RGGI, behind the rhetoric: What we know about the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
A story on Pennsylvania's proposed regional cap-and-trade program features expert insight from RFF Senior Fellow Dallas Burtraw.
"Dallas Burtraw, an economist and senior fellow with the think tank Resources for the Future, says RGGI is modest, but successful. That’s likely because of a mix of the price on emissions, strategic investments, and environmental regulations.
'You really need to play all three of these instruments in order to achieve that outcome,' Burtraw said."
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"Because Pennsylvania generates so much energy, Burtraw said leakage to other states like Ohio and West Virginia will likely be modest.
He’s done modeling to show that if Pennsylvania spends auction revenue to incentivize clean energy technologies, and raises standards for how much electricity must be generated by renewables, the state could see negative leakage. That means emissions would fall inside and outside the state.
'Pennsylvania faces no threat of yielding its position as the Saudi Arabia of North American energy supply,' Burtraw said."
