What Philadelphia can learn from Harrisburg on funding environmental protections

Lawmakers in Harrisburg recently passed a new state budget that shows their counterparts in Philadelphia what a real rescue plan looks like for our residents and our natural environment.

The budget includes almost $900 million for clean water, natural infrastructure, parks, energy efficiency, and so much more to help Pennsylvanians achieve a cleaner, greener future. This historic investment in our environment was made possible by the state’s willingness to spend a significant portion of funding provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) passed by Congress in 2021. It’s a stark contrast to Philadelphia’s approach to its own available ARPA funding.

The final budget passed by City Council and signed by Mayor Jim Kenney in June continued the mayor’s cautious approach to investing in Philadelphia’s myriad of challenges. The 2023 fiscal year will see Philadelphia spend only $335 million in ARPA funding, leaving more than $800 million to be spent prior to the end of 2024.

While this approach may be fiscally prudent, and the money invested this year will help the city continue to maintain service levels and fund critical anti-violence initiatives, it belies the deep structural problems impacting Philadelphians. Spreading investments thinly over many years won’t meet the city’s needs — it’s like trying to fix leaky faucets in a burning building. There are pressing needs to address right now, and Philadelphia’s city government should approach those needs with the same urgency that was demonstrated in Harrisburg.

“Spreading investments thinly over many years won’t meet the city’s needs — it’s like trying to fix leaky faucets in a burning building.”

State lawmakers allocated $540 million to reduce pollution in Pennsylvania’s waters, which comes shortly after a recent report that indicated that one-third of our waters are polluted, and that number has only increased over time. This funding will help limit pollution from farming, abandoned mines, and stormwater runoff on Pennsylvania’s rivers, creeks, and streams. An additional $100 million will be provided to build, improve, and protect our forests and parks.

And though Philadelphia does stand to gain from these newly available funds, it could be doing so much more. Its own remaining ARPA funding would allow the city to combine its resources with state funding or allocate dollars to programs and initiatives that may not receive funding from the state.

The remaining $800 million could fund efforts within the Philadelphia Water Department to build on the work of its Green City, Clean Waters program and revitalize the city’s water infrastructure to more rapidly improve water quality and help residents avoid the effects of increased flooding.

This money could build on additional funding provided to PowerCorpsPHL so that it can continue to carry out its mission of hiring those in need of a job to help build and maintain green spaces around the city in neighborhoods that need them the most.

Finally, ARPA funding could help us act on the vision of the Philly Tree Plan to protect the canopy we have and plant trees in the areas that are most in need to provide relief from severe heat, air pollution, and increased rainfall.

PennFuture has written previously about city government’s apparent disinterest in federal funding to update and rebuild our aging water infrastructure, so it should come with little surprise that local officials wouldn’t view ARPA funding as a way to tackle the very real challenges the city faces, such as achieving a sustainable economy or helping its residents become more resilient to a climate that continues to grow more hostile and unstable.

It isn’t often that government provides truly impactful funding to tackle these issues. The federal government did so in 2021 with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Pennsylvania’s state government has done so through the 2023 state budget. Now, it is Philadelphia’s time to do so through its remaining ARPA funding.

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Philadelphia must do more to lead in the effort to protect our natural environment — especially at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court has sought to limit the role of the Environmental Protection Agency in regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and additional investment in climate from Congress has been stymied by fossil fuel supporters.

Lawmakers in Harrisburg have demonstrated how to lead on the environment using ARPA money. Philadelphia’s elected leaders should mobilize to do the same.

Adam M. Nagel is a campaign manager for PennFuture, an environmental advocacy organization with five offices across Pennsylvania. He writes from Philadelphia.