Snyder votes to end Pennsylvania鈥檚 involvement in RGGI
State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, voted Dec. 15 in favor of a concurrent resolution to disapprove the Environmental Quality Board regulation regarding the CO2 budget trading program known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
RGGI is a multi-state partnership that creates a cap on the amount of energy that power plants can generate. To show compliance with the cap, power plants must pay a tax for each ton of CO2 they emit.
The House voted Dec. 15 in a bipartisan manner to adopt Senate Concurrent Regulatory Review No. 1, which has already been adopted by the Pennsylvania Senate.
In a release issued by her office, Snyder said by adopting this resolution the General Assembly sent a clear message to the Wolf administration it is against joining RGGI.
鈥淩GGI is nothing but an unfair tax on the fossil fuel industry that will devastate the communities I represent,鈥� she said in the release. 鈥淩GGI will artificially and prematurely shut down coal-fired power plants across Pennsylvania, the same ones that light our lamps and heat our homes.
鈥淲e鈥檝e heard that RGGI will generate millions of dollars, but the DEP recently acknowledged that RGGI revenue projections have been reduced from $300 million to as little as $127 million,鈥� she continued. 鈥淭here are no plans how to spend the money or how much state will even get from it. I believe in climate change, but RGGI has nothing to do with climate change. In fact, RGGI will stifle the growth of the natural gas industry, which has already led the charge in reducing Pennsylvania鈥檚 carbon emissions by 40%.鈥�
Snyder said she believes RGGI is a job killer.
鈥淔orcing the closure of more power plants is setting up these communities 鈥� my communities 鈥� for failure and devastation,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f Pennsylvania remains a member of RGGI, my district will lose hundreds of jobs to our neighboring states. By voting in favor of adopting SCRRR1, I鈥檓 standing up for my constituents, my neighbors and my district.鈥