Yesterday, Governor Josh Shapiro addressed the Pennsylvania State Legislature regarding his 2026/2027 State Budget Plan for the commonwealth.
In response, Carolyn Heckman, the Evangelical Environmental Network’s Associate Director of Pennsylvania Policy, shared:
“As evangelical Christians committed to defending life from all harms, we cannot turn a blind eye to toxic fossil fuel pollution that continues to make our air unsafe to breathe and water unsafe to drink. This past fall, the Governor’s and state policy makers’ decision to take Pennsylvania out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) paved the way to more Pennsylvanian children being exposed to harmful pollution and its increased risk of asthma, autism, ADHD, and other health complications and harms. Medical research is clear: fossil fuel pollution is a top environmental threat to the health of our children and other vulnerable Pennsylvanians. And while we worry about the physical health impacts of this decision, we are also concerned about the economic impacts to Pennsylvania households, as PJM has yet to offer adequate solutions to the energy rate increases that continue to burden homes statewide. We commend the Governor for his focus on transparency, local economic development, and the environmental and health impacts of data centers that are straining the energy grid, along with his continued commitment to capping and plugging abandoned wells. Nevertheless, our work must not stop here.
“We call on our leaders to continue to come together and work diligently to implement market-based programs and solutions, like updating our Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) goals through the Pennsylvania Reliable Energy Sustainability Standard (PRESS), which will deliver clean air, clean water, and new energy and careers to Pennsylvania for generations. Our children’s health and future depend on it. The time to act is now.”
