Joanne Kilgour and Alison L. Steele: This Earth Day, let’s work together to build a better future for Pa.

Each year, Earth Day marks a chance to imagine a better, brighter world. Picture a Pennsylvania with bountiful clean water, skies unclouded by pollution, a strong, diverse economy and an equal opportunity for all to be healthy and thrive. Today, that vision is closer than ever to reality. Billions of dollars earmarked in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) are setting the stage for a cleaner, healthier 21st-century economy powered by clean energy — one that promises huge benefits for Pennsylvania families.

Research shows transitioning away from harmful, polluting fossil fuels would curb planet-warming carbon emissions, lower costs for Pennsylvania families and create lasting job growth. By developing wind and solar power and investing in energy efficiency upgrades, the 10-county Southwestern Pennsylvania region could see a power sector emissions reduction of 97% by 2050, placing the Pittsburgh area on track to achieve the International Panel on Climate Change’s global warming targets.

Pursuing a clean energy pathway would also create more than 15,000 jobs in Southwestern Pennsylvania and yield billions in annual health and environmental benefits by mid-century, all at a cost 13% lower than decarbonization pathways like the ARCH2 hydrogen hub that rely on fossil gas and costly, experimental carbon capture technology.

That’s not all. Federal funding for other climate-forward investments can compound the economic and environmental benefits of a clean energy transition. The new RISE PA program, for example, aims to decarbonize the commonwealth’s industrial sector, which is responsible for one-third of all the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Retrofitting our state’s industrial facilities to produce critical goods, such as steel, cement and glass, with low- or zero-emissions energy will create 6,000 new, union jobs for painters, electricians, pipefitters, construction workers and more.

Historic investments in cleaning up generations’ worth of fossil-fuel damage will also have a resounding impact on Pennsylvania’s economy. Programs to reclaim the 288,000 acres of abandoned mine lands across the commonwealth will support or create thousands of jobs each year. Funding from the IRA and the BIL’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program will create an additional 887 on-site jobs plugging leaky old oil and gas wells throughout Pennsylvania. Strong labor requirements will ensure well and mine reclamation jobs are accessible, union and well-paying.

High-multiplier investments in weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades offer another powerful — and proven — job-creating tool. Improving energy efficiency can also lower utility bills, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and make our power system more reliable and resilient.

Cleaning up fossil-fuel damage, curbing emissions, increasing the efficiency of homes and buildings and reducing our state’s reliance on fracking will help make our neighborhoods safer and healthier, too. Future generations will worry less about the elevated risks for asthma, mental health issues, poor birth outcomes and cancer linked to shale gas development. They’ll be safe from the hazardous methane emissions that leak from old wells and abandoned mine sites and the millions of tons of greenhouse gases that spew from industrial smokestacks each year.

The truth is, a healthy environment and a healthy economy go hand in hand. Investing in programs that protect our Earth for future generations will create jobs, boost economic growth and make our communities cleaner, more prosperous places to live. This Earth Day, we have all the tools we need to begin building a better future for Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Joanne Kilgour is executive director of the Ohio River Valley Institute, an independent, Appalachia-based research organization. Alison L. Steele is executive director of the nonprofit Environmental Health Project, headquartered in Pittsburgh.