Contact: Tom Schuster, Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, tom.schuster@sierraclub.org
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Today, the Senate passed SB 1068, which would overturn Pennsylvania’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
In response, Tom Schuster, Director of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, issued the following statement:
“The Sierra Club strongly condemns the Senate’s latest attempt to block our participation in RGGI — a proven, market-based program that reduces pollution and funds clean energy investments. We have supported Pennsylvania joining RGGI because it works. Other participating states have cut carbon emissions, improved air quality, and reinvested billions of dollars into clean-energy jobs, energy efficiency, and community projects — all while maintaining strong economies.
It’s especially troubling that this vote comes while the Commonwealth remains without a budget. Rather than resolving fiscal priorities, some lawmakers are advancing a bill that plays politics with climate security. Pennsylvania should be focused on stabilizing its finances, strengthening infrastructure, and investing in clean-energy solutions that lower costs and create jobs, not dismantling a program that would actually help achieve those goals.
We urge House lawmakers and the Governor to reject SB 1068 and keep Pennsylvania on a path toward a cleaner, more resilient, and economically vibrant future.”
About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.