Oct 24: Air quality town hall

 Air Quality Town Hall #8:

The Race to the Bottom –
Another Fossil Fuel Threat to Greater Pittsburgh

While the world is moving to combat global warming, Pittsburgh is doubling down on a 150-year commitment to heavy manufacturing driven by fossil fuels when the new massive Shell ethylene cracker plant starts to produce millions of tons of plastic in Beaver County.

Our Commonwealth approved a $1.7 billion subsidy to attract Shell, money that we will pay in taxes. And then those jobs for workers from our region? They are proving to be a mirage.

When Shell was asked at a local meeting how many of the first 200 jobs at the plastics plant were going to be filled by locals, the company said they did not know. More recently, pressured to answer this question, Shell said that of the 400-600 permanent jobs at the plant, 40-75% were going to locals, a ridiculously imprecise range.

It is clear that this plant will never be an economic game changer for the region.

Remember the definition of a “shell game?” It’s a game involving sleight of hand, in which three inverted cups are moved about, and contestants must spot which is the one with a pea or other object underneath. The pea is never where you think it is.  

We will highlight Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC) and its Eyes on Shell initiative. Imagine the threats of round-the-clock production, thousands of rail cars servicing the plant, and increased fracking to feed this monster. Learn what BCMAC is doing to combat those threats, and ways that you can join with them to carry some of that burden.

6 p.m., on Zoom;  register here for this session.