A bill requiring legislative approval before Pennsylvania can join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is on its way to the state Senate.
The state House of Representatives on July 8 voted 130-71 in favor of House Bill 2025, a proposal from Representative Jim Struzzi, a Republican, that would require any proposal to join RGGI make its way through the General Assembly as a piece of legislation. Struzzi said the bill would ensure that Pennsylvanians received a chance to have a say in whether to join the multi-state program aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
"We are the voice of the people of Pennsylvania and currently in this process, the voice of the people of Pennsylvania is not being heard," Struzzi said in remarks urging other lawmakers to support the bill.
According to Struzzi, Governor Tom Wolf's October 2019 executive order directing the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to draft a rulemaking that would enable Pennsylvania to join RGGI incorrectly bypassed the General Assembly. Struzzi is one of several lawmakers worried about whether the cap-and-trade program could hurt the state's economy.
A similar bill is already under consideration in the Senate. That proposal, Senate Bill 950 from Senator Joe Pittman, a Republican, is currently with the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.
A representative for Wolf did not respond to a request for comment on whether the governor would veto the bill. Wolf vetoed legislation in May that could have slowed the state's efforts to join RGGI and put in place other environmental regulations.
Under the October 2019 executive order, as amended by the governor in June, the DEP has until September 15 to propose to the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board a rule allowing the state to take part in RGGI. The proposal would go through a public comment process and, should the state decide to proceed, Pennsylvania would join RGGI in 2022.
Currently, 10 states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont — participate in the program. Most of the CO2 allowances issued by participating states are allocated through quarterly auctions, with each individual state deciding how to use its auction proceeds.
Virginia will begin taking part in RGGI auctions on Jan. 1, 2021.
Mandy Warner, director of climate and clean air policy at the Environmental Defense Fund, called on the state Senate to reject the "obstructionist" bill, asserting it does not offer the same opportunity for the state's energy and climate future as Wolf's plan to join RGGI.
"RGGI will catalyze economic development through investments in infrastructure, renewable energy and energy efficiency that will prove especially meaningful to low-income communities where consumers could save money on electric bills," Warner said in a statement.
The same day the House voted on the measure, the DEP issued a statement in which it said joining the regional pact would bring Pennsylvania health and economic benefits. The DEP previously said it expects the state to see a significant cut in greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector over the next decade if it joins in RGGI.
In the statement, the DEP said participating in RGGI would result in a net increase of more than 27,000 jobs and add $1.9 billion to the Gross State Product. Further, participation would cut sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides pollution, bringing more than $6 billion worth of health benefits through 2030, it said. The analysis will be part of a regulatory document to be published in August showing the costs and benefits of the RGGI rule, DEP spokesman Neil Shader said.
