CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS ACT

A.7365-A (Sweeney, et al.)*

S.5347 (Marcellino, et al.)

Summary

This bill would dedicate any monies raised from the auction of carbon dioxide emissions allowances under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) for energy efficiency and renewable energy development initiatives. The bill creates several new programs to provide grants and various forms of financial assistance to municipalities, non-profits and electric utility ratepayers to achieve greenhouse gas reductions and other air quality goals.

Explanation

A key component of the RGGI, a now ten-state partnership to stabilize and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, relates to the initial distribution of carbon dioxide emissions allowances. In New York, nearly 100 percent of the approximately 64.3 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions allowances will be auctioned annually to polluters in a competitive, transparent market. Proceeds from auction of carbon dioxide emissions allowances under RGGI should primarily be invested in energy efficiency initiatives, as well as developing clean, renewable sources of power.

Increased investment in energy efficiency will protect New Yorkers from the harmful effects of air pollution created by fossil fuel-fired power plants. These harmful effects include asthma attacks and premature deaths in seniors, increased levels of mercury contamination, destruction of our forest ecosystems by acid rain, as well as wide-ranging negative effects associated with global climate change.

Energy efficiency investment also drives down the cost of implementing RGGI. The RGGI State Working Group has estimated that doubling energy efficiency spending would reduce household bills by $66 in 2015 and by $109 in 2021. Even if electric rates could rise as part of the implementation of this program, electric bills would likely fall for most consumers. Increased energy efficiency investment could also reduce the need to build new sources of generation, another factor in driving up overall electric bills. Slowing the growth of energy demand through efficiency investment also has the added benefit of further reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Environmental Advocates of New York strongly supports this bill.

*This bill must pass concurrently with A. 7366 (Sweeney).