We all love to complain about Pennsylvania weather, and unfortunately, it could get worse. Pennsylvania already feels the effects of climate change through heat waves, increasingly severe storms and flooding. Pennsylvania contributes large amounts of fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere, leading to the worsening of these natural events.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a bipartisan program that has been successful in 10 states, cutting down climate pollution by a third while raising nearly $3 billion that has been invested into both energy efficiency and clean energy projects. Analysis done by experts for Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection concluded carbon pollution in the state would drop 25% from 2022 to 2030 if Pennsylvania joined RGGI. The program would also promote energy efficiency and create jobs in renewable energy.
It’s time for Pennsylvania to join RGGI and begin to make progress for a cleaner future. The extreme weather conditions will only worsen. We all want to enjoy the great outdoors, but we can only do that if we take the proper steps to clean up our world.
Ravi Hughes
O’Hara
The writer will be a senior at Fox Chapel Area High School this fall.