By Anthony Hennen | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The Pennsylvania General Assembly is split on embracing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and it remained a dividing issue Wednesday during a Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing with the Department of Environmental Protection.
State Republicans want to stop the proposal, viewing it as an illegal tax, while Gov. Tom Wolf “has made it the centerpiece of his climate plan.”
In his testimony, DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell continued to defend the governor’s plan.
“The goal of RGGI – again, I think it fits in with everything we’ve been talking about here – it’s to drive down carbon pollution, which contributes to climate change, and in a way that, one, generates revenue, and two, uses that revenue to further push down those climate emissions,” said McDonnell, an appointee of Wolf.
“It’s reducing carbon emissions, that’s the overarching goal,” said Sen. Steven Santasiero, D-Doylestown.
State Republicans disagree with McDonnell’s view that RGGI involves the “reduction of carbon at little-to-no-cost.” Instead, they say, RGGI carries a heavy cost that would tax carbon generators (e.g. power plants), with higher costs passed to the public.
“The $410 million will be paid by the consumers of electricity in the Commonwealth,” said Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana.
If Republicans win the gubernatorial election, their plan is clear. “I’m glad [McDonnell] clarified that the next governor could unilaterally pull us from RGGI,” Pittman said.
Abandoned wells across the Commonwealth, in contrast, was a bipartisan concern. Sen. Carolyn Comitta, D-West Chester, pointed out 4,000 notices of violations with abandoned oil and gas wells in the state. Pennsylvania has roughly 27,000 abandoned wells, McDonnell noted.
“The reality we’ve seen is simply wells not being plugged,” he said. “The department doesn’t have the resources to take that work on.”
Pennsylvania will receive $400 million over the next decade in federal funds for plugging those wells, said Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport, and McDonnell said the department is preparing for the money by hiring staff and surveying the industry to find companies that have the ability to plug abandoned wells.
On environmental reclamation issues, the committee was united.
“You can be both: Be an environmentalist, be pro-gas, and be pro-solar,” said Sen. Daniel Laughlin, R-Erie. “One of the things we need to work together on are cost-effective solutions to our environmental issues.”