Global Warming Solutions News

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As the new home of NHIRG's environmental work, Environment New Hampshire may be contacted regarding this release. 

CONCORD – As officials from New Hampshire and eight other northeastern states meet this week to finalize a precedent-setting agreement to reduce global warming pollution from power plants, environmental and consumer groups warned that loopholes in the plan could prevent it from achieving promised emissions reductions.

The groups today released a letter to Lynch administration officials from 27 environmental and consumer organizations, detailing specifics of loopholes in the plan that they say would allow power plants to increase emissions from current levels and might result in the plan producing no reductions in pollution by 2020.

“We are encouraged that the states are moving forward with this program and hope we will be able to give the final plan our full support,” said Erika Staaf of NHPIRG. “However we remain concerned that the current proposal would not yield any emission reductions from power plants and is far too generous to plant owners.”

Since 2004, the northeastern states have been negotiating a plan to create a cap-and-trade program to reduce global warming pollution from power plants in the region. The stated goal of the initiative is to cap emissions at current levels, and begin reducing those emissions gradually in coming years. In August, the states released a draft of their proposed plan to implement the program between 2009 and 2020.

The draft plan allows power plants in the region to increase emissions approximately 4.5% from today’s levels before placing a cap on those emissions. Power plant owners would then receive pollution “credits,” giving them the right to emit global warming pollution up to the level of the emissions cap. These credits could be bought and sold by the plant owners with the revenue from those sales intended to be used to invest in
efficiency programs and cleaner energy technologies to reduce emissions.

One potential loophole identified by environmental groups allows power companies to import electricity from plants outside the region to replace power from their plants in the northeast. According to analysis done for the state agencies drafting the plan, this provision could eliminate 40% of the emissions reductions the plan is intended to achieve. A second provision allows power plants to continue emitting pollution while claiming credit for emissions reductions on paper if they invest in projects such as
tree-planting programs.

“We need our state officials to push the region towards a cleaner, more efficient energy future,” said Doug Bogen, New Hampshire Program Director of Clean Water Action. “The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative should give power plant owners an incentive to invest in energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy. The Lynch administration needs push for a strong plan that closes these loopholes and achieves real emissions reductions at power plants while minimizing costs to consumers.”