Labor, business, and industry groups across Pennsylvania are coming together to reject a flurry of anti-energy policies that threaten workers, economic activity, and energy security. A telling example of this came Monday when three major groups sent a letter to the Allegheny County Council urging its members against filing a climate lawsuit.
The letter – penned by the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, the Manufacturer & Business Association, and Pittsburgh Works Together – was sent ahead of an April 10th Allegheny County Council meeting where council members are set to hear a scheduled presentation from the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), a Rockefeller-backed national organization that pitches climate litigation across the country.
The letter argues that jumping on the climate litigation bandwagon with Bucks County, which recently filed a lawsuit that sparked backlash locally, would harm an array of industries in the state:
“At the simplest level, this kind of lawsuit is nonsensical. Oil and gas companies make modern life — and the operations of the county itself — possible. They are the economic engine behind many of the county’s cornerstone public and private development projects.”
The groups also added that the litigation campaign ultimately places the interests of out-of-state activists over working class Pennsylvanians:
“Fundamentally, the activists don’t care about impacts on Pennsylvanians; the state is just one stop on their nation-wide road show. Last year, these activists brazenly admitted that a lawsuit in the Commonwealth would be the ‘cherry on top’ of their efforts. Councilmembers: don’t be another shiny prize in their trophy case.” (emphasis added)
This shot across the bow from Pennsylvania labor comes as national Democrats in the Keystone State continue to rebuke the Biden administration for its antagonistic policies toward responsible oil and natural gas development, most notably the indefinite ban on U.S. LNG exports.
Speaking to the Financial Times, the state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, recently warned that the reversal of the ban was “critical” to Pennsylvania:
“For whatever reasons that the administration put the pause in place I hope that it is very rapid…This is critically important to our state.” (emphasis added)
Shapiro’s criticism aligns him with the state’s other two Democratic Senators, Sens. Fetterman and Casey, both of whom have also rejected the politically influenced ban and warned of its potential effects in an election year.
Similarly, in a hearing Monday by Pennsylvania House Republicans, President of PA State Building Trades, Robert Bair, made clear the economic, environmental, and societal benefits that LNG exports brought to his workers and community:
“We have a chance here, in this building to use the political will to do LNG…Natural gas is going to be a lynchpin to accomplishing the goals that we all want.” (emphasis added)
This sentiment of labor groups was recently highlighted in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as it profiled how working class voters have increasingly rejected anti-energy policies – and the candidates who support them – in favor of platforms that bolster energy expansion and the jobs it brings to local communities:
“These energy-economy voters [in Pennsylvania] see Biden as hostile to fracking…Biden has been particularly hurt by his decision to cancel the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which local companies say cut into demand for their services; and his order this year to pause new permits to export liquefied natural gas, which could deprive drillers of new markets.
“The area’s reliance on energy jobs helps explain why Democrats look to be losing more voters than they have gained here…” (emphasis added)
Despite this, environmental activists continue to try bring their anti-energy beliefs to the Keystone State, from climate litigation to the fringe idea of “climate homicide.”
On Tuesday, E&E News reported that the Philadelphia District Attorney is increasingly discussing the idea of charging the oil and gas industry with “climate homicide” to hold alleged polluters accountable:
“Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner — whose staff met with Arkush and others after their presentation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Carey Law School — expressed interest in the idea of bringing criminal charges against oil companies. He said his office ‘continues to explore legal avenues by which we may seek accountability from polluters.’”
Bottom line: As a top producer of natural gas, Pennsylvania continues to be battleground zero for America’s energy policy, and the sides are stacking up: fringe environmental activism versus the combined forces of labor, business, industry, and bipartisan leaders who support the responsible development of America’s energy resources.
