Revenue like bonus, rental, and penalty payments from oil and gas drilling in state forests must go toward conservation, not balancing the state budget.
Smoke from western wildfires usually stays high in the atmosphere. As climate change fuels more intense wildfires, hazy skies in the East may become more frequent.
The Wolf administration hopes to join the cap-and-trade program in early 2022. DEP estimates it will prevent 97-227 million tons of carbon emissions from power plants through 2030 and raise $131-187 million annually.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative could raise electric rates, but only by about $43 per year. Pa. could raise $3.5 billion through RGGI over 9 years.
The Wolf Administration estimates joining Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will raise about $300 million in the first year by charging power plants for their carbon emissions. Republicans say it will devastate coal communities.
