Calling global warming “the signature challenge of our times” yesterday, Gov. Deval Patrick signed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts by 10 percent by 2019.
At a joint press conference held at the University of Massachusetts with Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles, Patrick said the state will be responsible for funding research and implementing the pact’s guidelines, which also include fostering clean, renewable sources, such as wind and biomass energy, and educating residents on conservation methods.
Under the terms of the RGGI, companies without the technological ability to curb their emissions will be charged allowances for exceeding a certain amount of pollution, though the cap has not yet been set. The allowance system is designed to discourage the use of outdated polluting technology and fund the proceeds necessary to enforce the initiative.
Patrick said the commonwealth will begin auctioning emissions allowances and credits to power plants and other large energy consumers by 2009, and he estimated the auctions would earn $25 million to $125 million for the energy initiative. He said he would be “proud to comply” though the initiative is expected to cost residents about $3 extra for every $1,000 in energy bills.
Former governor Mitt Romney had withdrawn Massachusetts from the initiative in October 2005. Romney supported the initiative early in his administration before pulling out of the pact, expressing fears it would raise energy costs throughout the state.
Patrick said Massachusetts’ involvement in the pact is one way to act even without the help of the federal government, which he said has been slow to commit to fighting global warming.
“We will do what we can instead of waiting and call on national and global leaders to look at our example,” he said.
Massachusetts joins seven other northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont, in the RGGI, with Maryland expected to join soon.
Patrick said he is “happy to work with the [energy] industries,” but would only say there is still “a lot of talking to do.”
Boston resident Giselle Abreu, who attended the press conference, said she approves of the pact’s goals but is troubled by the absence of leaders of the state energy industry, whose cooperation will be key in the pact’s success.
Abreu said she worries the plan might fail if energy industry leaders do not collaborate well with the state government, which will only cause problems for consumers.
“The pact seems like a hope, just a hope,” she said.
Patrick said if the state does not immediately take steps to curb emissions, global warming and associated environmental problems — “the things people are worried about,” he said — will only get worse.