CT, other states agree to tighter emissions cap
“Strengthening RGGI is one of the most effective and important steps to tackle climate pollution,” Peter Shattuck, director of Acadia Center’s Clean Energy Initiative, said in a statement. “Market based policies unleash the innovation and investment needed to achieve state climate targets and the goals of the Paris Agreement, and RGGI has shown just how well smart climate policy works.”
Read the full article from the Hartford Business Journal here.
Major Climate Success in Northeast: World’s 6th Largest Economy Filling the Void of Federal Inaction
Boston, MA – A bipartisan coalition of Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Governors today committed to extending and strengthening their landmark climate cooperative, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The agreement places RGGI states – which collectively comprise the 6th largest economy in the world, ahead of France, India and Brazil 1 – in the vanguard of climate action following the Trump administration’s misguided decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord.
“RGGI governors today showed what real leadership looks like,” said Daniel Sosland, president of Acadia Center. “The Trump Administration has turned the federal government’s back on the historic opportunity to build a clean energy future that reduces climate pollution, and the need to safeguard consumers and the climate has shifted to the states and regions. Strengthening RGGI is critical to demonstrating the benefits of climate action and filling the void of irresponsible federal policy.”
RGGI governors announced a number of improvements that will reduce carbon pollution by over 132 million tons through 2030, the equivalent of taking over 28 million cars off the road for a year:
- Extending the pollution cap to 2030, when it would decline 30% from 2020 levels
- Conducting a further downward cap adjustment of approximately 25 million tons to account for surplus banked emissions allowances
- Higher ceiling prices for emissions allowances
- Creation of an innovative Emissions Containment Reserve to soak up extra allowances that go unsold at regional auctions
“Strengthening RGGI is one of the most effective and important steps to tackle climate pollution,” said Peter Shattuck, Director of Acadia Center’s Clean Energy Initiative. “Market based policies unleash the innovation and investment needed to achieve state climate targets and the goals of the Paris Agreement, and RGGI has shown just how well smart climate policy works.”
Since its inception, RGGI has been an unparalleled success.
- Carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in the region have dropped 40%, while participating states’ economies have grown by 25%. 2
- Electricity prices have declined 3.4% in RGGI states since the program launched, compared with a 7.2% increase in electricity prices for states yet to act on climate. 3
- RGGI has added over 30,000 jobs to the regional workforce. 4
- Declining emissions from CO2 have been accompanied by reductions in other hazardous pollutants, making the air cleaner and avoiding $5.7 billion in healthcare impacts. 5
“State and regional action is delivering major success through RGGI,” said Jordan Stutt, Policy Analyst at Acadia Center. “RGGI is helping to create the clean electric sector that will provide the backbone to a wider clean economy. We applaud Governors Baker, Cuomo, Raimondo, Scott and Malloy on this decision, and look forward to continuing climate leadership, including steps to tackle transportation – the region’s largest source of climate pollution.”
1. RGGI on the World Stage, Acadia Center, June 2017, available at: http://acadiacenter.org/document/rggi-on-the-world-stage/
2. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Status Report: Measuring Success, Acadia Center, July 2016, available at: http://acadiacenter.org/document/measuring-rggi-success/.
3. I.d.
4. The Economic Impacts of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative on Ten Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States, Paul Hibbard et al., Analysis Group, November 2011, available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170313223228/http://www.analysisgroup.com/uploadedfiles/content/insights/publishing/economic_impact_rggi_report.pdf and The Economic Impacts of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative on Nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States, July 2015, available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170313223308/http://www.analysisgroup.com/uploadedfiles/content/insights/publishing/analysis_group_rggi_report_july_2015.pdf.
5. Analysis of the Public Health Impacts of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, 2009-2014, Michelle Manion et al., Abt Associates, January 2017, available at: http://abtassociates.com/RGGI.
Media Contacts:
Dan Sosland, President
dsosland@acadiacenter.org, 207.236.6470
Peter Shattuck, Director, Clean Energy Initiative
pshattuck@acadiacenter.org, 857.636.2502
Carbon Cap Proposal Reflects Nine States’ Compromise
The coalition includes Calpine Corp., Exelon Corp., and Public Service Electric & Gas Company, in addition to the Natural Resources Defense Council and Acadia Center.
Read the full article from Bloomberg BNA here.
Northeast states eye more stringent air pollution restrictions
Peter Shattuck of the Boston-based environmental group Acadia Center and director of the group’s Clean Energy Initiative, said the federal government’s withdrawal from international efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses “has created a void that is being filled by the states through groups like RGGI.” Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont are Connecticut’s partners in RGGI, which makes the group a formidable force in international efforts to reduce global warming, according to Shattuck.
“The RGGI states combined represent the sixth-largest economy in the world,” he said. Acadia Center is a Boston-based environmental group with offices in Connecticut.
Read the full article from the New Haven Register here.
Nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative further clamps down on power sector emissions
The Boston-based Acadia Center said the bipartisan governors are “filling the void of irresponsible federal policy” and at “the vanguard of climate action following the Trump administration’s misguided decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord.”
Read the full article from Mass Live here, also published in The Springfield Republican.
Regional plan would further cap power plant emissions
The move was praised by environmental groups, including the Conservation Law Foundation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Acadia Center.
Read the full article from the Providence Journal here.
9 Eastern States Agree to Cut Power Plant Emissions an Extra 30%
According to a recent analysis by the Acadia Center, carbon dioxide emissions from the RGGI states have fallen more than 40 percent compared to 2008 levels. In 2016, their annual CO2 emissions fell to just under 80 million tons.
[…]
One of those would lower the post-2020 cap by the amount of excess allowances banked in the years leading to 2020, which the Acadia Center has estimated could prevent nearly 50 million tons of carbon pollution. The other would automatically lower the cap, by up to 10 percent a year, if allowances fall below expected levels.
Read the full article from InsideClimate News here.
Northeast States Just Delivered A ‘Major Victory’ Against Climate Change
“This is what climate leadership looks like in the wake of the misguided and irresponsible decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris agreement,” said Peter Shattuck, Massachusetts director at the Boston-based Acadia Center.
[…]
New Jersey, a founding member of the group, dropped out in 2011. The move cost the Garden State nearly $300 million in lost proceeds from permit auctions ― a number which could balloon to $489 million by 2020, according to a 2015 estimate from the Acadia Center. Gov. Chris Christie (R) called the program a “failure,” and vetoed legislation to reinstate New Jersey’s membership three times, most recently last month.
Read the full article from Huffington Post here.
Nine states aggressively step up plans to cut emissions
“This is what climate leadership looks like,” said Peter Shattuck, director of the Acadia Center in Massachusetts. “Despite the misguided and irresponsible decision to pull the US out of the Paris agreement, states and regions continue to lead, and these improvements put Massachusetts and other RGGI states in the vanguard of climate action.”
…
In a report last year, the Acadia Center found RGGI states reduced emissions by 16 percent more than other states, while the region’s economy had grown 3.6 percent more than the rest of the country. At the same time, energy prices had fallen by an average of 3.4 percent, while electricity rates in other states rose by 7.2 percent.
Read the full article from The Boston Globe here.
Commenters Seek Broader Response on Millstone
Kerry Schlichting of the Acadia Center said that because the study results could influence Connecticut’s long-term energy strategy, her organization asked DEEP and PURA to “issue a draft methodology and base case scenario sometime this fall for stakeholder review and comment” before the release of the draft report in early December. If the agencies wait too long it will be difficult to incorporate stakeholder feedback on modeling issues, she said.
Read the full article from RTO Insider here.