Pennsylvania State Director Greg Moreland penned a letter to the editor in The Philadelphia Inquirer concerning the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI): “Simply put, small businesses oppose RGGI, and we will hold Gov. Shapiro accountable on the campaign trail for claiming he wouldn’t insert himself into the case.”

>>>>> Letters to the Editor | Dec. 27, 2023 (inquirer.com)

FULL TEXT BELOW: 

No rational person could conclude an $800 million carbon tax on two-thirds of all electricity generation will “supercharge PA’s economy, especially for small businesses.” Yet, that’s what the “Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia” and “Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance” would have you believe, “RGGI will supercharge Pa.’s economy, especially for small businesses.”

While their op-ed extolls small businesses as “the lifeblood of the American economy” and employing “nearly half of the private workforce” in PA, the article rehashes long-rebutted talking points supporting the $800 million annual tax of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

Unsurprisingly, these organizations that have long advocated for the RGGI carbon tax applaud Gov. Josh Shapiro’s decision to appeal the strong, bipartisan rejection of the tax by Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court. Understandably, they fail to mention then-Attorney General Shapiro refused to defend then-Governor Wolf’s RGGI carbon tax. Now, disingenuously, the Governor claims he was informed by his advisers to appeal the decision to protect future rulemaking authority. Governor Shapiro now owns RGGI and the continued impacts its mere threat has had on workers and families.

As state director for NFIB, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization representing 13,000 Pennsylvania small businesses, I can confirm that small businesses do not support RGGI. NFIB filed an amicus brief on the issue and balloted our members. Only 11% of our 13,000 members support, while over 75% fiercely oppose, RGGI.

As the PA Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) reported, virtually all of the $800 million RGGI carbon tax will be passed on to residential, commercial, and industrial customers, and that small business and residential customers will pay nearly 50 percent more of that increase. It’s simple economics, honestly, something that climate elites rarely understand.

Simply put, small businesses oppose RGGI, and NFIB will hold Governor Shapiro accountable for his political dishonesty on the gubernatorial campaign trail to convince small business owners he wouldn’t insert himself in the RGGI case.

Greg Moreland is the Pennsylvania state director of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).