At a hearing earlier today, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Quality Board ruled in favor of moving forward with Governor Wolf’s order to force Pennsylvania to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
The vote today approved the RGGI “final form rulemaking”. In a statement issued after the vote was taken, Senator Joe Pittman said that while he expected it to pass the EQB, he was still disappointed with the vote, saying that the “EQB ruling completely ignores the many serious concerns expressed by affected communities across the Commonwealth, in particular the ones that rely on the carbon-emitting generation of electricity and the various industries that support it for their economic well-being.” He also said that the ruling today dismissed the various factors detailed by the Independent Regulatory Review Committee, which asked for a delay in RGGI’s implementation to January 1st of 2023.
Pittman has said that the resulting carbon taxes from RGGI will force many coal-fired power plants to close, ruining the economy of not just his district, but many others. Supporters say that RGGI will have positive environmental impacts, including the reduction of carbon dioxide and the state would receive a $300 million windfall in the first year of implementation.
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