Zachary Lees

February 26, 2011

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, was the first regional cap and trade program implemented in the U.S.. RGGI encompasses ten states from Maine to Delaware and regulates only fossil fuel fired electric generators that produce 25 or more megawatts. Participating states committed to cap and then reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that these power plants are allowed to emit, limiting the region's total contribution to atmospheric greenhouse gas levels, generating money which funds energy efficiency measures and jobs as well as other conservation measures.

Recently, New Hampshire and New Jersey have used the funds created by RGGI to make up for budget shortfalls during the recession. This, along with climate change skepticism has led conservatives in both states to view RGGI as nothing more than a business and job killing "stealth tax" with no real benefits. New Hampshire's House Science Technology and Energy Committee has overwhelmingly supported a bill that will end New Hampshire's participation in RGGI if approved by the house and senate. New Hampshire is the first state to go so far with the creation of a bill. Legislation is pending in New Jersey and New York is not far behind. The governor of Maine has also made it known that he would like to withdrawal from RGGI as well.

Pushing this agenda is none other than "American's for Prosperity", a conservative think-tank linked to the Tea Party and funded by the billionaire conglomerate owning Koch brothers. According to American's for Prosperity website, "Cap & Trade stands to cost New Jersey thousands of jobs, millions in lost wealth and vastly higher gas and electric bills. This alone is reason enough to kill RGGI. To date, opponents have been able to stave off a federal bill. The fact that our state is participating in this scheme and hurting an already fragile economy while other states are not only serves as a greater impetus for extracting New Jersey from this "Cap & Trade" program."

According to analysis done on New Hampshire's RGGI contributions, the average household pays anywhere from 6 to 36 cents a month, money that is used to fund innovative, energy efficiency programs in the state. Furthermore, because New Hampshire is part of a regional electricity system, electric rates won't fall if the state pulls out of the consortium. Ratepayers would be assessed upward of $6 million, regardless.

Moreover, the state would lose more than $12 million in funding from the sale of carbon emissions region-wide. These funds are used for businesses and individuals to reduce their electricity cost and use through weatherization and installation of energy-efficient equipment. A University of New Hampshire study indicates that the cumulative benefit of RGGI on the state in 2010 was $28.2 million — because that RGGI money created green jobs. Programs like RGGI are laboratories of sorts, as the federal government continues to spin its wheels on an energy bill. If the tea party is successful at killing cap and trade at the regional level, the consequences for these states' green job creation and energy efficiency measures, as well as the success of a federal cap and trade program will be put in jeopardy.

SOURCES:

Deborah McDermott, Earth Matters: RGGI Critical for Local Green Jobs, SeaCoast Online, February 21, 2011, available at http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20110221-NEWS-102210338

Bob Sanders, House Panel Votes to Quit RGGI, New Hampshire Business Review, February 16, 2011, available at http://www.nhbr.com/businessnewsstatenews/909108-257/house-panel-votes-to-quit-rggi.html

Russel Perkins, RGGI Has Simple Logic on Its Side, Concord Monitor, February 17, 2011, available at http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/240711/rggi-has-simple-logic-on-its-side

Maria Galluci, Maine Governor Proposes 63 Clean Energy and Environment Reversals, Reuters, January 31, 2011, available at http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/31/idUS119713004220110131

Sylvia B. Larsen, Memo to GOP: Time to Focus on Jobs, Nashuah Telegraph, Februart 20, 2011, available at http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/opinionperspectives/909706-263/memo-to-gop-time-to-focus-on.html

Victoria Guay, RGGI Bill Advances; College Waits Anxiously, The Citizen of Laconia, February 24, 2011, available at http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110224/GJNEWS02/702249682/-1/CITNEWS

Terry Hulburt, NJ Activist Hails NH Vote to Leave RGGI, The Examiner, February 23, 2011, available at http://www.examiner.com/essex-county-conservative-in-newark/nj-activist-hails-nh-vote-to-leave-rggi

Tom Johnson, RGGI "Cap and Trade" Program Puts New Jersey at Economic Disadvantage, Americans for Prosperity, July 27, 2010, available at http://www.americansforprosperity.org/072910-rggi-cap-trade-program-puts-new-jersey-economic-disadvantage