Jared WickerhamHomes in front of the Cheswick coal-fired power plant in Cheswick, Pa.
By Stephen Caruso Pittsburgh City Paper
A statewide program to limit carbon emissions from Pennsylvania power plant operators is set to become law — but slower than environmental advocates would like.
The state’s entry into the multi-state compact known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, calls for 58 fossil fuel-burning plants to buy at auction a credit for each ton of carbon they release into the atmosphere. The average price of a credit at the most recent auction was $13 per-ton of carbon.
The policy received a final stamp of approval from Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office this week, the last step before it would typically be published and enacted.
However, this final step may be delayed until, at latest, early January 2022 due to a technical dispute between Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration and the legislative agency that circulates new laws and regulations, an important, albeit bureaucratic, step.
In a letter sent to the Department of Environmental Protection Nov. 30, the Legislative Reference Bureau — which publishes the new rules in the Pennsylvania Bulletin — said it would not publicize RGGI, pending an ongoing push by the Republican-controlled General Assembly to block it.
State law allows the Legislature to block proposed regulations by passing a resolution and sending it to the governor’s desk.
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