Free Republic

Here in the mostly-deep-blue Northeast of the U.S., our genius politicians of the Democratic persuasion have determined to save the world — no, make that the “planet” — by greatly increasing the local voters’ cost of energy. This is the punishment you must bear to atone for your horrible sin of living a comfortable modern lifestyle. If you live in the Northeast, the mechanism of making you suffer goes under the name of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI. The members of RGGI are all six New England states, plus New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Pennsylvania...

Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) on Wednesday pledged to withdraw the state from a regional carbon market comprising 10 coastal and New England states. In a speech at the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, Youngkin denounced the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) as a “carbon tax that is fully passed on to ratepayers” and said he would remove Virginia from the compact by executive order after taking office in January, according to a recording shared with The Hill. Youngkin specifically cited a request by the state’s primary electric utility, Dominion Energy, seeking to recover RGGI costs from customers.

On Monday, Governor Tom Wolf posted on his Facebook page the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The RGGI is a cooperative effort to cap and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector. Other states include Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is poised to implement a new regulation without legislative approval to join 10 other states in a climate change agreement based on restricting carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants.But lawmakers, policy analysts, and tea party activists in Virginia who oppose what they consider costly regulations of industry are raising questions about the economic and scientific arguments underpinning the proposed rule.They say the Virginia General Assembly should have a straight up-or-down vote on Northam’s plan, in part to ensure that any revenue the governor raises from “carbon trading” is collected and dispersed in a manner consistent...

Once seen as a potential bonanza by governments, investment bankers, and alternative energy proponents, carbon dioxide credits have become close to worthless in trading exchanges and are now being shunned by investors. A June 8 auction by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade consortium of 10 northeastern states, was a bust. Carbon dioxide permits auctioned by RGGI fetched $1.89 each, the minimum allowable bid. More than two-thirds of the 43.9 million carbon dioxide permits put up for auction went unsold. The June 8 auction was by far the most unsuccessful of the 12 sales held since RGGI began...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delighted conservatives last week when he pledged to withdraw his state from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) of Northeastern states. Conservative delight, however, quickly turned to frustration as Christie emphasized he was merely taking issue with the political and economic mechanisms of RGGI, but did not disagree with the notion that humans are causing a global warming problem that needs to be addressed. "[W]hen you have over 90% of the world's scientists who have studied this stating that climate change is occurring and that humans play a contributing role, it's time to defer to...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) announced Thursday that he would pull out of a regional climate pact by the end of the year, delivering a political setback to the fledging effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. In a news conference, Christie said the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a 2005 accord in which 10 states agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants 10 percent by 2018, would not be able to meet its goals. The program requires plants in the region that burn fossil fuels to buy pollution allowances for the carbon they...

Christie pulling N.J. out of greenhouse gas pact By Maya Rao INQUIRER TRENTON BUREAU TRENTON - Gov. Christie said today New Jersey will withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade agreement between 10 northeast states, by the end of the year. The governor acknowledged that humans play a role in global warming but said the program does not address the problem. "This program is not effective in reducing greenhouse gases and is unlikely to be in the future," said the governor, standing alongside Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin at a statehouse news conference. The goal of...

RGGI Is The Prototype For More Regional Cap & Tax Entities Soon RGGI will expand to every state and stick you with astronomical energy prices. RGGI is the model for two new stealth cap & tax entities. The Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord would bring the tax scheme to Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Kansas. The Western Climate Initiative will force California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Montana to start paying through the nose for energy. Both programs are set to start in 2012. The corruptocrats in Washington are completely responsible for this gigantic waste of tax...

RGGI is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, created by a group of ten northeastern states. RGGI runs a carbon trading scheme with the primary goal to reduce COâ‚‚ emissions. Permits are auctioned off quarterly, SeptemberÂ’s auction only sold 75% of the permits available, and DecemberÂ’s sold only 57%. The sale price has a $1.86 per ton floor, and thatÂ’s what they sold at.

Gov. Chris Christie has said he is taking $65 million from the state’s model cap-and-trade program to balance the state’s $29.3 billion budget, but he is getting pushback from Democrats in the state Legislature. The money comes from quarterly carbon permit auctions held by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), an alliance of 10 Eastern states from Maine to Maryland. The governor said he also is planning on taking all of the proceeds from the next three quarterly auctions in 2010...Bob Smith, chairman of the Legislature’s environment and energy committee, and a member of the appropriations committee, has vowed to...

ALERT: It looks like the climate bill debate has already been decided by Washington and voters didn’t even have a chance to say “NO!” A staggering $65 billion dollars has been transferred from the private sector to fund the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is government created entity that is choking companies in the northeast with huge tax increases in the name of the environment. Our tax dollars are funding this secret climate initiative. Soon RGGI will expand to every state and stick you with astronomical energy prices. snip Washington can not be allowed to secretly tax energy under...

A number of conservative and libertarian types have pointed out that these days, smokers are basically “smoking for the children.” States are relying heavily on cigarette taxes to fund such a variety of programs that it’s practically an act of public spiritedness to buy cigarettes. And now, for residents of the 10 Northeastern states, the same can be said of flipping your light switch to the “ON” position – or, presumably, using incandescent bulbs and setting the thermostat on 72. The more electric power you use, the more money there is in the state treasury to raid for the children. ...

While the prospects for passing a federal cap-and-trade law in the Senate are dwindling, this economically-damaging energy policy is alive and well in the states. Ten northeastern states are currently implementing a regional cap-and-trade system known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont are mandating that utilities reduce their carbon dioxide emissions 10 percent by 2018. Examination of the RGGI experience unmasks cap-and-trade as a con game from progressive governors to transfer taxpayer money to bloated state coffers and to special interest groups. Initiated in...

Gov. Spitzer's boast last week that power plants will soon have to pay for the right to emit carbon dioxide is just the latest sign of his unseemly obeisance to over-the-top environmentalism. Spitzer told Congress how New York has joined 10 northeastern states in a Kyoto-style project called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), meant to combat global warming. In 2009, these states will force power plants to buy CO2 "allowances," which will be traded on the open market. Plants will have to get one credit for each ton of CO2 they emit. The supply of credits, to start, will...

10/16/2006         GAAS:760:06           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Executive Order to Begin Implementation of Landmark Greenhouse Gas Legislation; Focuses on Developing Market-Based Solutions In conjunction with his meetings with New York Gov. Pataki and New York Mayor Bloomberg, Gov. Schwarzenegger announced an executive order that directs state agencies to begin implementation of AB 32, California's landmark global greenhouse legislation signed last month. Some of the highlights of the executive order include: • The Secretary for Environmental Protection shall be the statewide leader for California's greenhouse gas emission reduction programs for state...