Pioneering Carbon-Cutting Program Turns 10: What Now, RGGI?

Despite the usual Chicken Little critics’ warnings that RGGI would tank the region’s economy, the opposite has happened. As member states cut carbon pollution by 16 percent more than non-RGGI states, they saw economic growth that was 3.6 percent higher, according to a recent report by our colleagues at the Acadia Center. And while electricity prices in the rest of the country climbed by 7.2 percent, they dropped in the RGGI region by 3.4 percent. In other words, the RGGI states both cut emissions and grew their economies faster than other states, all while experiencing declining average electricity prices—and bills. That’s not an implosion. It’s a home run.

Read the full blog post from NRDC here.