Climate Action for Environmental Justice Communities
The DEP Energy Programs Office created the Climate Action for Environmental Justice Communities Program to support and carry out strategic actions to help Pennsylvania’s Environmental Justice communities adapt to climate change while striving to lower greenhouse gas emissions, with measures that reduce risk and capitalize on potential opportunities to strengthen local economies.
Pennsylvania’s climate is heating up, bringing warmer, wetter conditions overall and more frequent storms, floods, and heatwaves. While climate change impacts are happening around the state, historic and persisting socioeconomic inequities mean that some Pennsylvanians are more vulnerable to climate impacts because of where they live, the type of home they live in, their income level and degree of mobility, and other factors.
Pennsylvanians who live in
Environmental Justice communities in particular are disproportionately exposed to climate hazards, such as flooding and heatwaves. At the same time, they have limited access to tools to adapt to impacts and transition to cleaner energy to slow down climate change. As the climate continues to heat up, this vulnerability will deepen, unless action is taken.
Weigh In: Climate Action for Environmental Justice Communities, April 2023
Along with local partners, the DEP Energy Programs Office and its contractor,
Preservation Design Partnership, are hosting open-discussion meetings with leaders and residents of Environmental Justice communities around the state. The purpose is to listen to and discuss communities’ climate adaptation needs, and learn what state government and others can do to enable Pennsylvania’s Environmental Justices communities to become more sustainable and resilient in the face of climate change.
Join the Discussion in Person or Virtually
Meetings will consist of a brief primer on the scope and purpose of the project and how to find more information for all participants, followed by a facilitated discussion on climate strategies for in-person attendees. DEP invites you to attend the one nearest to you, or virtually attend any meeting that fits your schedule via Microsoft Teams Live:
Share Your Views in an Online Survey
If you can’t make an in-person meeting, or want to provide more detailed input, visit the
Climate Action for Environmental Justice Communities StoryMap to take one or more surveys to share your views on the climate challenges your community is experiencing and how DEP can better meet the climate adaptation needs of Pennsylvanians in under-resourced areas. Surveys will remain open through the end of April.
Questions and information requests can be sent to:
ra-epclimate@pa.gov.
Coming Soon:
Guide to Climate Action for Environmental Justice Communities
The DEP Energy Programs Office will incorporate community feedback from the open discussions and surveys in developing a
Guide to Climate Action for Environmental Justice Communities.
The guide will inform DEP’s statewide climate action planning to ensure that greenhouse gas reduction strategies produce meaningful health, welfare, and community benefits for Environmental Justice communities and prioritize state and federal funding to ensure assistance is available where it is needed most.
The guide may also inform the work of other state and local leaders to prioritize the needs of Pennsylvania’s Environmental Justice communities in climate action.
DEP anticipates releasing the
Guide to Climate Action for Environmental Justice Communities in summer 2023.