Chairman Metcalfe Stages (Another) Sham Hearing on RGGI

HARRISBURG, P.A. – The Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee today held a second hearing to receive testimony from critics of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). This comes as the Department of Environmental Protection, at Governor Wolf’s direction, continues to develop its “cap-and-invest” regulation. 

A statement follows from Mark Szybist, Senior Attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“Chairman Metcalfe is at it again with his theatrics – on taxpayers’ dime. Hard-working Pennsylvanians are being left behind as neighboring RGGI states build clean energy economies that reduce air pollution, create healthier communities and support good-paying jobs.

“Pennsylvania has explicit legal authority to follow suit and cut harmful carbon pollution from power plants. It’s past time lawmakers stop doing the coal industry’s bidding and do right by the commonwealth.” 

For more background, read: HB 2025 Is About Posturing. PA Needs Good Carbon Policy.; RGGI and Coal in PA: Separating Fact from Fiction; Key Takeaways from PA's New RGGI Analysis; What's Next for Pennsylvania and RGGI?; Governor Wolf Says PA Will Join RGGI. Now What?

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NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.