{"id":31198,"date":"2025-11-11T16:42:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/31198\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T16:42:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T16:42:07","slug":"democrats-may-sacrifice-climate-program-to-break-pennsylvanias-budget-impasse-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/31198\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats may sacrifice climate program to break Pennsylvania\u2019s budget impasse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spotlight PA<\/a>\u00a0is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania.\u00a0Sign up for our free newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

HARRISBURG \u2014 Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democratic leaders are considering a budget deal that would pull Pennsylvania out of an interstate program that charges power plant operators for releasing carbon into the atmosphere, according to a source with knowledge of discussions.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers involved in talks to end the four-month budget impasse have been quiet about what is on and off the table, and the exact details of a plan that would formally end the state\u2019s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) aren\u2019t known.<\/p>\n

But environmental groups and a handful of Democratic state lawmakers were concerned enough to hold an all-hands-on-deck news conference outside Philadelphia City Hall last week to make their opposition clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of our leaders seem ready to turn their backs on clean air, climate progress, and the people they were elected to serve for nothing meaningful but a one-year budget,\u201d said Patrick McDonnell, the former secretary of Pennsylvania\u2019s environmental department who now leads the conservation group PennFuture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is time to step up,\u201d he added, \u201cnot sell out.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Sen. Nikil Saval (D., Philadelphia) said he would vote no on any budget deal that pulled Pennsylvania out of RGGI (pronounced \u201cReggie\u201d), unless it included a similar clean energy program to cap emissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would describe it as Faustian, except Faust got so much more out of his bargain with the devil,\u201d Saval told Spotlight PA.<\/p>\n

A bargaining chip<\/p>\n

Pennsylvania\u2019s entrance into RGGI has long been a sore spot in Harrisburg, pitting environmentalists against business interests and organized labor.<\/p>\n

In 2019, former Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, unilaterally\u00a0directed<\/a>\u00a0the state to enter RGGI through an executive order. However, Pennsylvania\u2019s full participation in the initiative has been blocked by ongoing litigation. The state Supreme Court heard oral arguments in May and could\u00a0rule at any time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Legislative Republicans are among those who want Pennsylvania to exit RGGI, and that opposition has largely stalled\u00a0progress<\/a>\u00a0on other renewable energy policies, including a\u00a0RGGI replacement plan<\/a>\u00a0proposed by Shapiro.<\/p>\n

RGGI has been a rumored budget bargaining chip before, though this year\u2019s impasse is the longest and most painful in recent years.<\/p>\n

The budget was due June 30. With the state unable to make billions in payments,\u00a0schools<\/a>, counties, and nonprofits have either slashed services, furloughed workers, or\u00a0gone into debt<\/a>\u00a0to continue operations. At least one school district says it will be forced to\u00a0shut down in January<\/a>\u00a0if the impasse continues.<\/p>\n

Shapiro, the Democrats who lead the state House, and the Republicans who control the state Senate have been unable to come to an agreement due to deep disagreements over state spending.<\/p>\n

However, all the major parties\u00a0returned<\/a>\u00a0to the bargaining table in person last month as the external pressure increased. The state House is scheduled to return to Harrisburg this Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Leaders on both sides of the aisle have made it clear they know a compromise on RGGI could move the needle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to finally see our friends in the House call up some of our priorities that passed this chamber in a bipartisan fashion,\u201d state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) said last month before the chamber passed a\u00a0bill<\/a>\u00a0to exit RGGI. \u201cMaybe then we can get all of this in front of us finally wrapped up.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least one top Democrat has expressed openness to such a compromise, although the exact terms matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not getting out of RGGI without taking care of our environment, period, full stop,\u201d state House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) said at a news conference last month.<\/p>\n

Shapiro has been\u00a0vocally skeptical<\/a>\u00a0of the program since he announced his run for governor in 2021. He appealed a state appellate court ruling striking down Pennsylvania\u2019s participation in RGGI to\u00a0protect executive power<\/a>, his office says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that [RGGI] was a priority of my predecessor,\u201d Shapiro said last year, adding that his \u201cpriority\u201d is passing his plan.<\/p>\n

Big business, tricky politics<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason energy policy is so complicated in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

The commonwealth is a top energy-producing state, and businesses, unions, and other special interest groups involved in the industry have\u00a0deep connections<\/a>\u00a0to top policymakers.<\/p>\n

The Keystone State is also a\u00a0top emitter of greenhouse gases<\/a>\u00a0due to the presence of gas drilling, coal mining, and industries such as power generation and steelworking that use fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

At a recent news conference, state Rep. Greg Vitali (D., Delaware), chair of the chamber\u2019s environment committee, said he believes RGGI is the only policy Pennsylvania can embrace to fight climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a reason Gov. Wolf did this through the regulatory process and not legislatively, and that reason is the political impossibility of getting good climate change regulation through \u2026 the Republican Senate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Supporters of RGGI say the economic hit would be minimal. A\u00a02023 study<\/a>\u00a0by the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy found that RGGI could raise tens of millions of dollars in revenue and significantly cut emissions while having \u201cminimal to no impact on electricity rates and overall employment in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Energy interests and free-market advocates have their own opposing research to point to.<\/p>\n

Nearly a dozen states, including many of Pennsylvania\u2019s neighbors to the east, participate in RGGI, but none have economies as linked to fossil fuels as the commonwealth\u2019s. The initiative\u2019s requirement that energy producers pay for the carbon they release could put Pennsylvania\u2019s energy companies at a competitive disadvantage, opponents say.<\/p>\n

A\u00a02018 study<\/a>\u00a0from the libertarian Cato Institute, for instance, found that 34% of \u201cenergy-intensive businesses\u201d like metal production, food processing, and chemicals manufacturing left the initiative\u2019s states.<\/p>\n

Taking Pennsylvania out of RGGI \u201creduces unnecessary financial burdens on businesses in Pennsylvania, promoting a more competitive business environment, and fostering economic growth,\u201d the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry wrote in a\u00a0memo<\/a>\u00a0to lawmakers last month.<\/p>\n

Influential trade unions whose members build and maintain fossil fuel infrastructure, like power plants, have also opposed the initiative. These unions are key political funders, particularly of Shapiro and legislative Democrats.<\/p>\n

This divide is apparent when RGGI is put to a vote. Six Democratic senators joined all Republicans to pass the bill in October to remove Pennsylvania from the program.<\/p>\n

This story was updated to clarify State Sen. Nikil Saval\u2019s position.<\/p>\n

BEFORE YOU GO\u2026\u00a0If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at\u00a0spotlightpa.org\/donate<\/a>. Spotlight PA is funded by\u00a0foundations and readers like you<\/a>\u00a0who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.<\/p>\n

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