DEMOCRAT BACKS NEW JERSEY BILL TO REPEAL RGGI CAP & TRADE
State Senator Paul Sarlo has become the first Democrat to co-sponsor legislation for New Jersey to withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Sarlo (D-Bergen, Essex, Passaic) joins 40 other state lawmakers sponsoring identical bills in the General Assembly and Senate.
“I believe that these greenhouse gas emissions are harmful to our environment and we need to do something to stop them and prevent global warming,” said Sarlo, a former RGGI supporter. “But what has happened…we’re taking ratepayers’ money, small business owners’ money…and we’re not doing anything to protect the environment.”
New Jersey is one of 10 states that participate in RGGI’s quarterly auctions of CO-2 emission permits that electric utilities must obtain as part of a mandatory cap-and-trade system. To date, $860 million in permits have been sold at RGGI auctions. Critics say the cost of those permits is ultimately passed on to consumers and businesses it the form of higher electric bills.
Legislators in New Hampshire and Maine are considering similar legislation to pull out of RGGI. The New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill last month to exit the program; the measure is now being considered by that state’s Senate.
Follow these links to previous New Jersey Watchdog reports on RGGI:
THE SECRETS TEN STATES & WALL STREET DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2010/07/28/cap-trade-scheme-is-clouded-in-secrecy/
NJ WATCHDOG SUES STATE OVER CARBON AUCTION “SECRETS” http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2010/09/06/1016/
WHY RGGI IS FAILING & UNLIKELY TO CUT CO-2 EMISSIONS BEFORE 2030 http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2010/11/17/why-rggi-may-fail-to-impact-co-2-emissions-for-20-years/
NJ WATCHDOG SUES STATE OF $777 MILLION OF AUCTION SECRETS http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2011/01/09/1620/
NEW YORK OFFICIALS RELEASE 2,000 RGGI EMAILS TO NJ WATCHDOG; NEW JERSEY STILL CLAIMS THE RECORDS ARE CONFIDENTIAL http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2011/02/20/new-york-releases-2000-rggi-emails-new-jersey-still-claims-records-are-confidential/
NOT DEAD YET! RGGI REBOUNDS WITH $83M CAP & TRADE AUCTION http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2011/03/11/1740/
