Global Warming Solutions News Releases

News Release | PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

Obama Administration Finalizes Historic Clean Cars Standards

Today the Obama administration finalized new clean car standards that will double the fuel efficiency of today’s vehicles by 2025, drastically reducing emissions of carbon pollution and cutting oil use in Pennsylvania and nationwide.  A recent joint analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Union of Concerned Scientists projects that by 2030 in Pennsylvania alone, the standards will cut carbon pollution from vehicles by 8.4 million metric tons—the equivalent of the annual pollution of 1,285, of today’s vehicles—and save 720 million gallons of fuel. 

News Release | PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

New Report: Extreme Downpours and Snowstorms Up 52% Percent in Pennsylvania

Ten months after Tropical Storm Lee led to record flooding that devastated the Susquehanna Valley, a new PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center report confirms that extreme rainstorms and snowstorms are happening 52 percent more frequently in Pennsylvania since 1948. Based on an analysis of state data from the National Climatic Data Center, the new report found that heavy downpours or snowstorms that used to happen once every 12 months on average in the state now happen every 7.9 months on average.  Moreover, the biggest storms are getting bigger.  The largest annual storms in Pennsylvania now produce 23 percent more precipitation, on average, than they did 65 years ago.

News Release | PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

New Report Shows Electric Vehicles Ready to Roll in Pennsylvania

With the right policies in place, plug-in vehicles can reduce oil dependence in Pennsylvania by 3,729,012 gallons per year, according to a new report released today by PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center.

News Release | PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

Clean Cars Triple Win Would Save Pennsylvanians $2.3 billion this Summer

As Pennsylvanians get ready for summer road trips, a PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center report finds that cleaner, more fuel efficient cars would significantly slash oil consumption and global warming pollution across the state. The report, Summer on the Road: Going Farther on a Gallon of Gas, was released as the Obama administration is on the verge of finalizing fuel efficiency and global warming pollution standards for cars and light trucks that achieve a 54.5 mpg standard by 2025.

News Release | PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

Obama Administration to Protect Americans’ Health by Setting Carbon Pollution Standards for New Power Plants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed historic new limits on carbon pollution from new power plants.  Carbon pollution fuels global warming, which leads to poor air quality that triggers asthma attacks and other respiratory problems. 

News Release | PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

9 out of 10 Pennsylvanians Live in Areas Hit by Recent Weather Disasters

After a year that saw many parts of hit by severe storms and record flooding, a new PennEnvironment report documents how global warming could lead to certain extreme weather events becoming even more common or more severe in the future.   The report found that, already, more than 9 out of 10 Pennsylvanians live in counties affected by federally declared weather-related disasters since 2006.

News Release | PennEnvironment

Citizens Voice Support for Clean Cars at Philadelphia Hearing

More than one hundred citizens, including doctors, experts, religious leaders, elected officials, and small business owners turned out to voice their support for cleaner cars at a federal public hearing in Philadelphia today. The hearing, one of three being held nationally, was hosted by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Transportation to gauge public opinion on new clean car standards being proposed for new vehicles sold from 2017-2025.

News Release | PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

New Report: Clean Cars Would Cut Oil Use, Save Pennsylvanians $9.26 Million on Thanksgiving Travel

As Pennsylvanians embark on one of the busiest travel holidays of the year, and just days after the Obama administration proposed new fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks, a new PennEnvironment report finds that more fuel efficient cars would make significant cuts in oil use and save Pennsylvanians roughly $9.26 million at the gas pump this Thanksgiving alone.

News Release | PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

New report shows how to transition Pennsylvania off oil

A comprehensive strategy to get off oil can reduce oil dependence in Pennsylvania by 1.8 billion gallons, four times more oil than we could get by expanding offshore drilling throughout the entire Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, according to a new report released today by PennEnvironment.