As the world convened in Pittsburgh recently for the Global Clean Energy Action Forum, much was made of plans to turn western Pennsylvania into a “hydrogen hub,” an idea endorsed and promoted by politicians from both parties and the gas industry under the banner of “Team PA.”

The problem is that hydrogen does not naturally exist in its elemental form, but rather only in compounds like plain old water. Hydrogen must first be isolated from these compounds to be usable as a source of energy storage to generate heat — and therein lies the problem. Isolating hydrogen is an extremely energy-intensive process, one that is usually fueled by fossil fuels.

Of course, this means further industrial havoc will be wrought on western Pennsylvania. With oil and gas giants like Shell and EQT endorsing the plan, this region will face a devastating second wave of the fracking assault that has already caused devastation for nearly two decades. While hydrogen itself may be a clean source of energy, producing only water vapor when burned, the means by which it is produced must factor in to any evaluation of its sustainability.

Western Pennsylvania cannot continue to be part of the climate problem. Between Shell’s ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, continuing fracking and coal mining, and now this proposed “blue hydrogen” hub, we are heading down the wrong road. Let future generations look back at us and say we made the right choice.

“In wildness is the preservation of the world.” - Henry David Thoreau

Sam Hoszwa, Butler Township