The Environmental Management Commission (EMC) voted today (July 13) to approve a petition to begin rulemaking for North Carolina to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), marking a major step by the state toward addressing climate change.
North Carolina will become the 11th state to join RGGI, a market-based program started in the mid-2000s to cap and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector.
RGGI is one of the policy pathways identified and modeled as part of the state's clean energy plan, a product of Gov. Roy Cooper’s 2018 Executive Order 80 to address climate change and transition the state to a clean energy economy.
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.
"With its record on renewable energy development and its potential for more production of solar and wind power, North Carolina will be a natural addition to RGGI," said Cynthia Satterfield, state director of the N.C. Sierra Club. "We’re pleased that the EMC voted for North Carolina to join the leading program in the eastern United States to limit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide pollution from power plants. This decision will help not only our environment and our communities, but businesses and workers that can take part in a robust clean energy economy."