Title
Calling upon the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to reject Senate Bill 275, which would restrict municipalities from addressing climate change through legislating energy and heating infrastructure requirements.
Body
WHEREAS, Global warming has already begun to alter climatic patterns and exacerbate extreme weather events, even as greenhouse gas emissions have locked in additional decades, if not centuries, of additional warming; and
WHEREAS, In the absence of adequate federal, let alone international, policymaking, the voters and elected officials of some states and localities have joined the global response by finding ways to use their legislative powers and procurement dollars to reduce fossil fuel dependence; and
WHEREAS, To that end, a smattering of municipalities across the country, starting with Berkley in 2019, have passed ordinances to limit or ban natural gas hookups for newly constructed buildings; and
WHEREAS, In reaction, bills to prevent local governments from making this policy choice have been enacted in four states - Arizona, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas - and been introduced in at least 14 others, one of which being our own Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as Senate Bill 275; and
WHEREAS, The swiftness of this response is rarely seen from the state legislatures to protect the human environment; and
WHEREAS, SB 275 and its legislative doppelgangers do not purport to address climate change, nor the desire of Americans to invest in clean energy technology adoption and research, the increasing costs to municipal governments (and every building-owner) of rising insurance premiums in the wake of more extreme weather events, let alone the direct costs thereof, nor the strain on utility finances of ever more efficient buildings and heating and cooking appliances - and they do not do so; and
WHEREAS, These bills do not enhance residents' ability to participate in community solar (this is the third session in which a versi...
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