Climate watch: Clean energy jobs, EV charging stations and more PA climate updates
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University lists, as of July 7, 197 steps taken by the Trump-Vance administration to “scale back or wholly eliminate federal climate mitigation and adaptation measures.” Check out that discouraging list by going to the Sabin Center website and clicking on “Climate Backtracker.”
In the meantime, here’s a rundown of recent climate, energy and sustainability news from Pennsylvania.
Clearfield solar to help power Philly
On June 5, Philadelphia’s City Council approved a proposal to buy solar power from the planned Abes Run solar project in Clearfield County, which is expected to be online in mid-2026, WHYY reports. Abes Run would produce enough electricity to power 5% of the city’s needs. It would boost to 30% the amount of electricity Philadelphia gets from solar energy.
PA a leader in EV charging stations
Six new electrical vehicle charging stations have opened in Pennsylvania, PennDOT announced. That brings to 17 the number of charging stations built in the state under the Biden-era National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. Pennsylvania is now second in the nation in stations built using the federal funds.
Data centers reviving nuclear power
Amazon will spend $20 billion on two energy-hungry data centers in Pennsylvania, according to an Associated Press story. One is planned to be adjacent to the nuclear power plant in Berwick, from which it will draw power. The other will be in Fairless Hills, north of Philadelphia. The Shapiro administration says it will “spend $10 million to pay for training classes and facilities at schools, community colleges and union halls to meet the skills demand for the data centers.”
And Unit One of the Three-Mile Island nuclear reactor near Middletown could be operational by 2027, officials said in June. Microsoft and Constellation Energy announced plans last year to restart the reactor to fuel a data center.
While nuclear energy releases zero carbon dioxide, not all data centers in the U.S. will be powered that way. Researchers at Harvard University say the wild scramble to develop artificial intelligence (AI) that is fueling the rapid spread of data centers in America will produce about one billion tons of planet-heating CO2 in the next decade “if no restraints are placed on the industry’s enormous electricity consumption.”
Clean energy jobs in PA
Clean energy incentives have created 100,700 jobs in Pennsylvania for electricians, roofers, insulators, sheet-metal workers and more, reported the leaders of the Pennsylvania Business and Construction Trades Council and the Keystone Contractors Association in late June. They urged Congress not to roll back federal tax incentives for clean energy but were unsuccessful.
Environmental groups call for action on fracking
Five environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the Environmental Health Project have called for Governor Shapiro and state lawmakers to make more progress on eight actions a grand jury recommended five years ago to protect public health and the environment. Those include more complete identification of what chemicals fracking companies use and increasing the distance between natural gas wells and homes.