Organization: Clean Air Council
Mission: Clean Air Council is a publicly supported environmental organization serving Pennsylvania and Delaware. It is dedicated to protecting and defending everyones right to breathe clean air.
Activities: 4a) Outdoor Air Quality Education: Clean Air Council maintained its program to address the air quality and environmental impacts from Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction, processing, and infrastructure. It spearheaded community visioning around what to do with the recently shuttered Sunoco/PES oil refinery site in Southwest Philadelphia and successfully pushed its successor not to reopen as a refinery again. It organized against Elcon Recyclings proposed hazardous waste burner in Southern Bucks County, which ultimately had its application rejected. The Council also placed a network of citizen air monitors in parts of North and Northeast Philadelphia and replicated this program across the state of Delaware. In Pittsburgh the Council educated, trained, and coordinated community groups to take action on major sources of air pollution in their neighborhood, including US Steel facilities.
4b) - Transportation Education: The Council continued to promote use of its GoPhillyGo regional multi-modal carless trip-planning website and boasted 50,000 individual users since the start of 2015. It oversaw the start of construction of the Cobbs Creek Connector multiuse trail in Southwest Philadelphia. Clean Air Council encouraged Philadelphia employees to commute sustainably to work through its Mobility Alternatives Program (MAP). Its Feet First Philly program advocated for pedestrian improvements in Philadelphia. Lastly, its 2019 Cycle September competition saw over 80 organizations and 600 individuals involved in biking during the month, preventing 19,000 pounds of CO2 from being emitted.
4c) Global Warming Education: Clean Air Councils effort to introduce a cap-and-trade greenhouse gas emissions rule in Pennsylvania succeeded when the state agreed to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The Council now is working to extend this cap-and-trade program to cover not only the power sector, but also the transportation sector. The Council also pushed for stronger methane leakage standards from new sources of oil and gas pollution.
NTEE category: Environment
Secondary category: Animal-Related