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Pennsylvania took a crucial step to join a regional initiative to cut carbon emissions and defend our public health. The Independent Regulatory Review Commission voted to approve the regulation that will link our state to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

While opponents of RGGI have presented NO plan to help frontline communities in the energy transition that is already well underway, we know that participating with RGGI will present opportunities to direct funding to help workers and communities.

Add your name to our message thanking the Commissioners for taking this critical step toward making RGGI a reality in PA.

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Hi friend,

In case you missed it, Pennsylvania’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) voted in favor of connecting our state to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a carbon reduction program that requires fossil fuel power plants to pay for their pollution. Across the northeast, RGGI has reduced air pollution and generated revenue that’s been reinvested to benefit communities and workers.

This vote was critical because it means Pennsylvania is one step closer to joining neighboring states in cutting CO2, creating jobs, and helping communities that need support. It also positions our state to join the fight to tackle climate change, which is causing more extreme weather events like last week’s devastating Hurricane Ida.¹

Governor Wolf is working to get Pennsylvania to join RGGI by early 2022. Unfortunately, there are opponents beholden to the fossil fuel industry who are still going full force to block PA from joining RGGI. Will you send a thank-you message to the commissioners who voted in favor of the regulation that will make joining RGGI possible, so that they know we have their backs?

Thank the Independent Regulatory Review Commission for approving RGGI and recognizing its strong public benefit >>

For over a century, the fossil fuel industry has made millions in profits at the expense of our health and impact on our air, water, and land. It’s no coincidence that Pennsylvania has the most premature deaths per capita caused by air pollution of any state. Our region’s dirty energy legacy has caused childhood asthma, low birth weights, and other costly medical conditions. Linking to RGGI will make our Commonwealth cleaner, more prosperous, and offer hope to our kids and grandkids.

In addition to its climate and public health benefits, estimates show that RGGI would generate a net increase of more than 27,000 jobs — many of them sustainable, clean energy jobs — and it will add $1.9 billion to the state’s economy by 2030. By putting a price tag on pollution, RGGI will incentivize energy producers to turn away from fossil fuels, cut millions of tons of carbon pollution from power plants in the next decade, and create investments in clean energy.

Right now, extreme weather events are flooding our towns, polluting our water, and making our air unsafe — and it’s only going to get worse. RGGI is our best shot at addressing climate change, helping workers, and creating resilient communities, and the IRRC’s approval is a HUGE milestone in a long process of regulatory review.

Add your name to thank the Independent Regulatory Review Commissioners who voted in favor of a program that will cut pollution, create jobs, and allow Pennsylvania to remain a leader in the energy economy >>

Thanks for all that you do.

Michelle Giles

Policy Analyst

Conservation Voters of PA

1 – “Climate change’s ‘fingerprint’ seen in Ida flooding, including in Pennsylvania,” Reid Frazier, StateImpact Pennsylvania, September 2, 2021.