Energy. It’s more than just Pennsylvania’s legacy. As the 3rd largest energy producer in the U.S., energy remains important to our state’s economy and way of life. But as the 3rd largest emitter of CO2 in the nation, and with abandoned mine lands and damaged streams, we recognize the challenges associated with energy production.
PEC’s Energy and Climate work focuses on achieving deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, advancing a clean energy economy in the state, and reducing the impacts of historic and present energy extraction.
Emerging thinking is focusing on the idea of deep decarbonization - a pathway to the end goal of eliminating carbon emissions altogether.
Emerging thinking is focusing on the idea of deep decarbonization - a pathway to the end goal of eliminating carbon emissions altogether.
Natural gas burns cleaner than coal, but fugitive emissions undermine its potential as a lower-carbon energy alternative. It's time to change that.
Shale gas has considerable economic significance, along with equal potential for irreparable damage to the natural resources of our Commonwealth.
Here’s what we already knew about methane: It’s the primary component of natural gas. It’s much more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. And a significant amount of it is escaping into the atmosphere as a result of...
Fixing leaks in the natural gas supply chain is critical to reducing Pennsylvania’s greenhouse gas emissions, and proposed new requirements for gas facilities would hold operators accountable for detecting and repairing them. With estimated emissions from gas operations exceeding a...
As official sustainability partner for the GAP Relay in 2019 and 2020, PEC purchased carbon offsets and water restoration credits equivalent to the total environmental impact of the event. That experience led us to examine PEC’s own carbon footprint. We...
The GAP Relay — a 150-mile race along the Great Allegheny Passage — is back for its third year, despite a global crisis that forced organizers to completely rethink the event. One thing hasn’t changed: the sustainability partnership between PEC...
In 2017, PEC convened a dialogue on opportunities and challenges inherent in decarbonization of our state’s electric generation sector. That event spurred a number of issue-focused examinations of different policies and technologies including carbon pricing, grid modernization, carbon capture, and...
In partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), PEC submitted the attached comments to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on their proposed rulemaking to control emissions of VOCs and Methane from existing natural gas operations and equipment. Reducing...
The Pennsylvania Environmental Council today praised the introduction of bipartisan legislation – Senate Bill 15, sponsored by Senator Jay Costa (Allegheny County) – that would both direct the state to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide in the electric generation sector...