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How can Kamala Harris appeal to climate voters in Pennsylvania? | StateImpact Pennsylvania

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How can Kamala Harris appeal to climate voters in Pennsylvania? | StateImpact Pennsylvania


  • Julie Grant/The Allegheny Front

How can Kamala Harris appeal to climate voters in Pennsylvania? | StateImpact Pennsylvania

Jeremy Long / WITF

Karen Feridun, co-founder of the Better Path Coalition, left, and Greg Schwedock, head of product and technology
of Climate Clock, unveil the climate clock that will sit at the capitol for the rest of the legislative session. The clock was unveiling at a Pennsylvania Climate Convergence press conference in the East Wing of the Capitol complex on Monday, June 13, 2022

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When it comes to action on climate change, likely Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has a strong record compared with Republican Donald Trump. But that doesn’t mean people who see climate as a top issue will necessarily vote for Harris.

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On the campaign trail, former president Trump has painted Vice President Harris as an extreme liberal and has repeated her 2019 comment that if elected, she would ban fracking.

Of course, that hasn’t happened, and Harris has said in recent days that she will not ban fracking.

In fact, the Biden administration oversaw record-breaking oil and gas production because of fracking.

“They’re taking two steps forward and one step back when it comes to…solving climate change,” said Ned Ketyer, a retired Pittsburgh-area pediatrician, who is now president of the board of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, which is concerned about the health impacts of fracking on frontline communities.

Some environmental leaders have said they are ecstatic with Harris’s candidacy because of her strong record on climate and clean energy efforts.

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Under the Biden-Harris leadership, the country has made big investments in climate action. “You have really important things like the Inflation Reduction Act and the [Bipartisan] Infrastructure bill,” Ketyer said.

Those laws have provided the nation’s largest-ever investments in climate action, providing billions of dollars for everything from clean-running school buses and offshore wind to updates to the nation’s electric grid. All of this is meant to shift the country away from fossil fuels.

But at the same time, Ketyer is disappointed that the administration has supported the oil and gas industry.

“You’ve got approval of drilling in Alaska, which isn’t a good idea from a climate standpoint, and new gas pipelines through the mountains and valleys of Virginia,” he said.

But while Ketyer doesn’t think Harris’ record on climate and clean energy is perfect, “The alternative is like 10 steps back, and the contrast is so real and so obvious to me,” he said.

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Ketyer cites the right-wing Project 2025, which promotes fossil fuels. While Trump has not endorsed it, according to reports, he did ask oil executives to donate $1 billion to his campaign and promised to reverse President Biden’s environmental rules that hamper their industry. During his previous term, Trump rolled back nearly 100 environmental regulations.

Campaigning on climate

While climate change is not a top issue for the electorate as a whole, it could still help the Harris campaign in Pennsylvania, according to Parrish Bergquist, who is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, focused on climate, energy and environmental policy.

She said Harris could tout the clean energy projects that have been funded in Pennsylvania through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“Talking about those, I think, would be politically beneficial. Rather than talking about banning fracking, talking about building a new [clean energy] industry in communities that are suffering,” Bergquist said.

Harris could also have an educational role to play when it comes to helping people understand climate change as more than just a niche issue, Bergquist said. “So that it… feels like an economic issue, and a family issue, and a lifestyle issue, and…an issue that matters right now.”

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Caring about climate but not voting

For people already focused on solving the climate crisis, the election is not Democrats versus Republicans. “They’re largely deciding not between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,” said Nathaniel Stinnett, “but between Kamala Harris or staying home on the couch.”

Stinnett leads the Environmental Voter Project, a non-profit that is strategically targeting people who prioritize climate change in Allegheny County and around Philadelphia, along with people in 18 other states, and encouraging them to vote.

He points out that the 2020 election was decided by only 80,555 votes in Pennsylvania. His group has identified 350,000 people in the state, the majority of them young people, who rank climate change as one of their top issues, but who might not vote at all.

Stinnett encourages the Harris campaign or any campaign that wants to take advantage of that to connect caring about the climate with voting.

“You want them to think that even more than biking to work or eating less meat, voting is how they can express themselves as environmentalists,” Stinnett said.

