While State Representative Jim Struzzi’s bill concerning the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is due for a vote today, a similar bill introduced by Senator Joe Pittman was approved in a partisan vote by the State House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee on Monday.
Pittman’s bill, Senate Bill 119, would require that the state legislature would have a say in whether or not the state would join RGGI. Pittman and other Republicans have been vocal opponents to RGGI, saying that it would not only force the closure of several coal-fired power plants, but the actions taken to implement it in Pennsylvania have cut out the legislative branch of the government and the checks and balances that go with it. Democrats are against the bill. Representative Greg Vitali said that RGGI’s implementation would be the most important thing the state could do to address climate change this year, and said that anyone who opposed didn’t acknowledge the seriousness of climate change and did not offer a solution to the problem.
The bill passed, 16-9, with all but one of the minority members of the committee voting against the bill.
Struzzi’s bill is similar to Pittman’s in the fact that it too would require the legislature to approve implementing RGGI, but it also includes amendments to call for significant investment in alternative carbon reduction measures, sewer and water infrastructure mitigation projects, and over $62 million to assist workers and communities impacted by the closure of power plants.
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