Environmental groups, clean energy advocates applaud approval of project that could power 200,000 homes
[RUSH TWP, CENTRE COUNTY, Tue. Dec 9, 2025] — In a 2-1 vote, the Rush Township Supervisors in Centre County, Pennsylvania approved the pending permit for the renewable energy project known as Black Moshannon Solar.
The proposed solar project would generate 265 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 200,000 homes annually. At the same time, the project is being heralded for utilizing nearly 2,000 acres of toxic mineland, reclaiming otherwise unusable land, and including mineland clean-up as part of the project’s development. The project’s developers have committed to introducing pollinators and pollinator-friendly ground cover beneath the solar arrays, conducting water quality and soil studies throughout development and operations, and taking steps to enhance the soil by using lime to neutralize mining contamination and encourage vegetation to grow on the site.
The Black Moshannon Solar project is also expected to provide more than $5 million in tax revenue to support the Phillipsburg-Osceola Area School District and more than $700,000 in direct tax payments to Centre County.
In response to the approval of the permit proposal by Rush Township, statewide environmental group leaders and nonprofit clean energy advocates release the following statements:
“The bipartisan group of Rush Township Supervisors who got this proposal over the finish line should pat themselves on the back for this groundbreaking project,” stated David Musar, Executive Director for the statewide nonprofit organization PennEnvironment. “We are hopeful that other local government officials across Pennsylvania will follow Rush Township’s lead and implement similar, much-needed solar projects all across the Keystone State.”
“The Rush Township Supervisors are establishing productive farmland and sustainable energy infrastructure for future generations,” noted Jim Gregory, Executive Director, Conservative Energy Network-Pennsylvania. “In forty years, their forward-thinking decisions will be recognized as catalysts for environmental protection, public health improvements, and economic prosperity. The Conservative Energy Network-Pennsylvania commends their responsible leadership and dedication to the community’s long-term well-being.”
“The Black Moshannon Solar project is a perfect example of how renewable energy, natural resource conservation, and community benefits can align. This truly is a win-win for the community,” stated Nate Reagle, the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter’s Clean Energy Program Advocate.
“As veterans, we understand what it means to serve something greater than ourselves,” said Moises Montalvo, Pennsylvania Lead Organizer for Veterans Power America. “Projects like Black Moshannon Solar give us a chance to continue that service — by strengthening our nation’s energy security, creating jobs for working families, and leaving behind a cleaner, safer country for future generations.”
“Approval of the Black Moshannon Solar project is a victory for the people of Rush Township, a victory for clean energy, and a victory for a sustainable economy,” stated Tom Pike, Clean Air Council Director of Campaigns. “This is the kind of forward-thinking work that communities across the Commonwealth should be looking to replicate.”
“This project is a powerful example of how local communities and elected officials are coming together to embrace solar energy. By redeveloping polluted lands for clean energy production, we can transform environmental liabilities into long-term economic and environmental assets, all while helping to lower rising energy costs for Pennsylvanians. It’s a no-brainer, and we hope other communities across the Commonwealth will join in realizing the firsthand benefits of going solar,” said Abby Jones, Vice President of Legal & Policy at PennFuture.
As part of its commitment to protect everyone’s right to a healthy environment, Clean Air Council helps residents track the pollution permits that industrial facilities apply for across Pennsylvania. To make it even easier for the public to understand what kinds of pollution are affecting their neighborhoods, the Council created a brand new tool. The Pollution Tracker is based on years of Clean Air Council’s work monitoring and analyzing the applications submitted by businesses to permit them to release pollutants into the air and water. By exploring this tool, residents can look up major facilities in Southeast Pennsylvania, discover permits companies have applied for, where sites have violated those permits, and what action the Council has taken to inform surrounding communities.
The site, built by Philly-based designer Dain Saint, currently hosts data for many facilities throughout Southwest Philadelphia and Delaware County. It’s simple to use: explore the map and click on the blue or red dots to open detailed entries. If you know the name or address of a facility, you can also search for it directly. For each site, you’ll first find a listing of its name, address, and a brief description or label.
Within each entry, depending on the site, you may also discover information about the facility from the offices of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. You’ll also learn whether the site has paid any federal penalties in the last five years or if it has a history of previous “Action Alerts” that Clean Air Council has released in response to permit applications at these facilities. Each entry also lists known information about any environmental permits filed in compliance with the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. If information about those is available, you’ll find a color-coded card listing its status, including any known violations.
