Lawmakers who have attempted to stop Pennsylvania’s entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) are proposing alternative measures to mitigate carbon emissions in the Keystone State.
State Representative Jim Struzzi (R-Homer City) amended the anti-RGGI legislation he introduced last year to authorize spending $250 million from Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 Response Restricted Account on carbon-dioxide-reduction technologies and related items. Funded projects would include methane abatement, hydrogen-based infrastructure, and stormwater mitigation, as well as assistance to communities weathering electric-generation plant closures.
In a statement made on Thursday, Struzzi said keeping Pennsylvania the third-largest electricity generator among the 50 states and the largest electricity exporter is a major priority for him.
“[P]reparing for Pennsylvania’s future energy is a twofold process,” Struzzi said. “It requires not only anticipating and developing technologies that will be available, but also accounting for existing energy sources that must be part of our economy. [My bill] does that.”
The main feature of his legislation as originally drafted has been to require legislative approval for the governor to enroll Pennsylvania in RGGI. The climate pact, in which 11 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states now participate, entails assigning a price to the carbon emissions discharged by fossil-fuel-based power plants, a cost that will eventually be borne by consumers in the form of higher electricity rates.
Pennsylvania is unique among states participating in the initiative insofar as Governor Tom Wolf (D) relied on his regulatory authority to join it without seeking the approval of the legislature.
Opposition to the governor’s policy has been bipartisan and Struzzi’s bill has three Democratic cosponsors: Pam Snyder (Waynesburg), Chris Sainato (New Castle) and Frank Burns (Ebensburg). Many of the Democrats who are against RGGI represent districts with local economies that are heavily dependent on coal or natural gas extraction.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly has already made a major statement against the climate pact. Last September, the state House of Representatives voted 130-70 and, in December, the state Senate voted 32-18 for a resolution requiring legislative approval to implement a new energy policy of RGGI’s magnitude.
Wolf rejected that resolution in his first veto of 2022, calling RGGI “a commonsense solution [to carbon emissions] that would have an immediate impact on Pennsylvania’s climate and public health.” Neither legislative chamber has the votes to override Wolf’s veto.
Whether Pennsylvania will finally go through with a carbon-discharge mitigation plan under the aegis of RGGI will depend significantly on who wins the race for governor this November. As Wolf is term-limited, Attorney General Josh Shapiro is seeking his seat in an all-but-uncontested Democratic primary. Former congressman and former Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta leads a crowded field of Republican candidates that also includes state Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (Bellefonte) as well as state Senators Doug Mastriano (Gettysburg) and Scott Martin (Lancaster).
While Republican opposition to the initiative has been universal, Shapiro has been noncommittal. The Democrat had a thoroughly liberal voting record on environmental issues when he served in the General Assembly, but his rhetoric has suggested he knows voters in coal-producing and natural-gas-producing areas are listening to him intently.
“Ultimately, that is a determination I will make as governor, in close consultation with workers and affected communities,” the attorney general said to the Delaware Valley Journal earlier this week.
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Bradley Vasoli is managing editor of The Pennsylvania Daily Star. Follow Brad on Twitter at @BVasoli. Email tips to [email protected].
