sure that households are able to equitably make the switch, but also workers receive support in transitioning out of gas work. Pennsylvania needs a plan to coordinate shifting to electrification grounded in jobs and justice – including state level planning, neighborhood scale strategies to electrify and trim the gas grid, thermal energy networks evaluation to repurpose the gas grid and provide cognate jobs, and support other workers in transitioning to other careers. Learn more