A bipartisan group of 58 members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently sent a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) urging them to suspend regulatory efforts to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Wolf had signed an executive order directing DEP to conduct robust public outreach with energy producers, energy suppliers, organized labor, the business community, and environmental groups to develop RGGI regulation. DEP has not contacted businesses and communities impacted by RGGI, and public rallies and meetings have been banned because of the pandemic.
DEP has conducted virtual meetings with its advisory committees, but during last week’s meeting, DEP prohibited public comment.
The letter cited DEP’s RGGI modeling data that relies on assumptions made before the COVID-19 pandemic and does not consider economic hardship associated with plant closures. The modeling also states that carbon dioxide emissions in 2030 will be comparable with or without Pennsylvania joining RGGI.
If Wolf rescinds the RGGI order, it will “remove a significant point of disagreement between your administration and the General Assembly in the months ahead and, instead, will enable all of us to focus our time and efforts toward overcoming the devastating impacts from COVID-19 to the Pennsylvania economy,” the letter said.