A PA Senator is questioning the impartiality of a consulting firm hired to do climate modeling for the state Department of Environmental Protection, saying that there is a question when that firm supports Pennsylvania joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, better known as RGGI.
Virginia based ICF International performed an analysis on the impact the RGGI program would have on air quality as the agency is trying to join the program in 2022. But reports say that the company appeared as a signatory on several letters that encouraged both the Citizens Advisory Council and the Environmental Quality Board to support RGGI. They also appeared as a signatory on letters that would denounce House Bill 2025, authored by State Representative Jim Struzzi, that would require the general assembly to approve joining the program before regulators move forward with the plan.
In a letter to DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell earlier this month, Senator Yaw requested a “top-down reboot of the RGGI idea”, saying that ICF International’s involvement raised serious questions on ethics and transparency. ICF reportedly told the PA Environmental Digest Blog that the company had no prior knowledge of the letters nor gave permission to be listed as a signatory.
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