For Immediate Release

November 1, 2019

Contact: Matthew Mehalik, Breathe Project [email protected] 412-514-5008

Re: Mayor’s Courageous Statement Supporting the Pittsburgh Region’s Prosperous Future

The Breathe Project strongly supports Mayor Peduto for the courageous vision and statement he presented at this past Wednesday’s Climate Action Summit in Pittsburgh’s Convention Center in front of more than 500 people. We thank Mayor Peduto for this act of courage.

Reactions to Mayor Peduto’s statement have been quite telling about who is truly serious when it comes to addressing the ever-accelerating climate crisis and who are content with pretense.

One common marker of pretense is an attempt to misdirect when it comes to the key facts involving petrochemical development and climate.

The Shell plant will emit more than 2.2 million tons of CO2 per year, which is the equivalent of the emission of 424,000 passenger vehicles driven for a year. After 30 years of operation, this one plant will have emitted the equivalent of over 12.7 million vehicles worth of CO2 – nearly a year’s worth of all of the cars in the state of California put together. This is a stunning amount of additional CO2 exactly at the time when carbon emissions need to be going down to meet goals set by the United Nations and the Paris Climate Accord.

Last week the Pittsburgh Business Times reported that Exxon-Mobil was looking to build another such plant in Beaver county. And two others are planned for the Ohio Valley nearby in West Virginia and Ohio. These figures do not include the climate-warming impacts from greenhouse gases from CO2 and methane leakage from wells, compressor stations, pipelines and separation facilities. From a climate perspective, petrochemical infrastructure is an irresponsible commitment at exactly the wrong time.

Another marker of pretense involves the claim that you really can have it both ways – an industry that emits large quantities of climate-destroying emissions and a stable, climate-healthy future.

One of the key Climate Action Summit takeaways noted that we are on the verge of having our way of life disrupted because of the increasing frequency of extreme weather events that will end up displacing millions of people as well as destroying our larger ecosystem of support in the very near future – especially if nothing is done to change course.

A final marker of pretense is the one that touts the economic success of the petrochemical industry.

This statement fails to acknowledge the billions in taxpayer dollars and socialized costs that is and will subsidize this industry. Our own analysis, using EPA Cobra software, shows that the addition of three cracker plants in the Ohio Valley will increase healthcare costs to the tune of $3.6 – $8.1 billion over 30 years, and this only accounts for the added particulate matter to the atmosphere and none of the hazardous air pollutants. If you add to that the social cost of carbon from the emissions of these three plants ($8.5 billion), the cost to society climbs to $12.1 – $16.6 billion. This is a substantial drain on the region’s economy. So, while people may profit from this enterprise now, once the construction workers go home and the plant starts operating, THAT is the time when people will really start to pay.

Mayor Peduto’s statement makes it clear that our future needs to be staked on businesses and technologies that will continue to succeed farther into the future, provide jobs and meet society’s needs for the long-term. Our future economic well-being depends on attracting new businesses and we cannot do that when our community becomes increasingly more toxic and our property values fall. The Shell plant will only employ 400-600 workers. This industry will drive away investment from the types of jobs we want: jobs that do not require sacrificing the lives of the workers and the community. Our region has a long history of learning this lesson. We do not want to go back down that path.

One of the lessons we have learned from our past is that life and health are precious, so we want to protect ourselves and those we love. Mayor Peduto’s courageous statement is fully in line with what we hold truest and dearest. He deserves our admiration and support, not pretense.

We need to stop ongoing efforts to subsidize the petrochemical industry with billions of dollars of public money and loan guarantees that drain the life out of our communities and make people and the planet sick. We would rather see such support go to jobs and projects that promote health, extend lives and support frontline communities. We know that through innovation, we can create jobs, grow the economy, clean up our communities and protect our health. We support leaders who commit to doing this.

Mayor Peduto, thank you for your pro-community vision for our future.

Matthew Mehalik, Ph.D. Executive Director Breathe Project Energy Innovation Center 1435 Bedford Ave. Suite 140 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 412-514-5008 [email protected] breatheproject.org

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