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Harris faces criticism from some climate hawks, who fault the administration for compromising with fossil fuel interests to get the climate laws passed. Stinnett thinks she should face this head-on.

“I would suggest to any politician that you can describe what happened in the past in an honest way, which was a victory built on a compromise,” he said. “But moving forward, you need to describe how you’re going to continue getting more climate victories.”

A young climate voter calls for bold action

Elise Silvestri, age 19, is currently a sophomore at New York University, but she became active in the Sunrise Movement, a youth climate and political group when she was in high school in Pittsburgh.

Her friends were not motivated to vote when the matchup was Biden versus Trump.

“But I think Harris being the new nominee is definitely exciting people a little bit more,” she said.

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The national Sunrise Movement has not endorsed Harris.

As a Pennsylvania resident, Silvestri understands why Harris might back away from a fracking ban. There’s political liability in the job losses it could cause. Still, Silvestri worries about the pollution from fracking. She wants Harris to revive her 2019 comment, that’s gotten her so much criticism from Trump, that she would ban it.

“As a young person, what I want is not her to be scared and try to cater to other people, but present a bold vision of a just transition,” she said.

Silvestri thinks that’s the kind of move that would get climate-conscious young people to the polls in November.

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Pennsylvania

How the Lehigh Valley helped Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation economy grow to $19B

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How the Lehigh Valley helped Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation economy grow to B


Forget elves: Patrick Brogan and his team at ArtsQuest are the reason some of country singer/songwriter Megan Moroney’s fans will awake on Christmas to find tickets waiting for them to her show July 31 in Bethlehem.

Planning the lineup featuring headliners like Moroney at ArtsQuest’s Musikfest each summer, plus other draws like its Levitt Pavilion outdoor concert series, is a year-round activity.

“We put out offers for the following year’s Musikfest before that year’s Musikfest even takes place,” said Brogan, chief programming officer for the nonprofit ArtsQuest. “By the Fourth of July I have offers out for the following year’s Musikfest already and we’re in active conversations.”

Nationally, festivals, sporting events and concerts are a big business, contributing $21.8 billion in 2023 toward an outdoor recreation economy that rose 9% to $639.5 billion compared to 2022, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Venues like Musikfest helped push ArtsQuest’s contribution to the regional economy to $132.7 million in 2023, based on Americans for the Arts funding formulas. And those summer nights shows are part of Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation industry that contributed nearly $19 billion to the state’s economy in 2023, up 10% from 2022.

The Keystone State boasts the eighth-largest outdoor recreation economy in the country.

The value of outdoor recreation added made up 2.3% of the gross domestic product for the United States in 2023, in current dollars, and 1.9% of Pennsylvania’s GDP. It generates employment totaling 168,322 jobs in Pennsylvania in 2023, or 2.7% of the statewide workforce, and compensation totaling $8.7 billion, for 1.7% of payroll. Across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, outdoor recreation employment increased in 49 states and the District of Columbia in 2023, topped by 7.5% growth in Alaska; only Indiana saw a drop in outdoor recreation employment, of 4.8%, the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis says.

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The Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, puts out its outdoor recreation economy report each fall. Nationally, the outdoor economy is outpacing other economic growth, the statistics show: Adjusted for inflation, the GDP for the outdoor recreation economy increased 3.6% in 2023, compared with a 2.9% increase for the overall U.S. economy.

What goes into the outdoor recreation economy?

It encompasses core outdoor recreation activities like bicycling; boating and recreation; climbing, hiking and tent camping; equestrian; hunting, shooting and trapping; motorcycling and ATVing; recreational flying; RVing; skiing, snowboarding and other snow activities (including snowmobiling); and apparel and accessories. Also included are outdoor recreation industries like amusement parks and water parks; festivals, sporting events and concerts; field sports; game areas (includes golfing and tennis); guided tours and travel; and productive activities such as gardening, plus support for outdoor recreation under headings that include construction; local trips and travel; food and beverages; lodging; shopping and souvenirs; transportation and government spending.

In the Lehigh Valley, outdoor recreation helps to drive the regional, state and national economy 12 months a year.

