Tag: Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association

Pennsylvania’s Largest Coal Plant Closure Shows Effect of Coming De Facto Carbon-Tax

Bradley Vasoli

In July, the Homer City Generation LP Plant, Pennsylvania’s biggest coal-fired energy creator, will be taken offline, meaning 129 well-paying jobs will disappear in Pennsylvania’s fifth-poorest county of Indiana. 

This event, say free-market advocates and fossil-fuel supporters, should admonish Keystone State policymakers not to let the commonwealth let its abeyant membership in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) become active. The pact involving a dozen northeastern and mid-Atlantic states entails de facto taxation of carbon emissions. Even pre-implementation, industry experts explain, preparation for RGGI is killing otherwise viable power plants. 

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Industry and Unions Warn Pennsylvania Senate RGGI Will Kill Jobs, Hurt Consumers

Bradley Vasoli
Blue Collar Worker

In a rare moment of concord between industry and unions, representatives of both interests exhorted Pennsylvania state Senators on Tuesday to resist Pennsylvania’s entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Eleven states in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions have joined the pact to impose prices on carbon emissions for power plants. Unlike most member states, however, Pennsylvania entered into the agreement without legislative approval though an executive order by Gov. Tom Wolf (D) in 2019. The emissions pricing has not yet gone into effect; the governor wants to implement it in the next fiscal year.

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Gov. Wolf Unveils His Final Pennsylvania Budget Proposal, Urging Massive Spending Hike

Bradley Vasoli

Gov. Tom Wolf (D-PA) unveiled his final state budget proposal to the General Assembly yesterday, asking members to approve a 10.9 percent spending increase.

Major items he proposed include $1.75 billion more for public schools and $200 million more for college scholarships. The governor insisted his aims could be realized without resorting to tax rises, though his $43.7 billion plan hinges on the use of about $2 billion in one-time federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

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