Tompkins County Republicans

Local issues & news - press releases

Speaker to Urge that New Yorkers Pull the Plug on
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

Released January 4th, 2012

Contact: EdwardWeissman 607-351-9430

Ithaca, NY – Lisa Thrun will headline a January 17 informational meeting in Ithaca about the impact of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) on utility costs, taxes,and electric power in upstate New York.

Thrun's talk, “Taxation Without Representation: The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in NewYork State”, follows hard on the heels of the bankruptcy filing of the AES Cayuga power plant, which had previously provided significant payment-in-lieu-of-taxes funds to Tompkins County, the Town of Lansing, and the Lansing Central School District.

The presentation will be Jan. 17 at 6:30pm in the Tompkins County Public Library's Borg Warner Room, 101E. Green St. The event is co-sponsored by Forward Thinking, the Ithaca Tea Party and by the Tompkins County Republican Committee. Admission is free and open to the public.

“Schuyler County, Niagara County,and 7 Upstate cities and towns have called on Governor Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers to get NYS out of the RGGI and roll back the regulatory mandates which are pushing upstate New York's 17 powerplants to the brink and jeopardizing thousands of jobs,” said Edward Weissman, of Forward Thinking, the Ithaca Tea Party organization. Weissman is also Ward 3 co-chair of the City of Ithaca Republican Party.

New York's participation in the RGGI was due to a 2008 Executive Order by then-Governor David Paterson and was never voted on by state lawmakers. It is being implemented by regulatory fiat. The AES Cayuga bankruptcy follows the bankruptcy filing of the AES Somerset plant in Niagara County, which had been assessed a $10 million RGGI carbon permit fee.

Thrun, who is Grassroots Chair of the New York Chapter of Americans for Prosperity, said, “For the past three years, New York has participated in the RGGI Cap & Trade scheme without the authorization of the state Legislature. Already this Cap & Trade energy tax has cost New York businesses and ratepayers a staggering $344.8 million. Not only are we seeing an increase in our energy bills because of this mandatory cost increase to production being passed on to consumers, but this tax is also hitting us in other areas such as food, goods, and services.Taxpayers are also footing the bill for the higher costs of electricity for local, state, and federal government buildings.”

New Jersey has withdrawn from the RGGI.New Jersey Governor Chris Christie explained his state's decision to withdraw: "RGGI does nothing more than tax electricity, tax our citizens, tax our businesses, with no discernible or measurable impact upon our environment." Thrun will discuss why New York should withdraw from the RGGI, what taxpayers can do to help in that effort, and ongoing legal challenges to the RGGI.