Pennsylvania is one step closer to joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) after a key agency on Wednesday approved regulations for the carbon budget trading program that would limit emissions from the state’s power sector.
In a 3-2 party-line vote, the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) approved the 84-page program presented by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) providing provisions for the state to enter RGGI. The state’s Environmental Quality Board (EQB) voted 15-4 in July to back the rules. (See PA Backs Final Rule for RGGI Entrance.)
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General now has 30 days to review the legality of the IRRC’s regulations, while the General Assembly has been adopting resolutions to oppose the regulations. (See Pa. Senate Committee Disapproves of RGGI Entry Again.)
IRRC Chair George Bedwick issued the deciding vote to approve the regulations, saying he understood whatever decision the commission would make will receive criticism. Bedwick said each commissioner is meant to be independent in their thinking and their vote on issues.
“What I hope we can all agree on is that we have made every effort to approach the issue with an open mind, and we have in fact conducted this proceeding in an open and fair manner in permitting as much testimony as people wanted to provide us with,” Bedwick said.
The chairman said he was persuaded that Pennsylvania’s Air Pollution Control Act granted the DEP to issue the rulemaking, saying the law provided “broad” authority to adopt rules and regulations to prevent, control and reduce air pollution and to establish fees supporting air pollution controls. He said he examined the intent of the legislation when it was first passed in the 1960s. “Viewing the broad scope of the delegation, I tend to believe they wanted to regulate whatever in the future was determined to be a pollutant.”
Commissioner Murray Ufberg, who also voted in favor, said he was influenced by the “specificity of the analysis” conducted by the DEP. Ufberg said he is concerned about the air quality in Pennsylvania and the amount of CO2 generated by the state, saying he was “shocked” when he learned the totals.
Ufberg said it’s “apparent” that more efforts need to be done to mitigate air pollution in Pennsylvania, and the new regulations would go toward cleaning the environment. He said his decision was also influenced by his childhood growing up in a coal community in the state, saying he has seen the “resiliency” of people in those towns who are willing to do what they need for their families, including retraining in new industries.
“I must be optimistic, as we all should be, that alternative energy opportunities will offset and hopefully greatly exceed the adversity of those losses,” Ufberg said. “Without hope, we’re all in big trouble.”
Vice Chair John Mizner voted against the regulations, saying the issue before the commission was not the need to protect the environment, but the manner in which action is taken. Mizner said the process of drafting the regulations was “flawed,” partially because of COVID-19 pandemic protocols that limited in-person hearings on the regulations.
He also said cited a lack of engagement by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration with the General Assembly over the regulations and argued that the impact of the policy on the state warranted legislative review.
“The regulatory process should be a collaborative process,” Mizner said. “I don’t believe for this regulation that there’s been sufficient access to the process that I think such a regulation deserves.”
In-person Comments
Dozens of legislators, environmental and economic advisers, trade unions and interested community members made comments to the commission for nearly six hours Wednesday before its vote, laying out both the pros and cons of the program.
Sen. Carolyn Comitta (D), minority chair of the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said the natural resources of Pennsylvania are the “common property of all the people, including generations yet to come.” Joining RGGI is a step to ensure the environment is secure, she said.
Sen. Joe Pittman (R), vice chair of the committee and one of the most outspoken legislators opposing RGGI, said the rule was “very personal and very emotional” because of the impact it will have on his constituents. Pittman said more than 6,000 MW of carbon-emitting electricity is generated in his district, and that energy is set to disappear by entering RGGI.
Pittman said the intent of the rule is to tax the emitting of carbon from power plants and redistribute the money for other purposes, a power that only lies with the legislature. He also said Pennsylvania will be the only state in RGGI to enter the compact without the approval of the legislature.
Pittman said he attempted many times to engage the Wolf administration on the impacts of the program on the communities of his constituents after the governor signed his executive order, but he received no response. (See Pennsylvania Governor Signs RGGI Executive Order.)
“From where I sit as an elected member of the Pennsylvania Senate, I can assure you I do not see a weighted benefit versus the enormous costs the constituents I represent will bear,” Pittman said.
One of the most impassioned speakers against the rulemaking was Rep. Pam Snyder (D), who represents parts of western Pennsylvania. Snyder said in her home of Green County, the coal industry makes up four of its top five employers.
Snyder called RGGI an “unfair tax on the fossil fuel industry” that will not impact the effects of climate change on the state. She said RGGI will “artificially and prematurely” shut down coal-fired power plants in the state, impacting energy generation.
“Make no mistake about it, Pennsylvania’s energy grid is not prepared to operate without coal,” Snyder said. “When it’s 100 degrees and air conditioners are running 24/7, it’s coal that gets called upon to supply the energy needed.”
Outside Responses
Following the commission’s vote, Mark Szybist, senior attorney for the Climate and Clean Energy Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said it represented the “most important climate action that Pennsylvania has taken in more than a decade.” Szybist said the DEP will now have the ability to move forward with integrating the state into RGGI, but he warned about “hurdles from bad apples” in the legislature.
“Pennsylvanians don’t want their legislators to tie RGGI up with red tape but instead demand an equitable clean energy economy that will bring shared prosperity,” Szybist said.
Analysts from ClearView Energy Partners said Pennsylvania is now poised to be the largest RGGI member state by electric sector CO2 emissions, generation and consumption. The analysts said Pennsylvania’s entrance into RGGI “could further push the clearing price for emissions allowances in RGGI above their record highs.”
ClearView also said several risks still exist for Pennsylvania’s RGGI entrance, including the passage of a bill that would invalidate the DEP’s rulemaking (SB 119), potential legal challenges and the term limit of Gov. Wolf, who will leave office in January 2023.
“If a GOP candidate succeeds him, a new Republican governor would almost surely oppose participation in RGGI and would be more inclined to sign legislation undoing the rule,” ClearView said.