If the dot representing the facility on the map is red, that means the site has recently violated its environmental permits – you can learn more by opening its entry. If a site is represented by a blue dot, the site may have no recent violations. Crucially, however, that does not mean that the facility isn’t harming the region or the planet – it simply means that local authorities are not aware that it has released more pollutants or waste than it has previously agreed to release. Many of these sites are legally permitted to release harmful substances like greenhouse gases (which bake our planet), particulate matter (which can contribute to respiratory illness), or carcinogens. Still others are not required to have monitoring or tracking equipment for these purposes, which only means we do not know whether they are releasing pollutants at all. Given that Southeastern Pennsylvania regularly fails national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and the region has an unusually high rate of respiratory problems like childhood asthma, it’s critical that efforts be made to comprehend the impacts of the region’s dense industrial development.
The goal of the Pollution Tracker is to help residents remain informed about the many industrial facilities in our region and partake in the public engagement processes surrounding their siting, development, and permitting. Clean Air Council regularly helps residents participate in these processes so that we can all protect public health in Southeastern Pennsylvania and reduce the emissions causing the climate crisis.
The Pollution Tracker will be updated regularly as the Council continues this work. If you’re interested in learning more about the Tracker, have questions about its contents, or want to get involved, contact Clean Air Council Advocate Russell Zerbo at rzerbo@cleanair.org.
WASHINGTON D.C. (November 26, 2025) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its final rule to delay critical methane protections—which EPA released in 2024. This rule comes after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin unlawfully used the Interim Final Rule process to immediately delay the 2024 Methane Rule without allowing Americans, including impacted residents, to voice their concerns about how the delay will harm their health.
The methane-mitigating technologies and strategies required by the rule are readily available and cost-effective. However, instead of requiring industry polluters to comply with these commonsense protections, Administrator Zeldin has illegally pushed the Delay Rule ahead to give oil and gas companies a free pass for their pollution.
As a result of this delay, people living closest to oil and gas infrastructure are continuing to be unnecessarily exposed to pollution from the industry, which would otherwise have been addressed through the 2024 Methane Rule. Once fully implemented, the 2024 Methane Rule is expected to reduce 58 million tons of climate-warming methane emissions, 16 million tons of health-harming volatile organic compounds, and 590 thousand tons of hazardous air pollutants by 2038. The Rule is estimated to prevent nearly 100 thousand cases of asthma symptoms each year.
Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council, issued the following statement:
“The delay of the 2024 Methane Rule is EPA’s latest move to favor polluters while sacrificing the health of Americans who live closest to oil and gas infrastructure. Strong methane standards have widespread and bipartisan support as a commonsense policy to reduce both pollution and waste.”
National #WeekWithoutDriving is happening from September 29th until October 5th, and you’re invited to join the Clean Air Council!
We’re asking elected officials, community leaders, and anyone else to step into the shoes of the almost one-third of Americans who don’t drive. So many groups don’t drive – youths, people with disabilities, senior citizens, and those who can’t afford cars or gas, or just don’t want to – relying on public transportation, cycling, or walking to get around every day.
Week Without Driving highlights how car-centered public spaces ignore the needs and safety of pedestrians with infrastructure. We invite you to join us in this experience, whether you try not to drive for the entire week or embrace transit, walking, rolling, and biking for a few trips! Every effort counts towards creating a more connected and equitable world. If you’re already a non-driver, please encourage your friends, family, and your elected officials to go a Week Without Driving!
Transit Forward Philly is hosting a Week Without Driving Kick-Off event on Monday, September 29th, at 5:30 PM at their office on Walnut to learn more about the event, and meet mobility advocates from all over the city. Learn more about the event and RSVP here.
(August 20, 2025) The fight to preserve Pennsylvanians’ right to clean air, safe water, and a healthy environment won another huge victory this week as Alterra Energy announced it had ended plans to open a facility in Sugarloaf Township.
Alterra was hoping to open a “chemical recycling” facility in this rural area of Luzerne County. Despite dubbing its work “recycling,” however, Alterra’s rebranding of outdated trash incineration is no solution for the climate crisis. The plant would have been conducting plastic pyrolysis, a way of cutting chemical bonds with heat powered by burning fossil fuels. The “recycled” plastic this method produces is actually mostly made of new fossil fuel-derived materials and is, at most, 10% recycled material.
Its byproducts are even worse: toxic chemicals that are linked to health problems like cancers, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, nervous system issues, reproductive problems, and respiratory issues. This facility, which would have operated around the clock, would have produced chemical pollution in the air and water, and would have generated plastic waste that includes the worst of the worst pollutants: known carcinogen benzene, dioxins, PFAS “forever chemicals,” and volatile organic compounds or VOCs.
