If you’re in NH, Call your legislators TODAY or tomorrow morning to save the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
CLICK HERE for a list of State House Science, Technology, and Energy committee members’ contact information so that you can reach them. John Greene, Community Outreach Director at Conservation NH, is helping and can be reached at 228-1970 or here, via .
NH pays for the Initiative whether or not they choose to participate in it, because the initiative’s cost is built into the pricing structure of electricity from the New England Electric Grid. Killing the initiative in NH will continue to cost ratepayers through their electric bills, but will prevent NH from taking advantage of any of the funds generated by the initiative. Currently, initiative funds are creating green energy jobs in NH. Repealing RGGI is all downside with no upside.
From The NH Sustainable Energy Association:
Last Thursday’s hearing on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) before the House Science, Technology and Energy (ST&E) Committee was a 9-hour marathon, with a large majority of testimony opposing repeal of the program. However, it’s not clear that members of the Committee were swayed. The Committee will be voting TOMORROW, FEBRUARY 15th on whether to repeal RGGI.
The more calls they get from constituents and businesses opposing RGGI repeal (i.e., opposing HB-519) between now and tomorrow, the better.
Key points for NHSEA members and friends to include:
(1) We’ll have to pay for RGGI anyway because the wholesale electricity market is regional, but we won’t get any of that money back to benefit NH’s citizens and economy;
(2) RGGI is already benefiting NH, creating jobs, increasing Gross State Product, making the state more energy efficiency, and keeping more of NH’s energy dollars at home; and
(3) Repeal of RGGI requires careful analysis, which is already planned for 2012. ST&E should act carefully and deliberately on this important policy issue.
If you have participated in any RGGI-funded programs, please note that RGGI dollars are leveraging substantial private investment. Indicate how much (or how little) RGGI dollars have contributed vs your projects’ overall costs.
Please reach out to STE Committee members between now and tomorrow, Tuesday, February 15, and pass any feedback or information on to John Green at Conservation New Hampshire.
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