The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is kicking off its fourth year of the Local Climate Action Program (LCAP), an initiative that provides local governments in Pennsylvania with free technical assistance and staffing to address climate change priorities and develop greenhouse gas inventories. This program uses U.S. State Energy Program funds and has reached approximately 440 municipalities across the state since its inception. For the 2022-2023 program year and onward, DEP is working in exclusive partnership with Pennsylvania State University, matching students from the university’s multiple branch campuses with local governments participating in the LCAP program. These student-local project teams will receive training from the Penn State Sustainability Institute on developing greenhouse gas inventories using ICLEI’s ClearPath inventory tool and writing local climate action plans based on climate priorities and vulnerabilities identified through community engagement. Once a local climate action plan has been presented to and approved by the local governing body, the local government participant becomes eligible for additional programs through DEP. These include the Shared Energy Manager program, where local governments can access shared energy managers (engineering and energy professionals contracted by Pennsylvania DEP) to assess and recommend publicly owned facilities for cost-effective retrofits and energy improvements, and the CAPstone program, where the local government may connect with college and university interns through the Governor’s Office of Performance through Excellence for support on project implementation. This fourth program year includes a cohort of 11 cities and counties, representing 62 municipalities. For a press release on the launch of the LCAP 2022-2023 program year, please click here.