Not only would facility employees have been exposed to plastic dust and chemical vapors on the job, but they would also be at risk of dangerous fires. Toxic and very flammable synthetic oil would have been stored in two 185,000-gallon tanks on the property before being transported in trucks and rail cars. On top of these hazards, such a plant would have been a nuisance to the residents of Sugarloaf, bringing traffic, noise, light, and air pollution, and damaging rural roads.
Members of the Luzerne County Community Coalition were vocal in their opposition to this proposed site and are celebrating this news. Local residents collaborated in their organizing with neighbors from nearby Northumberland County who just last year stood strong against a similar proposal for their area from Texas-based company Encina. Sugarloaf even had support from a resident of Akron, Ohio, where Alterra has been operating an incineration plant whose permit renewal was loudly opposed by the community this summer.
Clean Air Council and its partners – including Beyond Plastics, Save Our Susquehanna, Moms Clean Air Force, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, and Environmental Health Project – were proud to support the Luzerne community as they sought to understand the potential harms of Alterra’s proposed facility and the influence they might wield. The Council commends this level of passion and commitment to a healthy environment and hopes to see this type of collaboration continue throughout the Commonwealth.
What is one way that you can improve air quality while getting a physical and mental health boost? Biking! The Clean Air Council is committed to advocating for sustainable modes of transportation like accessible and affordable public transit, walking, and biking. In May, we are partnering with Love to Ride, a global organization championing the health and fitness benefits of biking, and Indego Bike Share, Philadelphia’s local bike share program, to bring you the May Bike Month Challenge.
The May Bike Month Challenge is an exciting opportunity to get outside, try something new, or if you are already a seasoned cyclist, go the extra mile! The sign-up is free and easy. Log 5 miles or more over the course of the month, and you are automatically entered into drawings for cash prizes and local gifts like the grand prize, a $4000 vacation or $500 to a restaurant of your choice. While wellness and a chance at prizes are major incentives for hopping on your bike this Spring, you will also be doing your part to help reduce air pollution in Philadelphia. Almost a quarter of total emissions come from transportation. Around 70% of the amount of emissions from passenger vehicles come from trips of 10 miles or less. Last May, Philadelphians biked 43,000 miles and saved 3 tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere. Join us to reduce even more greenhouse gas emissions this year.
Don’t have a bike of your own? Indego Bike Share has you covered. Follow our social media because we will be announcing a promo code before May 1st, offering a 30-day pass to new users for just $5! Take advantage of the over 250 bike stations throughout the city and explore Philadelphia.
Looking for places to go? GoPhillyGo can help. Visit GoPhillyGo to get routes to destinations and events on Philadelphia’s vast trail park system and at nature centers in the Alliance for Watershed Education. Connecting with community and nature is easy using the GoPhillyGo Trip Planner as your guide.
- Take a ride along the river on the Schuylkill River Trail and stop by Fairmount Waterworks to view the falls. Take a break at the Cosmic Café and Cider House or continue riding up scenic Kelly Drive.
- Bike the Wissahickon Trail using the GoPhillyGo Wissahickon Valley Self-Guided Tour.
- Forfeit the rush hour traffic and find Indego bike stations near home and the office, then use the GoPhillyGo Trip Planner to find a route to get some fresh air while commuting to work. Don’t do it alone, become a Workplace Champion, enter your job, and create a team with your coworkers.
Follow Clean Air Council on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for announcements, progress stats, and prize offerings. Let’s #Ride5 this May for a cleaner and healthier Philadelphia.
Marple Township, Delaware County, PA (February 27, 2025) – Green Amendments For The Generations, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, and Clean Air Council, jointly filed an amicus brief in support of intervenors appealing to the Commonwealth Court regarding the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission’s (“PUC”) obligation to consider climate change impacts in its environmental reviews pursuant to Article I Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, otherwise known as the Pennsylvania Green Amendment or the Pennsylvania Environmental Rights Amendment.
The Pennsylvania Green Amendment, first passed in 1971, states that “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.” The Amendment was given legal life in 2013 when Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Maya van Rossum – the Delaware Riverkeeper, multiple municipalities, two municipal officials, and a physician used it to challenge unconstitutional pro-fracking legislation known as Act 13.
The amicus brief submitted today is the latest development in the ongoing litigation of Township of Marple v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, in which the Township challenged a PUC-granted petition that exempted PECO natural gas infrastructure from local zoning laws. The Township argued that among other things, the PUC erred when it granted the petition because it declined to consider the potential negative environmental impacts on the public health, safety and welfare of the proposed project; and it challenged the PUC’s finding that the proposed facility was reasonably necessary for the convenience or welfare of the public– which was the basis for granting the petition in the first place.
