Attorneys for industry groups and Republican state lawmakers say RGGI is an unconstitutional tax on power plants by the executive branch.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and top state lawmakers are hurriedly negotiating a massive economic development package that would encourage natural gas development in Pennsylvania.
Coal and labor groups and power plant owners are suing the Department of Environmental Protection, saying the rule will cause them irreparable harm.
Some environmental advocates say the program is outdated.
Environmental justice areas include low-income neighborhoods and communities of color that shoulder more than a typical share of climate and environmental risks that can affect people’s health.
By
Rachel McDevitt 
Pennsylvania moved closer this year to joining a regional program to cut emissions from power plants, despite repeated attempts to stop it from Republicans who control the legislature.
Gov. Tom Wolf is likely to veto the measure, but that won’t mean the regulation could immediately take effect.
The Wolf administration says the regulation to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative should be published now; the Republican-led legislature says it has ‘many months’ to review the rule.
The measure in the state Senate would give the legislature more say on who serves on the Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee.
