Shapiro Silent On PA Joining Regional Climate Change Initiative

HARRISBURG, PA — While critics lament the continued lack of environmental funding statewide and the urgency of climate change, Gov. Josh Shapiro's office has remained silent on his administration's plan for the state formalize its membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The long debated program, already adopted by 11 of Pennsylvania's closest neighbors, places caps on carbon emissions and is hailed by advocates as a crucial cooperative step in creating both an economically and environmentally sustainable future.

Former Gov. Tom Wolf finally agreed to join RGGI in April 2022. Though the state is technically a member, Republicans and natural gas lobbyists have tied the state's membership up in judicial legal battles. Further complicating matters, Shapiro's position on RGGI remains unclear. The end result is that the state is still not legally allowed to participate in RGGI auctions, which sends hundreds of millions of dollars back to member states to invest in clean energy jobs and other public health initiatives.

As attorney general, Shapiro publicly expressed serious doubts about RGGI shortly after announcing his candidacy in 2022.

“We need to take real action to address climate change, protect and create energy jobs and ensure Pennsylvania has reliable, affordable and clean power for the long term,” Shapiro said a statement. “As governor, I will implement an energy strategy which passes that test, and it’s not clear to me that RGGI does."

Despite that comment, made as his campaign courted moderate Republicans who were weighing voting against a party that had nominated an extremist in State Rep. Doug Mastriano, Shapiro's office signed off on the Wolf administration committment shortly thereafter. The move was excoriated by the state's GOP establishment. “Sinking to a new low of hypocrisy, Attorney General Josh Shapiro has completed his latest, two-faced political shell game," State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe said at the time.

But more imporant is where Shapiro stands now. And that remains unclear. The governor has made no public comment on a timeline for the state to join RGGI. And his office has not responded to repeated media requests for information on his stance or plans.

Even more notably, Shapiro made a committment while campaigning to start an RGGI "working group" on his first day in office. During the flurry of nominations and early moves made in the opening weeks of Shapiro's administration, no announcement on that RGGI working group was ever made. How hard a line Shapiro and other Democrats in Pennsylvania drew on environmental issues was largely overlooked in the wake of the midterm elections, and environmental organizations so relieved that they avoided a Mastriano-run Harrisburg have been cautious in their critique of Shapiro.

"The task now is to defend the regulation in court and, critically, implement an equitable investment plan that fully realizes RGGI’s promises for Pennsylvania," the NRDC said. "We look forward to working with the administration, other stakeholders, and the General Assembly to help achieve this goal."

State Republicans are seizing the moment to introduce legislation that would remove Pennsylvania from RGGI. They're also courting Shapiro and citing his past publicly expressed doubts.

"This legislation aligns with candidate Shapiro’s stated concerns and will allow Governor Shapiro to support union workers and energy consumers throughout the Commonwealth by refocusing Pennsylvania’s energy policies on initiatives that benefit our Commonwealth," State Reps. James B. Struzzi II (R-Indiana) and Dallas Kephart (R-Cambria/Clearfield) wrote in a co-sponsorship memorandum last week.

While the GOP bill calls it "job-killing," RGGI has created thousands of jobs in its 11 member northeast and mid-Atlantic states, while adding up to $4 billion in economic value, according to an estimate from the Natural Resources Defense Council. RGGI funnels money gained by taxing carbon back into the community, meaning that fossil fuel burners are directly responsible for creating jobs.

The state's own DEP says that RGGI will help the state reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by 2025, and by 80 percent by 2050.

The lack of clarity over RGGI's future in the state comes as Democrats say that significantly more funding and staffing is needed for the Department of Environmental Protection and for environmental issues in the state at large. At least one high ranking DEP official told State Rep. Greg Vitali (D- Delaware), the Democratic Chairman of the House Environmental Resource and Energy Committee, that this was the reason the state has continued to delay joining the RGGI.

"Insufficient staffing has also contributed to inordinate delays in...Pennsylvania’s entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative," Vitali said earlier in February.

Vitali urged Shapiro to earmark significant funds in his proposed budget for 2023-24, which is due on March 7.