Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will haunt Pa.
Pennsylvania is an energy powerhouse. We are the nation’s No. 3 energy producer, No. 3 coal producer and the No. 2 natural gas provider.
Not only do we meet our own energy needs, but we also meet the needs of other states who depend on us to keep their energy grid up and running. Sixty plants powered by fossil fuels account for over 60% of Pennsylvania’s electric generation.
It may make some sense for legislators in the 11 states who joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to support the pact. After all, those states do not come close to the number of electricity production facilities we have here in Pennsylvania.
Those states will not have to deal with the effects of rising consumer prices, plant closures and job loss on a mass scale.
The carbon tax imposed under the initiative will result in immediate job loss across our energy sector. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, all five remaining coal power plants will be shuttered within a year of enactment.
Not only will those workers be out of the job, but so will many of those in the coal production business that feeds into these power plants.
As companies look to invest in future natural gas facilities, are they going to invest in Pennsylvania or states such as Ohio and West Virginia that will not be subject to the initiative’s burdensome regulations and taxes?
Pennsylvania’s booming energy industry is a blessing to our state. Many of our coal and natural gas energy production plants are in economically distressed communities. These areas were decimated as Pennsylvania’s manufacturing base shifted overseas in the past few decades.
Energy industry jobs provide a lifeline to the community in Indiana, Fayette and Montour counties. Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative proponents say those who are soon to lose their jobs will have to find work elsewhere, such as in the renewable energy sector.
There is no guarantee of that industry providing anywhere near the same number of positions and level of pay enjoyed by fossil fuel energy sector workers.
Immediate job loss will not be the
only negative impact of the greenhouse gas pact. Like all taxes, the carbon tax will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher electricity rates. A report by the Penn State Center for Energy Law and Policy found consumers would pay up to $2 billion more in electricity costs over nine years.
Energy costs in the U.S are already up by 25% compared to last year. Inflation compounds the struggles of lower- and middle-class families. We cannot afford to make high energy
costs permanent by entering the greenhouse gas pact.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative supporters claim billions in revenue from the carbon tax will be generated for the general fund and reinvested into struggling communities.
I would much rather have money kept in the pockets of the everyday people as opposed to being subject to misguided spending by legislators and bureaucrats.
Lastly, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will have adverse implications for national security. Crucial American allies in Europe rely on Pennsylvania natural gas imports to offset dependence on imports from the predatory government of Russia.
Some will say any of the adverse effects of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative pale in comparison to the cost of inaction to combat climate change. But Pennsylvania has already been making steady progress to limit carbon dioxide emissions.
According to the Consumer Energy Alliance, emissions in Pennsylvania dropped by 18% since 1990. Any further drops in emissions resulting from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will be negligible. Fossil fuel-powered energy plants will simply relocate to less restrictive states and release the same amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Every Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative participant state joined the pact after receiving approval from their respective legislatures. Gov. Tom Wolf, as he has done throughout his tenure, acted unilaterally to join after not getting what he wanted from the General Assembly.
This sets a dangerous precedent. The General Assembly is the body that is closest to the people of Pennsylvania.
No governor, regardless of political party, should have unchecked unilateral power to impose a tax and enter our state into such a consequential interstate pact. On Oct. 27, the state Senate acted by voting to disapprove the regulation to join the pact.
Next up is a vote in the House of Representatives. Following passage there, Gov. Wolf will presumably use his veto pen and a legal battle in the courts will ensue.
One thing is for sure: The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will do far more harm than good.