This article was written in response to Pennsylvania's house and senate attempting to pass legislation that would only allow the state to join RGGI with their approval. RGGI is a cap and trade program with 11 New England and Mid-Atlantic States as members.
In October of 2019, Governor Tom Wolf signed an executive order instructing the state's Department of Environmental Protection to start drafting resolutions to join RGGI. During their investigation, the DEP estimated that joining RGGI in 2022 could curb carbon emissions by 25.5% by 2030. Pennsylvania accounts for 1% of worldwide emissions.
The program has allowed states to bring in revenue, as it has done for New Jersey. The program has brought the garden state more than $139 million. The DEP estimates it could bring the commonwealth 30,000 jobs and $2 billion dollars by 2030.
The article then goes on to detail the legislation Pennsylvania state senate has passed in an attempt to prevent the state from joining the program. Passed on June 14th, the bill was advertised as requiring legislative approval for imposing a carbon tax. Although RGGI doesn't impose a carbon tax, the bill still requries legislative approval to join the program. A similar bill made it through both chambers in 2020, but was vetoed by Governor Wolf.
Paul Gough, "Pennsylvania House Committee Moves RGGI Bill Closer to Full Vote", contributed by Andrew Rosenthal, The Energy Rights Project, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 14 July 2021, accessed 25 April 2024. https://energyrights.info/content/pennsylvania-house-committee-moves-rggi-bill-closer-full-vote-1
Critical Commentary
This article was written in response to Pennsylvania's house and senate attempting to pass legislation that would only allow the state to join RGGI with their approval. RGGI is a cap and trade program with 11 New England and Mid-Atlantic States as members.
In October of 2019, Governor Tom Wolf signed an executive order instructing the state's Department of Environmental Protection to start drafting resolutions to join RGGI. During their investigation, the DEP estimated that joining RGGI in 2022 could curb carbon emissions by 25.5% by 2030. Pennsylvania accounts for 1% of worldwide emissions.
The program has allowed states to bring in revenue, as it has done for New Jersey. The program has brought the garden state more than $139 million. The DEP estimates it could bring the commonwealth 30,000 jobs and $2 billion dollars by 2030.
The article then goes on to detail the legislation Pennsylvania state senate has passed in an attempt to prevent the state from joining the program. Passed on June 14th, the bill was advertised as requiring legislative approval for imposing a carbon tax. Although RGGI doesn't impose a carbon tax, the bill still requries legislative approval to join the program. A similar bill made it through both chambers in 2020, but was vetoed by Governor Wolf.