To celebrate Earth Day, Rabb calls for support of 100% renewable energy in PA by 2050, urges Pennsylvanians to contact their legislators

HARRISBURG, April 20 – To celebrate Earth Day on April 22, state Rep. Chris Rabb has called for support of his legislation to transition Pennsylvania to 100% renewable energy by 2050. 

“Earth Day was founded in 1970 to bring awareness to environmental issues, and I could not think of a better way to truly honor the day than to take action to literally save our environment and our planet,” said Rabb, D-Phila. “Earth Day has long been a day when people plant trees, collect litter or take other small steps to help our planet. That action is a beautiful and important thing because we must all act to save our very existence.  

“But the Pennsylvania legislature has the power this Earth Day to take a huge step in helping our planet – a huge step in what will be a journey to save humanity from climate change – by working to enact my legislation and get our commonwealth to 100% renewable energy by 2050,” Rabb continued. “So, while you’re creating your action plan for how you celebrate this Earth Day, consider calling or emailing Pennsylvania legislators to urge them to enact my legislation, which I’m calling Go 100% Pennsylvania.” 

Pennsylvania residents can use this website to find their legislator. A list of members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is here, and a list of senators is here

Rabb, known for his climate activism and for regularly authoring and promoting progressive policies, believes that the people in Pennsylvania can help move this legislation forward if they lend their voices to the cause. He has seen it happen before, like when police accountability legislation that he in part authored was enacted in the summer of 2020. 

“The power rests with the people,” Rabb said, repeating a phrase he uses often. 

The issue of climate change will ultimately affect every person on our planet, as we are all interconnected, Rabb said. But he also pointed to research about the ways in which pollution has disproportionately affected Black people. 

“A recent Washington Post article cited a 2017 study by the Clean Air Task Force which showed that Black people are nearly four times as likely to die from exposure to pollution than white people,” Rabb said. “We know that poor people, disenfranchised people are often silenced. If the need to care about your planet isn’t motivating enough, care about your fellow humans and the ways in which our climate crisis is hurting them. Those who are able to speak out must amplify the voices of the people who would otherwise go unheard and use your privilege to save us all.” 

As a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, I acknowledge this commonwealth exists on the tribal lands of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Munsee, Shawnee and Susquehannock.