Statement on Commonwealth Court Ruling Regarding RGGI

The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania is disappointed by the November 1, 2023, Commonwealth Court ruling prohibiting Pennsylvania from participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). We agree with Judge Ellen Ceisler’s dissenting opinion that the emissions allowance auction process does not constitute a tax. 

This Commonwealth Court decision is based on a purely procedural issue, while our state continues to deny citizens the benefits of carbon emission reduction. The League fights for the constitutional rights of all our citizens. This decision also continues to put the burden of carbon emissions on our low-income black and brown communities. We expect our judges and elected officials to put the health of our environment and our citizens as the utmost priority. We applaud Judge Ceisler for putting Pennsylvania's best interests first. 

This decision is a massive setback for Pennsylvanians' Constitutional environmental rights.  We call on Governor Shapiro to protect all Pennsylvanians by appealing this decision to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and we call on the House and Senate to take action to address these issues as well.  We are in a climate crisis, and RGGI is a tool to help Pennsylvania mitigate this crisis while moving Pennsylvania into a leader in a clean energy economy.  We need to use every possible tool to meet the challenge.