Climate Change in Pennsylvania

A new report from the Science & Public Policy Institute (SPPI) focuses solely on climate trends in the Pennsylvania. The report highlights climate trends unique to the state – from temperatures, crop yields, to diseases – which reveals that most changes are either non-anthropogenic or negligible.

The report concludes that the cost of mitigating anthropogenic climate change in Pennsylvania is counterproductive.  For instance, if PA somehow magically ceased all carbon dioxide emissions today, its  output would be replaced in a mere 4 months from other countries. Curbing emissions on the margin would be even less effective.

Yet it’s still under proposal with federal cap-and-trade legislation.   The Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) found that the cost of such a scheme for Pennsylvanian households would be between $1,018 and $3299 annually by 2020; and only increasing in subsequent years.

Clearly this is imprudent policy for Pennsylvanians, which explains why over 1500 Pennsylvanian scientists and over 9000 Pennsylvanian PhDs have petitioned the U.S. government to reconsider the UN’s science and policy implications. 

Slow Down – Let’s not rush into precipitous policies driven by sensationalist science.