OP-ED: How to move forward: Western Pennsylvania through the lens of sustainable development
In western Pennsylvania, oil and gas companies are everywhere.
They sponsored STEM events at my middle school. I passed several fracking pads on my drive to high school. I know many people who feel deep pride in the good these companies have done for the economy.
As an environmental studies student, I recognize that climate action needs to happen now, but as someone from Washington, I know the significance of these jobs and opportunities for many people. When I
look at what I’ve learned so far in college and what I experience in my hometown, I believe that the only path forward is one of cooperation.
Climate policy at all levels has to be built on understanding and a willingness to listen from everyone. We’ve built a culture around many industries that would be greatly impacted by sustainable development, but we need to acknowledge that cultural shifts are crucial to progress.
We hold a responsibility to the future we can’t see.
A 2018 report from the BlueGreen Alliance found that many union members in the Midwest and southwestern Pennsylvania prioritized jobs and economy as the issues that most mattered to them. They cared about climate change, but they expressed fears about climate policy reducing jobs and hurting the economy. I’ve seen this reflected in many people I’ve met – they don’t want to harm the environment, they
simply want to support their families.
Considering this, we can see where apprehension to changing these industries comes from. Oil and gas companies have been in western Pennsylvania since their inception. Losing these jobs, shifting to different technologies, is similar to the closing of domestic factories in the rise of international trade. These extractive industries are tied to our cultural identity – losing these industries, no matter the climate benefit, is a loss of culture. It brings an emotional factor to environmental policy for many of us. How can we reckon with the role these industries have played in the lives of so many Americans?
First, we have to acknowledge that a shift to green infrastructure and industries,by changing the systems that run America into ones that pollute less, won’t happen overnight. There’s no switch that will flip and instantly replace every oil field with a plot of wind turbines. Sustainable development includes creating new jobs and opportunities for people entering the workforce and providing resources for people who already work in fields that would be reduced. Economic, environmental, and social sustainability are all pillars of sustainable development. One cannot happen without the others. Economic sustainability involves developing jobs and opportunities for all people. Environmental
sustainability creates systems and technologies that don’t pollute or harm the Earth.
Social sustainability ensures that our cultures and communities aren’t lost as we move to a more sustainable future.
How we address people and their role in climate action is an often-overlooked aspect of social sustainability. A cultural shift away from blaming individuals is necessary to move climate action forward. Burning fossil fuels emits greenhouse gases, warming the globe and contributing to the record high temperatures we experienced in June and July. As individuals, we face many barriers to adopting more sustainable habits, like cost, accessibility, and practicality. Individuals did not put these barriers in place, and they are largely out of our control. If we move away from individual blame and focus on how we can use our actions to change these systems one step at a time, we will make a
more sustainable world for ourselves, our families, and our communities.
The fight against climate change shouldn’t fall on the shoulders of the consumers alone – asking individual consumers to use less will not stop climate change. Environmental policy doesn’t exist to antagonize people out of their jobs, it exists to create a better future for our children and everyone who comes after us. It’s in our hands.
Rowan Curry is a native of Washington and a sophomore at Dickinson College, where she is an environmental studies major.