INDIANA COUNTY CONTINGENT TO TESTIFY BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE

On the heels of yesterday’s RGGI hearing by the House there is another hearing today, of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, and Indiana County will be well-represented.

The event this afternoon at the Boilermakers Local Lodge 154 in Pittsburgh will feature three panels testifying before the committee. It will open with representatives of the boilermakers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the South-Central Building & Construction Trades Council.

Then, a contingent from Indiana County will testify. County Commissioners chairman Mike Keith, Chamber of Commerce President Mark Hilliard, and Homer Center School District Curtis Whitesel will talk about the domino-effect economic impact of RGGI regulations on the county, businesses and educational institutions.

The hearing will wrap up with testimony from the executive director of the Industrial Energy Consumers of Pennsylvania.

Senator Joe Pittman is the vice chairman of the committee. Recently on Indiana In the Morning on WCCS, he said Governor Tom Wolf refuses to consider the local ramifications of locking Pennsylvania into a job-killing carbon tax.

Pittman says there is federal funding available that would enable the state to continue supplying power to millions in Pennsylvania and its neighbors.