Pittsburgh Tapped To Host Meeting Of World's Energy Ministers
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP/KDKA) — Energy ministers from around the world will gather in Pittsburgh next year, the U.S. Department of Energy said Thursday, as nations meet to collaborate on ways to advance clean energy and fight climate change.
The 31 nations involved in the three-day Clean Energy Ministerial and the ministerial for Mission Innovation next Sept. 21-23 in Pittsburgh emit the lion's share of the world's greenhouse gases.
The meetings "represent an opportunity to lock in climate commitments through big bets on innovation that empower an energy transition by 2050 — averting the worst effects of climate change and supercharging economic opportunities for the global workforce," Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.
The Pittsburgh area is still home to some of the steel mills that built it, but it also is a hub for natural gas production, as well as robotics, energy research and self-driving cars.
"Pittsburgh is the city that built America, rooted proudly in our tradition of hard work and innovation," Mayor Bill Peduto said in a press release.
"Through our partnership with regional leaders in the Marshall Plan for Middle America, we recognize that our economies in Upper Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley cannot depend on fossil fuels, but we already have the infrastructure in the companies, workforce and research and development to lead the future of sustainable energy rather than getting left behind."
Granholm said Pittsburgh "exemplifies how a legacy energy and industrial-dependent economy can be transformed into a technology and innovation powerhouse."
The last two meetings were held virtually, this year's hosted by Chile and last year's hosted by Saudi Arabia.
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