- Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has proposed a plan that would make the state’s power plant owners responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions.
- The proposed bill would establish Pennsylvania as the first major fossil fuel producing state to implement a carbon pricing system.
- Mr. Shapiro’s plan aims to stimulate investment in clean energy, create jobs, improve power reliability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday announced a plan to fight climate change, making Pennsylvania power plant owners pay for greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming and forcing the nation’s third-largest power company to reduce power purchases. He said he supports legislation that would require the addition. From renewable resources.
If such a bill passes, Pennsylvania would be the first major fossil fuel producing state to implement a carbon pricing system. But it is likely to draw fierce opposition from business interests wary of rising power prices, and could be a long shot in Congress to protect the state’s natural gas industry.
Mr. Shapiro’s proposal comes as environmentalists are pressuring him to do more to combat climate change in the nation’s second-largest gas state, after the state’s Supreme Court ruled against his predecessor’s decision to introduce a carbon price. The decision was made as the government is considering an objection to the plan. The move also comes as many of the state’s coal-fired power plants, the state’s biggest source of electricity pollution, have closed or been converted to gas-fired power plants.
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At a news conference in Scranton, Shapiro said his plan will spur investment in clean energy sources, create jobs, improve power reliability, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower electricity bills. He said it would be lowered.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced his plan to combat climate change Wednesday at a news conference in Yardley, Pennsylvania, saying he supports legislation that would require Pennsylvania power plant owners to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions. . (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Under Shapiro’s plan, Pennsylvania would create its own independent carbon pricing program, with most of the money paid by polluting power plants (70%) going to lower electricity prices for consumers. . Shapiro said no one will pay more for electricity, and many will pay less.
In 2024, Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro faces tough school funding challenges and prepares for presidential election.
Meanwhile, utilities will be required to purchase 50% of their electricity from near-carbon sources by 2035, up from the state’s current requirement of 18%. Currently, about 60% of the state’s electricity comes from natural gas-fired power plants.
For now, a state court has blocked former Gov. Tom Wolf’s regulation that would have allowed Pennsylvania to participate in a multistate regional greenhouse gas initiative that would impose prices and tapering caps on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
As a gubernatorial candidate, Mr. Shapiro distanced himself from Mr. Wolf’s plan, questioning whether he would respond to criticism that it would hurt the state’s energy industry, raise electricity prices and do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. was.
