Alison L. Steele: Linking Pa.'s shale gas industry to Calif. wildfires

Thousands of Californians have been displaced by wildfires that continue to rage across the landscape. Their homes and businesses have burned to the ground, and a growing number of lives have been lost. Many more families await evacuation orders, their bags packed, their children prepped, their pets leashed or caged, ready to move at a moment’s notice. Meanwhile, the entire region is inundated with smoke that requires masking, which will harm respiratory health years into the future.

In Western Pennsylvania, we watch the horror unfold from 2,000 miles away. Concerned and deeply saddened yes, but perhaps not realizing that what happens there is caused, at least in part, by what happens here: Shale gas drilling contributes to a climate where wildfires occur more frequently all across the globe.

The methane gas produced by tens of thousands of gas wells in Pennsylvania and in other states is burned at power plants and by consumers all across the country. This combustion of gas creates carbon emissions that warm the atmosphere and speed up climate change. The accidental leaking of methane — estimated to be between 2.8% and 17%, depending on the facility — is about 80 times worse than carbon dioxide for warming the planet in the short term.

When the Earth heats up, forests dry out. A bolt of lightning, a spark from a campfire, or downed power lines can set off enormous blazes that devastate whole regions and create poor air quality for people living far away from the fires. It’s a vicious cycle that puts the health of millions of people at risk.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Billions of dollars earmarked in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) have begun setting the stage for a healthier 21st-century economy powered by clean energy — one that can reduce the impact of climate change and that promises important health and economic benefits for families. We urge the incoming presidential administration to continue this work.

Government leaders in Pennsylvania can do their part, too. Pennsylvania can require the methane gas industry to retrofit facilities with new technology so that they can produce critical goods with lower emissions, creating thousands of good-paying jobs in the process and improving public health for frontline communities in proximity to wells and other infrastructure. Cleaning up fossil-fuel damage, plugging abandoned wells, and increasing the efficiency of homes and buildings will also provide jobs and help to make our neighborhoods healthier.

Further, research shows that transitioning from harmful fossil fuels to renewable energy options would curb planet-warming carbon emissions, lower health care costs and create lasting job growth. A strong investment in solar, wind and other sources of renewable energy can help Pennsylvania achieve a cleaner airshed. Any investment in energy production or use that relies on fossil fuels, including hydrogen sourced from methane or plastics produced from methane byproducts, is a false solution that will only make climate crises, like wildfires, worse.

We already know how to make this vision a reality. We call on our leaders in Harrisburg to take the next step.

Alison L. Steele is executive director of the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit Environmental Health Project, which works to defend public health in the face of oil and gas development.