Where do the midterm elections candidates stand on the Pittsburgh region’s major environmental issues?

By Oliver Morrison

Oct. 31, 2018

Where do the candidates on the midterm elections ballot stand on the Pittsburgh region’s biggest environmental issues?

PublicSource and The Allegheny Front sent out six questions to each candidate that will appear on the Allegheny County ballots on Nov. 6. The questions posed are intended to provide voters with an understanding of the candidates’ positions on climate change, the Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County; air quality and the rollback of environmental regulations.

We received 19 responses, some of which were a few sentences long and others surpassing the 250-word limit we gave for each question. We edited the responses for brevity and clarity.

AlertMe

We received only one response from a major party candidate in the highest profile races for United States Senate, governor and lieutenant governor. Eleven of the Democratic candidates running for the state house and senate responded, as did all of the Green and Libertarian Party candidates. Here is a map of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives districts in Allegheny County and here is a map of Pennsylvania Senate districts in the county.

We emailed the questions to the candidates on Sept. 20 and gave the candidates four weeks to respond. We followed up twice as the due date approached. We also called candidates or left messages with phone numbers provided by the League of Women’s Voters.

Question 1 — CLIMATE CHANGE

Do you accept the scientific consensus that human-made emissions are driving climate change? Why or why not? If yes, are we doing enough to address it?

Race: U.S. Senate


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Lou Barletta, Republican

Choose below to see answers to this
question from candidates in other Allegheny County races:

Governor

Race: Governor

Paul Glover, Green
Humans have become the most powerful influence on climate change due to increased mining, drilling, transport and destruction of habitat for cropland. Climate change will not be reversed by public policy alone but by massive shifts in economy, culture and infrastructure such that civilization balances with nature. I’ve started more than a dozen organizations and campaigns dedicated to this process, written six books explaining how and taught these themes at two universities.

The complete rebuilding of our cities and farms during the next 100 years, toward balance with nature, should be Pennsylvania’s foremost definition of progress and will be the top priority of my administration. Green building and energy efficiency are the essential foundations of a healthy economy. We can gradually cut reliance on fossil fuels by 80 percent. Cities, schools, farms and suburbs should receive incentives for passive solar construction and retrofit, attached greenhouses and atria, heat grabbers, sun tubes, etc. Funding will be sparked by regional stock exchanges dedicated to eco-development. Current dependence on centralized utilities drag us into the past, financially and environmentally. While we focus on efficient retrofits, steam cogeneration should get sharp fuel rate discounts. Geothermal and wind should be welcomed into the smart grid as well.

Further, I would shift the state’s budget from road building to rail and transit. The era of the automobile, whether gasoline or electric, must gracefully fade as we build for proximity rather than speed. A penny-per-gallon gas tax for transit paves this route.

Kenneth Krawchuk, Libertarian
Climate change is not a state issue; it’s a planetary thing and, therefore, under federal and international guidance. There’s not much any governor could do. Regardless, my degree is in physics, so I have a reasonable background to understand the arguments on both sides. When I was in college, the prevailing scientific opinion was that we’re entering a new Ice Age. Today it’s the opposite, even though no appreciable warming has occurred since 1998. To sum up, I believe the science is not yet settled.


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Tom Wolf, Democrat
Scott Wagner, Republican

Lieutenant Governor

Race: Lieutenant Governor

Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick, Green
There have been many hundreds of credible scientific studies that have given evidence to show global warming is real, has accelerated over the past decades and has already caused multiple observed changes in many ecosystems. For over 100 years, scientists have been keeping global temperature records and 17 of the 18 warmest years have occurred since 2001.

We are not doing enough to slow down or eliminate the human actions driving climate change.

Kathleen Smith, Libertarian
I accept that the climate is changing, with both rising temperatures and CO2 levels. I retain some skepticism about the speed of change and, most of all, about how to address it. My largest concern is the way that advocacy groups and world governments are confronting it. The Paris Accord defined specific goals that can only be reached at great expense. And, because pollution tends to be worst in underdeveloped countries, they will bear much of the burden or simply not make the needed changes.

Even if the world met the goals of the accord, its effect will be minimal. But the consequences of spending $1-$2 trillion a year to do it will mean that other reachable goals, like eliminating tuberculosis, educating all women around the world to at least a fourth-grade level and raising the incomes of the world’s poorest people, will not be met.

The best investments to address global warming will be in basic research to find more efficient and lower-cost sources of green energy.


