RGGI Rally 2022

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)

Pennsylvania made a huge leap forward in combating climate change when it entered RGGI on April 23, 2022.

Join Us to Take Action!

Pennsylvanians Demand Clean Air and Climate Action

Urge Governor-elect Josh Shapiro to fulfill his mandate to invest in clean air and a clean energy economy by supporting Pennsylvania’s participation in RGGI.

Take Action Here

RGGI Rally

Elected Leaders Joined Citizens at Love Park in Support of Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)

PHILADELPHIA – Elected officials joined constituents and advocates following a Commonwealth Court hearing on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to show support for the program that would cut carbon pollution and generate proceeds to be used for clean energy investments across the Commonwealth.

Research by the Pennsylvania DEP shows that joining to RGGI would slash dangerous carbon pollution, make investments to reduce energy costs, and create 30,000 Pennsylvania jobs. The continued delay and obstruction, which continues with the Commonwealth Court hearing held earlier in the day on November 16, 2022, will cost Pennsylvania close to a billion dollars in RGGI proceeds by the end of the year.

Speakers discussed the reason why Pennsylvanians are ready for the Commonwealth to formally begin participating in RGGI and how it will make for a healthier environment for Pennsylvania kids and growth in family-sustaining, clean energy jobs for our communities.

SPEAKERS: State Senator Nikil Saval, State Senator Amanda Cappelletti, City of Philadelphia Councilmember, At Large, Kendra Brooks, Brooke Petry (Organizer, Moms Clean Air Force), and Bishop Dwayne Royster, (Executive Director, POWER Interfaith)

WHAT: Gathering / press conference in support of Pennsylvania joining to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)

WHEN: Wednesday Nov. 16, 2022 | 11:00 am

WHERE: LOVE Park, Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Participants gathered to unveil a large “RGGI” sign in LOVE park modeled after the famous LOVE sculpture as the event began.

Listen to the Speakers here:

WHAT: Gathering / press conference in support of Pennsylvania joining to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)

WHEN: Wednesday Nov. 16, 2022 | 11:00 am

WHERE: LOVE Park, Arch St, Philadelphia, PA

Thank Governor Wolf for championing

Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

Take action with our allies at Vote Solar.

Take Action Here

Thank You!

What is RGGI?

RGGI is a market-driven, cap-and-invest program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and uses the money generated to reduce air pollution, improve energy efficiency, provide for fossil fuel worker transitions, and work toward environmental justice, and more.

BENEFITS
Cleaner Air
Healthier Communities
Stronger Economies
Job Creation

Thanks to all who attended our #RGGI Informational Webinar

with Q&A led by Chapter Member Julia Nakhleh

on Wednesday, March 23, 2022

to learn about PA's efforts to join #RGGI: A proven regional market based approach to reducing carbon emissions.

Watch the webinar:

https://youtu.be/DwC_lvJUeNM?t=129

Support Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

Pennsylvania has joined 11 other states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a cap and invest market driven approach to reducing carbon emissions. It works by imposing a fee on power plants to penalize carbon pollution and then using that money accrued by individual states to pay for state climate change reduction efforts. RGGI has a more than 10-year proven track record of reducing CO2 emissions and significantly improving the lives of the people in its member states. RGGI will benefit all Pennsylvanians by improving the air quality and therefore our health, reducing the effects of climate change that we currently already struggle to grapple with, and bringing 21st century jobs to our Commonwealth.

RGGI is currently under legal threat from lawsuits from the fossil-fuel lobby. Please spread the word about the benefits of RGGI by writing to your state legislators and submitting letters to the editor to your local papers.

RGGI IS UNDER LEGAL THREAT.
TAKE ACTION TODAY!

Have a few extra minutes?

Here are some resources to help you advocate for RGGI by writing a letter to the editor and / or call your state legislators:

Find RGGI Resources By Topic

Find Your PA Legislators Here

- Enter your address,

- See a list of your legislators,

- Use their contact information under "Stay Connected" to contact them about RGGI

Writing Letters to the Editor (LTE):

Guide to writing LTE—start here
Samples of published RGGI LTE
Submit your LTE to:

Pennsylvania Newspapers

Pennsylvania's Path to RGGI

PA LEGISLATIVE VOTES ON RGGI

November 16, 2022

RGGI Rally at Love Park in Philadelphia, PA.

July 27, 2022

Unfortunately the judge has reinstated the injunction against PA participating in the next RGGI auction. Hopefully this is just the next iteration of the ball going back and forth and not where the ball lands until the lawsuits are decided, which won't be until much later this year or possibly the beginning of next year.,

July 20, 2022

On July 8th, the PA Commonwealth Court imposed an injunction on RGGI, preventing Pennsylvania from participating in the quarterly RGGI auctions until all legal matters are resolved. However, the DEP appealed the injunction, which again allows Pennsylvania to participate in the September 2022 auction. This could, however, change back again. With the recent actions limiting federal powers to combat climate change, it is more important than ever that action is taken at the state level.

May 17, 2022

Right now we don't know if the PA Senate will vote on the anti-RGGI Bill HB 637, or modify it to reflect the fact that PA has entered RGGI.

The RGGI opponents are still fighting RGGI with lawsuits.

We need your help in spreading the word about the benefits of RGGI by calling your state legislators and writing Letters to the Editor.

April 23, 2022

Pennsylvania enters RGGI.

April 7, 2022

The Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and PA Senate are back in session.

In the next few weeks, the PA Senate will be voting on an amended bill called HB 637 (it recently passed the PA House and is now in the Senate). The anti-RGGI HB 637 bill, recently renamed The Energy Sustainability and Investment Act), not only would place restrictions on the regulation of carbon dioxide, but also would end Pennsylvania’s current attempt to join RGGI and replace it with a one-time infusion of $250 million from Covid Relief funds to pay for only some environmental actions–not the broad scope of benefits that RGGI would enable. Compared to RGGI, HB 637 will keep us dependent on fossil fuels and accelerate climate change, especially here in PA. In the RGGI program, the source of the money comes from the fossil fueled-fired power plants, incentivizing them to reduce their carbon emissions. Moreover, PA’s RGGI program would bring around $400 million each year to our state–nearly twice as much as the one-time infusion proposed in HB 637—annual RGGI revenue that would go towards reducing the leading contributor to climate change (carbon dioxide pollution from fossil fueled-fired power plants) and towards climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, and more.

Soon the PA General Assembly will be voting on SB 119, a bill that would severely curtail PA's current attempt to join RGGI.

On April 4, 2022, the PA Senate failed to meet the 2/3 majority needed to override Governor Wolf's veto of the RGGI disapproval resolution. In other words, the PA Senate failed to stop Pennsylvania from entering RGGI. The RGGI rule was poised to be published within the week. However, on April 5 the Commonwealth Court put a pause on Pennsylvania joining RGGI—putting Pennsylvania's attempt to become the 12th member state of RGGI on hold. That pause expired, and on April 23, Pennsylvania entered RGGI.