‘Green steel’ vs. data centers
As policymakers consider how to create more good jobs, Gallagher argued that they should not only think about how to manage the data center boom, but also work to attract investment in “green steel,” which is produced using technologies that emit fewer greenhouse gases than traditional methods.
If next-generation steel manufacturers don’t open plants in Pennsylvania, the state will see its historic steel industry further erode and lose long-term job creation opportunities, he said.
“We don’t want Pennsylvania to become primarily the place where steel is made elsewhere and then is rolled and finished here,” he said. “We want the next generation of primary steel making here.”
To that end, the state must launch a strategy of identifying sites for new steel plants, arranging energy sources, training workers and competing to entice manufacturers to build here, he said. Incentives should be attached to conditions such as union hiring requirements, environmental improvement, community benefits and provisions for cleanup.
The report says the state should also welcome data center projects, provided they arrange their own energy sources — as a new policy from Gov. Josh Shapiro mandates — as well as cover their own costs and create good jobs. Proposals that don’t meet those requirements should be modified, delayed or blocked, Gallagher said.
“Construction jobs are important, and they should come with strong labor standards and union rights, but the analysis also has to include permanent jobs and the impacts on manufacturers and other employers in the ecosystem facing higher electricity costs,” he said.