The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Board of Public Utilities, and Economic Development Authority on October 25 released a document designed to educate the public about the possible strategies that could receive revenue anticipated from New Jersey’s re-entry to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) early next year, leadership for the three agencies announced.
The document announces electrification and environmental justice as policy priorities for RGGI funds and explains the various regulatory and statutory requirements associated with the RGGI auction process. The New Jersey agencies present examples of how state agencies could distribute New Jersey’s RGGI auction proceeds for 2020 through 2023. As part of the document’s release, the three agencies have scheduled a series of in-person workshops and a webinar to engage with stakeholders and the public on how best to use proceeds once the state rejoins RGGI in January.
“Our reentry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative gives us the opportunity to invest in programs that tackle greenhouse gas emissions with a focus on our most overburdened environmental justice communities,” says Governor Phil Murphy. “Investing this funding in a strategic and coordinated way will help us achieve our goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050.”
“New Jersey’s Global Warming Response Act establishes a 2050 goal to reduce carbon emissions statewide by 80 percent below 2006 levels, and our most recent greenhouse gas inventory shows we still have a way to go to meet that goal,” adds DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe. “Our momentum in the areas [of electrification and environmental justice] continues to build, including recent investments with Volkswagen Settlement funding toward increasing the number of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in New Jersey, as well as investing in initiatives that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in all areas of the state, focusing on those most impacted by climate change and sea-level rise.”
