AFA of PA ACTION ALERT

November 13, 2019

Issue

Governor Wolf Wants Your Electric Bill to Skyrocket –  Let Him Know Your Thoughts

Details

The Sierra Club is applauding Governor Wolf’s October 3rd executive order  to begin the process of adding Pennsylvania to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative or RGGI.  They say Wolf’s actions are not a moment too soon and they look forward to working with him.  According to their news release, “States participating in RGGI place limits on climate change-causing carbon pollution emissions from power plants, that decline over time.”  

Let’s see, oh yes, by 2050 the temperature would drop one one-thousandths of a degree.  In the meantime, the nearly half-billion dollar cost would be passed onto the consumer.  Here’s what else it does:

  1. It will impose a cap and trade system on carbon dioxide emissions.   the program would establish a market through which electricity providers purchase “emission allowances” to offset their CO2 emissions
  2. It is an attempted end-run around the GOP to implement a tax without legislative approval.
  3. The overall goal is to make electricity derived from fossil fuels more expensive and renewable energy more competitive i.e. wind and solar power companies will receive government subsidies.
  4. This move is not citizen or business-friendly!  A review of the effects of the RGGI last year revealed that member states saw a 12 percent drop in goods production and a 34 percent drop in production of energy-intensive goods! 
  5. RGGI states saw a 64 percent increase in electricity prices between 2007 and 2015!

The overarching goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions is to lower the future temperature of the Earth, so how much temperature rise would be averted by eliminating all of Pennsylvania’s CO2 emissions from coal and natural gas-fired sources? Using the calculations for predicting warming from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, if 100% of the state’s electricity generation emissions were eliminated, only 0.001 degree Fahrenheit in warming would be averted by the year 2050.

Action Steps

Let Governor Wolf know your thoughts on his October 3rd cap and trade executive order.  His phone number is 717-787-2500 or contact him here

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