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
John Fetterman, Democrat
Jeff Bartos, Republican

State Representative, 21st
State Representative, 44th

Race: State Representative, 44th


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Valerie Gaydos, Republican

Question 2 — Shell ethane cracker

What do you think will be more important for the long-term health of the region: The jobs that will come from the Shell ethane cracker plant? Or the air and water pollution stemming from its operations? Why?

Race: Governor


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Tom Wolf, Democrat
Scott Wagner, Republican

Choose below to see answers to this
question from candidates in other Allegheny County races:

U.S. Senate

Race: U.S. Senate


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Lou Barletta, Republican

Lieutenant Governor

Race: Lieutenant Governor

Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick, Green
The Shell ethane cracker plant should not be built in Potter Township or anywhere else because it is supporting the continued and expanded extraction of natural gas and natural gas products via the environmentally damaging process of fracking. The short-term and long-term jobs that will be created are not an acceptable trade-off vs. the millions of people whose health will be ruined and life spans shortened because of the millions of tons of pollutants that will be created by this plant.

Kathleen Smith, Libertarian
As someone whose family has lived here for generations, the improvement in the areas’ air and water has been astonishing and something that I would hate to see in danger. For the region, the Shell plant has the ability to provide a much-needed economic benefit. The jobs at the plant itself will be supplemented by associated industrial and transportation jobs and eventually with service jobs in food and retail. Job security does have positive effects on physical and mental health. And, of course, that benefit is stronger if the employers provide health insurance, as most major companies do.

For its nearest neighbors, the noise, traffic and the possibility of pollution are serious concerns. I believe that companies building cracker plants today are more aware of their environmental responsibilities and understand that they will be under more scrutiny than in the past. That said, oversight from all levels of government should begin in the construction stages and follow through the life of the plant. Ideally, communication with the existing community will be strong enough and clear enough to ease concerns from the beginning. But, if not, I’m sure that local environmental groups will apply appropriate pressure on the company and their regulators.


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
John Fetterman, Democrat
Jeff Bartos, Republican

Question 3 — Air quality

What do you think should be done to improve the air quality in Western Pennsylvania? Should we be doing anything more to reduce air pollution from large industrial sources? Why or why not?

Race: Lieutenant Governor


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
John Fetterman, Democrat
Jeff Bartos, Republican

U.S. Senate

Race: U.S. Senate


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Lou Barletta, Republican

State Representative, 21st
State Representative, 54th

Race: State Representative, 54th


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Bob Brooks, Republican

Question 4 — Environmental regulations

Do you think government should do more to focus environmental projects on low-income communities that are disproportionately impacted by pollution? If so, how? If not, why?

Race: State Representative, 21st

Choose below to see answers to this
question from candidates in other Allegheny County races:

U.S. Senate

Race: U.S. Senate


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Lou Barletta, Republican

Lieutenant Governor

Race: Lieutenant Governor

Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick, Green
Government should do more to protect low-income communities that are disproportionately affected by pollution because maintaining good public health and safety standards is one of the important jobs of elected and appointed government officials. Officials can work to close polluting industries, force them to comply with all state and federal environmental laws while they remain open, make sure these industries have the most advanced technology installed that would detect harmful emissions and prevent harmful emissions from escaping into the environment. Municipal governments can facilitate the growth of clean energy businesses and businesses that don’t produce harmful pollutants.

Kathleen Smith, Libertarian
The government has not always dealt well with low-income communities even when it has good intentions. Low-income neighborhoods in Western Pennsylvania are doing reasonably well in this regard because several nonprofit groups have made it a focus, but there are always more opportunities.

Considering this area’s needs, I would suggest that flood control on small and channelized streams, community gardens and rehabilitated open spaces, and renovation or removal of dilapidated structures are relatively low-cost measures that can have great impact in communities, both in the physical and social environment. Flood control must be handled by government because of the redundant layers of authority involved, but it should be a high priority because the loss of property leaves poor neighborhoods and families even poorer. Local, state and federal agencies each have roles in that.


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
John Fetterman, Democrat
Jeff Bartos, Republican

State Representative, 54th

Race: State Representative, 54th


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Bob Brooks, Republican

Question 5 — Renewables

Do you think government should be doing more to promote clean energy, nuclear energy or coal-fired power plants? If so, what would you propose? If not, why?

