Shapiro to appeal court decision that stopped Pa. from joining climate program

Rachel McDevitt

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I report on energy and the environment for StateImpact Pennsylvania at WITF.

My work focuses on responses and solutions to climate change in the state legislature and communities around the state. I trace my interest in these issues back to my time as a Girl Scout and this episode of Rocko’s Modern Life.

I look forward to winter just for the chance to ski a few times each season. I try to keep myself from doom-scrolling on my phone by keeping my hands busy knitting and learning to play the piano.

I grew up in Cambria County, Pa. and graduated from Temple University. I started at WITF just after Christmas in 2014.

Marc Levy / Associated Press photo

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro smiles during an appearance at the Pennsylvania Press Club, Nov. 20, 2023, in Harrisburg, Pa.

November 21, 2023 | 3:46 PM

Updated: November 21, 2023 | 4:56 pm

Gov. Josh Shapiro is appealing a court decision that stopped Pennsylvania’s effort to join a cap-and-trade program targeting power plant emissions.

The administration says it’s a matter of executive authority.

Supporters of the 11-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative are praising the move while those who fought against joining are condemning it.

In a statement Tuesday, Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder said the administration must appeal the Commonwealth Court’s decision earlier this month that joining RGGI amounts to an illegal tax because the opinion was based on a question of authority.

“Should legislative leaders choose to engage in constructive dialogue, the Governor is confident we can agree on a stronger alternative to RGGI – if they take their ball and go home, they will be making a choice not to advance commonsense energy policy that protects jobs, the environment, and consumers in Pennsylvania,” Bonder said.

Environmental groups had urged the administration to appeal. Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter director Tom Schuster thanked Shapiro for leading on the climate crisis by appealing.

“Today Governor Shapiro stood up for the health, safety, and futures of all Pennsylvanians by defending the most important climate protection policy in our state’s history,” Schuster said. “We urge the legislature not to engage in any further obstruction of meaningful climate policy and to instead join the discussion about how RGGI proceeds can best be put to work for communities across the Commonwealth.”

Rachel Gleason, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, said the administration’s decision to appeal is disappointing.

“The Governor claims he is willing to implement the recommendations of his RGGI Working Group, yet they never endorsed RGGI nor was a broad policy consensus reached. While major energy policy should be determined by the General Assembly, embracing an illegal energy rulemaking that the Court has deemed an unconstitutional tax with today’s appeal is not the General Assembly’s call,” Gleason said.

The RGGI rule was published in April 2022, but was paused by Commonwealth Court that July. The Court ruled against the program Nov. 1. Judges sided with Republican state Senators and industry groups who claimed the Department of Environmental Protection did not have the constitutional authority to collect revenue from the program, and that only the legislature can levy taxes.

If the Supreme Court reverses that decision, the state could choose to participate in RGGI.

Some advocates estimated that the state has lost more than $1 billion by not joining RGGI when the regulation was finished.

That money could have been put toward addressing climate change by investing in clean energy. If the legislature and Shapiro had agreed on a plan, it also could have offered relief to fossil-fuel industry workers who lost jobs when power plants closed.