ALLENTOWN (TNS) — Pennsylvania took a big step Tuesday toward addressing climate change.

The state Environmental Quality Board approved regulations to charge coal and natural gas-fueled power plants for their carbon dioxide emissions, through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

The program has a track record of reducing carbon dioxide emissions in other states. That will be good for our health, for our climate and, in the long run, for our economy.

There wasn’t universal support. Four of the 19 members of the state board voted against the plan. They argued it would cost jobs at power plants, raise the price of electricity and result in Pennsylvania losing control over an important part of its economy.

That’s just fear mongering.

As I said in a previous column, there will be costs to joining the program. But there are also great costs to doing nothing to address climate change.

And the critics, including a few GOP lawmakers on the board, have offered no solutions of their own.

The Pennsylvania Legislature, under control of the Republican Party, has ignored the problem despite plenty of evidence about the damage it has caused, and will cause in the future.

Studies show Pennsylvania has been getting warmer and wetter, and that the trend will continue and hurt our health, environment and some parts of the economy.

Since legislators don’t care enough to do something, Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, moved to enroll Pennsylvania in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative through an executive order.

GOP lawmakers are quick to point to public opinion polls when it’s favorable for them. Well, the public overwhelmingly supports taking action to reduce global warming.

Seventy-two percent of Pennsylvanians supported regulating carbon dioxide, according to a 2019 Yale Climate National Survey. And the majority of the more than 14,000 people who submitted public comments on the proposal to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative were in favor.

The plan next will be considered by the state regulatory review commission.

Pennsylvania would be the 12th state to join the initiative. It’s a group of Northeast and mid-Atlantic states that works collectively to reduce carbon emissions.

The program requires power plants that run on fossil fuels to buy a credit for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit. The states auction the credits but set a cap on the amount of them.

That reduces pollution in two ways. It encourages plants to become cleaner. And the states reduce the amount of credits available over time, therefore limiting the amount of pollutants that can legally be emitted.

Plants can trade or sell their credits. The money collected by states is used for programs to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy and other climate-related efforts.

How Pennsylvania would spend its share remains to be determined.

Legislation is pending to distribute about half the money to assist workers who lose jobs as power plants reduce staff or close. Grants are proposed for energy-related projects and workforce development, and for communities whose health and economies have been hurt the most by pollution.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Department of Environmental Protection staff said the health benefits of joining the program include fewer respiratory illnesses; fewer work and school days lost to illness; fewer hospitalizations; and fewer premature deaths.

Economically, there would be short-term hits with job losses and higher electric bills. Over time, the DEP projects, those losses would be turned to gains, with lower electric bills and a net increase of 30,000 jobs by 2030.

Wolf wants Pennsylvania to join the regional program by next year. But don’t expect critics to go quietly.

The GOP Legislature is working on legislation to block it. That’s a waste of time, as Wolf vetoed similar legislation last year.

Don’t be surprised if lawmakers or others sue to try to stop it, but lawmakers would be better off focusing their energy on addressing climate change.

Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Lycoming, was one of the Environmental Quality Board members who voted Tuesday against the regulations.

He acknowledged “climate change is here” but said the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative “is a superficial stab” at addressing it.

“We need to step back and if we’re going to do something, we need to have a bigger plan,” Yaw said.

The Legislature has had plenty of time to come up with a plan. It has shown no interest.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is a significant step to build on.

(Paul Muschick is a columnist for The Morning Call of Allentown.)