The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative took center stage in Harrisburg yesterday, as the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to require legislative approval to join the state to RGGI, and Democrats introduced bills in both chambers to distribute the funds they say RGGI would generate. Meanwhile, Governor Tom Wolf was talking about helping the people whose jobs would be eliminated by what he calls the “energy transition.”
By a 35-15 margin, the Senate passed Senator Joe Pittman’s bill, which would not only require legislative approval for RGGI, but would also require the Department of Environmental Protection to publish the regulations in the PA Bulletin and provide a 180-day public comment period, plus a minimum of four public hearings in locations directly affected by RGGI.
On the floor of the Senate, Pittman said Wolf is trying to cut the legislature out of the RGGI process.
Pittman says Pennsylvania’s union workers at its coal-fired power plants are watching their jobs get shipped out of state.
Pittman told his Senate colleagues that RGGI will destroy the jobs of thousands of people, and won’t fix the pollution the governor claims it will.
Wolf also commented on RGGI yesterday, claiming that labor and business groups support RGGI and that the state will take care of workers whose jobs will be lost. Wolf said workers whose coal-fired plants have closed in other states did not get the help he promises to those who will lose their jobs in Pennsylvania.
The Senate bill that passed yesterday had the support of six Democrats, which would make it veto-proof unless those Democrats change their votes. Wolf vetoed the identical legislation last year.
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