Senate committee votes down Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative rule

The state Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee recently voted down a proposed regulation that would impose a tax on Pennsylvania energy producers by entering the state into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

Eleven other Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states currently are members of RGGI. The collaboration sets a cap on total carbon dioxide emissions from electric power generators. Plants must purchase a credit for each ton of emissions they emit.

The state has a substantial number of coal or natural gas power energy production facilities.

Gov. Tom Wolf directed the Department of Environmental Protection to join RGGI in October 2019. Many lawmakers have opposed the move, claiming RGGI would devastate local economies and cost thousands of jobs and that Wolf overstepped his administration’s powers. Pennsylvania would be the only state to join the compact without legislative approval.

Senate Concurrent Regulatory Review Resolution 1 disapproved Wolf’s order, and it now moves to the full Senate for consideration.

The Senate has 10 legislative or 30 calendar days, whichever is longer, to consider the resolution.

If approved, the resolution moves to the House of Representatives where it also has 10 legislative or 30 calendar days window to consider the resolution.

If Wolf vetoes the resolution, it returns to the Senate to consider overriding the veto.