NJ Sued Over Governor’s Decision to Pull Out of Greenhouse Gas Initiative

It goes by its nickname “RGGI,” which is pronounced like a person’s name (Reggie).

RGGI is short for Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. RGGI is made up of a number of New England and Mid-Atlantic states that require that owners of power plants in their states buy “credits” if they want to emit amounts of carbon dioxide in excess of their government-specified limits.

Simply put, for every ton of carbon dioxide a power plant admits above the limit, the plant’s owner must purchase one credit. The states take the money they raise by selling those credits and spend it on developing clean energy sources like sun and wind power.

New JerseyUnlike some other Republican politicians, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reportedly believes that climate change is real and that human actions are partly responsible. However, the governor has said that he does not believe that RGGI is an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; therefore, the governor’s office recently announced, New Jersey will no longer participate.

That decision has been met with a lawsuit by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other groups. They charge that Gov. Christie failed to abide by the law in that he did not give the public the right to comment prior to taking his action.

Stay tuned.

To learn more, read this Bloomberg article.