Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania Executive Director Josh McNeil issued the following statement in response to President Biden’s visit to Pittsburgh today, where the President unveiled a new proposal to respond to the growing climate emergency with game-changing investments in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure:
From firewood to oil to coal to gas, Pennsylvania has already led the world through energy transitions that created new generations of jobs, but also left our Commonwealth with areas of grinding poverty, record levels of asthma and lung disease, and the nation’s third highest rate of cancer.
President Biden’s plan sets us up to lead another transition, this time to help lead the world to a new, clean energy economy that puts people to work and reduces the harm to our health and our environment. It offers us a once in a generation opportunity to invest in communities that have been left behind, especially in the areas of Pennsylvania that have been decimated by the loss of manufacturing jobs and in the communities of color that are often hardest hit by pollution and the impacts of climate change.
Our Members of Congress must rise up to meet the scale of this current crisis and pass this infrastructure plan. They owe it to us to put millions of people back to work creating a clean energy economy, laying down modern pipes and sewers, and building the frame of an economy that offers a cleaner, brighter future to our children and grandchildren.
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In honor of President Biden’s Pittsburgh visit, two local artists drew a chalk installation yesterday calling for clean energy investments. You can view photos of the installation here.