Less than 24 hours after Bucks County, Pennsylvania filed a climate lawsuit against essential energy producers it seems like the only ones applauding the commissioners’ decision are Washington D.C. climate activists. Meanwhile, voices across the state are decrying the lawsuit as “hypocritical,” “non-sensical,” and “abusive” while highlighting that the suit was seemingly discussed with little public daylight leaving more questions than answers.
Here’s What They Are Saying:
David N. Taylor, the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association’s President and CEO said:
“The industry, especially here in Pennsylvania, has a proven track record of doing business responsibly and making tangible environmental gains, something that the climate fanatics conveniently ignore. It’s unfortunate Bucks County took the bait of a copy-and-paste-lawsuit pushed by out-of-state-activists and billionaire hypocrites over the well-being of Pennsylvanians.”
Kurt Knaus, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance echoed this:
“These local lawsuits do nothing to address our real energy challenges. In fact, lawsuits like this actually undercut Pennsylvania’s role in addressing climate change. Electric sector-related emissions have plummeted in recent years as more natural gas has come online to meet our growing power demands. That has led to cleaner air across our commonwealth.
“The United States is reducing greenhouse gas emissions faster than any other country in the world, an achievement tied to our emergence as the world’s top natural gas producer. The timing of this lawsuit has little to do with environmental concerns and everything to do with concerns over the coming election.”
Curt Schroder, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform highlighted the legal profiteering:
“Bucks County and its elected county officials have relied on oil and natural gas for decades to meet their transportation needs and to power their once-mighty steel industrial base. Yet the commissioners have filed climate change litigation for a situation they helped cause. When can we expect all county-owned vehicles to be electric or all the county buildings to be powered by renewables? One would expect such actions to follow immediately upon the heels of the action taken by the county leaders.
“Pennsylvanians already pay a hefty ‘tort tax’ that goes right into the pockets of out-of-state trial lawyers, and this lawsuit will only raise costs even higher for hard-working people across the state – all without advancing real climate solutions. Lawsuits targeting the lawful production of energy are an abuse of our state’s civil justice system and an end-run around the democratic process.”
Meanwhile, questions about the conspicuously secretive process of the litigation were highlighted by the Pennsylvania press. From the Marcellus Drilling News:
“The problem is this lawfare seemingly came out of nowhere. It was hatched secretly by green groups, including the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) – a Rockefeller-funded D.C. activist group. There were no public meetings. No public input. No public announcements. It was completely hush-hush, with a full media blackout until the lawsuit was filed. In other words, it was CORRUPT. Whose pockets are getting lined by this action?”
Bottom Line: The nationally coordinated and billionaire funded climate litigation campaign may have found a willing proxy in Bucks County, but Pennsylvania businesses and industry are coming out strong against the lawsuit that will only drive up consumer costs and put Pennsylvania workers out of business.
