On Thursday, the lawyers demanded action on a petition they first submitted in 2018, arguing that the state is obligated under its environmental rights amendment to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have lost seven years\u2014time that could have been spent more fully developing a lower-cost and more reliable clean energy economy,\u201d they wrote in a cover letter to Pennsylvania\u2019s Environmental Quality Board, which adopts regulations for the Department of Environmental Protection. \u201cThis is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania\u2019s constitutional environmental rights amendment states that the people have \u201ca right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.\u201d It names the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a trustee of these resources.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people who are in charge of Pennsylvania\u2019s government, and that\u2019s not just the governor, but it\u2019s also the legislature, have a responsibility under the environmental rights amendment to do something serious about climate change,\u201d Dernbach said.<\/p>\n
The petition proposes an economy-wide cap-and-trade program called the SAVER regulation, for Stability and Affordability Via Emissions Reductions. Modeled on California\u2019s 13-year-old program, SAVER is intended to reduce emissions in Pennsylvania by 40 percent by 2030 with the goal of reaching carbon neutrality in 2052.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cap-and-trade sets limits, or \u201ccaps,\u201d on the amount of pollution that sources can emit. Companies can then buy and sell allowances to emit certain volumes of pollution, incentivizing efficiency and emission reduction. The revenue generated is typically invested in initiatives that benefit clean energy production, public health or sustainability. Cap-and-trade is used around the world, from Washington state to South Korea, the European Union and China. The first American national cap-and-trade program<\/a>, aimed at reducing the harmful pollution that caused acid rain, was signed into law in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush.<\/p>\n McKinstry and Dernbach say the regulation would stimulate a clean-energy economy in Pennsylvania, creating jobs and reducing air pollution. The program would also create a fund to invest in public transportation, energy efficiency and electricity transmission systems. Funding for strapped public transit<\/a> systems in Pennsylvania has become hugely controversial over the last few years.\u00a0<\/p>\n In California, critics of cap-and-trade have said the program isn\u2019t meeting the state\u2019s climate goals, and environmental justice advocates<\/a> contend that its current design allows companies to continue spewing pollution near disadvantaged communities. Dernbach said cap-and-trade \u201cdoes not inherently lead to environmental justice issues,\u201d and he thinks those concerns could be addressed during the rulemaking process. The petition argues that SAVER would improve air quality in disadvantaged communities in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n In 2018, the lawyers filed the original petition with Pennsylvania\u2019s Environmental Quality Board. By then, the luxury of time to figure out how to move forward on climate change had evaporated.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now the situation is even more urgent. Increasing temperatures, extreme weather and rainfall have already cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars<\/a>, and could inflict billions in damage to public infrastructure, agriculture and public health over the next 15 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pennsylvania\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions have declined less than U.S. emissions overall since 2005. In some sectors, including agriculture and power generation, the state\u2019s emissions are projected to increase<\/a> in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n If Pennsylvania were its own country, it would rank 39th globally for climate pollution, behind Spain and ahead of Myanmar, according to the Rhodium Group.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen so little progress in my whole lifetime as an environmental activist,\u201d said Joe Minott, a signatory of the petition who served as the executive director and lead lawyer for the Clean Air Council for more than 35 years. \u201cIt\u2019s really discouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n With the federal government backing away from its climate commitments<\/a> and clean energy investments<\/a> under the second Trump administration, state policy matters more than ever, McKinstry said. \u201cThat just increases the imperative for the states to act.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great petition,\u201d said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and the founder of a national movement<\/a> to adopt environmental rights amendments in other states. \u201cIt\u2019s looking to accomplish an incredibly critical step for Pennsylvania and climate change.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Van Rossum said her organization, Green Amendments for the Generations, is planning to submit a letter in support of the petition. She cited a 2024 ruling in Montana<\/a> that found the state violated residents\u2019 rights by refusing to consider the impacts of climate change when it granted permits for fossil fuel projects. Montana\u2019s amendment was inspired by Pennsylvania\u2019s, she said.<\/p>\n For decades, Pennsylvania\u2019s environmental rights amendment was considered mostly useless as a legal tool following a court decision in 1976<\/a>. Dernbach, professor emeritus at Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg, was part of the reason that changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n This story is funded by readers like you.<\/p>\n Our nonprofit newsroom provides award-winning climate coverage free of charge and advertising. We rely on donations from readers like you to keep going. Please donate now to support our work.<\/p>\n Donate Now<\/a> <\/p>\n In 1999, he wrote a law review article making the case that the ERA deserved a broader interpretation. A 2013 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision found the ERA had been interpreted too narrowly by the courts.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen law review articles that I\u2019ve written as a young law professor turn into law and, frankly, turn into the foundation for this petition,\u201d Dernbach said.<\/p>\n Now the petition could serve as a real-world test of the idea that the ERA also applies to greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to other environmental harms.<\/p>\n \u201cNow Is the Time to Act\u201d<\/p>\n Because Pennsylvania\u2019s legislature is divided and often gridlocked, environmental advocates have sought other ways the state can take action. The Environmental Quality Board is one such possible route.<\/p>\n The board accepted the lawyers\u2019 original petition in 2019, triggering a 60-day deadline for DEP to produce a report with recommendations. When then-Gov. Tom Wolf moved to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) by executive order in 2019, the team behind the petition decided to wait to follow up with DEP, which had not yet produced a report, until the question of Pennsylvania\u2019s membership was resolved.\u00a0<\/p>\n But RGGI faced fierce opposition from Republican lawmakers and the oil and gas industry. Years of litigation followed. Pennsylvania never participated in the consortium, which works to lower greenhouse gas emissions from power plants as part of a cooperative of 11 states.\u00a0<\/p>\n In his budget address on Tuesday,<\/a> speaking as Pennsylvanians grapple with rising electricity prices<\/a>, Gov. Josh Shapiro said the end of the fight over RGGI meant it was now \u201ctime to act\u201d on energy policy. Shapiro made a pitch for his Lightning Plan<\/a> to reform permitting and boost power generation. \u201cIf you don\u2019t like it\u2014stop making excuses, put your proposal on the table and let\u2019s get to work,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2023, Shapiro convened a working group to examine RGGI membership that ultimately concluded that the state needed its own \u201ccap and invest\u201d<\/a> program for utility emissions. The Lightning Plan includes the Pennsylvania Climate Emissions Reduction Act (PACER)<\/a>, a proposal for a state-run cap-and-invest program for power plants. PACER was first introduced in the state legislature in 2024. The governor\u2019s office declined to comment for this article.<\/p>\n The House Republican Appropriations Committee called PACER<\/a> and a related program \u201ceconomically damaging energy taxes.\u201d Last year, gas industry trade group the Marcellus Shale Coalition<\/a> criticized Shapiro\u2019s energy plan, saying his proposals would drive new power generation investment to other states and sideline natural gas \u201cin favor of more expensive, unproven and unreliable energy sources that threaten the stability of our grid.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Natural gas currently supplies about 60 percent of Pennsylvania\u2019s electricity. Only 4 percent comes from renewable energy sources. One reason Pennsylvania consumers face higher electricity costs is the state\u2019s dependence on natural gas<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dernbach and McKinstry know that the road ahead will be difficult. Those obstacles are not a reason to give up, they said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be frustrating, but doing the right thing often takes a long time,\u201d McKinstry said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tAbout This Story<\/p>\n Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That\u2019s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can\u2019t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We\u2019ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.<\/p>\n Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.<\/p>\n Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don\u2019t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places? <\/p>\n Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.<\/p>\n Thank you,<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Kiley_Bense_headshot-300x300.jpg\"\/)
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