The Senate Republican Caucus plans to use the Public Utility Commission in a standoff with Gov. Tom Wolf over the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, RGGI.

According to Sen. Joe Pittman, the caucus intends to block all nominations to the state commission until the governor pulls his unilateral decision to have Pennsylvania join RGGI.

Pittman has spearheaded efforts of Legislative involvement in the initiative. His name was one of the 27 announcing the measure.

“We have made it clear over the past 19 months that this is about the balance of powers in Pennsylvania,” Pittman said in a news release. 

On Oct. 3, 2019, Wolf directed the Department of Environmental Protection to join the initiative, which is described as a collaboration of 11 states, all of which set a cap on total carbon dioxide emissions from electric power generators.

In order to comply, power plants must purchase a credit or “allowance” for each ton of carbon dioxixde they emit.

“One of the key components of RGGI is a tax on carbon emissions. That in and of itself would destroy thousands of family-sustaining jobs across the commonwealth,” Pittman said. “Beyond that, the power to tax is a function of the legislative branch, not the executive branch.”

Since the governor’s edict, three DEP advisory boards have rejected the proposal with the most recent being in Feb. 16 by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission.

Additionally, the Legislature approved House Bill 2025 in September 2020, which would have created the Pennsylvania Carbon Dioxide Cap and Trade Authorization Act, clarified that the administration does not have the authority to unilaterally join RGGI and prohibited the DEP from joining RGGI without legislative approval.

The governor retained his unilateral power by vetoing the bill on Sept. 24, 2020.