By Martha Christine and Rob Kahn<\/p>\n
From the historic neighborhoods of Allentown and Bethlehem to the growing townships across Lehigh and Northampton counties, residents are confronting a changing climate.<\/p>\n
Across the Lehigh Valley, summers now bring brutal heat waves that turn asphalt-heavy downtowns into ovens, along with sudden cloudbursts that overwhelm storm drains, flood basements and turn streets into rushing streams. At home, families feel the consequences in rising utility bills to keep living rooms cool and soaring premiums on homeowners and auto insurance policies.<\/p>\n
This is far more than routine Pennsylvania weather volatility. When more than 2 inches of rain fell in two hours across the Valley in July, storm drains gave way and first responders had to pull drivers from flooded streets.<\/p>\n
Analysis from Climate Central and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirms that human-caused carbon pollution has driven a significant increase in heavy precipitation events and higher temperatures across eastern Pennsylvania. These extremes are no longer abstract environmental concerns \u2014 they have become immediate, kitchen-table challenges.<\/p>\n
For years, national political commentary has treated climate change as an ideological battleground. But on the ground in the Lehigh Valley, the perspective is far more pragmatic. According to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication\u2019s 2025 Climate Opinion Maps, 6 in 10 adults across the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro area are worried about global warming, and 59% believe Congress should do more.<\/p>\n
Most neighbors understand that protecting our communities and local infrastructure is not a partisan matter \u2014 it is about practical risk management, family health and preserving our quality of life.<\/p>\n
Now a new pressure is arriving fast. The Lehigh Valley has become one of the hottest markets in the country for hyperscale data centers \u2014 the massive computing warehouses that power artificial intelligence \u2014 with major projects proposed across the region.<\/p>\n
PPL says these large new users could help triple electricity demand on its system over the next decade and more than double its peak load within several years. That growth is already reaching household budgets: state regulators recently approved a PPL rate increase and, notably, created a new \u201clarge-load\u201d customer class designed to keep everyday families from footing the bill for infrastructure that primarily benefits data centers.<\/p>\n
This is where practical leadership matters. Data centers can bring jobs and investment \u2014 but only if they are powered by clean, homegrown energy and their enormous costs fall on the companies that profit from them, not on working families and taxpayers.<\/p>\n
Handled wisely, the surge in demand is a once-in-a-generation reason to build out affordable Pennsylvania solar, grid battery storage and modern transmission, keeping rates predictable and the air cleaner. Handled poorly, it locks in higher bills and more pollution for decades.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the Lehigh Valley is built on a proud heritage of industrial innovation and is well-positioned to lead. Expanding homegrown solar, grid battery storage and commercial energy efficiency would keep regional electricity rates predictable while clearing the air across our valleys. Combined with green stormwater infrastructure and modernized flood control along the Lehigh River basin, these investments would protect neighborhoods while creating high-paying clean energy, manufacturing and construction jobs.<\/p>\n
We need to bring this practical focus to the ballot box. As voters evaluate candidates in upcoming congressional, state and local elections, regional climate resilience and infrastructure modernization must be central priorities. Regardless of whether a candidate is a Republican, Democrat or independent, voters should ask them direct, practical questions:<\/p>\n
\u2022 What are your concrete plans to modernize stormwater infrastructure, prevent flash flooding, and keep homeowners and flood insurance affordable for local families?<\/p>\n
\u2022 As data centers expand across the Valley, how will you ensure they are powered by clean energy and that their costs fall on the companies that profit\u2014not on local ratepayers?<\/p>\n
\u2022 How will you help lower energy costs by expanding affordable, homegrown clean energy and enhancing grid reliability during summer heat waves?<\/p>\n
\u2022 What steps will you take to mitigate urban heat islands and safeguard public health for children, seniors, and outdoor workers?<\/p>\n
Our shared economic prosperity depends on leaders who treat infrastructure resilience, clean energy and public health as urgent responsibilities to their constituents. This election season, let\u2019s support the candidates who deliver real, local solutions that protect our homes, our economy, and the future of the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
This is a contributed opinion column. Martha Christine is a retired teacher with the Bethlehem Area School District, a climate educator, and a chapter leader of the Lehigh Valley chapter of Citizens\u2019 Climate Lobby. Rob Kahn volunteers as co-Lead of the meteorologist outreach team at Citizens\u2019 Climate Education. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. For more details on commentaries, read our guide to guest opinions at themorningcall.com\/opinions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Martha Christine and Rob Kahn From the historic neighborhoods of Allentown and Bethlehem to the growing townships…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,1559],"class_list":["post-279672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}