Erika Strassburger: Keep Pa.'s clean energy momentum going

Pennsylvania has the potential to become a leader in 21st-century clean energy like wind and solar. To realize that potential, we need to make concerted efforts to invest in these industries across the commonwealth, continuing to grow the number of good-paying, clean energy jobs created through President Biden’s clean energy plans, including the Inflation Reduction Act.

Much of the president’s agenda is still being implemented, but we’re already seeing the results of the Inflation Reduction Act right here in Allegheny County. In August 2023, Eos Energy Enterprises announced Project American Made Zinc Energy (Project AMAZE), a $500 million investment to expand its Turtle Creek battery manufacturing facility. According to Eos, the expansion, which will create 650 full-time jobs and 50 union construction jobs, was part of its strategy “to address increased long-duration energy storage demand driven by the Inflation Reduction Act.”

In the last year and half, we’ve created more than 270,000 clean energy jobs in the United States, many related to the manufacturing of lithium batteries and solar panels. Biden’s clean energy plan requires that electric vehicles (EVs) be assembled in North America to qualify for consumer tax credits for new vehicles. The majority (57%) of plug-in EVs sold in the United States use battery cells and battery packs produced in our country. With the proper commitment, we can improve on that figure and create more American jobs in the process.

Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry’s doing just fine, raking in a record $400 billion in profits in 2022 while Americans paid the price at the pump and through their electricity bills. But we don’t have to keep sending our hard-earned dollars to BP and Exxon. If we want to break our economic dependence on fossil fuels, we need to follow the course the Biden administration has charted over the past three years.

The president and his partners in Congress have laid the groundwork for the next hundred years of American innovation and renewal. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS Act and other decisive actions, Pennsylvania and the nation are poised to harvest the fruits of the clean energy revolution.

But we’ve got to finish the job — and that doesn’t just mean reelecting Biden. It means supplying the administration with congressional allies who share his vision for a clean economic boom. This year’s Pennsylvania Senate election is pivotal to the control of that chamber, and with it, the success of the Biden-Harris agenda. The choice is ours: We can keep Sen. Bob Casey, a stalwart supporter of the president, in the seat, or we can reverse course by sending his Republican challenger, David McCormick, to Washington.

McCormick, now officially the nominee following an uncontested primary, seems more concerned with boosting the profits of oil and gas executives than improving Pennsylvanians’ health and reducing the environmental impacts of climate change.

In a recent public comments, McCormick has championed natural gas as a cleaner alternative to coal. Given that McCormick’s wife is on the board of Exxon, this isn’t entirely surprising — unfortunately, according to the NRDC, methane released when liquified natural gas is extracted and exported eliminates any climate benefits of replacing coal.

In Pittsburgh, 24% of all households and 52% of low-income households are extremely energy-burdened, meaning the share of their income that goes to pay for electricity and heating is more than twice the city median. Biden’s clean energy plan is projected to save the average American taxpayer $1,000 a year in energy costs by 2030. McCormick has said he would champion getting rid of clean energy subsidies, which would wipe out these savings.

Pursuing energy policies that will continue to pollute Pennsylvania would be a disaster. Between 2012 and 2022, oil and gas companies injected 160 pounds of undisclosed chemicals in more than 5,000 wells across the commonwealth. At least 20 of these sites were located in Allegheny County. Allegheny County also received an F grade for high particle pollution, and ranks in the top 1% of all U.S. counties for cancer risk from point source air toxics emissions.

Yet McCormick claims that the best path forward is for the United States to “unlock oil and gas production here at home.” In an opinion piece, he writes, “when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining, we need stable energy sources to keep America moving.” Another misleading and tired talking point: obviously, wind and solar power can be stored for later use. One such way to do this is through lithium-ion batteries, an industry that’s growing in Pennsylvania thanks to — you guessed it — new investments spurred by Biden’s clean energy plan.

We need to keep this momentum going, not default to the fossil fuel-heavy approach of the past. Casey wants to help push Biden’s clean energy drive forward; McCormick will likely be a steady vote for the oil and gas interests of yesteryear. Our moment to capitalize on new technologies and more sustainable growth is now. Will we choose to capture it?

Erika Strassburger is a member of Pittsburgh City Council.