Environmental Advocates Urge Update to Regional Cap-and-Invest Compact

PROVIDENCE — Environmental groups are putting pressure on the 10 states, including Rhode Island, to update the regional cap-and-invest compact that charges power plants for every ton of emissions they spew into the atmosphere.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) has a set regional budget for CO2 among its member states, which include all of New England, New York, and New Jersey, since 1996. Power plants in participating states pay the program to emit carbon dioxide, money that in turn is divided among the states to use toward green projects.

But advocates say the latest update to the program, its third since it began, is taking far longer than expected. RGGI solicited public feedback virtually last year and was expected to make some kind of determination about its program revisions at the start of this year.

“We haven’t heard anything come out of their program review,” said Paola Tamayo, a policy analyst at the Acadia Center. “We were promised something in January, but it’s been six, seven, eight months now and there’s a lot of uncertainty with what’s happening. There’s a fear that they’re going to come out with a half-baked final product, with no room for input.”

The first program review took around two years, from 2012 to 2014. The second review lasted around a year, from 2016 to 2017. The third and current review process has been ongoing for almost three and a half years, kicking off originally at the beginning of 2021.

The Acadia Center sent letters to each member state asking for a new timeline on the program revisions, and repeating some long-sought-after updates. Advocates are asking the participating RGGI states to adopt a common definition of environmental justice; set a specific percentage of funds from RGGI auction proceeds; increase the availability of air monitoring around power plants close to frontline communities; and tie the programs allowances to the state’s ambitious climate goals, which have already outstripped RGGI’s original design.

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