State shares details about funding to cut emissions

The state Department of Environmental Protection stopped in Williamsport recently as part of a tour spreading the word and gaining insight about new federal funding for projects that would cut emissions in the state.

The town hall style meeting was put on by DEPs Energy Programs Office and discussed options for the $3 million given to the state as part of the Department of Environmental Protection's Climate Pollution Reduction program.

Each state received the same amount, with larger metro areas getting $1 million each to handle projects in their areas.

"Pennsylvania usually ranks fourth or fifth as the largest greenhouse gas emitter in the entire country," Lindsay A. Byron, environmental group manager for the Energy Programs Office said.

"Although those have decreased since our baseline year of 2005, we still have quite a bit further to go to get to the goal of 80% reduction by 2050."

According to the presentation, temperatures in the state have increased by more than 1.8 degrees in the past 110 years and are expected to increase by an additional 5.9 degrees by 2050.

Annual precipitation in the state has increased by 10% since the early 20th century and is expected to increase by another 8% by 2050, with a winter increase of 14%, Byron said.

Pennsylvania's largest culprits for emissions are in the areas of agriculture, electricity production, and industrial manufacturing.

The Energy Programs Office is co-managing the organization of this federal funding into a Priority Climate Action Plan, or PCAP for short.

"We want to develop a plan that largely addresses the needs in the industrial sector, but we came here to get more ideas and we won't be making any final decisions until after this community outreach tour," she said.

There are just two phases to putting the funding to use. Applications due April 1, 2024, one month after the PCAP deadline. There are stipulations set by the federal agency. Any state project that gets the federal funding needs to be in the PCAP, Byron said. Each plan also must prove that at least 40% of the benefits are occurring in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

These projects could look like weatherization of homes and appliance upgrades, electric vehicle charger installations, industrial process changes and fuel switching, and a close look at energy storage, according to the presentation.

"Some of these things could reduce electricity bills while also reducing emissions," Byron said.

"This could also look like electrifying certain industrial processes."

The public discussion brought up important needs and aspects in the Lycoming County community including power loss in rural areas, flooding, solar power, food insecurity, and general well-being and cooperation between people.

In the room were members of county governments, agencies, and local conservation and community groups.

"With the younger generations, there's a sense of a loss of the future," one participant said.

Many shared concerns about how this money could impact community members where it's most needed: on the ground level.

"There are so many non-profits working in different directions and going for the same money," another participant said. "How do we streamline all of this to where it will matter?"

"It's all about finding the balance between operating efficiently in as many areas as we can, keeping jobs here, and ensuring that our communities succeed," Byron said. "We think that this and ongoing outreach is the first step in getting there."