Pennsylvania lawmakers voted Wednesday to withdraw the state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), ending years of political and legal wrangling over whether the state should join the multistate carbon-cutting program.
The move was included in a long-delayed $50.1 billion budget deal, a compromise that environmental advocates called a major setback for climate policy, Inside Climate News has reported.
The decision reverses former Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2019 executive order directing Pennsylvania to join the 11-state program that requires power plants to buy allowances for their carbon emissions.
Although the state had never formally participated because of court challenges, joining RGGI would have aligned Pennsylvania—one of the nation’s top electricity producers—with regional efforts to curb emissions.
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The budget bill passed with bipartisan support after nearly five months of impasse, drawing criticism from environmental groups that said lawmakers bundled the withdrawal into essential funding legislation for schools and public services.
“They didn’t offer it as a free-standing bill, which would have been easier to vote against, but as part of a must-pass budget bill,” said David Masur, executive director of PennEnvironment, who called the outcome a “huge blow” to state climate goals.
According to a 2023 report by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, RGGI participation could have cut power sector emissions 84% by 2030 while generating up to $148 million annually from allowance auctions.
Supporters of the withdrawal, including the Consumer Energy Alliance, claim that leaving RGGI would help keep electricity prices low and attract energy-intensive industries.
“RGGI was a barrier to affordability, reliability, jobs and economic opportunity,” said David Holt, the group’s president, calling the move a “common-sense bipartisan action.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro, who signed the bill, defended the decision while promoting his “Lightning Plan,” a package of initiatives to expand clean energy and reduce consumer costs.
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