Environmental groups and elected officials aligned with their climate goals say a deal is in the works in Harrisburg that would scrap the state\u2019s entrance into a major greenhouse gas initiative in return for a budget deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re in Harrisburg, this is the only thing people are talking about,\u201d said Anthony Campisi, a spokesperson for Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n
As a result, a group of four environmental nonprofits rallied with local state legislators and City Council members Thursday at City Hall in support of Pennsylvania joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an effort by 12 northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states to reduce carbon dioxide. <\/p>\n
Under RGGI, power plants buy allowances for emissions they produce, which are then sold at auctions with proceeds going to states. New Jersey, for example, gets up to $80 million annually from the auctions. However, an effort that began under former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to join RGGI has been blocked by repeated maneuverings and legal actions by Republicans<\/a> in Harrisburg.<\/p>\n The matter has been before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for two years. It is believed any decision had been stalled until at least the election this week as voters decided whether to retain three of the justices \u2014 Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht<\/a>. All three retained their seats and kept the court\u2019s liberal majority.<\/p>\n \u2018Damaging environmental reversal\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re here because Pennsylvania\u2019s leaders, both in the governor\u2019s office and in the legislature, are on the brink of trading away our best chance to cut pollution and lower energy costs,\u201d Patrick McDonnell, president and CEO of nonprofit climate group PennFuture, said during the rally. \u201cThe move advancing through the budget process to abrogate the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, would be the most damaging environmental reversal this commonwealth has seen in decades.\u201d<\/p>\n McDonnell, a former Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection secretary, accused legislators and state leaders of turning their backs on clean air and climate progress. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been told by House members, by leadership, that it is an active negotiation,\u201d said State Rep. Greg Vitali (D., Delaware), chair of the Pennsylvania House Environmental and Natural Resource Protection Committee. \u201cI know it for a fact.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro<\/a> could not be reached immediately for comment. Shapiro and legislative caucuses are at a monthslong budget impasse after failing to reach an agreement June 30, when the previous state spending plan expired. Since then, the state has operated without a deal, causing a host of issues for entities that received state funds, including SEPTA<\/a> and Pennsylvania school districts.<\/p>\n Councilmember Jamie Gauthier<\/a>, chair of City Council\u2019s Committee on the Environment, said she attended the rally to reaffirm the importance of RGGI.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing is more make-or-break for our future than climate change,\u201d Gauthier said. \u201cTen of our neighboring states are already part of RGGI. They recognize that what\u2019s good for our planet is also good for our people and taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n State Sen. Nikil Saval, a Philadelphia Democrat, said RGGI would help reduce harmful fossil fuel emissions and address other issues.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a city where our children have asthma at a rate more than three times the national average and a commonwealth in which a quarter of all residents struggle to pay their energy bills, we must use every tool available to us to ameliorate these struggles,\u201d he said. \u201cRGGI is available to us right now as a tool to invest in our workers, our schools, our homes, and the health of our climate.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning from New Jersey<\/p>\n RGGI was launched in 2005 as a cooperative effort among New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont. <\/p>\n New Jersey\u2019s former Gov. Chris Christie<\/a>, a Republican, pulled the state from RGGI. But it rejoined in 2020 under Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy<\/a>. The state has earned $1 billion<\/a> from quarterly carbon auctions over the years, with proceeds earmarked for climate change and clean energy programs.<\/p>\n However, RGGI has been a hard political sell in Pennsylvania, the nation\u2019s second-largest natural gas producer<\/a>, after Texas. It is also the third-largest coal-producing state, after Wyoming and West Virginia.<\/p>\n That makes it much more difficult to gain support for RGGI in parts of the state where jobs are tied to fossil fuel production. <\/p>\n