C'mon, hop to it! Come to PennFuture On Tap!

Please join us for a great night of good beer and tasty food at our premiere PennFuture on Tap* event.

We'll host this fundraiser at Yards Brewery Company, the first brewery in Pennsylvania to be  completely powered by wind, from 7:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. on Friday, June 19. 

Support local sustainable businesses and PennFuture when you purchase your tickets on our secure website and then watch our tagline -- Every environmental victory grows the economy -- come to life at this unique event venue. 

Pennsylvania's growing craft brewery industry -- ranked fourth in the U.S. by the Brewers Association -- contributes $2 billion annually to our economy and provides over 20,000 Pennsylvania jobs.

To make all that beer, the brewing industry needs lots of clean air and clean water. That's where we come in: PennFuture works hard every day to protect these resources for all of us. And that's where you come in: To help PennFuture continue this work, we need YOU and your support!

Our special guest will be Philadelphia Water Department Commissioner Howard Neukrug, a national leader in urban sustainability and the creator of Philadelphia’s Green City, Clean Waters program. Alongside Commissioner Neukrug's leadership, the Philadelphia Water Department provides clean drinking water and integrated wastewater and stormwater services for more than 2.3 million people.

Please join us. Learn something new. Enjoy an open bar with Yards' Revolution and Signature Ales. Sample food from Guerilla Ultima Food Truck. Take a brewery tour and bid on something wonderful in the silent auction.

Sponsorships are available. For more information on that, email Susanne Whitehead at whitehead@pennfuture.org.

Don't miss this hopportunity (last pun, promise) to support PennFuture -- and have a great time while you do it! Buy your tickets today!

*Must be 21 years old to participate.

Mary Kane is development associate for PennFuture and is based in Harrisburg.
 

Earth Day + Clean Energy = One Great Event

Last week, PennFuture and Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) co-sponsored a roundtable for business leaders in northwest Philadelphia to hear from speakers on federal, state, and local policies related to clean energy and climate and why business leaders should get involved. The takeaway? A clean energy future is good for the economy and the environment.

Attendees heard from a slate of speakers, each bringing a different perspective to the table. Alice Tong and Bob Keefe of E2 welcomed the attendees and gave an overview of the work their organization is doing in Pennsylvania, highlighting a clean energy jobs report they jointly released with the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance (KEEA.) The report identifies highlights from the clean energy industry and opportunities for growth. (There are currently 57,000 clean energy jobs in Pennsylvania and additional jobs can be created if the state takes action to improve Pennsylvania’s national energy efficiency ranking from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).)

Speaker Rich Freeh from Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability addressed our clean energy economy from the local perspective. Currently, over 60 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions come from building energy usage. The city of Philadelphia’s energy benchmarking program is raising awareness about building energy usage by having buildings of 50,000 or more square feet disclose their energy use in a standardized database, the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. This database allows building managers to look at their energy use relative to comparable buildings to help identify areas for energy use reduction and, as a result, generate cost savings and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Alex Dews of the Delaware Valley Green Building Council discussed energy efficiency – aka energy we don’t need to produce – as the cheapest, cleanest energy resource available and a viable option for creating jobs. He highlighted that we should not only be looking at ways to make new buildings as efficient as possible, but also be thinking about ways that we can make energy efficiency improvements to buildings that have been built in the recent past and will be around for decades to come.  

PennFuture’s policy director, Matt Stepp, gave a comprehensive overview of the Clean Power Plan and its potential positive effects on Pennsylvania. Stepp noted that with the planned retiring of coal-fired power plants across the state, Pennsylvania is on track to reach half of its carbon reduction goals as specified in the Plan absent further action. He emphasized the opportunity for the growth of the renewable energy sector, a sector that will hopefully receive additional support from Pennsylvania’s state government in the coming years. (Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed budget includes $225 million to be invested in renewables, conservation, and clean technology investments. It’s a relative drop in the bucket compared the $3.25 billion in state subsidies to the fossil fuels industry, but I digress.)

Business leaders attending the event signed postcards addressed to Senators Casey and Toomey supporting the Clean Power Plan as a means to reduce our carbon emissions and an opportunity to invest in a sustainable, clean energy economy. It’s critically important that we make our voices heard in support of good economic and environmental policy! 

Katie Bartolotta is southeastern Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Philadelphia. She tweets @KatieBartolotta.

Regulating methane emissions makes dollars and $ense

Methane emissions from oil and gas development are contributing to the harmful impacts of climate change and it's not just environmentalists sounding the alarm bells. This week, leaders from the financial community took action regarding the urgent need to curb methane emissions from the oil and gas sector for the sake of our economy.  

"A group of investors managing more than $300 billion in market assets sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration and the White House, calling for the federal government to regulate methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The letter urged covering new and existing oil and gas sites, including upstream and midstream sources, citing that strong methane policy can reduce business risk and create long-term value for investors and the economy. 

They spelled out in no uncertain terms that they regard methane as a serious climate and business problem – exposing the public and businesses alike to the growing costs of climate change associated with floods, storms, droughts, and other severe weather. 

The 18 signers make the point that proven, low-cost solutions already exist to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 percent."  

Colorado's smart methane policy serves as a national model and was developed with input from energy companies, state regulators, and environmentalists.  With the rapid expansion of the gas industry here in the Keystone State, Pennsylvania needs to follow Colorado's lead and regulate methane emissions for the sake of our communities, our climate, and our economy.


Jen Quinn is central Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Harrisburg. She tweets @QuinnJen1.

Clean Energy Wins: Post-primary edition

We now know which gubernatorial candidates will be representing the two major parties on November's ballot -- York businessman Tom Wolf and incumbent Governor Tom Corbett. 

Now that we're down to two, it's ever more essential that we make our voices heard so the next governor understands that an overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians support clean energy. 

Earlier this year, we announced the launch of Clean Energy Wins -- a campaign geared toward the 2014 governor's race. 

The mission of Clean Energy Wins is simple: to engage bipartisan gubernatorial candidates, policymakers, clean energy businesses, and citizens about the economic, job creation, and environmental benefits of clean energy — and to identify practical policies that can be implemented to realize those benefits. 

In March, PennFuture released the Clean Energy Wins policy roadmap, a report that will help inform the state's next governor and the General Assembly about policies that can grow Pennsylvania’s clean energy economy. (It's a great read, I promise.). 

Since then, we have briefed gubernatorial candidates and policymakers of all political stripes on the roadmap, presented at events, and hosted virtual briefings on the report. There will be more to follow this summer and into the fall. 

But we can't do this without you. Please add your name to our Clean Energy Wins campaign and tell us why you are a clean energy voter.

Andrew Sharp is PennFuture's Director of Outreach and is based in our Philadelphia office. He tweets at @RexBainbridge.