The public comment period for the state’s possible entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative – also known as RGGI opened on November 7th. As of yesterday, more than 3,000 people had registered their opinion on whether or not Pennsylvania should join the cap-and-trade coalition of states in the compact, which Senator Joe Pittman and Representative Jim Struzzi say will force the shutdown of coal-fired power plants such as the Homer City Generating Station, the Keystone plant in Shelocta, and the Conemaugh plant across the Conemaugh River from New Florence.
A look inside the responses shows 87 people from Indiana County have filed comments so far. We included those with Seward and New Florence addresses because they could be residents of either Indiana or Westmoreland County.
Of the 87 comments, 68 have opposed the RGGI regulations, 17 have been in favor of them, and two registered but filed no comment. Interestingly, 13 of the 17 in favor of the proposal list an Indiana address. Indiana and Blairsville led the county in total responses, with 34 and 11, respectively. No other community had more than five.
Many of the comments on both sides of the issue are form letters to which people simply attached their names.
The public comment period closes on January 14th. Comments may be filed by Public comment may also be made by e-mailing RegComments@pa.gov, or by regular mail to: Environmental Quality Board, P.O. Box 8477, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8477.
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