Patrick signs regional greenhouse gas initiative
Karl Thidemann
By Steve LeBlanc, Associated Press Writer
January 18, 2007
BOSTON --Gov. Deval Patrick, making good on a campaign pledge, signed
an agreement Thursday committing Massachusetts to the nation's first
multistate program to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that
contribute to global warming.
Patrick also announced a new program intended to create energy savings
for households and industry by auctioning off so-called "emission
allowances" that electricity generators will need for each ton of
carbon dioxide they emit under the pact.
"Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time,"
Patrick said. "On this day, we want everyone to know that
Massachusetts will not stand on the sidelines."
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is designed to curb carbon
dioxide emissions from power plants by 10 percent by 2019. It has
already been signed by governors from Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney opted out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative in 2005, saying it could drive up energy costs for
consumers.
Patrick, who worked for Texaco in the late 1990s, signed the
initiative at an afternoon news conference with state Secretary of
Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles at the University of
Massachusetts-Boston.
The main goal of the bipartisan RGGI is to cut emissions of the
greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. As part of the
program, the states are set to begin charging power plants fees for
carbon dioxide emissions beginning in 2009.
As part of the agreement, states are given "allowances" for emissions.
Electricity generators like power plants will need the allowances for
each ton of carbon dioxide they emit. Each state has the discretion to
distribute the allowances however it wants.
Patrick said Massachusetts will auction off all of the allowances and
use the money -- estimated at between $25 million to $125 million
annually -- to create a new program to encourage energy savings.
The money would go to pay for energy efficiency, demand reduction,
renewable energy programs, and combined heat and power projects, which
use what is normally wasted heat from power generation for efficient
heating.
The funds will also be used to manage peak demand for electricity,
lowering electric bills for consumers, Patrick said. Customers will
have incentives to use technologies like automatic lighting and air
conditioning controls that can help minimize peak-time usage.
"Changes in the electricity market are creating new economic
incentives for large scale energy efficiency initiatives and programs
that cut electricity demand on peak days - the hottest days in the
summer when lots of us are using air conditioners," Bowles said.
Critics fear the plan could drastically increase electricity rates
because it would force companies to build new plants, or convert
plants to use natural gas.
But environmental activists said that without the plan and the new
fees for power plants, the state would never meet its carbon dioxide
reduction goals.
"What a breath of fresh air from our previous governor who walked away
from the climate crisis altogether," said Cindy Luppi of Clean Water
Action.
Patrick also announced that Massachusetts would begin buying renewable
electricity for state agencies.
Patrick said the state Division of Energy Resources will seek
proposals for the procurement of renewable electricity for five state
agencies, including the departments of Environmental Protection,
Conservation and Recreation, and Fish and Game, MassHighway and the
Registry of Motor Vehicles.
The department represent approximately 15 percent of the electricity
that will be used by the executive branch over the next 12 years,
Patrick said.
Environmental activists have also urged Patrick to reject changes to
the state's clean air regulations proposed by Romney last year.
Those changes would let owners of the filthiest power plants buy their
way out of cleaning up their smokestacks by paying into a greenhouse
gas trust fund instead.
(c) Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
Seth Itzkan
will avoid Massachusetts!
--
Seth J. Itzkan