HARRISBURG – State Reps. Tommy Sankey (R-Clearfield/Cambria) and Mike Armanini (R-Clearfield/Elk) are praising a Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania decision that stalls Gov. Tom Wolf’s one-man campaign to enroll the state in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
“RGGI is currently comprised of 11 states, with each one choosing to use the legislative process to weigh participation,” said Sankey. “We are applauding the court decision because it puts on hold the governor’s attempt to place a tax on energy producers and consumers, an action that should be considered by the General Assembly before being imposed.”
Past legislative efforts that would have required enrollment in RGGI to be taken up in the House and Senate passed with bipartisan support but were vetoed by Wolf. Last week, House Bill 637, the Energy Sustainability and Investment Act, passed with votes from both sides of the aisle. In addition to again requiring RGGI to face a vote by the General Assembly, the legislation would call for further exploration and diversification of Pennsylvania’s future energy needs while protecting jobs and acknowledging current sources of energy.
“Pennsylvania does not need RGGI for so many reasons,” Armanini added. “It will cost us jobs through the closing of energy-producing facilities and drive up taxpayers’ electric bills. RGGI also threatens the benefits we derive from our status as the country’s third-largest state when it comes to electricity generation production and largest exporter of electricity.”
“Our coal and natural gas plants that produce electricity are already doing a good job addressing reduction of carbon emissions,” Sankey commented. “To ignore their efforts disregards the hard work they’ve done and what they add to a balanced energy portfolio. They run on existing sources of energy that we can‘t turn our back on.”