Energy for our future.
To have a bright future, we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. Electricity usage accounts for 26% of carbon dioxide emissions. To meet future needs, we need to change how we create electricity using sources other than fossil fuels. The rapid emergence of electric vehicles will also require more electricity that is based on non-fossil fuel sources.
Q1. What are some actions you would support to reduce our reliance on fuels that release carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases? Q2. The Inflation Reduction Act is an historic expansion of the Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit to 30% through 2032. It makes resources accessible to homeowners as well as nonprofits, for the first time. The law says that people can get a 30% tax credit for installing solar panels. This means that more people will be able to afford to install solar panels. However, many people who desire to go solar can’t take advantage of the tax credit because they don’t earn enough. Do you support making renewable energy tax credits available to people with low-to-moderate income and retired homeowners? How else will you help low and moderate-income homeowners access solar and other renewable energy sources? Q3. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates more than half of American homeowners cannot transition to solar because they don’t have the capital or a new enough roof. Community solar would allow everyone, including renters, to participate in the financial and environmental benefits of solar. How will you work to establish community solar in Pennsylvania that allows homeowners, not big utilities, to benefit from solar energy? Q4. Are you aware of the challenges people face when trying to get permits for solar energy projects? What are specific ways to make it easier for homes and businesses to adopt solar and other climate-positive technologies to reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs?Agriculture and Land Use
The food, agriculture, and land use sector is responsible for 24% of greenhouse gas emissions. The twin forces of a growing population and rising consumption mean the challenge of managing land sustainably will only get harder. Today, agriculture and forestry activities create close to one-fourth of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Q1. Using regenerative agriculture in farmland spaces would help improve soil quality, reduce carbon emissions and pollution, and increase productivity. Drawdown Lancaster/RegenALL has identified some ways to incentivize regenerative agriculture as a way to address climate change. If you are elected, how would you support climate-positive agricultural practices? Q2. What will you do to improve agriculture practices and land use in our local community in ways that improve soil quality and agricultural productivity while activating agriculture’s potential to be a significant climate change solution? Q3. Many resources are available to farmers who want to improve their operations and address climate change. The Growing Climate Solutions Act and the USDA Climate Smart grants are two examples. As an elected official, how will you make sure that these resources are available to as many people as possible, especially small farmers who need it the most?Transportation
Transportation is responsible for 16 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. We now know that the use of fossil fuels for transportation has extreme costs to our climate and our health. Experts say that we need an electricity-based transportation system, including electric cars and commercial transportation, to progress. Many questions remain about how we create the necessary partnerships between business and government and implement the resources needed to achieve electrification of transportation and the reductions of greenhouse gas pollution that the science of climate change says we all need.
Q1. Do you support the completion of a public electric vehicle charging system by 2030? Q2. Do you support the decarbonization of all public transportation and commercial trucking by 2040? Q3. How will you make sure that the largest numbers of your constituents (particularly the ones who need it the most) can access the financial resources needed for them to decarbonize their daily transportation needs? Q4. How will you work with the community, government, and business to build the partnerships necessary to decarbonize our transportation sector?Health
Climate change has many effects on people’s health. People who don’t have the resources they need to live healthy lives are more likely to be affected by the negative impacts of climate change. Diseases from mosquitoes and ticks are increasing as well as heat waves and flood conditions. Lancaster County has notoriously poor air quality compared to many other counties in the region due to pollution from fossil fuels. This pollution affects people’s health, causing increased heart and lung disease for example.
What do you see as the connections between climate change, fossil fuel pollution, and community health? Q2. What tools will you use as a lawmaker to help create significant climate and community health improvements? Q3. Public transportation, trains, buses, and other alternative mobility solutions can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide more affordable transportation to our communities. How will you create policies that support these solutions?Buildings and Materials
Buildings play a large role in creating greenhouse gas emissions. Some emissions come from the materials used to make the buildings and the processes of construction, renovation, or demolition. In addition, when people use buildings, they produce emissions. Fuels are burned on site, primarily to heat space or water, or for cooking. The chemicals used for cooling and refrigeration can escape as emissions. Through these direct, on-site sources, buildings produce heat-trapping emissions. Buildings also use more than half of all electricity, creating significant off-site, at the power plant, electricity-generation emissions.
Many building solutions help reduce emissions and make buildings more electricity-efficient. These solutions can turn buildings into a climate positive, ultimately helping them produce more energy than they use. Such solutions can also help significantly ease the “energy burden” many low-income households face.
Q1. If elected, how can you help ensure that we more efficiently heat and power current and future buildings and shift energy sources for heating, cooling, and cooking to reduce climate change, and ease the energy burdens on households? Q2. In order for progress to be made, the Buildings and Materials sector must evolve into its potential to help fight climate change. In the position you are seeking, how will you use zoning, regulations, incentives, and other tools at your disposal to make buildings healthier and more efficient? Q3. Smart growth strategies have many benefits for the environment, local governments, and the private sector. They can save people money on things like energy and transportation while benefiting human health. This is particularly important for low-income residents. Once elected, how will you support the principles of smart growth? (See EPA - Smart Growth - “Smart Growth and Climate Change”) Q4. Some advocate for measures like construction material use penalties for high carbon-emitting products and systems. Tools such as zoning and tax incentives measures can be used to encourage the use of sustainable building materials. As an elected official, what strategies will you put in place to make our built environment into a climate-positive and equitable one for our future? Q5. According to Project Drawdown, a comprehensive study on how to create climate change solutions, Refrigerants used in HVAC and food storage are one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. From the position of the elected office you seek, how might you address this issue?Food
The food, agriculture, and land use sector is responsible for 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Strategies such as Regenerative Agriculture, Agroforestry and Conservation Agriculture can play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Farming and forestry practices can also help to remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. Solutions that stop land-based emissions also increase carbon sequestration. It is important to focus on improving food security and agricultural resilience. This will create a more equitable and robust food system that can withstand climate impacts.
Q1. What can you do as an elected official to help make sure that our food system is productive and climate-positive? What can you do to help ensure it will be equitable and better able to withstand climate impacts? Q2. The USDA says that 30-40% of the food in the US goes to waste. That’s a lot of food – 133 billion pounds, or 161 billion dollars. Eliminating food waste will help families in need, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, preserve land and water, while saving energy. As someone who is running for office, what are your plans to address this issue of food waste? Q3. Once in office, what will you do to help speed up the process of transitioning to a more sustainable and equitable food system? Q4. The US Farm Bill is a source of many of the problems in our food system. Its policies contribute to climate deterioration, resulting in low wages, and subsidize commodity crops that support large-scale, environmentally unsustainable industrial agriculture rather than smaller-scale farms that benefit people, local economies, and our environment. How would you work to create food systems that serve the majority of Americans and vigorously address agriculture-related climate issues?