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.”
WASHINGTON (April 10, 2024) –Yesterday, a D.C. Circuit panel unanimously dismissed and rejected challenges to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to reinstate its waiver to California’s Advanced Clean Car Program.
“Emissions from the transportation sector need to be eliminated to achieve our climate and public health goals. We commend the decision, which upholds California’s ability, under the Clean Air Act, to reduce emissions and protect public health and the climate through its Advanced Clean Car Program,” said Veronica Saltzman, an attorney at Clean Air Task Force (CATF). “California has been a longstanding leader in climate action, setting the gold standard for emissions and air pollution regulations. Its leadership has prompted action from many other states and the auto industry itself. Manufacturers continue to make investments in zero-emissions vehicles and have been for quite some time. The chorus of support for stronger regulations to tackle transportation emissions is loud, and the court’s decision will have immense public health and climate benefits in California and across the country.”
CATF represented the Clean Air Council and the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) in the case.
“Clean Air Council is thrilled the D.C. Circuit Court dismissed petitioners’ claim that California’s higher vehicle emission standards would harm their businesses or states,” said Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council. “It is a major win that the court ruled that any injury from California’s emissions’ standards was too far-fetched. Now, more than ever, states must be able to take actions, like enacting stronger emissions standards, to protect health and the climate.”
“We are thrilled the court upheld California and other states’ ability to clean up vehicle pollution affecting national parks and the communities which rely on them,” said Ulla Reeves, Interim Director of NPCA’s Clean Air Program. “NPCA found in our 2024 Polluted Parks report that air pollution harms 97% of national parks at concerning levels, with the most polluted located in California. This decision is one major step toward cleaner air and a livable climate for the public, as well as the culturally and historically significant places we cherish.”
The Advanced Clean Car Program (ACC), which was granted its initial waiver from EPA in 2013, (1) sets emissions requirements for new cars to reduce CO2 emissions and (2) requires increasing percentages of manufacturers’ fleets to be zero-emissions vehicles, for model years 2017-2025. In 2019, the Trump administration withdrew the waiver, which was then reinstated in 2022 by the Biden administration. Two groups – (1) entities that produce and sell liquid fuels and their raw materials and (2) seventeen states – challenged EPA’s decision to reinstate the waiver. The court’s decision allows the waiver – and the ACC – to stay in place.
HARRISBURG, PA (November 22, 2023) On November 21, Governor Shapiro announced his decision to appeal the November 1 Commonwealth Court decision that declared the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to be unconstitutional.
RGGI is a program established in 2005 that requires regulated power plants to acquire allowances for the carbon emissions they produce. Within the currently-participating states, RGGI reduces emissions from fossil fuel power plants and funds climate change initiatives with the collected fees. Proceeds from the program in Pennsylvania would go to the state’s Clean Air Fund, which can then be put towards efforts that reduce air pollution. By not implementing RGGI, Pennsylvania has already missed out on over $1 billion dollars in RGGI proceeds since January 2022 that would have gone towards air pollution reduction programs.
Executive Director and Chief Counsel, Joseph Otis Minott, Esq. issued the following statement:
“As the nation’s fourth largest emitter of carbon dioxide, Pennsylvania needs RGGI, an effective cap-and-invest program, to advance a commonsense energy plan that cuts climate pollution and ensures an equitable energy transition and the jobs that come with it. The Governor’s appeal gives us a crucial chance to participate in this program and secure a clean energy economy for Pennsylvania. The Governor’s diverse RGGI stakeholder group reached the consensus that such a cap and trade program for the power sector would be critical for generating the funds needed to support the state’s clean energy transition. RGGI is the clear choice for meeting the working group’s goals and Governor Shapiro’s criteria of supporting climate action, clean energy job creation, public health protection, and energy affordability.”
HARRISBURG, PA (November 2, 2023) – In 2020, the recommendations of Pennsylvania’s 43rd Statewide Investigating Grand Jury released a report on the systemic problems of the unconventional oil and gas industry. The Grand Jury made a series of reasonable and easy-to-implement recommendations that would better protect the health, welfare and quality of life of Pennsylvanian residents. Despite the recommendations of the Grand Jury, the Pennsylvania Legislature has done little to implement the Grand Jury recommendations.
Today, Governor Shapiro is moving forward in implementing the Grand Jury Recommendations by instructing Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to draft regulations to protect Pennsylvania residents and the environment from the chronic pollution emitted by the gas industry.. In today’s press event with CNX Resources, the Governor will highlight new public health and environmental protections from the gas industry. Residents throughout Pennsylvania have been demanding protections from gas infrastructure for years while the gas industry has opposed them.
