Pennsylvania’s top environmental official said the state’s pending entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) need not sacrifice jobs for air quality, as critics of the program assume it would.
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“This is not air quality versus jobs,” Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell said. “How do we make sure we are creating opportunities so that no community is dependent on any one industry?”
McDonnell’s comments came in response to concerns from members of the House Appropriations Committee over Gov. Tom Wolf’s executive order directing the agency to develop rules for joining RGGI, a cap and trade regional program that charges power producers for the pollution they emit. The proceeds from the program return to the state for economic investment – providing an opportunity, McDonnell said, to create new jobs.
“Improvements to public transportation, installing energy efficient windows, insulation, or appliances, or building out alternative fuel vehicle infrastructure are just a few examples of how these revenues could be used,” he said.
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Wolf’s executive order follows the implementation of aggressive clean energy targets announced last year, including a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 26 percent by 2025. Pennsylvania also became the 24th state to join the U.S. Climate Alliance – a group formed in 2017 after President Donald Trump withdrew the nation from the Paris Agreement.
Critics of RGGI argue that it will cripple the state’s economy, force fossil fuel plants into early retirement and drive up electricity prices. Pennsylvania is the number two producer of natural gas in the nation and the top power exporter in the region – making it very different, economically, from the other RGGI participants.
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The Legislature’s Republican majorities also question the governor’s authority to join RGGI without their blessing.
“The way it was undertaken, under executive order, is a nightmare,” Rep. Jim Struzzi, R-Indiana, said. “The people in my district are afraid. They are worried about their jobs. … If RGGI is implemented, the power plants will close and move to other states.”
Struzzi sponsored House Bill 2025 in November that would freeze the governor’s plan to join RGGI without the support of the General Assembly. The majority of the 10 states currently participating in the program joined with legislative approval.
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“To be blunt, I share a lot of those same concerns that you laid out,” McDonnell said. “If we do nothing, we have modeling that shows plant after plant after plant in the coal sector closing over time.”
McDonnell said joining RGGI secures Pennsylvania “a seat at the table” as investors and major corporations make commitments to reduce carbon emissions and support like-minded businesses.
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“What gets lost from the conversation is we’ve seen a movement of our electricity infrastructure from the western part of the state to the northeastern part,” he said. “So how do we manage what’s left behind?”
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