Clean air is a fundamental constitutional right – in Pennsylvania, anyway.
In 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a landmark decision that made clear the scope of the Commonwealth’s constitutional obligation to protect the environment. Consistent with this decision, Pennsylvania must take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and establish enforceable limits on climate pollutants. The most effective way to quickly take such action is to enact a proven cap-and-trade program.
Such a cap-and-trade program is not only critical to protecting the future of our planet – it’s already authorized under existing PA law.
Last November, Clean Air Council and more than 60 legal experts, environmental advocates and Pennsylvania residents filed a petition to establish a cap-and-trade program in Pennsylvania. The petition for rule-making and proposed cap-and-trade regulation was submitted to the Environmental Quality Board and will be reviewed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The petition is supported by a substantial legal and factual record, and DEP should adopt the proposed regulation as quickly as possible.
Only a handful of states specifically spell out environmental protections in their state constitutions. In Pennsylvania, Article I, Section 27 speaks directly to the people’s fundamental rights and the state’s duties:
“The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”
The 2017 PA Supreme Court decision clarified the scope and meaning of this Environmental Rights Amendment. It was a win for generations to come, finally bringing Pennsylvania’s legal precedent for environmental action in line with this direct and visionary language.
More than a year later, a cap-and-trade program is the natural and necessary next step for the commonwealth to fulfill its role as trustee in conserving and maintaining our natural resources. Cap and trade is a proven, bipartisan approach to tackling environmental challenges. It harnesses the power of the market to foster innovation and solutions that benefit industry, local communities and residents. One of the earliest effective uses of cap and trade was to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions in the early 90s. making acid rain far less of an environmental issue today.
The proposed cap-and-trade regulation targeting greenhouse gas emissions is modeled after programs already having a positive impact in other jurisdictions. It also would allow Pennsylvania to trade with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a market-based program designed to reduce emissions for New England and Mid-Atlantic states. It aligns Pennsylvania with the emissions goals established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as defined in the Paris Agreement. Governor Wolf has shown leadership on this issue and recently signed an Executive Order that commits Pennsylvania to meeting the emissions targets of the Paris Agreement. Our cap-and-trade program fits perfectly into Governor Wolf’s bold vision.
This commitment to international emissions targets sends a strong political message, but it has a real environmental impact as well. Our state’s greenhouse gas emissions are globally significant. In 2014, Pennsylvania’s total emissions exceeded all but 21 countries of the world. Limiting these emissions cannot be delayed by political maneuvering, industry meddling or ideological purity. A proven, practical cap-and-trade program must be enacted.
There is no time to waste. The latest reports paint a bleak picture. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a 728-page report indicating that we have only 12 years to make massive changes to global energy infrastructure to avoid devastating climate outcomes.
President Trump is working to dismantle our existing opportunities to take action at the federal level. He has snubbed the Paris Climate Accord, rolled back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, and morphed EPA into an agency bent on systematically destroying basic environmental protections.
If we cannot count on our own federal government, we need leadership at the state level. It’s time for Pennsylvania to take responsibility for our greenhouse gas emissions and do everything within our power to limit them. It is our duty, as much as our right.
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Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., is the executive director and chief counsel for Clean Air Council