The Environmental Resources and Energy committee of the state senate approved a letter to oppose Pennsylvania joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative—also known as RGGI.
Republican Senator Joe Pittman, who represents a portion of Butler County, has been an ardent opponent of the initiative saying that it would devastate the local economy.
“The Governor’s carbon tax proposal would devastate the local economy in my district,” said Senator Pittman said in a press release. “Beyond the fact that it would force the closure of coal-fired plants and eliminate jobs, the district I represent relies heavily on the production of carbon-emitting electricity to adequately fund public education.”
RGGI establishes a regional cap on the amount of carbon dioxide pollution that power plants can emit by issuing a limited number of tradable CO-2 allowances.
11 other states are a part of this initiative, but Ohio and West Virginia are not. Which Pittman has argued will render the program mute.
