Officials with the state Department of Environmental Protection have provided an update on the state’s efforts to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, better known as RGGI.
Hayley Brook, the senior advisor on Energy and Climate with the DEP, says that they are preparing a draft regulation to the 20-member independent Environmental Quality Board, which will be presented to it at its meeting on September 15th meeting. If it is adopted, it will become a proposed regulation and a public comment period would start with hearings held across the state. Brook said that there is still a long way to go before Pennsylvania can join RGGI.
DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell called RGGI an important part of the state’s efforts to combat climate change.
Of course, RGGI has two opponents in Indiana County. State Representative Jim Struzzi and State Senator Joe Pittman have both voiced their opposition to the initiative, saying it would essentially close four coal-fired power plants in the county. Pittman has sent letters to Governor Wolf for him to come to the area to talk to people about how the state will replace the lost jobs, rehabilitate the shuttered plants, and replace lost revenue to local government and school districts.
Struzzi said that he was happy that House Bill 2025 passed with bipartisan support. The bill would authorize the DEP to conduct a public comment process and submit to the general assembly a measure or action concerning RGGI. Struzzi said that the legislative branch has been cut out of the process.
Struzzi also said that groups that have gone against the RGGI idea say it will not have as much of an impact on the environment as expected.
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