The Governor has instructed the DEP to adopt regulations that will require the gas industry to disclose all the chemicals used in drilling, set stronger standards for dealing with drilling waste and assure the safety of gathering pipelines. Governor Shapiro also committed to improved standards to reduce climate-changing methane emissions from the gas industry which is a major contributor to climate change.
In Response, Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Clean Air Council Executive Director and Chief Counsel, released the following statement:
“Clean Air Council strongly supports Governor Shapiro’s decision to move forward in implementing the commonsense public health and environmental standards recommended by the 2020 Grand Jury to better protect Pennsylvania residents from oil and gas operations. For far too long, the gas industry and too many elected leaders have shown a disregard for the harm the industry is causing to residents’ health and the environment. It is past time that our leaders adopt protections from this industry.”
“We applaud Governor Shapiro’s leadership in recognizing the need to further reduce methane pollution from the gas industry, and look forward to supporting him and the DEP in tailoring the forthcoming federal rules to ensure they address the concerns of Pennsylvania residents affected by the gas industry.”
The Council encourages the Governor to additionally propose regulations to require setbacks that better protect residents and our natural resources from harmful gas infrastructure. DEP has the legal authority, scientific evidence, and public support needed right now to adopt setback distances that prevent this infrastructure from being built too close to our homes, schools, hospitals, streams, and wetlands.
To demonstrate how the industry needs to do more, the Governor announced a partnership with the gas company CNX Resources, which agreed to disclose its chemical use and better monitor its emissions, something that residents in areas affected by fracking have been demanding for years.
Car centric road design requires a tremendous amount of parking, but what if this public space was used for something else? Each year in cities across the world, people come together to reimagine street parking into safe and inviting pedestrian spaces. The Council and its pedestrian advocacy group Feet First Philly are long time participants in this international celebration, and this year the Council’s team turned a parking space on the 1800 block of Chestnut St. into a temporary parklet where people walking by could try their hand at redesigning a city street with an interactive game. Check out these photos from our parklet in Center City, Philadelphia.
Learn how you can get a permanent parklet in your Philly neighborhood with this Feet First Philly Infographic, or contact Titania Markland, Transportation Outreach Coordinator to learn more about parklets and PARK(ing) Day at tmarkland@cleanair.org.
Reductions in cross-state smog-forming emissions will go forward
Environmental and health groups celebrated an important step toward clean air after a federal appeals court today denied the requests of states and industry groups to block the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Good Neighbor Rule.” The rule, designed to address cross-state air pollution and the adverse health effects of ozone pollution, also called smog, will improve public health and air quality.
The Good Neighbor Rule, a vital measure aimed at reducing cross-state air pollution, requires coal-burning power plants and other high-polluting industrial sources to decrease emissions that contribute to smog. Polluters in upwind states like Indiana and Ohio that had previously avoided implementing pollution controls are slated to reduce their contributions to hazardous smog levels in downwind states like Connecticut and Wisconsin.
“The court’s refusal to block this protective air rule serves as a critical step towards holding upwind polluters accountable for their contribution to cross-state smog,” said the coalition of health and environmental groups defending the rule. “We remain committed to fighting for cleaner air and a healthier future, ensuring that polluters are held responsible for jeopardizing air quality.”
The federal appeals court’s decision to reject the stay request is a triumph for communities striving to combat the health risks posed by air pollution. EPA estimates that the Good Neighbor Rule, when fully implemented, will prevent more than a million asthma attacks annually and at least a thousand premature deaths. This rule will also improve the health of forests and waterbodies harmed by ozone and its precursor pollutants.
“This court decision marks a crucial step in our ongoing battle to hold upwind polluters accountable for exacerbating cross-state smog pollution,” said Earthjustice Attorney Kathleen Riley. “With more than 127 million people residing in regions plagued by harmful ozone levels, the Good Neighbor Rule protects public health. Earthjustice will keep fighting to ensure that this and national air quality rules truly protect public health.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals decision for the D.C. Circuit is notable after other courts blocked a related rule from going forward in certain states. With support from the coalition of environmental and health organizations, EPA has consistently argued that all challenges to these national protections should be heard in the D.C. Circuit, the court with experience reviewing prior Good Neighbor rules.
Smog, a harmful form of air pollution generated by vehicles, factories, and power plants, leads to asthma attacks, heart and lung diseases, and premature deaths nationwide.
