Pennsylvania will slash 80% of net greenhouse gas emissions statewide by 2050 under targets announced January 8 by Governor Tom Wolf. State agencies will lead the way, working strategically through the governor’s new GreenGov Council to improve energy efficiency across government operations. Meanwhile, DEP moves forward with tighter methane emission rules for the oil & gas industry, and Pittsburgh’s gas utility deploys cutting-edge technology to find and fix leaks in its distribution system.

The pieces are beginning to come together on climate action in Pennsylvania.

New leak detection technology will help natural gas utility Peoples Gas cut methane emissions from its Pittsburgh distribution system in half this year. The announcement marks a new phase in Peoples’ ongoing partnership with Environmental Defense Fund and Google Earth Outreach.

A virtual reality experience created by Environmental Defense Fund demonstrates just how easy and inexpensive it’s getting for natural gas producers to find and fix methane leaks. Drop in on a demonstration held recently in Pittsburgh.

The West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund‘s (WPPSEF) video series, The Quiet Ones, profiles organizations and individuals with whom the Fund works on clean energy projects in western Pennsylvania. The latest installment, “Caring for Two Environments,” highlights the energy & climate work of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and the Green Building Alliance (GBA).

“The reason why I do what I do is because I love to be outside,” PEC Senior VP for Legal and Government Affairs John Walliser says in the video. “I love to hike and bike and kayak, and I have an 11-year-old son who loves to do the same, and I want that to be there for him and I want that to be there for his children.”

Leaks and flaring waste millions of dollars’ worth of natural gas every year. For Pennsylvanians who’ve fought wars in the name of energy security, that’s adding insult to injury.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund supports Pennsylvania’s thriving outdoor recreation industry, employing Pennsylvanians and generating wealth for communities. Failing to reauthorize LWCF would be a serious blow to our economy.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund makes Pennsylvania communities happier, healthier places to live by supporting development of parks, playgrounds, and greenspace. But without congressional reauthorization, that support could disappear.

Funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund helps protect wildlife habitat, improve water quality, and preserve open space for Pennsylvanians to enjoy. But those benefits could disappear if Congress doesn’t vote to reauthorize the Fund by September 30.

Transforming abandoned strip mines into healthy native forest isn’t as easy as it sounds! Learn how PEC and our partners in the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) are restoring Penn’s woods, one legacy mining site at a time.

It’s a cold and windy Earth Day 2018, but these tree-planting volunteers are smiling.

Foresters Ben Hardy of DCNR and Cliff Drouet of OSMRE explain how to transform a former mining site back to native forest… and why it’s worth doing.

Pennsylvania state Senator John Yudichak talks about growing up near the site of PEC’s Earth Day 2017 tree-planting in Pinchot State Forest, and watching its transformation from abandoned mine site to restored native forest.

Volunteers plant 8,000 trees in Pinchot State Forest, Luzerne County in celebration of Earth Day 2017.

PEC honors the lifetime achievement of miner-turned-trailbuilder Ron Steffey, Executive Director of the Allegheny Valley Land Trust.

PEC celebrates Opening Day on the Trails 2019 on Fayette County’s 34-mile Sheepskin Trail, part of the growing Industrial Heartland Trails Coalition network. Ride along as we discover local history on the recently re-opened section linking Dunbar with the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP), and learn how trails create both recreational and economic opportunities in former industrial communities.

Conservation Landscape partners gather in the Laurel Highlands, where conservation, recreation, and historic preservation come together.

The first-ever Great Allegheny Passage relay race was held October 12-13, 2018, and we were there. Follow Team PEC on our 149-mile journey from Cumberland, Maryland to Pittsburgh.

For more than a century, freight trains traversing the Redbank Valley passed through the Climax Tunnel. But when the railroad left, the tunnel fell into disrepair. Now, after an extensive restoration project, the Climax Tunnel is open to bike and foot traffic as part of the scenic Redbank Valley Trail, making it the first of Pennsylvania’s Top Ten Trail Gaps to be closed.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water(shed)…

Shark Tank: Funder’s Edition returns to the 2019 PA Statewide Conference for Watershed Organizations.

With help from partners and volunteers, PEC’s Illegal Dumpsite Cleanup Program tackles a decades-old tire dump in northern Susquehanna County.