Middletown First Township In Region To Approve Climate Action Plan

The Middletown Township Board of Supervisors have approved a plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions that play a big factor climate change.

The supervisors voted 4-0 to approve the Middletown Township Climate Action Plan at their meeting Monday evening.

While the plan does layout recommendations to make the township more green, it does not lock the municipal government into any new spending for implementation.

An analysis found that more than 95 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in Middletown Township come from transportation, commercial facilities, and residential buildings.

The report noted that accumulation of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere are needed to keep the planet warm. However, data has shown that emissions from human activities have continued to rise with half of all carbon dioxide emitted between 1750 and 2010 happening within the last four decades.

“With the current trajectory of population growth, urbanization, and reliance on personal vehicles, emissions will only continue to rise. Given the critical impacts of climate change on humanity, the time to act to reduce [greenhouse gas] and our carbon footprint is now,” the report stated.

Between 2021 and 2050, the township is recommended to switch police vehicles to electric, move at least half the public works fleet to electric, reduce the number of miles traveled per vehicle in Middletown Township by 30 percent, reduce use of traditional fossil fuels, grow carpooling and non-vehicle modes of transportation, increase use of public transportation, reduce municipal government energy use, and improve efficiency of water distribution and treatment.

Under current conditions, Middletown Township will see greenhouse gas emissions grow by 2050. If all the recommendations take effect and work, the township could see an 80 percent drop in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Assistant Township Manager Nick Valla, who spearheaded the effort, said an East Stroudsburg University will be brought in through a state program to assist the township with looking at implementation of some recommendations.

Benchmarks and a review of progress will be made in the coming years.

Middletown Township has already taken some steps to reduce energy use.

Valla said the township has saved $448,454 by converting streetlights to LED in 2017, added four electric vehicle charging stations, and updated the township fleet with more fuel-efficient vehicles. The LED lighting project’s savings have already paid off the cost of the change.

When the plan was first presented in August, Valla explained the 63 recommendations laid out in the plan come with benefits, including to public health, saving money and reducing risk, reducing the strain on the energy system, creating jobs, and fostering social equity.

Valla said having a plan in place will help when the township applies for grants.

The Middletown Township Climate Action Plan is the first one adopted by a township the southeastern part of the state. One borough in the region and Philadelphia have already adopted similar plans.

The plan was put together with Valla, township staff, and the Middletown Township Environmental Advisory Council working with Wilkes University Professor of Environmental Engineering Dr. Marleen Troy and her students, including one who coincidentally lives in Middletown Township, and ICLEI, an environmental consulting firm. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection supported the program, which was provided at no cost to the municipality.

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