Pennsylvania's Climate Change Action Plan is now available for public review and comment. Your comments can make a real difference for Pennsylvania's wildlife, forests and waters - and the planet. Please take some time to get informed – and make your views known! It's easy to do – review the document and e-mail your comments.

Working with members of the Climate Change Advisory Committee (including The Nature Conservancy's Pennsylvania Chapter), the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has prepared the State's Climate Change Action Plan, which includes 52 specific recommendations for reducing the Commonwealth's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The plan sets a goal of reducing GHG emissions by 30% below 2000 levels by the year 2020, and it contains measures addressing electricity generation, energy efficiency in homes and offices, industrial practices, waste management, land use, agricultural operations, management of forest lands, and transportation systems.

Pennsylvania is responsible for 1% of the planet’s man-made greenhouse emissions and 4% of the U.S. contribution. The Climate Change Action Plan identifies a diverse set of strategies for reducing the Commonwealth's contribution to climate change while creating opportunities for economic growth. If implemented, the recommendations in the report could reduce Pennsylvania's GHG emissions by more than a third, while creating jobs and adding to the Commonwealth's gross State product.

Please click here to visit DEP's website and take a moment to review this document.

Among the many important measures in the document are the following:

• A commitment to helping Pennsylvania's wildlife and human communities adapt to the impacts of climate change (Executive Summary, page 11).
• Energy efficiency recommendations for residential and commercial buildings (Chapter 5, pages 68-82).
• Strategies for using forests and farms to help trap carbon and to provide renewable sources of energy (Chapters 9 and 10, pages 110-129), such as conserving forest lands, improving the management of forests, urban tree planting, sustainable use of woody biomass for community-scaled thermal energy projects, and increased use of regenerative farming practices.
• Provisions emphasizing the importance of protecting ecological health and sustainability when developing alternative forms of fuel and energy from farms and forests (Chapters 9 and 10, page 116 and page 128).
• Recommendations for more energy and fuel efficient approaches to land use and transportation (Chapter 6, pages 83-93).

Letting DEP know what you think about the Climate Change Action Plan is important, and it's also easy – but time is running short. The deadline for comments on the plan is November 9, 2009. DEP will accept comments submitted by mail or by e-mail.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Dave Spier (Dense forest view of Kings Gap); Photo © Dave Spier (View of lush fern understory and mossy banks along the creek bed in Kings Gap).