The Good Neighbor Rule is just one necessary step to protect people from the adverse health impacts of air pollution. Recent studies show that the national standards for particulate matter—soot—and smog- are far too weak to protect people from premature death, lung cancer, reproductive harm, and cardiovascular disease. This year, the EPA proposed a new standard for soot, but it’s not nearly as strong as scientists and doctors say it needs to be. Stronger soot and smog regulations would save tens of thousands of lives.
A coalition of environmental and health groups has defended the Good Neighbor Rule in court. The coalition includes the Environmental Defense Fund; Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, Clean Air Council, and Clean Wisconsin represented by the Clean Air Task Force; and Air Alliance Houston, Appalachian Mountain Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Downwinders at Risk, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, Sierra Club, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, represented by Earthjustice.
Pennsylvania has the fourth-highest energy related emissions in the country with coal and gas-fired power plants being the largest individual industrial climate polluters in the state. Producing electricity accounts for more than a fourth of Pennsylvania’s greenhouse gas emissions. For many years, Clean Air Council has been a major player in forcing power plants to reduce their emissions and suing to prevent the building of new fossil fuel plants. Not an easy thing to do in a state like Pennsylvania which has strong political support for coal and fracked gas.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed new national carbon emission standards for coal and gas-fired power plants. This new proposed rule would eliminate 617 million metric tons of total carbon dioxide (CO2) through 2042, equivalent to reducing the annual emissions of nearly half of all passenger vehicles in the United States. It is estimated it would prevent about 1,300 premature deaths, prevent more than 300,000 cases of asthma attacks, and prevent more than 800 hospital and emergency room visits each year.
The proposed new rule is a historic step in limiting the carbon emissions that fuel climate change as well as reducing other harmful chemicals emitted along with carbon dioxide. However, in order to achieve the greenhouse gas reductions needed to meet our climate goals and avoid the most catastrophic effects of the climate crisis, EPA must strengthen the proposed rule.
The rule’s suggested limits for gas-fired plants is based on the low emissions produced by using hydrogen or carbon capture and sequestration. There are many ways to produce hydrogen, including using natural gas which is very energy intensive. EPA needs to specify that only hydrogen produced with 100% renewable energy, known as green hydrogen, should be used. Hydrogen produced using natural gas will create more greenhouse gas pollution when we need to be reducing it.
EPA also needs to create strict rules around the transport and storage of captured CO2 to ensure these emissions do not leak into the atmosphere. Safe, secure, and permanent underground carbon storage has yet to be proven at commercial scale, so EPA must require that companies that generate carbon share the responsibility for ensuring these sequestered emissions don’t end up leaking into the atmosphere, and the long-term liability for any harms from future leakage.
While the rule rightly requires strong pollution standards at power plants that operate at a high amount of their full capacity, it should also include power plants that operate at less than full capacity, commonly referred to as “peaker plants.” These plants only operate during periods of high electricity demand, use highly polluting fuels like oil, and many are sited in Environmental Justice (EJ) areas that already struggle with air quality and environmental injustice.
The proposed rule has huge implications for Pennsylvania’s energy emissions. Comments are open until August 8th. The Council sent an action alert to encourage members to comment on the rule that provides talking points and we encourage you to use our digital platform to submit your comments and share the link with your friends. As part of the comment period, the Council also testified at an EPA public hearing about the rules.This is why we need you to submit a comment to the EPA about the proposed rule.
To learn more about EPA’s proposed rule, contact Advocacy Coordinator Susan Volz at svolz@cleanair.org
Philadelphia, PA (May 11, 2023)
This morning, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposal for: (1) updated New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution from new, modified, and reconstructed fossil fuel-fired power plants; and (2) Emissions Guidelines to reduce GHG pollution from certain existing fossil-fired power plants nationwide. The EPA first set carbon rules for existing power plants in the 2015 “Clean Power Plan” under the Obama administration, but those rules never took effect because the U.S. Supreme Court first stayed them, then the Trump administration repealed them. Last year, the Supreme Court issued an opinion that offered guidance to EPA on the scope of its authority. EPA is unequivocally required by the Clean Air Act to establish limits on carbon dioxide from new and existing fossil power plants.
In terms of climate pollution, Pennsylvania’s power sector is the third-dirtiest in the country. The most recent emissions data shows that carbon pollution from Pennsylvania power plants is on the rise and roughly two-thirds of in-state electricity is still generated by fossil fuels. Meanwhile, Pennsylvanians face direct injury from climate change, including lower air quality, increased flood damage, agricultural losses, and higher rates of vector-borne illnesses like Lyme disease.
Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council, issued the following statement:
“Binding federal requirements to reduce carbon pollution from fossil fuel power plants are long overdue. EPA’s proposal is absolutely critical to combating the climate crisis and protecting the air quality and health of residents across the country. When paired with recent federal climate legislation, these rules will help our country achieve our climate commitments and preserve the chance to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change. I applaud EPA for taking this important action and urge the agency to strengthen this proposal and finalize these rules without delay. It is worth noting that Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) will result in significant progress towards achieving EPA’s proposed performance standards for existing sources, and we look forward to working with state officials and stakeholders to continue transitioning Pennsylvania to a clean, carbon-free future.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alex Bomstein, Legal Director, Clean Air Council, abomstein@cleanair.org
Jessica O’Neill, Senior Attorney, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, oneill@pennfuture.org; Leigh Martinez, Director of Communications, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, martinez@pennfuture.org,
Robert Ukeiley, Senior Attorney, Center for Biological Diversity, 720-496-8568, rukeiley@biologicaldiversity.org
Renovo Energy Center Will Not Be Built
After many years of community opposition and nearly two years of litigation, the residents of Renovo can breathe easier.
Today, the Bechtel Corporation announced that it is withdrawing its plan to develop a fracked gas-fired power plant at the former rail yard in Renovo Borough, Clinton County.
In 2021, Clean Air Council, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture), and the Center for Biological Diversity lodged their appeal of the DEP air quality permit for the Renovo Energy Center, which would have been built just feet away from the homes and businesses of the environmental justice community of Renovo, in North Central Pennsylvania. The groups objected to the permit because it allows illegal levels of air pollution, ignored environmental justice concerns and the health costs to society in issuing the permit, and for several other deficiencies spelled out in the Notice of Appeal.
In August 2022, the environmental groups won some of their challenges to the permit before the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board. The Board granted partial summary judgment on the issues of the illegal sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds limits in the permits. That means that the environmental groups proved, without needing a trial, that DEP broke the law when it allowed the power plant to emit such high pollution levels. High levels of sulfur dioxide can cause health problems, including hurting lung function, causing wheezing and shortness of breath. Volatile organic compound pollution may irritate people’s eyes, nose, and throat, increase cancer risk, and damage the central nervous system. The Board’s opinion is here.
Now, the developers behind the facility have announced that they have chosen to end their attempts to build this fracked gas plant.
“Bechtel’s decision to cancel this dangerous plant is a crucial win for the health, welfare and safety of the residents of Renovo, who have been peddled lies about this project’s purported benefits and illegally cut out of the permitting process,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel of Clean Air Council. “Pennsylvania’s economic growth depends on a clean energy future and will not be achieved by pumping millions of tons of air pollution every year right into the heart of communities like Renovo.”
“Our lawsuit was about protecting Pennsylvania and this environmental justice community from the additional pollution burdens that this plant would have imposed,” said Jessica O’Neill, Senior Attorney at PennFuture. “It is a win for Renovo and for all Pennsylvanians when we realize that the fracked gas industry doesn’t make sense – from an economic, energy, or environmental health perspective. We will continue to push back against facilities and industries that threaten the health of our communities, our workers, and the sustainable energy future that Pennsylvanians want and that our children deserve.”
“The cancellation of this proposed fracked gas burning power plant helps move us forward to a future powered by wind and solar power,” said Robert Ukeiley, an environmental health lawyer at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Every step away from fossil fuels is a step toward averting both climate disaster and the biodiversity crisis.”
“As a great-grandparent, I’m grateful that this power plant didn’t come to fruition because we are now able to protect what is most important – the health of our children,” said Sue Cannon, co-founder of Renovo Residents for a Healthy Environment. “I opposed the power plant because I was thinking about the children in this community, especially my great-grandchild, and what the pollution would do to their health. After all, children are our most precious assets.”
“This decision gives us great hope for the future of Renovo’s health, quality of life, and future prosperity,” said Maureen Ruhl, co-founder of Renovo Residents for a Healthy Environment. “We look forward to building Renovo’s future with a vision based on tourism, our natural resources, recreation, and our railroad history – all of which we hold dear.”
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Clean Air Council is a member-supported, non-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting everyone’s right to a healthy environment. The Council has offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Wilmington, and works through public education, community advocacy, and government oversight to ensure enforcement of environmental laws. For more information, please visit www.cleanair.org.
PennFuture is leading the transition to a clean energy economy in Pennsylvania and beyond. We are protecting our air, water and land, and empowering citizens to build sustainable communities for future generations. Visit www.pennfuture.org.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
