Metcalfe Blasts PA Auditor General Over Climate Change Report

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA - State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe sharply criticized a new report from Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale asserting that climate change impacts are costing state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Metcalfe, who chairs the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, accused DePasquale of "partisan pandering for (Gov. Tom Wolf's) delusional climate change policy proposals." He also asserted that DePasquale, who is running for Congress, issued the report primarily to further his congressional candidacy.

“Other than poorly peddling the same unsettled Chicken Little fear-mongering regarding ‘man-made’ climate change, the only remotely tangible information that can be gleaned from the auditor general’s special report is his intentionally unconcealed ambitions for higher
political office," Metcalfe said in a statement.

Issued Wednesday, DePasqaule's report contended that state government needs to do more to mitigate the future impacts of climate change.

“My team and I documented at least $261 million in climate-related costs to Pennsylvania in 2018 alone in this report,” DePasquale said in a statement. “Half of that amount, $125.7 million, was in infrastructure damage statewide caused by record-breaking floods and landslides.”

The report identified other projected costs of climate change, including:

• Millions of dollars to equip public school buildings with air conditioning because of increased heat waves.
• Changes in growing zones and seasons, plus increasing numbers and varieties of pests, that will impact food availability and costs.
• A rise in sea levels that will impact major shipping and transportation hubs, including Philadelphia International Airport.

To see the full report, click on the link.