How you can fight climate pollution at Greenfest Philly

Did you know that methane pollution from oil and gas infrastructure in central, western, and northeast Pennsylvania is making it harder to breathe right here in Philadelphia?

This year at Greenfest Philly presented by Toyota Hybrids you can celebrate sustainability while taking action to clean our air. Join us at the #CutMethane table to take a selfie, get a tumbler, and record a video! Get involved and help fight methane pollution in Pennsylvania.

Listen to Clean Air Council’s Matt Walker discuss oil and gas pollution in a recent interview on KYW.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas – 86 times more efficient at warming our climate than carbon dioxide in the short term. Each year Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry leaks over 100,000 metric tons of methane into the atmosphere. This methane often leaks with other harmful pollutants that are known to have direct and devastating health impacts. These pollutants include compounds that increase smog, as well as air toxics that can increase risks of asthma attacks, harm the lungs and heart, or lead to cancer.

Even though there isn’t any gas drilling in Philadelphia, we still directly experience the impacts of this pollution. Methane pollution anywhere warms the climate everywhere, and a recent study by Clean Air Task Force shows that if air pollution leaks continue unchecked, by 2025 smog from oil and gas operations will be directly responsible for 12,206 childhood asthma attacks in Philadelphia every year.

In February, Governor Tom Wolf introduced a set of actions to cut methane pollution and other harmful emissions from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas sector. This effort has since stalled and is under attack from the oil and gas industry and its allies in the General Assembly.

While we wait for Pennsylvania to take concrete action on methane, the latest data shows that air pollution from oil and gas operations is on the rise. Some pollutants increased by an alarming 40% between 2013 and 2014 in Pennsylvania. We cannot afford more delay in controlling natural gas production pollution. It’s time for our governor to take bold action and for our representatives to realize that their constituents’ health depends on strong methane standards.

Help us get those standards moving forward in Pennsylvania. Come to the #CutMethane table and send your message to Harrisburg with a #CutMethane selfie. Use the hashtag “#cutmethane” to post your selfie to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and we’ll give you a great reusable drink cup (supplies limited so come early)! You’ll also have the chance to personally tell policymakers it’s time to cut methane to protect our health and our environment when you record a video message to Governor Wolf.

Let’s work together for clean air and a stable climate on Sunday, Sept. 11th at Greenfest Philly.