Climate watch: Pennsylvania likely to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
The long, twisty journey leading to Pennsylvania’s entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative appears likely to reach its destination in 2022.
The commonwealth is poised to become a member of this organization of 11 east coast states dedicated to reducing the volume of carbon dioxide pollution from electric power plants.
Climate advocates, however, can be forgiven for harboring doubts until Pennsylvania’s entry is official. They have learned too often that “almost there” is not the time to declare victory. The fossil fuel industry and its allies have battled tenaciously against Pennsylvania’s entry into RGGI. Their efforts continue.
RGGI is a “cap and trade” program requiring power plants to pay a fee for the CO2 they emit as they burn fossil fuels to make electricity. This amounts to partial removal of a massive subsidy that fossil fuel companies have always enjoyed: the “right” to dump the full cost of their waste products onto the general public.
Another term for this subsidy is “socialized soot.” And make no mistake, the cost to society of these waste products is steep in terms of health problems, environmental degradation, and climate warming.
If Pennsylvania joins RGGI, its 58 power plants will buy at auction one credit for each ton of carbon they spew into the atmosphere. The price of a credit in the carbon auction market right now is about $13 per ton. The PA Department of Environmental Protection expects RGGI to raise a minimum of $131 million in its first year through these auctions.
Participating states in RGGI use the money generated by these auctions to fund local energy efficiency projects, expand renewable energy, initiate greenhouse gas abatement efforts, and help with direct bill assistance. Virginia, for example, a state increasingly plagued by flooding, recently used $24 million in RGGI-generated revenue for flood control tasks.
Does RGGI really work? Yes. Since its inception, RGGI reports that its member states have reduced power plant carbon emissions by 50% compared to an average of 25% for non-RGGI states and raised more than $4 billion to invest in local communities.
When plants are required to pay for their emissions, renewable energy becomes a more attractive option. Participation in RGGI would cut CO2 emissions by 227 million tons annually in Pennsylvania, DEP says, and lead to health benefits: 30,000 fewer hospitalizations for respiratory issues by 2030.
RGGI’S critics say it will be a job killer. That has not been the case in other RGGI states. And economic modeling studies predict for Pennsylvania 27,000 more jobs by 2030 because of RGGI participation.
But the fossil fuel lobby here is strong. In December, both houses of the State Legislature sent to Governor Wolf a measure disapproving the governor’s resolution to join RGGI. Their argument is that it is their province — not the Governor’s — to make decisions such as this.
Governor Wolf will veto the bill. And unless the legislature can muster a two-thirds majority to overturn it, something they have never done during his administration, another hurdle to Pennsylvania’s entry into RGGI will have been surmounted.
Barring anything unforeseen, it looks like Pennsylvania will soon join Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia in their regional effort to curb the flow of CO2 pollution into the atmosphere.