The transition to a climate-sustainable future is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revitalize Pennsylvania’s most critical industries, restore the middle class and uplift Pennsylvania’s workforce and families, and advance equity and justice for Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) and low- and moderate-income (LMI) frontline communities.
This climate jobs plan is distinctive in that it prioritizes measures that have the highest potential to simultaneously reduce emissions; create accessible, high-quality jobs; and provide affordable, clean power and transit to all Commonwealth residents.
Recommendations
Energy
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1. Transform Pennsylvania's energy economy by building 54.5 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2035 with gold-star labor standards (page 19)
2. Tap into renewable energy potential by retrofitting Pennsylvania's non-powered dams for hydroelectric energy (page 24)
3. Make Pennsylvania a leader in the installation and manufacturing of small modular nuclear technology (page 26)
4. Address methane leakage by establishing a large-scale program to cap Pennsylvania's abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells (page 30)
5. Expand and modernize Pennsylvania's power grid using union labor (page 34)
Industry
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6. Transform the Keystone State into a Hub for unionized clean energy and climate-aligned manufacturing (page 40)
7. Catalyze Pennsylvania to become a renewables recycling powerhouse (page 42)
8. Reduce Pennsylvania’s industrial emissions while maintaining union jobs (page 44)
9. Establish Pennsylvania as a leader in direct air capture (page 47)
Buildings
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10. Adopt a carbon-free Keystone State Act to jumpstart a just transition through building decarbonization in Pennsylvania (page 51)
11. Incentivize union-built zero-emission affordable housing (page 55)
12. Make Pennsylvania homes safer, healthier, and more efficient through an amended whole-home repairs program (page 57)
13. Adopt a Whole-School Repairs Act to make Pennsylvania schools safe, healthy, and sustainable (page 60)
Transportation
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14. Construct high-speed rail infrastructure in the Northeast Corridor (page 65)
15. Electrify and transformatively expand Pennsylvania’s public transit by 2035; Invest in a retraining program for the electric vehicle transition (page 67)
16. Decarbonize Pennsylvania’s last-mile trucking by 2030 while expanding worker protections in the larger logistics, distribution, and warehousing sector (page 69)
Agriculture
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17. Establish Pennsylvania’s first Agricultural Workers’ Rights Act to strengthen worker power and incentivize emissions reductions (page 74)
18. Create a circular biofuel economy to bolster land use retention, renewable energy, and domestic production (page 77)
Infrastructure
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19. Expand high-speed broadband access by 2028 to 1.3 million digitally excluded households using local, union workers (page 82)
20. Build climate-resilient, clean, universally affordable water infrastructure using low-carbon and PA-made materials (page 86)
21. Establish a robust state OSHA plan by 2025 to protect public and private sector workers from heat and air quality hazards (page 89)
22. Expand the Commonwealth’s public sector workforce to build climate-resilient infrastructure (page 92)
Just Transition
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23. Keep workers and communities whole and thriving throughout the clean energy transition (page 97)
24. Build out a diverse pipeline of union clean energy workers (page 98)
25. Scale up fossil fuel site reclamation and redevelopment to create jobs and improve environmental health (page 101)
26. Mandate representation of labor and workers on all climate-related advisory boards at the state level (page 103)