In Harrisburg, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee yesterday passed Representative Jim Struzzi’s resolution opposing Governor Tom Wolf’s plan to have Pennsylvania join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (also known as RGGI).
Reiterating his stance on how the RGGI regulations would devastate the Indiana County economy and the state overall, Struzzi said if Wolf’s plan goes through, “we will quickly see thousands of family-sustaining jobs lost…due to the closure of coal-fired electric generating units and older natural gas plants.” He said joining RGGI is a major energy and fiscal policy decision that “can only be initiated by the General Assembly.”
Pennsylvania would become the 11th state to join RGGI, which is the nation’s first mandatory cap-and-trade program. Opponents characterize it as a “carbon tax” which would quickly drive coal-fired power plants out of business and make Pennsylvania a buyer of energy rather than a seller, and drive up energy prices.
The Department of Environmental Protection opened its public comment period for the governor’s plan on November 7th. On Indiana In the Morning on WCCS yesterday, county commissioner Mike Keith said Indiana County will have a public response to the RGGI proposal.
In September, Governor Wolf vetoed Struzzi’s bill that would have required legislative approval for the state to join RGGI. If adopted by the full House, the resolution approved yesterday would be sent to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission as the House’s formal disapproval of Wolf’s plan.
