The Environmental Management Commission’s Air Quality Committee recommended today (June 15) that the full EMC begin the rulemaking process for North Carolina to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The full EMC is scheduled to take up the issue on July 13.
If North Carolina joins RGGI, it would be a significant step by the state toward addressing climate change. RGGI is one of the policy pathways identified and modeled as part of the clean energy plan process. The state's clean energy plan came out of Governor Cooper’s 2018 Executive Order 80, “North Carolina's Commitment to Address Climate Change and Transition to a Clean Energy Economy.”
RGGI is a market-based program started in the mid-2000s to cap and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector. Eleven states are already a part of RGGI.
RGGI works by setting a mandatory limit on the total amount of carbon dioxide pollution that power plants within the region are allowed to emit each year. Each year, the carbon limit is lowered and less pollution is emitted. Income that is generated by selling carbon credits to power producers can be reinvested in energy efficiency, clean energy, impacted communities, or other priorities.
“We urge the EMC to follow the recommendation of the Air Quality Committee and begin the process for North Carolina to join RGGI. Our neighboring states are taking action to address the climate crisis and North Carolina needs to be part of the solution, too,” said Cynthia Satterfield, acting director of the N.C. Sierra Club.