PRESS INFORMATION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 31, 2025
Contact: Karen Feridun, Better Path Coalition, 610-678-7726, betterpathpa@gmail.com
Sometimes, the Devil Isn’t in the Details
Statement from the Better Path Coalition on Governor Shapiro’s Lightning Plan
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Pennsylvania: Natural gas production, data centers, and fossil fuel subsidies are among the features of Governor Josh Shapiro’s energy plan that are barely distinguishable from the Trump administration’s plan.
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“Sometimes, the devil isn’t in the details. Two things are impossible to miss - the president is an unabashed climate denier and climate change is already taking a devastating toll on our planet. Supporters of Governor Shapiro’s Lightning Plan will point to what they consider to be stark differences between his plan and the president’s call to “drill, baby, drill,” but, in this unprecedented moment, the differences are irrelevant. Any plan to continue and even expand fossil fuel production in Pennsylvania is absolutely unacceptable,” said Karen Feridun, Co-founder of the Better Path Coalition.
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Much of Shapiro’s Lightning Plan is a rehash of past economic proposals and a renewed commitment of his loyalty to bad actors like CNX and trade groups that lobby for the fossil fuel industry. Conspicuously absent from his plan is an environmental justice component, a facet of his proposal that aligns with the president’s attack on equity efforts.
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“He can keep repackaging his worn out fossil fuel agenda as much as he likes, but it won’t change the facts that fracking continues to do irreparable harm to Pennsylvanians and that, increasingly, the planet is quite literally burning. He has reneged on the oath he swore to uphold Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment and on every promise he made to impacted communities as Attorney General after his Grand Jury investigation of the fracking industry,” continued Feridun. “His failure to take aggressive action to buck the federal government, put his constituents first, and transition the state from fossil fuels to renewable energy will be his legacy.”
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