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PennFuture: Corbett Administration Puts Clean Energy Jobs & Businesses at Risk by Cutting Successful Programs

"Pennsylvania's vibrant clean energy economy has helped the Commonwealth avoid much of the worst of the national recession," said Jarrett. "According to statistics from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry there are more than 106,000 Pennsylvania jobs in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries. The administration's recent actions endanger these good, family-sustaining jobs.

"Our state has more than 4,000 solar power units installed," Jarrett said. "We have 16 operating wind farms, enough to power nearly 218,000 homes. Farmers are cutting their costs and reducing their manure pollution by using digesters that convert poop into power. And while other states are increasing their electricity appetites, Pennsylvania just cut its electricity use 1 percent while adding jobs, thanks to our robust energy efficiency and energy conservation programs, and the many workers that are implementing those strategies.

"This vibrant economic growth didn't develop accidentally," continued Jarrett. "A combination of smart policies, investments in new technology, private/public partnerships, and a state government willing to lead by example have all been integral to building this new economic powerhouse. But now, it's all at risk."

PennFuture has identified several recent actions by the Corbett administration that risk clean energy and Pennsylvania jobs:

• Disbanding the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) Office of Energy and Technology Deployment, the state's energy office. This office is responsible for secondary oversight of the Energy Savings Law (Act 129), the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS), and several other critical clean energy laws. It also administers several grant programs, houses the state's climate change office, provides technical assistance to renewable energy stakeholders, and performs various other services. There is no longer a Deputy Secretary for Energy and Technology Deployment at DEP. There is even early indication that some of the energy-related grant programs at DEP, like the tremendously successful Pennsylvania Sunshine Program, are to move to other agencies.

• Firing the director and reassigning the staff of the office of Energy Management in the Department of General Services and moving the unstaffed program to the Bureau of Public Works. This office was responsible for facilitating contracts under the Guaranteed Energy Saving Act. The program, created by legislation authored by Rep. Bill Adolph, R-Delaware, helps state government facilities, municipalities, and school districts finance investments in energy efficiency through the money they save over the long term from using energy smarter. Under this program, schools and local governments can invest in energy efficiency and conservation projects with no upfront capital, and without impacting their overall budgets. At a time when every school district in the state has been hit with budget cuts, this program is vital to help districts save money. And while the law is still on the books, the implementing office that provided technical assistance to schools and municipalities and helped the state government use this program is gone. This is bad news for the clean energy industry, but even worse news for taxpayers.
• Forbidding executive agencies to enter into contracts for green power in the next fiscal year. At the dawn of 2011, Pennsylvania was buying 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources, making our state a national leader in the development of the clean energy economy. This abrupt change sends a powerful signal to renewable energy companies that Pennsylvania's leadership is not interested in renewable energy.
• Firing the director and reassigning the staff of the Governor's Green Government Council. This office, formed under Republican Governor Tom Ridge, was created to help executive agencies integrate environmental sustainability into their operations.

"It's bad enough to lose jobs because of natural disasters, or economic downturns beyond our control, said Jarrett. "It's unfathomable that any elected official would essentially declare war on a vibrant and bright sector of our economy that has put so many Pennsylvanians to work."

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization, founded in 1998. PennFuture's activities include litigating cases before regulatory bodies and in local, state and federal courts, advocating and advancing legislative action on a state and federal level, public education and assisting citizens in public advocacy.

Working from the premise that "Every environmental victory grows the economy," PennFuture has successfully advocated for landmark environmental legislation, including passage of the largest-ever environmental funding bond, public investment in green energy and energy savings programs, passage of the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act, adoption of the Clean Vehicles Program and adoption of a regulation that protects Pennsylvania's babies by restricting mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants. PennFuture has staff throughout the state, in Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Wilkes-Barre. The Philadelphia Inquirer called PennFuture the "state's leading environmental advocacy organization," and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette named the organization one of the ten "most influential groups on the issue of natural gas drilling."

Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future
Jeanne K. Clark, 412-258-6683 or 412-736-6092
info@pennfuture.org
www.pennfuture.org