Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered the state's Department of Environmental Protection to draft a rulemaking that would enable the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative cap-and-trade program for emissions from fossil-fueled power plants.
The move is significant on a national level because according to a February report by the Energy Information Administration, Pennsylvania ranked fourth among the largest state emitters of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions during 2016, the latest year the statistics were compiled. Texas tops that list (adjusted slightly for certain factors), emitting 657.4 million metric tons of CO2 during 2016, followed by California at 363.3 million metric tons, then Florida at 231.3 million metric tons, and then Pennsylvania with 218.6 million metric tons emitted.
The Oct. 3 executive order gives the state's environmental agency until July 31, 2020, to present a rulemaking to the Pennsylvania Environmental Board that would abate, control or limit carbon dioxide emissions from generators. The rulemaking process must include "robust public outreach" to ensure the program results in reduced emissions, economic gains and customer savings. The proposed rule must also establish a carbon budget and model that is consistent with the RGGI program and that provides for annual or more frequent emissions allowance auctions.
In addition, Wolf directed the DEP and the Public Utility Commission to work with regional grid operator the PJM Interconnection to ensure the program minimizes the potential for emissions to go down in Pennsylvania but, as a result of joining RGGI, drive up emissions elsewhere. The DEP and commission should also ensure the rule preserves PJM's ability to issue competitive economic dispatches, the order said.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has found that the world has until 2030 to begin to reduce global emissions and until 2050 to achieve net-zero emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels. Scientists estimate that heat-trapping, human-activity related emissions have caused between 0.8 to 1.2 degrees of global warming already.
"Climate change is the most critical environmental threat confronting the world, and power generation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions," Wolf said in a statement.
The order noted that power plants in the state produce 30% of the state's total emissions and that the RGGI program has proven effective at curbing emissions in participating states. A recent report found that total emissions from power plants in the nine New England and mid-Atlantic RGGI-participating states declined by 47% from 2008 levels.
"As a major electricity producer, Pennsylvania has a significant opportunity to reduce emissions and demonstrate its commitment to addressing climate change through a program with a proven track record," DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said in a statement.
The RGGI program is expected to expand to include New Jersey in 2020, though efforts to include Virginia in the program are on hold. Pennsylvania is also among a number of states that are backing efforts to create a regional cap-and-trade program for transportation emissions.
