A state environmental board took a key step on Tuesday to advance Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to curb carbon dioxide emissions by making Pennsylvania’s fossil fuel power plants begin paying to release pollution that contributes to climate change.
The Environmental Quality Board voted 13-6 to publish the proposed rules for public comment — opening a 60-day period in which everyone will have a chance to weigh in on a debate that has been dominated for months by coal and gas interests, environmental groups, building trade unions, the governor’s office and Republicans in the General Assembly.
Regulators also plan five virtual public hearings on the proposal.
The rules, if finalized, will create a framework for Pennsylvania to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative beginning in 2022. The regional initiative establishes a shrinking cap on carbon emissions from the power sector in 10 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
Carbon dioxide emissions from Pennsylvania’s electricity-generation sector are among the five highest in the U.S. — releasing more carbon than all sources in countries like Greece, Israel and Peru, said Krishnan Ramamurthy, the deputy secretary who oversees air programs at the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The cost of carbon allowances is expected to hasten the closure of Pennsylvania’s remaining coal plants — which analysts do not expect to survive another decade even without the regulation — while preserving some nuclear plants that have otherwise threatened to close.
Both high-emitting coal plants and low-emitting nuclear plants have faced punishing competition from power plants burning low-priced natural gas.
The proceeds from the sale of each state’s emissions credits are invested primarily in energy efficiency, renewable energy and other projects designed to reduce the release of climate-warming gases. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will open a separate comment period once it develops a proposal for investing the money if the carbon regulation is adopted.
The agency expects the credit auction to raise about $300 million in 2022.
The Republican-led General Assembly passed a bill last week aimed at blocking Mr. Wolf from establishing cap-and-trade programs for limiting greenhouse gas emissions or joining existing programs, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Mr. Wolf has said he will veto the bill, which did not pass either chamber with a veto-proof majority.
DEP expects the rules to apply to 62 power plants, nine waste coal plants and one industrial plant in 2022. Plants that run on waste coal piles would receive special relief in the program.
The Environmental Quality Board is made up of the heads of state agencies, members of the General Assembly and representatives of a citizens advisory council, but it is dominated by the governor’s appointees.
It voted down proposals to extend the public comment period to 120 or 180 days, as well as a proposal to have one of the hearings be held in-person in Indiana County, which hosts three of the state’s remaining coal-fired power plants.
“I think it is just absolutely despicable that you Left, New Green Dealers can’t even give Indiana County coal miners and power workers the decency to have a [expletive] hearing in their county,” said board member Mark Caskey, CEO of Steel Nation in Canonsburg, which makes steel buildings for the energy industry.
DEP Policy Director Jessica Shirley said if it is possible to safely hold in-person hearings during the pandemic, Indiana County would be a target site for one of them.
State Sen. Steven Santarsiero, D-Bucks, said “we’ve heard a lot” in recent months about affected communities that host coal-fired power plants, which are facing “tragic” economic changes.
“There are many other communities in Pennsylvania that are being impacted, too — not by the closure of coal-fired plants, but by the warming of the Earth, communities that are being put at risk by more and more extreme weather.”
DEP is seeking comments specifically on equity and environmental-justice concerns related to its carbon-budget proposal, as well as approaches to help displaced workers transition into more sustainable industries.
Because the rule is being proposed under the authority of the state’s air-pollution law, the auction proceeds would have to be spent to eliminate air pollution. Legislative approval would be required to spend the money in other ways, like direct assistance to displaced workers or electricity ratepayers.
Laura Legere: llegere@post-gazette.com.
First Published: September 15, 2020, 7:22 p.m.