Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter Statement on President Obama’s Climate Plan

Contact:  Kim Teplitzky, 412-802-6161, kim.teplitzky@sierraclub.org

Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter Statement on President Obama’s Climate Plan

Washington, D.C. – Today President Barack Obama announced his administration's next steps for building a legacy of action to fight the climate crisis. The plan includes new energy efficiency standards for federal buildings and appliances, scales up responsible clean energy production on public lands with an ambitious new commitment to power 6 million homes by 2020, and uses the full authority of the Clean Air Act to cut dangerous carbon pollution from power plants.

Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter Director Jeff Schmidt released the following statement in response:

"This is change Pennsylvanians have been waiting for on climate.  

“President Obama is finally putting action behind his words, which is what the Sierra Club, our 2.1 million members and supporters, and coalition partners have worked mightily to achieve. Today, we applaud him for taking a giant step forward toward meeting that goal.

"By committing to establish new energy efficiency standards for federal buildings and appliances, scale up responsible clean energy production on public lands with an ambitious new goal to power 6 million homes by 2020, and use the full authority of the Clean Air Act to cut dangerous carbon pollution from power plants, the President is stepping up to reduce climate-disrupting pollution that is destabilizing our climate while threatening our economy and endangering our communities and families with extreme weather and dramatic sea level increases.

“Here in Pennsylvania we know the benefits of increasing energy efficiency with our Energy Savings Act that has helped families and businesses save millions in electricity costs over the last two years. We have seen the good jobs created by the expansion of clean renewable energy sources.    We also know the threat of continuing our dependence on dangerous fossil fuels like coal and natural gas that have left a toxic legacy in our state that puts our air, water and land at risk. 

“We look forward to a day when the Administration sees fracked gas for what it is - a fossil fuel of the past and a threat to public health. Nevertheless, the President’s plan gives us hope that he will cement his climate legacy and protect future generations by ending destructive oil drilling in the Arctic, rejecting dangerous nukes, halting mountaintop removal, abandoning dirty fossil fuels in favor of clean energy - and by making the critically important decision to reject the dirty and dangerous Keystone XL pipeline.”

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