Tell Governor Corbett to Invest in Clean Energy Policies for Everyone!
- by: Sierra Club
- recipient: Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett
Pennsylvania won a victory for air, water, and our health! GenOn Energy Inc., announced the planned retirement of seven of its oldest, dirtiest coal-fired power plants. Five of these plants -- Portland, Shawville, Titus, New Castle and Elrama -- are in Pennsylvania.
Closure of the seven plants will bring enormous health and environmental benefits, preventing more than 179 premature deaths, 300 heart attacks and 2,800 asthma attacks, saving $1.3 billion, according to data from the Clean Air Task Force.
Now, we need to make sure the transition to a clean energy future benefits workers, our communities, and the environment.
Send a message to Governor Tom Corbett telling him to support strong clean energy policies that bring quality jobs to Pennsylvania.
Subject: Replace Coal With Clean Energy in Pennsylvania!
Dear Governor Corbett,
The planned retirements of five coal plants across Pennsylvania will bring great health and environmental benefits to the state. Now we need policies in place that ensure we transition from coal to clean energy in a way that brings those benefits to everyone, including the workers on whom we depend for our energy needs.
With the cost of renewable energy like solar and wind at the lowest it's ever been, the time for clean energy is now. Iowa generates 20% of its electricity from wind. Our neighbor, New Jersey, has the second highest number of solar Photovoltaic installations after California.
Pennsylvania can be a leader in clean energy production. And we could use our historic manufacturing base to catapult us forward in developing ourselves as an example of what is possible in a new energy economy. We owe it to our children to embrace smarter, cleaner, healthier options for meeting our energy needs rather than continuing to use polluting, backward technology that is killing our residents, damaging our environment, and making global warming much worse.
In recent years, Pennsylvania government agencies have been leading the way by entering into renewable energy purchases. You should direct Pennsylvania agencies to expand their renewable energy purchases to demonstrate our states leadership in moving beyond coal to clean energy to bring the economic benefits of clean energy to everyone.
