The region’s Republican legislators are praising a Commonwealth Court ruling that stalls Gov. Tom Wolf’s enrollment of Pennsylvania in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Representatives Marty Causer, R-Turtlepoint, and Mike Armanini, R-DuBois, praised the Court’s order.
On social media, Causer wrote, “Good news for PA energy coming out of Commonwealth Court. Late (Tuesday), the court issued an order putting a stop to the Wolf administration’s efforts to enroll the Commonwealth in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), pending further review. Specifically, the administration must postpone its plans to publish final regulations in the PA Bulletin this weekend.
“Participation in RGGI would lead to a drop in energy jobs and production at a time we need them the most, as well as a significant increase in consumer electric bills at a time we can afford it the least. The battle against RGGI and for home-grown PA energy continues.”
In speaking to The Era Wednesday, Causer said he believes that Wolf’s strategy is misguided and exceeds his authority.
“What it does is create a carbon tax,” the legislator said. “If one was going to be created, only the legislature should be doing that.”
The reality is, participating in RGGI will mean higher electricity bills for everyone at a time when rural residents can least afford it.
“We should be focused on creating more energy production, not stifling energy production,” Causer said. “It’s exactly the wrong direction to be going in.”
He added that the legislature has been doing all it can to stop this, and that the matter is now in litigation. “This isn’t over yet. It’s too important of an issue. We need to be focused on domestic production. We’ve got so many opportunities here in Pennsylvania.”
On Wednesday, he held a Coffee and Conversation session for residents of Emporium. One of the biggest concerns was energy costs.
“Policies like this just cause energy costs to go up,” Causer said, “and that’s the wrong direction.”
Past legislative efforts that would have required enrollment in RGGI to be taken up in the House and Senate passed with bipartisan support but were vetoed by Wolf. Last week, House Bill 637, the Energy Sustainability and Investment Act, passed with votes from both sides of the aisle. In addition to again requiring RGGI to face a vote by the General Assembly, the legislation would have called for further exploration and diversification of Pennsylvania’s future energy needs while protecting jobs and acknowledging current sources of energy.
“Pennsylvania does not need RGGI for so many reasons,” Armanini added. “It will cost us jobs through the closing of energy-producing facilities and drive up taxpayers’ electric bills. RGGI also threatens the benefits we derive from our status as the country’s third-largest state when it comes to electricity generation production and largest exporter of electricity.”
