On July 12th, I joined staff and volunteers from PennEnvironment, State College Mayor Don Hahn, and Rep. Scott Conklin for a press conference to release “Trouble in the Air“. We have to do better to improve our air quality by embracing cleaner cars, industry, & renewable energy. In Ferguson Township we are doing our part. These are my remarks.
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Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you for being here today. My name is Peter Buckland. I’m the chair of the Ferguson Township Board of Supervisors. Let me say, it’s an honor to serve my community. It’s a beautiful day to be standing here in Tudek Park, one of the region’s gems for community to come together.
Ferguson Township, along with the State College Borough, is one of two communities in the United States to have passed a Community and Environmental Bill of Rights by referendum. Just a few years ago, citizens in both of our municipalities voted that we have rights to clean air, to the peaceful enjoyment of home, to a sustainable energy future and that natural communities have rights.
PennEnvironment’s “Trouble in the Air” report on air quality shows that our elected officials and industry are failing to live up to the trust we the people have put in them. Our region had over 75 bad air days, over 35 unhealthy air days, and over 50 days with bad particulate matter. Combined, these aggravate the lives of the most vulnerable—the very young, the old, and the sick. Sadly, it also adversely impacts the very healthy. Studies have shown that the very active—and I count myself among them as a mountain biker and trail runner—also increase their risk of respiratory problems from the sheer volume of bad air they can take in. Our air quality damages the already damaged and hits people who should be rewarded for doing what’s best for them, exercising outdoors. Climate change is already worsening these problems and will do so even more as temperatures increase and concentrations of ozone rise.
What can we do about this?
In Ferguson Township, we are leading the way to do our part. Last June, our board passed a climate change resolution that puts us on the path to draw down carbon emissions to zero. We are also the only township in Pennsylvania to have signed on the #WeAreStillIn campaign, making us a leader in taking on the ambitious goals set forth by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
That action has set up the work of Dr. Brandi Robinson, here with me today, and our climate action committee who are doing the work to get us to zero. Because we are part of a cooperative governance structure, Brandi and the rest of the committee has been working with staff from our regional planning agency to take the action region wide. I want to thank Jim May who’s here with me today and his staff, especially Colleen Barrett who’s on vacation. Ferguson and the regional government buy all of our power through wind power renewable energy credits. If all goes well—keep your fingers crossed—our township will break ground in the next year on a new public works building that will be outfitted with rooftop solar that should supply more than 100% of the building’s energy.
Imagine if the rest of the country were to follow our lead. We would reduce the threat of climate change. We would create healthier communities. We would provide good-paying jobs in green building, solar and wind energy, smart transit, cleaner industry, and wise agriculture. Combined with proper enforcement of smart and protective regulation, we could really make America great. And finally, as a father standing here in this beautiful park with the Nittany and Tussey Ridges in the background and with parents of children of a similar age, this is ultimately about the health and well-being of our children.
Standing here in this beautiful park, looking at the Nittany and Tussey Ridges and surrounded by families playing and relaxing, I think we can all agree that we should protect our home. So let’s wake up to what this report is calling on us to do and do it together.
Thank you.
Peter Walks for Democracy 