A bipartisan group of 58 State House members has sent a letter urging Governor Tom Wolf and the Department of Environmental Protection to suspend their effort to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – also known as “RGGI” – citing the pandemic’s devastating effect on the economy.
The lawmakers signed on at the request of Republican Representatives Donna Oberlander and Jim Struzzi and Democrat Pam Snyder. Struzzi and his Indiana County colleagues, Republicans Jeff Pyle and Chris Dush and Democrat Joseph Petrarca all signed the letter, which contends that RGGI would “trigger the near immediate (and certainly premature) closure of every coal and many less-efficient gas plants in Pennsylvania.” Indiana County has three coal-fired power plants and one that burns waste coal. All would likely close if the RGGI rules prevail.
DEP’s modeling projects that in 2022, the first year of the new regulations, there would be an 89 percent decline in coal-fired generation.
In their letter, the legislators say that DEP has yet to contact plant owners, labor unions, and counties; that DEP’s modeling does not consider the economic fallout associated with plant closures, which will also include supply chain, contract jobs, schools and local governments; the governor’s claims of environmental benefits from the closures are wrong; and that DEP has failed to conduct any real public outreach.
READ THE LETTER FROM THE HOUSE MEMBERS TO GOVERNOR TOM WOLF: RGGI Letter
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