(The Center Square) – Gov. Josh Shapiro’s new carbon tax plan won over some unlikely allies – Pennsylvania’s building and construction trades.
And they say they want lawmakers to get on the same page, too.
“The governor acknowledged that we need the Legislature to act,” said Robert Bair, president of the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades. “And as I told a couple of them yesterday: Equate this to the governor has set the Thanksgiving table, now it’s time to sit down and eat.”
Bair’s support comes after a years-long alignment with Republican and Democratic lawmakers opposed to joining a regional pact that places the onus on energy plants to lower air pollution. Critics say Pennsylvania’s role as one of the nation’s largest power suppliers makes its participation economically untenable.
Active in 11 states, the pact – called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI – tightens the cap on allowable emissions every year
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