To: The Honorable Josh Shapiro
Governor
225 Main Capitol
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Date: October 30, 2023
Dear Governor Shapiro,
With your Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) Working Group recently concluding its review, the undersigned members of the Clean Power PA Coalition urge you to stay the course on RGGI and see it through to full implementation. More specifically, we urge you to vigorously defend RGGI in the courts, including appealing any adverse decisions if necessary, and to immediately launch a process to develop a comprehensive plan for the equitable allocation of RGGI proceeds.
The Working Group unanimously agreed that “reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Commonwealth is both necessary and inevitable.” It further reached consensus that a cap-and-invest power sector carbon pollution program, like RGGI, is the optimal approach.
These conclusions are the latest confirmation that RGGI should remain the law here in Pennsylvania, even as you consider additional measures to cut carbon pollution, invest in new jobs, and transition to a more resilient and affordable energy economy. Its adoption followed an exhaustive, two-year process that included extensive public comment and participation from business groups, public health advocates, environmental groups, faith organizations, frontline communities, and consumers. The overwhelmingly positive citizen input from thousands of Pennsylvanians demonstrated strong popular support.
RGGI meets each prong in your “three-part test”:
Protect and create energy jobs. RGGI is projected to create 30,000 good-paying jobs and boost the Pennsylvanian economy by $2 billion. Its investments can make up for the losses in coal communities, bolstering local economies as Pennsylvania’s reliance on coal-powered electricity continues to drop, as has been the case for two decades now (obviously without RGGI participation). That mirrors the job creation and economic expansion generated in the existing RGGI states: over its first 12 years, RGGI has produced $5.7 billion in net economic benefits and added 48,000 job-years for its member states.
Take real action to address climate change. RGGI will cut carbon pollution significantly, by as much as 227 million tons by 2030. RGGI’s success in addressing climate change is proven. It has helped cut carbon emissions by almost half in its participating states, with corresponding health benefits for their residents.
Ensure reliable, affordable power for consumers in the long-term. RGGI's market-based design provides certainty to the energy market. With effective use of some RGGI proceeds, Pennsylvania can increase grid reliability through a more diversified and affordable energy mix and can strengthen universal service programs to ensure energy remains affordable for all Pennsylvanians. Research earlier this year from the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania and Resources for the Future (RFF) and Synapse Energy Economics demonstrate that RGGI can cut carbon pollution without increasing electricity prices on consumers.
RGGI is the best and quickest cap-and-invest approach for Pennsylvania. In fact, the Working Group, despite its diligence, was unable to identify any viable alternative to RGGI for reaching your climate and energy goals. The Working Group acknowledged that it would take “significant time to pursue . . . a PJM-wide [cap-and-invest] construct, and that the adoption of such an approach is far from certain.” RGGI will have immediate benefits as soon as the court confirms its legality. RGGI can also give our state a flexible compliance advantage with forthcoming federal emission standards.
The transition to cleaner and more affordable energy is well underway. We cannot afford to wait. Our workers and communities can directly benefit from the investment dollars generated by RGGI, ensuring that Pennsylvania will not fall behind.
RGGI’s proceeds can support many of the consensus recommendations contained in the Working Group’s memo, such as scaled up solar projects, aggressive methane well capping and capture projects, training of local workers, targeted energy efficiency and renewable energy programs to reach low-income consumers and consumers located in environmental justice areas, and consumer relief.
Finally, RGGI will further the Working Group’s first guiding principle to “maximize and leverage the job creation and other benefits of federal funding from the IRA and IIJA.” The enactment of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) can turbocharge the positive economic impacts of RGGI for Pennsylvania. Participation in RGGI will mean nearly $1 billion in additional federal IRA tax credits, on top of the billions in direct RGGI proceeds. Because of the IRA’s additional incentives for traditional energy communities, more investments can be used to address losses in coal communities that have been occurring over the last two decades, most of them long before RGGI was ever considered here in our state. We can target and accelerate that investment with RGGI, which will give Pennsylvania a competitive advantage to other states facing the same issues.
We appreciate your leadership in convening the RGGI Working Group and seek your strong commitment to RGGI's implementation in Pennsylvania. We urge you to defend RGGI in the courts and immediately embark on developing a comprehensive plan for the equitable allocation of RGGI proceeds to further meet your goals. The Clean Power PA Coalition stands ready to support and collaborate with your administration in achieving these objectives.
The power sector is one of the largest emitting sectors in Pennsylvania and the state cannot meet its near- or long-term climate goals without bold action through a program that limits carbon pollution like RGGI. Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your dedication to securing Pennsylvania's economic, environmental, and energy-independent future.
Sincerely,
Appalachian Mountain Club
Audubon Mid-Atlantic
CALSTART
CASA
Ceres
Center for Coalfield Justice
Chestnut Hill United Church
Clean Air Council
Clean Air Action Fund
Clean Water Action
Conservation Voters of PA
EcoJustice Collaborative
Environmental Defense Fund
Evergreen Action
Generation180
Green Building United
Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance (KEEA)
League of Women Voters Pennsylvania
Moms Clean Air Force Pennsylvania
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council)
PA Jewish Earth Alliance
PennEnvironment
PennFuture
Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light (PAIPL)
Philadelphia Solar Energy Association
POWER Interfaith
PSR Pennsylvania
Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter
Solar United Neighbors
Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia
The Climate Reality Project: Philadelphia and Southeastern PA Chapter
The Nature Conservancy
Working for Justice Ministry, St. Paul's United Methodist Church