Wolf’s RGGI fixation will slow Pennsylvania’s recovery

Originally published at City & State

Gov. Tom Wolf’s timing for imposing a new energy tax could hardly be worse. Pennsylvania’s economy is trying to recover from the pandemic’s brutal effects. Yet, Wolf’s fixation to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) ignores that the policy will raise families’ energy bills and cripple local businesses.

Wolf has tried – without the legislature’s approval – to bully through the new tax since the middle of the pandemic. In January, the governor vetoed a state Senate bill intended to reverse his unilateral effort to join the multi-state agreement that penalizes fossil fuel companies. This month, he sued in Commonwealth Court to force the tax into immediate effect.

But there’s a good reason the legislature insists on shared decision-making. Though RGGI purports to encourage green energy sources like wind and solar, the tax simply outsources our fossil fuel needs to other states.

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