A New Jersey business group claims the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is driving up energy costs for consumers while failing to lower carbon emissions. Ray Cantor, deputy chief government affairs officer for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, argues that RGGI forces local power generators to pay for carbon allowances, making them less competitive compared to plants in non-RGGI states like Pennsylvania and Ohio. This, he says, leads to cleaner but costlier units shutting down while dirtier out-of-state plants continue operating, potentially increasing overall emissions. The NJBIA has launched a 'Rethink RGGI' campaign to push for changes to New Jersey's participation in the program. The goal is to maintain air quality improvements while reducing energy costs. Critics of RGGI often point to this carbon leakage problem, where emissions are simply shifted across state lines rather than reduced. The debate highlights the challenge of designing carbon markets that actually achieve real decarbonization without harming local economies.
