Pennsylvania Joins Regional Cap and Trade Program

摘要

Politics can be a delicate act of juggling the demands for bold leadership with the controversy they often court. This month, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, defied the will of his own Republican-controlled legislature, when he signed an executive order requiring the commonwealth to join a regional cap and trade program to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) describes itself as "the first mandatory, market-based program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions." It is a cooperative effort among Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont to cap and reduce CO_2 emissions from the power sector.