MEDIA STATEMENT

Coalition praises today’s dissenting vote against Governor Wolf’s proposed carbon tax plan

Harrisburg, PA (May 19, 2020) − Members of the Power PA Jobs Alliance applauded the decision by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Citizens Advisory Council (CAC) to not support Governor Tom Wolf’s proposal to join the Northeast Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The CAC vote was three (3) yes, nine (9) no and one (1) abstention.

The news comes after another devastating vote by the governor-appointed Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee on May 7th. That committee also failed to generate the necessary votes to make a formal recommendation for Wolf’s proposed RGGI plan.

Pennsylvania’s inclusion in RGGI would result in a carbon tax on air emissions from fossil fueled power plants, which are some of the most reliable and efficient providers of energy in the Commonwealth. This tax would lead to the closure of several of these power plants, resulting in the direct elimination of thousands of family-sustaining jobs, loss of crucial tax revenue for schools and communities and increases in the cost of electricity for all the Commonwealth’s energy consumers.

Within the past few weeks, many members of the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives have sent Governor Wolf letters urging his administration to suspend Pennsylvania's regulatory efforts to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) which has lacked a formal and open public participation process or any form of legislative concurrence.