RGGI is the wrong choice for Pa.
To the Times:
True to character, state Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166 of Haverford, is once again off the mark in his recent Letter to the Editor. No one is denying the importance of respecting and protecting our environment. Nor should we deny the need to grow and protect our energy, manufacturing and related industries and the good-paying jobs they create for Pennsylvania families. But the path to better protection is not through job crushing regulation (“Keep RGGI on Track,” Dec. 19) that in the end accomplishes little if any environmental benefit while putting our economy at risk.
The push by politicians like Rep. Vitali to force Pennsylvania into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) ignores some inconvenient truths. The U.S. has the largest absolute decrease in carbon dioxide emissions of any country since 2000, according to the International Energy Agency. In 2019, America again led the world with a reduction of 140 megatons.
Pennsylvania alone has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by nearly a quarter since 2005, the baseline used in the Paris Climate Agreement. The two states at the heart of the Marcellus and Utica shale natural gas industry - Pennsylvania and Ohio - have accounted for 16% of the entire country’s CO2 reductions since 2005. Our commonwealth sits upon the world’s second-largest natural gas supply, and that should translate into inexpensive electricity for the state’s residents and businesses even while continuing to embrace technology and innovation that continually improve our environment.
Just like no one can deny the need for environmental protection and sustained growth, no one can deny the importance of natural gas to our economy and energy independence, either. It’s critical to recognize that the safe and strongly regulated development and expanded use of clean natural gas to power our economy is dramatically improving air quality and public health.
Rep. Vitali also cites actions by Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp. in western Pennsylvania to embrace RGGI. The inconvenient truth there is that Ohio has been roiled by a public corruption scandal that already has brought down the speaker of the House as part of an alleged $60 million bribery and racketeering scheme. Federal authorities say it involves some of the Buckeye State’s most influential political players and its largest utility, FirstEnergy, in a legislative battle over energy subsidies for nuclear power plants. Energy Harbor is part of the spinoff off of First Energy’s fleet. RGGI may work for other states, but it’s simply the wrong choice for Pennsylvania, which is already meeting its environmental goals and driving environmental and air quality improvements that keep not only our residents but others around us healthy and safe.