The case was brought before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, which confirmed in 2023 that the PUC, as is the case with other Pennsylvania government bodies, must ensure that its actions and decisions comply with the constitutional mandates included in the Pennsylvania Green Amendment. As a result, the court vacated the petition and sent the matter back to the PUC with instructions that it issue an Amended Decision “which must incorporate the results of a constitutionally sound environmental impact review as to the proposed siting”. Green Amendments For The Generations, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, and Clean Air Council previously filed an amicus brief in support of the intervenors, providing guidance to the PUC on how they may conduct such a review.
Since the first amicus was filed, the PUC has essentially declined to evaluate the climate change impacts of the proposed infrastructure, and has claimed that portion of the review to be the responsibility of the legislature and other state agencies. Once again, the intervenors appealed to the Commonwealth Court challenging this omission from the PUC’s environmental review. The amicus brief filed today details why climate change impacts must be considered in a constitutionally adequate environmental review. It also clarifies that the PUC has an independent obligation to evaluate the climate change impacts where no other agency has reviewed them.
“The Commonwealth Court sent a clear message to the PUC and other Commonwealth agency officials that they must independently and substantially consider the Pennsylvania Green Amendment and the environmental impacts of their projects before they can move forward,” said Maya K. van Rossum, Founder of Green Amendments For The Generations and The Green Amendment Movement, and Leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and the Delaware Riverkeeper. “The PUC must follow through on its constitutional obligations to honor the inalienable rights of Pennsylvanians to pure water, clean air, stable climate, and healthy environments.”
“The PUC failed to complete the task the Commonwealth Court set to it–to perform a constitutionally sound environmental review of the whole project, consistent with its obligations as a trustee of our public natural trust,” said Jessica O’Neill, Managing Attorney for Litigation for PennFuture. “With climate change already substantially affecting the Commonwealth, the implications of climate impacts from this project must not be ignored.”
“With the climate degrading every year, blatantly setting aside our constitutional environmental rights is dangerous and shortsighted,” said Alex Bomstein, Clean Air Council Executive Director. “PUC must remember the public part of its name and its mission to ensure utility service that is both reliable and safe.”
Read the full amicus brief here.
Background: Pennsylvania is one of only three states with a Green Amendment, the other two being Montana and New York. The Amendment gives highest constitutional standing to peoples’ inherent rights to clean air, pure water, stable climate, and healthy environments, and creates an obligation on state governments to consider such protections in all decision-making processes.
The Pennsylvania Green Amendment sat dormant for many years until 2013, when Delaware Riverkeeper Network won a watershed legal victory that struck down pro-fracking legislation that violated the environmental rights that are protected to the highest legal degree in the constitution. This victory inspired the nationwide Green Amendment movement, which now has engagement from over half of the country, including proposed amendments in 19 states and another eight states in the organizing stages.
WASHINGTON D.C. (December 17, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released its public interest determination analysis, which will provide a framework for evaluating new and pending permits for exporting liquified natural gas (LNG) to countries without a free trade agreement with the United States. This announcement comes nearly a year after President Biden paused permitting decisions for LNG export facilities, which chill fracked gas for storage and transportation to other countries overseas.
The analysis found that continued LNG exports are unsustainable and unadvisable. Notably, the new analysis paints a clear picture of the environmental justice, climate, and economic harms of widespread LNG exports. LNG export terminals are concentrated in communities already burdened by highly-polluting industries, and the buildout of new LNG export facilities will only exacerbate these impacts. LNG exports will also worsen climate change through increasing greenhouse gas emissions from upstream gas production and likely offsetting the development of clean, renewable energy worldwide. Furthermore, unchecked growth of LNG exports will drive up energy costs for residential and commercial consumers while generating profits for the fossil fuel industry. The analysis found flattening international demand for LNG, with most new demand expected to be from China.
Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council, issued the following statement:
“This report should end the discussion: LNG exports are bad for our pocketbooks, bad for the air we breathe, and bad for the safety of our communities. Energy independence does not mean shipping America’s resources overseas, it means harnessing and storing our abundant solar and wind energy. Clean Air Council urges the DOE to apply the study’s findings and deny the six pending permits for LNG export facilities.”
The findings from this analysis will inform future LNG export authorization decisions by the DOE and hold proposed projects to the strongest-to-date commonsense standards for determining the public impacts of LNG exports. Moreover, the study provides an important factual basis for arguments to deny permits for unlawful LNG export terminal proposals. The new analysis will replace the economic and environmental analyses used by the DOE for application decisions, which were published in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
There are two weeks left of the May Bike Month Challenge and it’s not too late to register! How can a bike challenge help us move towards a more sustainable Philadelphia? Nationally, transportation is responsible for almost a third of greenhouse gas emissions. Replacing just one of your quick drives with a bike ride can have a big impact on reducing pollution and improving air quality, especially if it becomes a habit.
