Sustainable Economic Development

Unfortunately, decision-makers don't always recognize this simple fact.

Economic development shapes and reshapes the physical landscape of our communities–from main streets to country roads, factories to coal mines. The geographic location of projects impacts the way water flows through river basins, the amount of open space available to residents, and the soundscape of our everyday lives. The types of projects determine the quality of the air in a region, the amount of traffic generated at a busy intersection, and the health of the local workforce.

Historically, Pennsylvania's economy has depended upon extraction of fossil fuels. From coal to fracked gas, Pennsylvania has been nearly singularly focused on polluting industries that contaminate our air and water, making our workers and communities sick. Even when the market forces signal a change in viability, the state has doubled down, propping the industries up with billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. Data centers building their own fracked gas power plants are just the latest example.

Without a change of course, Pennsylvania will fall further behind neighboring states investing in clean energy generation, energy storage, and energy efficiency strategies–and our communities, environment, and economy will suffer. But, we have resources to combat this!

Economic Visions and Fossil Fuel Villains

The cost of clean energy and battery storage continues to drop while the financial price and environmental costs of extracting and burning fossil fuels continue to rise. Yet, Pennsylvania’s economic development and political leadership relentlessly invest in fracked gas, petrochemicals, and attracting new energy-intensive industries. 

Pennsylvania’s primary governmental economic development entities, the Team Pennsylvania Foundation (Team PA) and the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), continue to place fossil fuels at the center of the state's economy.

Both offer visions, plans, and financial tools to grow the state’s economy :

What would a more sustainable Pennsylvania economy look like?

It is time for Pennsylvania to capitalize on high-growth industries that support the decarbonization and diversification of the economy, like battery manufacturing, energy efficiency, and solar deployment. In the face of national economic and technological changes, stabilizing and modernizing the state's economy must be paramount. 

The foundation of a sustainable economy–an economy that balances the present needs of society with the needs of future generations–is a clean, modernized, and diverse energy grid. So let's start there.

Here are our top 5 priorities for our Sustainable Economic Development campaign:

 RESOURCES

SOCIAL MEDIA