Gov. Tom Wolf on Jan. 8 signed Executive Order 2019-01, which is aimed at reducing carbon emissions, a leading contributor to climate change. The order also establishes the GreenGov Council to boost green and sustainable practices in state government.

“In the absence of leadership from the federal government, states and cities are stepping up and doing their part to reduce emissions,” Wolf said. “Today I am proud to declare the commonwealth's intention to address climate change, the most critical environmental threat facing the world.”

Under the executive order, Pennsylvania will work to achieve a 26 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050, from a baseline of 2005 levels.

The GreenGov Council has been asked to work with all state agencies to reduce energy use in state government and improve the energy efficiency of state buildings and vehicles. It is intended to be the central coordinating body to implement the executive order, and spur state agencies to reduce overall energy consumption by 3 percent per year, and 21 percent by 2025, as compared to 2017 levels.

The executive order also calls for one-quarter of the state passenger car fleet to be replaced with electric and hybrid vehicles by 2015, and use renewable energy sources for 40 percent of all government electricity use.

“Commonwealth agencies can continue to demonstrate their commitment to both environmental and fiscal stewardship by implementing best practices to reduce energy and resource consumption, improve energy efficiency, realize cost savings, and protect the environment,” Wolf said.

The executive order calls on three cabinet members—the secretaries of the Departments of General Services, Environmental Protection, and Conservation and Natural Resources—to co-chair the council.

The executive order, the first signed by Wolf in 2019, was announced at an event marking Pittsburgh city government efforts to mitigate climate change.