In 2022, The Department of Energy reported that 52% of car trips are for distances under 3 miles and 28% of total trips are to destinations under a mile away. You don’t have to go far to contribute towards cleaner air and a healthier environment for all.
To encourage more cyclists to get out on the road, Clean Air Council partners with Indego, Philly’s bike share program, and Love to Ride, a global biking advocate, to host bike challenges in May and September every year. Participants register, log rides, and are automatically entered into drawings for cash prizes, including this Spring’s grand prize of a $2500 Visa gift card.
Biking is not only a sustainable mode of transportation it also boasts physical and mental health benefits, preventing cardiovascular disease and reducing stress. If you don’t own a bike, Indego has you covered! Philadelphia’s bike-share has over 250 stations throughout the city where you can rent a manual or electric bike and ride to popular events and places. Enjoy 75% off your first month with code INDEPRO24 up until May 31st.
You don’t just have to bike for a work commute. There are several accessible biking trails and exciting places to experience in Philadelphia. GoPhillyGo is a mobile friendly site with destination ideas and biking routes to get you out and having fun while reaping all of the benefits biking has to offer. Here are a few of our favorite trips:
- Take a ride along the river on the Schuylkill River Trail and stop by Fairmount Waterworks to view the falls. Take a break at the Cosmic Café and Ciderhouse or continue riding up scenic Kelly Drive.
- Parks on Tap is in full swing at a different park location every weekend this month. It’s a great way to visit greenspaces throughout the city.
- Want to go a bit further out into nature? Take a ride on the Wissahickon Valley Park Trail.
As a way to incentivize taking just one trip – GoPhillyGo will be giving away a swag bag to one lucky Bike Challenge participant in Philadelphia, and all you have to do is log a single ride. So join the challenge today and let’s make every ride count!
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY (April 18, 2024) – After years of community and legal advocacy, the residents of Northumberland County can breathe a clean sigh of relief.
Today, the Texas-based Encina corporation announced that it is withdrawing its plan to develop a toxic plastics chemical recycling plant along the banks of the Susquehanna River in Point Township, Northumberland County.
The now-dead plastic chemical recycling plant faced immediate community opposition when it was announced in 2022. The proposed facility—which would have been the largest of its kind in the United States—intended to use extreme heat and refining processes to convert plastic into toxic benzene, toluene, and xylene to be shipped by rail throughout the state, raising major air quality and safety concerns. The process would have used 2.9 million gallons of water a day from the Susquehanna River, threatening to pollute a vital source of drinking water with microplastics and PFAS.
“This is a huge win for the residents of Northumberland County, for the six million people who use the Susquehanna for drinking water, and for all Pennsylvanians who have a constitutional right to clean air,” said Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council, which has been supporting residents and applying legal scrutiny on the project. “Chemical recycling is not a solution to the plastics crisis. Encina sold false promises to our state, and this must be a wake-up call to elected officials that toxic boondoggles like chemical recycling have no place in Pennsylvania.”
“This project threatened the region’s clean air and water and would have harmed our way of life in the area, especially for the people who live next to the proposed facility,” said Sandy Field, member of the local residents group Save Our Susquehanna. “Community members stood up and spoke out about these unacceptable risks, and Save our Susquehanna is thrilled that Encina will not be building their toxic chemical plant in our area. But we do not wish this plant on others, and we will continue to warn other communities about chemical recycling and the danger it poses to communities.”
“This community is safer without Encina’s proposed chemical recycling plant looming in the floodplains. Chemical recycling isn’t a solution to plastic waste, but rather a transformation of plastic waste like a bottle in the river, into toxic air, soil and water pollution for the community,” said Jess Conard, Appalachia Director at Beyond Plastics. “Encina’s departure is a welcomed relief for everyone, and it has been an honor to work alongside the Save Our Susquehanna team.”
The death of this project follows the closure of a similar chemical recycling facility in Oregon, and major issues at other facilities in Ohio, Indiana, and North Carolina. Despite the industry’s poor track and lack of technical and economic viability, more chemical recycling facilities are proposed and the industry has successfully lobbied state governments, including Pennsylvania, to avoid regulations intended to protect residents.
“The significance of this win cannot be overstated,” said Bomstein. “But the fight is not over. Toxic chemical recycling is a false solution to the plastics crisis. It doesn’t belong in Point Township. It doesn’t belong in Pennsylvania. And it doesn’t belong in any other community.”
