HARRISBURG – PA Chamber President and CEO Gene Barr issued the following statement after the state’s rulemaking review panel, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, voted 3-2 to approve the Wolf administration’s regulation to enter Pennsylvania into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multi-state carbon allowance trading program for power plants:
“We have noted throughout this process that addressing climate change requires business to have a seat at that table. While we were afforded the opportunity to provide input into this process, the final regulation did not, in our view, adequately address the potential for Pennsylvania to lose vital power generation capacity to neighboring states. Nor did it adequately protect our industrial manufacturers, and the rule will impose significant cost on ratepayers, families and businesses at a time when Pennsylvania is struggling to recover from the pandemic.
“We were disappointed to see our perspective not appropriately addressed in the final rule, and are further discouraged to see IRRC approve this regulation. We will continue to work with the Wolf administration and the General Assembly on pro-growth policy that leverages our state’s resources and workforce into a stronger economic position, while continuing to move forward with reducing emissions and keeping energy prices affordable.”