Race: State Representative, 28th


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Mike Turzai, Republican

Choose below to see answers to this
question from candidates in other Allegheny County races:

U.S. Senate

Race: U.S. Senate


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Lou Barletta, Republican

Governor

Race: Governor

Paul Glover, Green
Reduced fuel demand through efficiency tops my agenda. Energy efficiency is our state’s key to healthy people, healthy economy, healthy future. The best fuel, ultimately, is no fuel.

Decades from now, no housing will be affordable, nor any business sustainable, unless it uses passive solar. Such buildings have proven to reduce fuel needs to near zero, even in cold climates. Thus solar construction, both passive and active, should be fast-tracked and rewarded. I would expand AEPS [the state’s alternative energy credit program] and push for a range of green building incentives. The Uniform Construction Code should be updated biannually to embrace the most aggressively energy efficient methods and technologies. As Governor, I’d support requiring high-performance building standards for all school buildings that are newly constructed or undergoing major renovation.

Kenneth Krawchuk, Libertarian
There are numerous things we can do here in Pennsylvania to help foster a safer, cleaner energy environment, such as:

  • End the monopoly on energy production and distribution. A free market in electricity would increase competition, broaden choices and reduce prices. Companies that don’t respect the environment would suffer a great disadvantage in the marketplace.
  • Always explore the use of solar energy. There are many companies on the market that will install solar panels on your roof for free and their electricity cost is less than the government-created energy monopolies. We can help the environment and save money at the same time.
  • Stand up to federal government policies that impose bureaucratic decisions on the free market. Ill-considered programs (such as supporting private companies like Solyndra that subsequently go bankrupt) should be vehemently opposed. The government cannot know which companies will flourish or which will die; no one does.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a long-term investor in Philadelphia Electric, Solar City, Exxon and Tesla, among other energy companies.


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Tom Wolf, Democrat
Scott Wagner, Republican

Lieutenant Governor

Race: Lieutenant Governor

Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick, Green
Local and state governments should do more to end the use of nuclear energy and fossil fuels and, at the same time, promote greater energy efficiency, the use of less energy and the greater use of clean, renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and small-scale hydro. I support the passage of HB 2132, SB 1140 and legislation which authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to require utilities to participate in Community Solar.

Kathleen Smith, Libertarian
The government has not shown itself to be very adept at picking winners and losers in commercial endeavors, including clean energy. Every time that they subsidize one company or one technology, they impede the progress of non-subsidized possibilities. There are numerous examples (Solyndra being the most famous) of government subsidies being given out by agencies who have little or no awareness of developing technologies or worldwide market forces.

The effect of that is not only the waste of taxpayer money. The bigger impact may be that other innovators shy away from the field when the government favors one approach. Nuclear energy certainly requires the most governmental involvement, but the newest technology would actually use up the existing dangerous stored waste as fuel. Unfortunately, very few private companies are willing to invest the time and money necessary to begin building nuclear plants because the government has not created clear regulations for construction or operation.


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
John Fetterman, Democrat
Jeff Bartos, Republican

Question 6 — Policy

The Trump administration is rolling back environmental regulations. If you are elected, how would you balance environmental and public health protections with economic growth?

Race: State Representative, 23rd

Choose below to see answers to this
question from candidates in other Allegheny County races:

U.S. Senate

Race: U.S. Senate


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Lou Barletta, Republican

Governor
Lieutenant Governor

Race: Lieutenant Governor


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
John Fetterman, Democrat
Jeff Bartos, Republican

State Senator, 38th
State Senator, 42nd
State Representative, 16th
State Representative, 21st
State Representative, 28th
State Representative, 30th
State Representative, 40th
State Representative, 44th
State Representative, 46th
State Representative, 54th

Race: State Representative, 54th


Candidates in the race above who did not respond:
Bob Brooks, Republican

Candidates in the following races did not respond to questions sent by PublicSource and The Allegheny Front: Representative in Congress, 17th District; Representative in Congress, 18th District; State Representative, 19th; State Representative, 20th; State Representative, 24th; State Representative, 25th; State Representative, 27th; State Representative, 32nd; State Representative, 33rd; State Representative, 34th; State Representative, 35th; State Representative, 36th; State Representative, 38th; State Representative, 39th; State Representative, 42nd and State Representative, 45th.

Oliver Morrison is PublicSource’s environment and health reporter. He can be reached at oliver@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ORMorrison.

PublicSource intern Ross Holub contributed to this report.

Web design and development by Natasha Vicens.

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