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“Tickets make great gifts,” ArtsQuest’s Brogan said, with the Musikfest 2025 headliners announced before Christmas 2024 that also include Riley Green, The Avett Brothers, Darius Rucker, Nelly and Jordan Davis.

Patrick Brogan, chief programming officer for Bethlehem-based ArtsQuest, says planning shows and booking acts for summer concerts like those at Musikfest is a year-round activity.Courtesy ArtsQuest

Regionally, it contributes to a GDP that grew to a record $55.7 billion in 2023, led by manufacturing, according to a December report from the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.

Blue Mountain Resort outside Palmerton, for example, employs around 1,200 people during its peak season in winter when it offers 40 ski trails, five terrain parks, 16 lifts and up to 46 tubing lanes on the north face of the Kittatinny Ridge boasting the highest vertical drop — 1,082 feet — of any Pennsylvania ski area. In the warmer months, Blue Mountain has diversified to offer camping, a bike park and adventure park, along with dining options like the Slopeside Pub & Grill that is open year-round and sports panoramic views of the Pocono Mountains.

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in South Whitehall Township is part of an amusement and water parks industry worth $515 million in Pennsylvania and over $19 billion nationally. It’s closed to the public for the winter, but not dormant. Management in December announced winter maintenance season was in full swing, with ride inspections for Dorney Park signature attractions like Iron Menace, Steel Force and more; facility upgrades that include refreshing guest services, dining areas, pathways and restrooms; and other enhancements, such as the removal of two aging slide structures and the reimagining of several guest areas at Wildwater Kingdom.

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Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation economy

Musik Express at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in South Whitehall Township is stripped for inspections and cleaning during fall 2024 as part of off-season maintenance.Courtesy Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom

The growth in Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation economy comes as the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is launching its Elevate campaign. Announced during an event in October in Easton, the idea is to work with the businesses that make up Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation industry to help them grow even more.

“My administration is committed to supporting and growing the outdoor recreation industry, which strengthens local economies, creates jobs, and enhances the quality of life for Pennsylvanians and visitors alike,” Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a news release on the federal economic data released in November. “By investing in outdoor recreation, we’re not just creating economic opportunity but also celebrating the natural beauty that makes Pennsylvania so unique. We will continue working to make the Commonwealth a national leader, where millions of visitors and residents can go to spend time outside with the people they love.”

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.



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Small plane makes emergency landing on Pennsylvania highway

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Small plane makes emergency landing on Pennsylvania highway


BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) – A small plane made an emergency landing on a Pennsylvania highway on Sunday. According to the Chippewa Township Volunteer Fire Department, the single-seat aircraft landed on I-376 after the pilot realized they would not make it back to the Beaver County Airport. The plane avoided high-tension power lines and found […]



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Former Pennsylvania cop accused of sexually assaulting students while working at high school

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Former Pennsylvania cop accused of sexually assaulting students while working at high school


KDKA-TV Evening Forecast (12/23)

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KDKA-TV Evening Forecast (12/23)

03:40

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A former police officer and school resource officer in Lackawanna County has been accused of sexually abusing five students. 

In a news release, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said Stephen J. Carroll has been charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, official oppression, institutional sexual assault and other offenses. 

Officials said the 49-year-old Carroll was formerly a school resource officer at West Scranton High School and an officer with the Scranton Police Department. The attorney general’s office said the abuse happened over five years at his home and West Scranton High. The alleged sex crimes date back to 2009 and recent interviews and evidence led to the charges last week, authorities said. 

“This public servant took an oath to protect his community and was specifically assigned to look out for the well being of students — instead he used his position of authority to groom and sexually assault multiple teenagers,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said in the news release.

The Scranton Times-Tribune reported that Carroll is accused of multiple crimes, including sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old and sending graphic text messages, from 2009 to 2017. The newspaper reported, citing the criminal complaint, that four of the five victims were under 18 years old. 

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He was last employed by the Scranton Police Department in 2022 and has not been with the high school as a resource officer since 2018, The Times-Tribune reported. 

“The safety and well-being of our children and students are our highest priority, and any violation of that trust is both deeply disturbing and unacceptable,” Pennsylvania State Police Captain James Cuttitta said in the news release. “We are committed to ensuring that justice is served.”

Carroll’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3, 2025.  

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