Coalition Letter Supporting RGGI

To Members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly:

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are writing to voice our support for Pennsylvania to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), and to voice opposition for legislative efforts to keep the Commonwealth from participating in this initiative, such as Senate Concurrent Regulatory Review Resolution 1, House Concurrent Regulatory Review Resolution 1, Senate Bill 119, and House Bill 637.

With each day that passes, climate change becomes a more urgent threat to our Commonwealth. Local impacts of the climate crisis in Pennsylvania include heat waves, worsening air quality that harms public health, more insect-borne diseases, more intense storms and flash flooding, and agricultural losses.

As the fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the nation, Pennsylvania has a responsibility to reduce our emissions, and participating in RGGI will put us on the right path. Over the past twelve years, this bipartisan program has had remarkable success for the participating Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. 

Since 2008:

• CO2 emissions in from RGGI states have fallen by 47%, outpacing the rest of the country by 90%;
• Reductions in other air pollutants, including SO2 and NOx, that can lead to premature deaths, heart attacks, and respiratory illnesses have resulted in an additional $5.7 billion in health and productivity benefits;
• Electricity prices in RGGI states have fallen by 5.7%, while prices have increased in the rest of the country by 8.6%;
• The combined economies of the RGGI states have grown by 47%, during the first ten years of the program, outpacing growth in the rest of the country by 31%.

If Pennsylvania participates in the program, it is projected to reduce the Commonwealth’s carbon emissions by up to 227 million tons over its first decade in the program — that’s equivalent to taking 44 million cars off the road. Moreover, participating in RGGI will not only cut carbon pollution, but also reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide pollution, yielding significant health benefits for Pennsylvanians. DEP projects that by linking with RGGI, Pennsylvania will avoid hundreds of premature deaths and 30,000 hospital visits for respiratory illnesses such as asthma by 2030.

Sadly, while Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly voiced support for participating in RGGI during the required regulatory comment period and during the past 2-year regulatory process in general, legislative efforts to undermine the Commonwealth’s ability to participate in this successful program continue to be put forth in the General Assembly. These efforts are counter to the urgent need to reduce climate pollution, the overwhelming public support shown for participating in RGGI, and the decisions of the regulatory experts and members of IRRC who’ve given this proposal the greenlight to proceed. 

We call on you to oppose any efforts to prevent Pennsylvania from taking steps to mitigate the impacts of climate change and participate in RGGI, particularly SCRRR1, HCRRR1, Senate Bill 119 and House Bill 637. 

Thank you.

Sincerely,

PennEnvironment
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
PennFuture
Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania
Clean Air Council
Clean Water Action
Foundation for PA Watersheds
Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance
League of Women Voters Pennsylvania
Moms Clean Air Force, Pennsylvania Chapter
NRDC
Pennsylvania Council of Churches
Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light
Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania
POWER Interfaith
Sierra Club Pennsylvania
Solar United Neighbors of Pennsylvania
Aquashicola/Pohopoco Watershed Conservancy
Benedictine Sisters of Erie
Benedictines for Peace
Breathe Project
Brodhead Creek Heritage Center
Bucks County Audubon Society
Chestnut Hill United Church
Climate Action Lower Merion
Climate Action Narbs & Nerbs
Climate Reality Project: Susquehanna Valley PA Chapter
Commutitopia
Countryside Conservancy
Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation
Green Valleys Watershed Association
Guardians of the Brandywine
H-CAN Climate Action
Lancaster Against Pipelines
Mountain Watershed Association
Phoenixville Green Team
Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh
REIV2G network
Riverwise
St. Paul’s Working for Justice ministry
Sunrise Pittsburgh
Swarthmore EAC
The Inner-City Neighborhood Art House
The Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia
The Unitarian Congregation of West Chester Social Justice Committee
The Way Forward
Women’s Medical Fund
Working for Justice Ministry, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
Wyncote Audubon Society
Olivia Bennett, Allegheny County Councilwoman District 13
Anita Prizio, Council Member, Allegheny County
R. Michael Prendergast, Councilman, Bellefonte Borough
Joanne Tosti-Vasey Ph.D, President, Bellefonte Borough Council
John Hranitz, Ph.D, Professor Biological and Allied Health Services, Bloomsburg University
Joel Hicks, Councilman, Borough of Carlisle
Tim Scott, Mayor, Borough of Carlisle
Ronald Filippelli, Mayor, Borough of State College
Robert Pasquantonio, Councilmember, Brentwood Borough Council
Robert Dostal, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Bryn Mawr College
Sean M. Shultz, Deputy Mayor, Carlisle Borough
Elizabeth Lowenthal, MD, Pediatrician & Epidemiologist, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Deborah Gentile, MD, Medical Director, Community Partners in Asthma Care
Dick Poot, Vice Chair, Coopersburg Borough Council
Kevin Madden, Councilman, Delaware County Council
Dr. Monica Taylor, Vice Chair, Delaware County Council
Dr. Hans Pfister, Prof. of Physics and the George W. Pedlow Chair in Pedagogy, Dickinson College
Neil Leary, Professor, Dickinson College
Mary Carol Kennedy, President, East Pittsburgh Borough Council
Rev. Kenneth Feinour Jr, Pastor, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Jove Graham, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Geisinger
Karen Pooley, Director of Environmental Policy Design program, Lehigh University
Richard Niesenbaum Ph.D, Professor and Director of Sustainability Studies, Muhlenberg College
Tara Zrinkski, Councilwoman, Northampton County
John Christman, Professor of Philosophy, Political Science and Women’s Studies, Penn State University
Hannah Ryan, Nurse Practitioner, PennMedicine
Erika Strassburger, Council Member, Pittsburgh City Council
Bobby Wilson, Councilman, Pittsburgh City Council
Sue X. Ming M.D., Ph.D, Professor, Rutgers NJ Medical School
Jose Eduardo Duenas, Manager of School Programs, Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education
Richard Mease, President, Selinsgrove Area Recreation, Inc.
Brittany Reno, Council President, Sharpsburg Borough
Jim Lee, Ward 3 Commissioner, Springfield Township
Dara & Mark Bortman, Sustainable Solar Systems
Fred Kraybill, Manager, Thomas Blvd Group
Dr. Cathy Chamblee, Part-Time Instructor, University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences
Josef P. Werne, Professor and Chair, Department of Geology & Environmental Science, University of Pittsburgh
Ward Allebach, Adjunct Professor in Environmental Studies, University of Pittsburgh
Avinash Linganna, MD, UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute
Rev. Arthur Purcaro OSA, Co-Chair of the Sustainability Leadership Council, Villanova University
Scott Van Bramer, Professor of Chemistry, Widener University