Mr. Fitzgerald: OVER thanks you for your June 17, 2021 response to the community petition (http://tinyurl.com/mlfitz2).
Despite our disagreements, we were happy to find that we also have some common goals.
• We’re glad you want to help people use less single-use plastic.
• We agree that "permanent" plastics will be needed for the foreseeable future.
• We agree that the ACHD should be supported and strengthened so it can reduce air pollution.
• Like you, we worry about climate change, for ourselves and for our children.
• Like you, we don’t want to turn off fossil fuels tomorrow: “cold-turkey” is just an industry talking point. We want to aggressively ramp up renewable energy generation, and use it to replace fossil power production.
• We’re glad you support the Biden climate plan: America needs to gather the political will to make it actually happen.
• We agree that the world needs a chemical industry. But a petro-chemical industry will soon conflict with the need to reach a zero carbon footprint. The problem is as much the "petro" as the "chemical".
• We commend you for the County's sustainability initiatives; they are great! But, the elephant in the room is the Shell petrochemical plant, and the improvements you’ve made inside Allegheny County are small potatoes compared to the giant carbon footprint that Shell is creating.
Good, But Not Far Enough.
On the economic front, you accuse we petitioners of ignoring the large investment that Shell has made in the region ($7 billion of construction salaries and investments). We plead guilty. First, because we prefer to look forward, rather than backwards. And, as we see it, Shell is coming to the end of its investment phase, and is ready to exploit its investment.
And, second because we’ve seen studies that show that the side effects of fracking outweigh the financial benefits. While there are easily visible benefits to some people, and there are even larger health, climate, and economic costs, some of which haven’t even happened yet, and are less obviously visible. People and good jobs move away when an area is too polluted. We feel obligated to emphasize the costs because otherwise nobody may notice them until it’s too late.
Up to now, the Shell cracker plant has seemed to be a good neighbor. It employs 6000 construction workers and pays them good union wages; and it generates no pollution because it hasn't been turned on yet. That seems ideal. But, in about a year, the construction will be done, and things will change. From our viewpoint and yours, that plant will change from an asset to a liability.
Once construction is complete, nearly all of the construction workers will be laid off. The permanent staff will be one tenth the size of the construction crew. Less money will flow into the region, and local businesses in the area will soon feel a pinch. And don’t expect increased tax revenue to smooth the pain, because the Commonwealth has already waived most taxes on that plant.
And, then Shell will turn the plant on, and we'll have to deal with the resulting pollution. We're sure you know the basic numbers: 2 million tons of carbon dioxide, 500 tons of volatile organics every year, et cetera. It will be one of the largest polluters in the region.
The plant will require 2.5 million tons of ethane gas as feedstock every year. To get that ethane, someone will need to frack about 26 million tons of natural gas per year. But our natural gas infrastructure leaks at least 2% of fracked gas: almost a million tons hisses out into our air every year. As a result, the network of wells that is needed to feed the plant puts far more volatile organic pollution into our air than the plant does directly. This indirect pollution is measured in thousands of tons of VOCs per year, and is not accounted for in the EPA’s and DEP’s official estimates of the environmental impact of the plant.
The infrastructure also leaks methane, which – given its high global warming potential – doubles the plant’s contribution to the climate crisis. Overall, this single plastics plant will match Pittsburgh in terms of pollution, and there may well be several more petrochemical plants built in our region. Our area will be having an impact on a global scale, and not in a good direction.
From where we stand, this plant feels very much like a bait and switch operation: money now, pain later. So, if you come out against it soon, you’ll be prescient, because that Shell plant is going to be much less popular in 2024.
Or, consider speaking out against the next petrochemical plant. That’ll be a bait-and-switch operation too, but it’ll have less time to operate and generate revenue before the inevitable fossil-fuel ramp-down cuts off its feedstock. Ramping down fracking is an essential part of the Biden Climate Plan (or any science-based climate plan), but it will be hard to ramp fracking down if there’s a cluster of big petrochemical plants demanding to be fed.
Father’s day is a good time to think about the future, and the legacy we leave for our children. Climate change is the issue that defines our future and our children’s future. Jobs come and go, but carbon dioxide lasts (nearly) forever in the atmosphere.
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