The Wolf Administration is facing a lawsuit from Coal-related interests over the recent moves to join the state to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI.
The lawsuit was filed in Commonwealth Court by owners of coal-fired power plants, owners of coal mines and labor unions that mine coal and maintain power plants fueled by coal. Specific names for the plaintiffs have not been named in reports. They say that the action by Governor Tom Wolf is “patently unlawful,” and claims that the regulation effectively imposes a tax, and that the Wolf Administration circumvented approval from the state legislature.
Regulations to join the state to RGGI took effect on Saturday when they were published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. This was despite a Commonwealth Court Action that put the action on hold. That lasted two weeks before Saturday’s publication.
RGGI would put a fee for carbon dioxide emissions by power plants in the state, and while the Wolf Administration has said that it would dramatically reduce carbon emissions in Pennsylvania’s air and increase the state’s gross state product by nearly $2 billion, opponents of RGGI say on top of increases in electricity prices, this would also negatively impact the communities that have coal-fired power plants, including the loss of jobs and tax revenue.
